TUI saying my holiday going ahead as normal, yet hotel tell me they are closed for 2020

[Deleted User]

This isn’t a rant, just an accurate description of my dealings with TUI this year. I hope it helps at least one other person.

Holiday booked February 2020 for 2nd August 2020. Email on 7th July stating holiday going ahead as normal. No information about what restrictions in hotel or resort so emailed hotel on 15th July. They replied in two hours stating that due to virus and cancellations they are not opening in 2020. Between 7th and 15th July I had checked TUI website and my hotel was still advertised for bookings this year, including my dates. After 15th my hotel and others in the resort are greyed out and no bookings are now available for my hotel this year.

I didn’t want to go on holiday as I would not feel safe anyway, plus the need for masks and restrictions would seriously damage my enjoyment, so the fact I won’t be going does not bother me. However, TUI have not contacted me to tell me that, nor offer means of refund. (If I booked exactly the same holiday next year the price has gone up from £1,559 to £1,960, or over 25%).

On 15th July I contacted TUI by the only means available, phone 0203 451 4326. Waited 20 minutes, hung up and got through in 5 minutes. Call handler told me my holiday was going ahead as normal. I told her about the hotel not opening. She put me on hold and then told me that there was an operational change taking place in my booking, and I’d be contacted by email or phone mail with options to rebook etc. She also said that my case had been “escalated”.

Five days later, having heard nothing apart from automated email reminding me that me holiday was only 13 days away and of things I should remember to do, I contacted them again. Not so fortunate this time. 1 hour and 45 minutes. Again the call handler told me that my holiday was going ahead as normal. I had already told her that the hotel was not opening this year. I asked for my complaint about lack of communication to be noted. I was put on hold. I waited. And I waited. After several minutes she came back on the line and told me she had noted my complaint, that there was nothing else she could do, nobody else I could talk to (including her supervisor or manager) and that I would have to wait until the “holiday team” contacted me. In other words, all she told me was what I could have seen by logging  into my account. I asked her what “escalation” meant as mentioned by the other call handler. Her reply was that she had no idea what that meant or why she would have said that. She told me that the only record on my file re the other call was that I had been told that my holiday was going ahead as normal.

I told her that I had recorded both the previous call and the current one (I had and was, directly to my PC and backed up five times) that I had listened to the recording and was sure of what was said. There was nothing she could say.

My booking still shows that it is going ahead, accommodation as I had booked in February in a hotel that I know is closed and will remain closed this year.

I have emailed the CEO of TUI. I know that he will not see the email, but somebody will eventually deal with it in some way or other. I sent it to officially record what has happened, and to have some documentation should this come to litigation. I’ve also saved every email and item of correspondence, screen shots etc, like the phone recordings backed up 5 times)

At time of writing my booking shows that there are 11 days and 17 minutes until my holiday begins, still staying at the hotel which will be closed, and no means at all to contact TUI apart from using their call centre number. The call handlers have no means of doing anything apart from reading out what is on the screen, so I might as well just log in on my PC. I am now going to email the BBC radio programme You and Yours to see if they are interested in this fiasco as an item for their programme.

I am putting this on the forum as a cautionary tale for anyone who is due to go away with TUI, whether next week or later this year. Do not believe what their emails say, or what is shown in your booking online. Contact the hotel directly as you are more likely to be given accurate information, or, to put it another way, the truth.

If I had not checked with the hotel I could have followed TUI’s advice and obtained a foreign currency card, incurring bank charges as I did.

I was courteous to the call handlers, and though I told them of my annoyance and anger with TUI as a company, I thanked them for their time. It is not their fault that they are working for a multi-national, multi-million-pound, second rate company. After all these months of dealing with the pandemic they have still not realised that without loyal customers their business is nothing, and so they should be treated with respect and given meaningful help. The call centre “help line” is, in my case certainly, only there to placate customers.

I would urge all those people who have been treated badly by TUI this year, and who have stated that they won’t be using TUI again, to not let time fade their memory. Stick to your resolve. I will never again, under any circumstances, give another penny of business to TUI, nor their associate and subsidiary businesses, even if it means foregoing a holiday. (I know that other companies have dealt with customers in a similar way, so don’t think I’ll just be moving my money to them next holiday time). Businesses only react when customers stay away.

bradders1983

Too long, didnt read.

bagand96

As frustrating as it is, you have to keep in mind the current situation.  We are in the midst of a global pandemic, and are now emerging from a period of virtually ALL European leisure travel ceased for 3 months.  If anything, for the tour operators the situation now is far more complex than it was in April or May when all bookings were cancelled.

The situation now is trying to keep up with ever changing Government travel restrictions and requirements (both here and abroad) as well as local hotels deciding whether to open or not individually.  It's a huge task, and a workload that TUI are clearly struggling to cope with (and TUI are by no means alone here).  It's easy to berate them on a web forum, and to say "they should keep customers informed" but it's easier said than done.  They only have a finite amount of staff resource, and would never have planned on their entire business being thrown into so much turmoil.

I'm not making excuses for them - it's just the facts of the situation.  Keep us updated though on if and when you hear from them and what they say (keep in mind the T&C's under which you booked allow TUI to change your accommodation to one of the same official rating).

Your poor choice of obtaining foreign currency would never have been TUI's issue in any event.

Enjoy your Jet2 holiday in 2021.

JGB1955

It's still likely that your holiday WILL go ahead - just that you will be accommodated in a different hotel.  Don't write it off yet!

Hasbeen

bradders1983 said:

Too long, didnt read.

LOL Rather long. But the OP did at least manage to break it up a little unlike some Newbies.  It is a rant though!

OP:
TUI will either cancel your holiday nearer the time and give you a full refund. As they have done with thousands/thousands of customers. If no planes are departing? 

Or if the airline is flying  and hotel is actually closed, they will provide alternative accommodation to the same standard as you have booked.

Look at your T&Cs to verify. What you agreed to?

At the moment looking at posts and through personal experience TUI now appears to be one of the best at either giving large discount on new holidays or actual cash back as refund. Some company's appear to be giving only vouchers??

Yes, they did have problems at the start, overloaded with refund requests etc and disgruntled customers, but it appears they have now rectified that problem. SIL had cruise booked, TUI I believe offered 20% off next holiday with voucher that if you wanted cash refund you went on TUI site entered voucher number and cash was then authorised back. £4500 no problems.

So at the moment suspect your holiday will go ahead.

Enjoy your holiday