Tui refusing to let my wife on her flight, boarding cruise passengers instead

The_miser_2

I am finding this difficult to believe. My wife flew to Montego Bay Jamaica on 6th March her return leg is today, 17th March. Tui are saying her name is not on the flight, she has all the paperwork with her showing the flight is paid for and booked. Despite this, they are refusing to let her board saying 'they need confirmation from the airline' meanwhile they are putting people from a cruise ship on the plane. It is impossible for me to contact TUi, God knows I have tried. She is insured and I know eventually they will have to pay dearly for this. But that does no good, she needs to get home urgently. But it seems Tui are going to leave her stranded in Jamaica so they can get their cruise passengers home. What can I do is there anyway i can contact someone higher up to sort out this injustice? ASAP

Caz3121

did she book the flight with TUI? online/instore?

Westin

Without visibility of her booking or travel documentation it is hard for anyone here to know for sure what has happened.

There are six TUI departures ex MBJ today, two into Gatwick.  Might seem obvious but has she approached the correct checkin?

There will be TUI agency staff at the airport, so if talking to her it might be best if you direct her to them.

The_miser_2

OK, flight booked direct with TUi, we have an account, so all bookings are listed, flown with them and never had an issue until now. 
 All paperwork present and correct, Airport check-in ,no issues my wife knows the airport very well.
This is what Tui has done, they evacuated a cruise ship and placed the passengers directly onto the plane. All passengers who were previously booked on that flight (not just my wife) were told they could not board and would have to book into a hotel, a flight would be arranged for them on Thursday instead.
 No one was told of this in advance, so you had a planeload of TUi passengers with luggage ready to go home, turned away with little explanation so were confused, and ( rightfully) upset in the airport.
 The TUi rep at the airport lost it completely, told everyone they had to find their own way to the hotel, no help was offered at all, then she ran off.
 My wife refused to go to the hotel as due to the coronavirus situation she did not want to closeted with a mass of people so we arranged more suitable accommodation with a colleague.
The new flight is Thursday 19 March 16.15 local time, just heard Gatwick are banning night flights so I don't know if this flight will be affected as no ETA has been given.
 Do I submit the insurance claim now (Columbus Silver Single Trip), wait until she gets back (if she does) or notify them of the ongoing situation? With Tui do iI use their online flight delay composition form or another route as there failure to inform in advance may mean extra cost and distress?

bradders1983

The flight will likely land at Gatwick just as the restrictions lift around 5/6am GMT

Westin

"Do I submit the insurance claim now (Columbus Silver Single Trip)" - No
" wait until she gets back (if she does)" - Yes and of course she will.
" or notify them of the ongoing situation? " - No, they are busy with other matters.

Calm yourself. Take stock.  Things happen.  Travel disruption is unfortunately happening at the moment. Your wife will be home shortly and hopefully can take control of you.

The_miser_2

Westin, if I wish to be patronised I would post elsewhere.
 I need advice on the way to submit claims, complaints etc... whether to use the TUi online claim form as well or use another route.
When I have had issues with delays, cancellations etc.. before I have submitted a straight forward claim.
This seems different and may need another tack.
 Also how do we go about reporting the Reps rudeness and desertion of the passengers?
If you or anyone else could help with some knowledgeable advice, void of snide remarks, I would be grateful.
Things happen of course they do, and more so in the middle of a world health crisis....we are all aware of that.

Ganga

The_miser_2 said:

Westin, if I wish to be patronised I would post elsewhere.
 I need advice on the way to submit claims, complaints etc... whether to use the TUi online claim form as well or use another route.
When I have had issues with delays, cancellations etc.. before I have submitted a straight forward claim.
This seems different and may need another tack.
 Also how do we go about reporting the Reps rudeness and desertion of the passengers?
If you or anyone else could help with some knowledgeable advice, void of snide remarks, I would be grateful.
Things happen of course they do, and more so in the middle of a world health crisis....we are all aware of that.

I am sure that Westin was not being patronising if anything I have found him to be helpful and certainly knowledgeable ,as we were not at the airport we cannot give you to much guidance but I am sure your wife will be home soon.

There are thousands of people in a similar predicament as the world spirals into problem after problem ,also if you think that you can claim off TUI for flight delay etc I think this will be covered under " extraordinary circumstances "

The_miser_2

The issue is not the delayed flight, we do expect some difficulties in these extraordinary circumstances, it is how TUi handled it.
1. I have found that they had planned this action a few days before, they had rebooked my wife on the Thursday flight (she was due to fly out on Tuesday) and updated their records, yet they did not contact her (or it seems any of the other passengers). Resulting in a wasted trip to the airport and the resulting chaos, who wants to be unnecessarily milling around in a crowded airport in these times?
2. As this was preplanned and a hotel already booked for passengers to wait a couple of days for the flight they were now booked on, why was no transport arranged instead passengers were told to make their own way? 
3. The Rep who was not just unhelpful but belligerent, extremely rude to the passengers and actually ran off when asked for info.
Thankfully my wife landed safely this morning, has been collected and is on her way home as I write this.
My queries are:
1. As these were not ‘extraordinary’ circumstances' but an arbitrary rebooking by Tui does this qualify under EU flight delay compensation legislation EC261?
If so do I use the online claim procedure as provided by TUi or go another route?
2. Can I make an additional claim for expenses to cover the 2 additional nights as my wife refused to go to the hotel as transport was not provided and found her own accommodation? 
3. Can she claim for the 'distress' caused by Tui failing to inform her of the change and the subsequent situation at the airport?

warby68

OP you may be 100% in the right and owed millions, or rather your wife is but I know what I would be grateful for right now - that she is home and safe after only a couple of days. The rest pales into insignificance, purely due to the times. 
Holding everyone strictly to account and as soon as possible, as if these were normal times is both self-centred and unrealistic and, before you say it, I  don't particularly care if you find this patronising or snide. Much as you won't like it, it is genuine advice - to get some sense of proportion and perspective - just not on where the online complaint forms are right now.

bradders1983

If you don't think this qualifies as "extraordinary circumstances", you will more than likely be mistaken.
Your wife chose not to go to the hotel provided, she should have made her own way there and then attempted to claim the transport cose back later, you are more than likely going to get nowhere there.

As for the latter....what monetary amount are you after for "distress"? You are aware the global aviation network is collapsing around us? Your wife is home, be thankful and put that element of it to bed.