Holiday disasters

If we have worked hard during the year saving for a holiday and looking forward to a well-earned rest from work we can be forgiven if we find it difficult to accept excuses when the holiday is less than we expected.

Sometimes the disappointment is not really anyone’s fault. Much as we like to blame the weather forecaster when we spend the ‘barbeque summer’ dodging torrential showers, or when we experience the rarer ‘heat wave’ and end up stuck in a 10-mile tail back on the motorway to the seaside, these events are largely out of anyone’s control.

However sometimes we can rightly claim that someone else has let us down or is responsible for our ‘holiday disaster’.

There are some things you can do to minimise the risk of a disaster occurring. Careful planning and budgeting should help. Make sure you are clear about what you want from your holiday and talk to the travel agent or tour operator to confirm that your holiday ticks all boxes. Make sure you understand the potential difficulties that may arise if travelling to an unusual destination and make sure you take out appropriate travel insurance to protect you against unforeseen circumstances.

Where possible make sure your tour operator is a member of a Trade Association, such as ABTA, ATOL, or AITO, whether you are booking by phone, internet, teletext or in a travel shop. This will help to ensure some protection should your holiday company go bust. It is also wise to check the Terms and Conditions covering your holidays carefully – these can usually be found towards the back of the brochure. You may have a claim against your travel operator if the holiday they provide does not match with the description of the one that you were sold.

If you are on a package tour and after arriving you become unhappy with arrangements contact your local representative as soon as possible, to let them know your concerns. If possible, get them to put the complaint in writing so you have proof you reported it. If your complaint is serious try to gather evidence such as photographs, video film, names and details of other holidaymakers who could act as witnesses. If you use photographs or video as evidence of the problems, ensure you use an entire film on the subject. If you pursue your complaint through the legal system you would be expected to produce all photographs or video footage on that particular film.

Making a complaint

If you are unhappy about your holiday travel booking or package holiday you can complain to:

the tour operator if the holiday was a package holiday
the provider of the accommodation or transport if it was not a package holiday
the travel agent if your complaint is about additional services which they arranged for you.

If the holiday was a package holiday, anyone who went on the holiday can make a complaint however if your holiday was not a package holiday, complaints can usually only be made by the person who booked the holiday.

If you paid by credit card and the holiday cost more than £100, you can may be able to make a claim against the credit card company, so you should copy your complaint to them.

If you are unsuccessful in resolving your holiday problem after complaining to the trader, you may wish to consider using an arbitration or mediation scheme, such as those operated by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) or the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO). This type of scheme is called an alternative dispute resolution scheme – see under section ‘Considering Litigation’.

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