No Running Water

bargainpanda

Hi, first post so be gentle.

We went on our first family holiday in June. We booked through Thomson (TUI).

Unfortunately for two days running we had no running water in our room. The first time was for about 2 hours, the second time was just over an hour.

I wouldn't normally complain but with a 12 month old that meant that we were unable to wash her after she'd been in the sea and pool and was covered in sun-block, wash our hands after changing her nappies, flush the toilet, etc.

When we got home we emailed TUI. Their response was that availability of hot water can be intermittent when you're on holiday.

I replied and pointed out that it wasn't a lack of hot water but more the fact that there was no available water and that at no point had we been warned that it was going to be turned off.

Today I got another reply saying that although the outcome might not meet my expectations, having reviewed everything, they were quite happy with their first response.

I'm not sure what to do next. Surely, this can't be right? How can TUI say that it's okay for you to go on a self-catering holiday with an infant and not have any running water?

silvercar

What country?

Although inconvenient, a couple of hours without water isn't the end of the world. In a lot of countries, supply of water can be sporadic.

maman

Perhaps others will have a different opinion but infrastructure can be different abroad compared with what we're used to at home.

When I go to Turkey, for example, it's not at all unusual for there to be power cuts at odd times (generally when I'm trying to blow dry my hair:mad:.) Sometimes it's just 30 mins or so but it can be intermittent all evening. The hotels and restaurants are geared up and bring out candles and lanterns. I think it's a case that the town's supply can't cope with the surge at various times of the day.


I sympathise that it's harder with a little one but a couple of hours isn't really a very long time. Surely you could have managed with wipes or something. It's a pity you didn't get to speak to a rep at the time to give you an explanation of why it happened but I'd be surprised if it was something that Thomson could control.


I'd be surprised if you get any further pursuing it.

leylandsunaddict

I don't know where you were but we've been without running water and electricity for a few hours at a time, many times when we've been on holiday. Water problems are far from unusual. Problems happen and they're not always known about in advance to give any warning. We had so many power cuts in our area of the UK a couple of winters ago we bought a generator.

Surely you had bottled water and some anti bac wipes you could have used to clean your hands had you had to change a nappy in the short time it was off? A couple of hours is inconvenient, but hardly a cause for a complaint. What did the rep say? What did hotel reception say?

Did you fill in a complaints form while in resort? If not you've very little chance because you haven't followed the correct complaints procedure.

photome

i agree with the others 2 hours without water isnt much of an issue, many countries are without running water for much longer.

large 5 litre bottles of water are very cheap and one of those would have washed all of you with some to spare to flush the loo

Poppie68

As you were self catering you had the means to warm some bottled water to wash the little one down, while not perfect it happens sometimes abroad and 3 hours of lack of water shouldn't sour your holiday, I personally would just keep it in mind for your next holiday and be prepared.

interstellaflyer

I don't think complaining about no water over such short times is going to get you anywhere, although a lot better now, utility services abroad can be unreliable at times, even in the UK the utility companies wouldn't entertain compensating you for such minor outages.

Gavin83

What outcome are you looking for?

missbiggles1

Gavin83 wrote: »

What outcome are you looking for?

Three guesses?;)

bargainpanda

We were in Pefkos, Rhodes. Perhaps I should have explained better. The water didn't "go off". There was no storm or loss of utility supplies locally. The hotel just turned it off without warning anyone.

The first day I actually found mildly amusing to start with. After turning off the water, the hotel "engineer" turned up in his flip flops and started hitting things with a wrench. An hour or so later a couple of guys from the water company turned up and started drilling. Having turned the water back on eventually, I think its fair to assume that the hotel knew the water was going to be turned off again the next day as the same two guys arrived in their van again and turned it off while they carried-on with the work that they obviously hadn't finished the day before.

My annoyance was with the response from TUI. They completely ignored the problem and sent a reply that was clearly picked off a list.

We are sorry to hear that you experienced issues with the water in your room. I know it is frustrating to be left with little or no hot water, at a time when you wish to use the bath or shower. Unfortunately, this is a common problem in many overseas destinations, where the water systems are much less efficient than we are used to here at home.

It is not always possible for the hotel or apartment manager to fix the problem quickly, as the narrow pipes used overseas mean that it is difficult to transport the volume of water required at peak times. The periods before breakfast and dinner each day are normally the times at which the system is under most pressure and this can also have a knock-on effect to the boiler and heating systems.

photome

bargainpanda wrote: »

We were in Pefkos, Rhodes. Perhaps I should have explained better. The water didn't "go off". There was no storm or loss of utility supplies locally. The hotel just turned it off without warning anyone.

The first day I actually found mildly amusing to start with. After turning off the water, the hotel "engineer" turned up in his flip flops and started hitting things with a wrench. An hour or so later a couple of guys from the water company turned up and started drilling. Having turned the water back on eventually, I think its fair to assume that the hotel knew the water was going to be turned off again the next day as the same two guys arrived in their van again and turned it off while they carried-on with the work that they obviously hadn't finished the day before.

My annoyance was with the response from TUI. They completely ignored the problem and sent a reply that was clearly picked off a list.

We are sorry to hear that you experienced issues with the water in your room. I know it is frustrating to be left with little or no hot water, at a time when you wish to use the bath or shower. Unfortunately, this is a common problem in many overseas destinations, where the water systems are much less efficient than we are used to here at home.

It is not always possible for the hotel or apartment manager to fix the problem quickly, as the narrow pipes used overseas mean that it is difficult to transport the volume of water required at peak times. The periods before breakfast and dinner each day are normally the times at which the system is under most pressure and this can also have a knock-on effect to the boiler and heating systems.

They may have had no choice but to turn it off unexpectedly.
not sure why you mentioned engineer in flip flops, you were in greece, dont think they have a H and S executive

I still think you are making a mountain out of a molehill, did you have any bottled water and if not could you have got some fairly quickly