No PCR test results - meaning I could not flight (and no holiday)

March010

Hi - My first ever post! I was due to fly out to Thailand on Boxing Day. As part of entry rules I had to provide negative PCR test. I booked premium high street clinic who promoted 'results by 9:00 AM next day'. I took my test (in their clinic) on Xmas Eve, with expected results by Christmas Day, meaning i could fly Boxing Day.

On the morning of Christmas Day i received an email saying my sample was not 'onboarded by their medical partner at my local train station and it incurred significant disruption on the train line causing it to miss the cut off at laboratory'. They offered either my money back, or free test, as a remedy.   

I was unable to make alternative arrangements (it being Xmas Day) - i've now approached the company for my out of pocket expenses (flights & hotel) - they admitted their courier had let them down & had now severed that partnership. However they will not reimburse me, relying on their T&C's (buried on their website) which state.....

"7.2. We are not responsible for delays outside our control. If the provision of the services is delayed by an event outside our or staff’s control including test transportation, testing and issuing results, then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay if we are aware of such delays"

It does not seem fair, that not only was i unable to take my holiday, but I'm out of pocket too. Currently I've looking to recoup my outstanding costs (below £1,000) but i'm thinking about looking to recoup time spend sorting things out, undue upset etc.

Any advice would really be appreciated.

Thanks
Marc

Aylesbury_Duck

March010 said:

Hi - My first ever post! I was due to fly out to Thailand on Boxing Day. As part of entry rules I had to provide negative PCR test. I booked premium high street clinic who promoted 'results by 9:00 AM next day'. I took my test (in their clinic) on Xmas Eve, with expected results by Christmas Day, meaning i could fly Boxing Day.

On the morning of Christmas Day i received an email saying my sample was not 'onboarded by their medical partner at my local train station and it incurred significant disruption on the train line causing it to miss the cut off at laboratory'. They offered either my money back, or free test, as a remedy.   

I was unable to make alternative arrangements (it being Xmas Day) - i've now approached the company for my out of pocket expenses (flights & hotel) - they admitted their courier had let them down & had now severed that partnership. However they will not reimburse me, relying on their T&C's (buried on their website) which state.....

"7.2. We are not responsible for delays outside our control. If the provision of the services is delayed by an event outside our or staff’s control including test transportation, testing and issuing results, then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay if we are aware of such delays"

It does not seem fair, that not only was i unable to take my holiday, but I'm out of pocket too. Currently I've looking to recoup my outstanding costs (below £1,000) but i'm thinking about looking to recoup time spend sorting things out, undue upset etc.

Any advice would really be appreciated.

Thanks
Marc

I'm afraid I can't see that you have any rights to compensation for your holiday costs.  No provider is going to sign up to what could be an unlimited liability.  I'm afraid it was always going to be very risky to be travelling on Boxing Day, in a period of 4 consecutive non-working days, in a pandemic with such stringent travel requirements.  There's no margin for error.

pinkshoes

Were there no tests on offer Christmas day?
When did the PCR result actually come through?

I'm assuming your holiday was more than couple of days, so could you not have re-scheduled your flight then joined your holiday at a later date once the result came through?

You will need to claim for any losses on you travel insurance if you can.

What exactly does the small print say about delayed results on the T&Cs you agreed to? Which premium high street clinic was it?

Heathrow and other airports have 3 hour PCR services...

Sandtree

March010 said:

Hi - My first ever post! I was due to fly out to Thailand on Boxing Day. As part of entry rules I had to provide negative PCR test. I booked premium high street clinic who promoted 'results by 9:00 AM next day'. I took my test (in their clinic) on Xmas Eve, with expected results by Christmas Day, meaning i could fly Boxing Day.

On the morning of Christmas Day i received an email saying my sample was not 'onboarded by their medical partner at my local train station and it incurred significant disruption on the train line causing it to miss the cut off at laboratory'. They offered either my money back, or free test, as a remedy.   

I was unable to make alternative arrangements (it being Xmas Day) - i've now approached the company for my out of pocket expenses (flights & hotel) - they admitted their courier had let them down & had now severed that partnership. However they will not reimburse me, relying on their T&C's (buried on their website) which state.....

"7.2. We are not responsible for delays outside our control. If the provision of the services is delayed by an event outside our or staff’s control including test transportation, testing and issuing results, then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay if we are aware of such delays"

It does not seem fair, that not only was i unable to take my holiday, but I'm out of pocket too. Currently I've looking to recoup my outstanding costs (below £1,000) but i'm thinking about looking to recoup time spend sorting things out, undue upset etc.

