Monarch holiday hell - what compensation should I expect?

picard1109

I'd welcome some advice and examples from others about a 'holiday hell' situation with Monarch in Lanzarote in June. (This is not related to the flight delay hell we all had - this is a whole different kind of hell!!)

On day 5 of our holiday, we had an infestation of cockroaches. Early in the morning, they came up through an outside drain, were all over the patio, the walls and in the pool.There were none in the house (except a couple that came in from outside).

Long story short, it took 4 phone calls (each one of which I was on hold for about 10 mins a time), and two days to get anyone round to clean up. Even then, they didn't do a full pool clean.

When I got back to the UK, I emailed a complaint. Took them months to respond, because of the flight delay issue taking priority. Eventually, they sent me an email with a grudging apology, again blaming the management company. Sent a letter with a cheque for £100 and offered £100 flight voucher.

I'm not happy with that - I had two days with no pool, and had to make four phone calls to Monarch. While it is true that the management company let Monarch down, my contract was with Monarch, not with the management company. They never bothered to send anyone to see the problem.

So...if anyone has had a similar problem and received better compension, or has had cause to complain to Monarch and received better compensation, I'd love to know!

Any suggestions about how to tackle Monarch? All advice gratefully appreciated!

PeacefulWaters

Seems like a reasonable offer to me.

dawyldthing

When I had a ant problem in Egypt they just came round and gave us the bottle of stuff to deal with it. I hope the £100 cash isn't for the delay too mind as that's seperate

Gloomendoom

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Seems like a reasonable offer to me.

It does to me too.

Ganga

How much would you like?

leylandsunaddict

It sounds like someone had bug bombed some nearby drains. When they do this the cockroaches move 'home'. We had it happen to us a few years ago. You could hear them scurrying across the pool cover when you were sat outside. The villa owner who lived in the UK just happened to be on the island and as we were regulars they called round to introduce themselves. We told them (they could see for themselves anyway) and they gave us some powder to put down and we bought a tin of spray. Any that had gone in the pool I scooped them out of the pool myself. We kept the villa doors closed until they'd gone.

It never crossed my mind to ask for compensation for something that wasn't their fault and just happens on Lanzarote.

It seems like a fair enough offer to me.

Tigsteroonie

Had a couple of cockroaches appear in our kitchen when on holiday on Menorca. They disappeared back down the same crack/hole before we could put down anything. I never thought about compensation ...

z1a

Not exactly a holiday "hell"was it?

preciousillusions

z1a wrote: »

Not exactly a holiday "hell"was it?

BUTTT they had no pool for 2 whole days!!

Seriously, I think that's a very fair offer.

Potbellypig

Cockroaches in Lanzarote?! You're joking me?!

Heedtheadvice

I have a lot of sympathy for those of us that have had a ruined holiday, even partially.
Most companies try to stick to the letter of the law and regulations as a maximum often trying to get away with much less rather than ensure customer satisfaction -and through that attitude keep prices competitively the rest to maximise turnover and profit. Compensation is not usually entertained very much, reimbursement of entitled costs even requiring serious action by the customer.

In this case it may be that the infestation was no fault of the accommodation provider or Monarch but the clean up action was very unsatisfactory so some compensation seems reasonable to me.

The OP does not mention what was advertised regarding the holiday, the cost of the holiday, and how the loss of a pool for two days should be apportioned (as part of the accommodation). A ten minute wait for phones to be answered is fairly reasonable.

One should not wait till returning home to complain if the clean up was not satisfactory it being reasonable to allow the supplier of the services time to rectify or respond.

In the circumstances, I am surprised Monarch offered anything in compensation for loss of enjoyment and, notwithstanding my poor opinion of some holiday suppliers, I think acceptance of the reasonable offer should be all that is required unless of course it was a holiday costing out of all proportion to that offer from Monarch.

I have had cause to complain (not Monarch) and hardly got a timely response or any compensation. Take the offer and say thank you!