TUI Wedding package

spaghetticonker

Hi all,

We are due to get married on the 1st June 2021 in Turkey. Aside from the rising cases and risks associated with them in turkey at the moment we have not had any correspondance from TUI at all and when we phone up we are just passed from pillar to post with the promise that somebody will phone us.

A minimum of 8 weeks before our wedding we are expected to fill in the legal paperwork that should be sent out to us (it hasn't been, despite us phoning) and we are also expected to travel in Turkey to the capital in order to get a blood test and associated paperwork completed. We have had nothing nor any indication that this will be allowed in Turkey.

I have my wedding dress fitting next week as well as buying suits, bridesmaids dresses etc yet TUI just keep kicking the can down the road and are treating this as just a holiday when it is a wedding too.

Is there anyway i could obtain a refund as as far as I am concerned TUI have not delivered there part of the wedding at all. It is now 6 weeks away and we have had nothing to state the wedding will be held. The lack of legal activity is a major cause for concern.

Thanks

eskbanker

spaghetticonker said:

A minimum of 8 weeks before our wedding we are expected to fill in the legal paperwork that should be sent out to us (it hasn't been, despite us phoning)

[...]

as far as I am concerned TUI have not delivered there part of the wedding at all. It is now 6 weeks away and we have had nothing to state the wedding will be held. The lack of legal activity is a major cause for concern.

Are there specific clauses within the contract that you can point to, to support a claim that TUI are in breach?  There's obviously a huge amount of uncertainty for everyone regarding when restrictions will be lifted, so it's difficult for any company to predict whether or not they'll be able to fulfil their obligations, although that's obviously not much consolation if you've booked a wedding that entails lengthier lead times for planning arrangements than a standard holiday....

spaghetticonker

I'm just digging out the paperwork now. We don't mind going on holiday but so far TUI have not gauranteed anything to us with regards to the wedding that is taking place there. In fact they have been awful, not returning calls or answering any queries. The normal TUI staff refuse to deal with us as it is down to the Wedding co-ordinators to do. It's less than 6 weeks and we have no idea if we are getting married.

TUI are saying to presume that all holidays are on from the 17th May which is fine, great, our issue is that they are not responding to anything wedding related. The passing of the 8 week mark was a major red flag for us. What are the next steps, can i issue an ultimatum to contact us by x date or something?

eskbanker

Realistically TUI can't make any meaningful guarantees about what may or may not be possible in June, as there are so many matters beyond their control, so their stance that you should assume it goes ahead is unsurprising, albeit not as definitive as you'd want.

What's the significance of the 8 week lead time for legal paperwork, is this a Turkish legal requirement that you've already fallen foul of, that's caused by TUI inaction?

If there are nominated TUI wedding coordinators who aren't responsive, then it doesn't seem unreasonable for you to demand some contact - perhaps try their social media channels that'll be publicly visible?

spaghetticonker

We have tried everything, including social media, we have even written to our MP as we have no idea what to do.

There is a whole raft of paperwork to be sorted of which 0 has been completed and should have been sent to us 2 weeks ago as it needs to go to the turkish consulate etc.

We understand the uncertainty about holidays but the Wedding is being ignored completely by TUI an with no ways for us to find out anything. Sorry for what feels like a rant but we are banging our heads against the wall a bit.

eskbanker

You've presumably seen the gravity of the Turkish Covid situation at the likes of https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/turkey/?

I'd be surprised if there was any lifting of travel restrictions there anytime soon, given the shape of those graphs, so chances are your trip will be off anyway, although it's obviously understandable that you still want to hear from TUI....

sheramber

Can you visit a TUI store. Ask to speak to a manager.

Tell them you are not moving until somebody gets you some answers.

 Bad publicity  when other   customers are around can work wonders.

spaghetticonker

So a quick update to this.

I went into the store yesterday and the lady who dealt with me said that there is a note on her system that all wedding bookings for April/May/June need to be forwarded to the management team urgently, considering we are in April now they surely must have seen it before i had to go into the store.

The lady told me not to do any of the paperwork needed for the wedding as it is very unlikely it will go ahead, We have over 50 guests flying out the wedding so that would create its own issues over in Turkey i presume.

Still waiting for a manager to phone me and she said that if i had not heard anything by Wednesday then i was to go into the store again.

Thrugelmir

spaghetticonker said:

considering we are in April now they surely must have seen it before i had to go into the store.

Been furloughed? The stores have only just reopened. 

Ganga

Our local TUI branch has only just opened this week ,closed due to the lock down.