Any advice would really be appreciated.

Thanks
Marc

And what were your thoughts when you saw that clause before deciding to use this company?

I disagree with others that no business could offer guarantees, working in insurance business can take on risk and be profitable, however agree that to date no one is offering any guarantees beyond a refund of the test costs.

Realistically you took a gamble by booking a holiday that needed pre-flight tests knowing the days before are likely to have disruption due to it being Xmas etc. I dont know where you live or the local options but you also booked a next day rather than same day service... though in practice I'm not sure finding out the night more would have made much difference.

When we did our first trip of 2020 the quickest PCR test option was 48 hours and with a requirement of a test within 72 hours of the flight and results uploaded over 24 hours before the flight it was very much brown trouser time and spent a lot of time talking to the different clinics about their processes, location of the lab etc and ultimately went for the one where the lab was 2 miles from the clinic as realistically if all else failed they could walk the samples over in under an hour. 

Unfortunately its a gamble that didnt pay off 

March010

.. the company makes this claim about their services, on their website. I also went into their branch to check that they could still offer this service, even though it was Xmas.

Sandtree

March010 said:

.. the company makes this claim about their services, on their website. I also went into their branch to check that they could still offer this service, even though it was Xmas.

And you need to read what the guarantee is... every one I've looked at (inc the ones I've used) the guarantee is only that you get the money for the test back if the results arent in the promised timeframe.

To be honest the last one was even more ropey as it was a "same day" service however the T&Cs said "same day" was actually until 2am the following morning... not sure there are too many scenarios where that'd make a difference but it just reiterates why you need to read the small print first (this was a test to release and so timing not that important)

Aylesbury_Duck

March010 said:

.. the company makes this claim about their services, on their website. I also went into their branch to check that they could still offer this service, even though it was Xmas.

"Fast" is a little subjective, but they do promise results by 9am the next day.  "Guaranteed" is a little ambiguous.  Did you get a result, albeit late?

Either way, if the result was neither fast, on time, or provided at all, they have already offered a reasonable remedy in the form of a re-test or refund.  That meets their consumer rights obligations.

What insurance cover did you take out for your trip?  Have you checked your policy or spoken to them to see if these circumstances are covered by the policy, and to what level?

March010

@Sandtree - Doesn't seem right. I was told that the clinic were 'no longer using' that courier company. Surely as a consumer you have the right to get the service/product you entered into contract for. I paid a premium price for a premium service, i could have used cheaper mail order provider, but for peace of mind i chose what i thought was a trusted company, who guaranteed getting in back when they said they would.

user1977

"Guarantee" doesn't imply they'll cover consequential losses (e.g. "guaranteed next day delivery" from the Royal Mail only gets you a refund of the postage if they're late).

Sandtree

March010 said:

@Sandtree - Doesn't seem right. I was told that the clinic were 'no longer using' that courier company. Surely as a consumer you have the right to get the service/product you entered into contract for. I paid a premium price for a premium service, i could have used cheaper mail order provider, but for peace of mind i chose what i thought was a trusted company, who guaranteed getting in back when they said they would.

The devils in the detail though, you need to check what the "guarantee" actually is... in different circumstances this would be written as "results by 9am tomorrow or your money back" the "your money" is the money paid for the test not anything else you may have booked being dependent on the test results.

You have my sympathies because there is no one that offers any meaningful guarantee beyond the £100 for the test but it was high risk booking a flight for boxing day to a country requiring pre-flight tests as clearly if something did go wrong getting a same day test on Xmas Day was going to be next to impossible. Even with the best will in the world something can always go wrong.

Hopefully you booked flexible tickets/hotel etc and so were able to cancel them for a refund or reschedule... if not then clearly you just added more risk to the matter. At least in my cases we did airmile bookings that can be cancelled up to 24 hours before the flight and rescheduled within 24hrs of the flight.

March010

During the course of my communication to date; the clinic changed their explanation for not being able to provided results. Initially it was was ‘on boarded on train at local train station, it incurred significant disruption, causing it to miss the cut off at the lab’ - in subsequent correspondence this (conveniently) changed to my sample being ‘lost’

in their t&c’s they state they will take steps to minimise effec. They have not done this.
Everyone was aware of likely industrial action on trains, they should have foreseen this. Effective steps could have been using different mode of transport, or keeping the lab open to process samples.

I know I’m clutching at straws…