Complaint help - arbitration?

MrsB071216

Hi, I’m looking for some advice.

My family and I recently travelled on an all inclusive holiday with Jet2holidays. We booked for 4 adults and 3 children, one of the adults is severely disabled and wheelchair bound and so a disabled room was requested (and confirmed by Jet2 prior to traveling). Upon arrival, it transpired that hotels only disabled room was not available and the alternative room given was not at all suitable - not wheelchair accessible, no grab rails, bathroom so small that he was unable to access it at all. We had to stay the night there despite this as the rep was unable to find anywhere suitable at such short notice, meaning my father had to be carried to the toilet in the middle of the night by his son in law, obviously a humiliating experience for him.

As a result, we were forced to move to another hotel in a totally different resort. We made it clear to the rep that we needed the same facilities as the hotel we had booked and also to be in a flat area. She assured us we would get “like for like”. Unfortunately this was not the case. We were also told we would have to make our own way there - at a cost of €60 - when we contested this we were told it was ok because they were refunding us £390! This was because we were moving from a 4* to a 3*. They could not provide proof of how this amount was worked out when we queried it (as we felt it was less than we should have received).

The new hotel was the polar opposite of the one we had originally booked. We had booked this specific hotel because it was child oriented (lots of kids activities/entertainment, kids food options / dining area, kids pool with lots of slides etc). At the hotel we were moved to there were no kids clubs, no entertainment of any sort, the pool was 1.35m deep at its shallowest part -no good for my non swimmer 6 year old or 18 month old!, the food was sub par and there were no kids options, there weren’t even any other children staying there! Also the resort we had booked was mostly flat, lots of accessible bars/restaurants, the new resort was hilly and had steps to most places, not at all suitable for a wheelchair.

Our whole holiday was ruined by Jet2’s mistake. With the exception of the flights, the holiday that we received was not even remotely similar to the one we booked. Also, we the whole of the first day sorting out the problem and the second day moving resort so 2 days of 7 were effectively lost.

When we returned, I immediately sent them a letter of complaint. They offered £700 in compensation (amounting to £100 per person) which we felt was not a fair amount considering the impact on our holiday, lack of enjoyment as well as the stress caused to our family, in particular my disabled father who remains depressed because he feels as though he “ruined” our holiday.

We escalated our complaint to ABTA but Jet2 have not changed their position and so we are now considering arbitration. I suppose im looking for reassurance that this is the right action to take? Should we just give up and take the £700? Does anyone think we have a case worth pursuing?

Thanks

richardw

Jet2 are a get lost company, this is evident in what they did to Mr Huzar and his family. He fought and won his case.

What they did to you and your family is appalling. £100 per person is not enough.

Do you mean ABTA arbitration?

MrsB071216

Yes, I meant ABTA arbitration. Although we may go the small claims court route instead, but I think that would be more costly for us?

Alan_Bowen

I am sorry to read your story, when you think you have done everything to ensure a good holiday, having it ruined like this is a huge disappointment. To some extent, the level of compensation must be relevant to the cost of the holiday and its length if you only travelled for 7 days rather than 14 the impact is greater. It seems for your father at least, there is was little or no enjoyment whatsoever being in an unsuitable hotel in an unsuitable resort and that will have impacted the rest of the family of course. If the cost was £300 pp then £100 each might seem reasonable, although I think your father may well deserve a lot more, if it was £1000 each, it clearly isn't.

ABTA arbitration is a lot quicker than the county court and can be done entirely on paper, if you have photographs so much the better, customers win the majority of claims and Jet2 Holidays has to make a payment as well which sometimes encourages a settlement, they do not have to pay at the start if you issue court proceedings. Work out how much you think the claim is worth, maybe 75% of the cost for your father who got no enjoyment whatsoever and a reasonable figure for the rest of the family who didn't get what they were expecting in terms of quality and facilities. Write one final, pleasant, letter and finish by saying that you have been advised to go to arbitration if you do not hear from them within 14 days.