I’m in holiday hell is it even worth complaining to TUI?

[Thisisnotaholiday]

We are currently on holiday at a H10 hotel in Spain booked via TUI. It has been the holiday from hell and we are counting down the days until we can go home. We paid 5.5k for a weeks all inclusive at a 4 star hotel for me, DH, and DC who are 14 and 16. We saved up
for this holiday, read all the trip advisor reviews (rated 4.5 out of 5) and were looking forward to it after an incredibly stressful few months but it’s been the worst holiday ever.

We booked it as a family of 4 under one booking but when we arrived were told we’d be in 2 separate rooms, both on opposite sides of the hotel. We explained at reception we needed adjoining rooms or rooms at least near each other. We were told no. We did consider one adult sharing with 1 of the DC but both rooms only had double beds and what teenager wants to sleep with their parent. And why should they? Eventually reception said if we paid 200 euros we could have 2 rooms on the same corridor which we felt forced to do. I was not comfortable leaving my 14 and 16 year old in a foreign hotel room miles away from me.

DH and I were given a room overlooking the service entrance which means we are woken at 5am every morning by delivery trucks. At 7 am the sewage truck arrives and they spend hours pumping shit into the truck. The noise is horrendous and obviously from 5am we get no sleep. Can’t sit on balcony as view is of delivery trucks all day. Complained at reception and told TUIs contract with the hotel is for the worst located rooms and people booking through TUI are put in the non refurbished rooms. A reminder this is meant to be a 4 star beach hotel and we paid thousands to stay there.

The hotel is about 50% German and 50% Italian. We are the only Brits here it seems who booked via TUI. As a result there is no TUI rep here and we were told the rep is at another hotel about 30 minutes away. We walked there to find the German rep who was horrified and said she’d talk to the hotel. The outcome was that they could move our DC next to us but we said no as their room is on the opposite side of the hotel away from the service entrance we face and I didn’t want them being woke up from 5am too.

I could go on with the other horrendous things that have happened but would be here all day. Is it even worth complaining to TUI, will they even care? It seems like TUI have a shit contract with this hotel where the very few guests they send there way have the worst rooms but still paying expensive prices.

You need to keep trying to complain to TUI whilst you are there and ask to speak to the hotel manager and keep notes if everything that is said.

Keep a note if the names of the people you speak to and date and time.

You will need it all for your complaint.

If you keep complaining they might do something to improve your last few days and if not then it gives you more to add to your complaint when you get home.

Definitely complain. I would have already complained to be honest. Why spend your holiday pissed off to complain when you get back?! I would use social media personally, usually gets a quicker response.

We have complained several times to the hotel manager and we walked 30 mins to another hotel to speak to the TUI rep who we complained too. So we have complained. We’re always at reception complaining, complaining about NO vegetarian food, complaining about our room etc etc

I just wonder if there’s any point making another complaint to TUI when we get home. They’ve got our money so why would they care? Or would they?

I'm so sorry that sounds really horrible.

You need a papertrail now of you raising these issues, just saying you verbally complained when you get back probably won't be enough.
Can you ring TUI directly back in the UK, do you have a number to ring locally with your paperwork. Follow up any conversations with emails etc? Take pictures from your balcony. Evidence as much as you can.

We had a similarly awful holiday to an all inclusive in Ibiza in June with Tui. I have complained but they have basically said because I didn’t take photos and complain at the time (I did but no record of it) they wouldn’t do anything. So whatever you do, complain, report, email, take billions of photos etc etc. We still feel so annoyed about it all. We wasted thousands on a trip that was, at best 3 star.

Yeah you need evidence - names of people you spoke to, ask for an email address for the hotel so you can put it in writing, pictures and audio of the trucks

You should have complained to TUI straightaway tbh. You will have no comeback after you return on anything you haven't given them the opportunity to fix in resort.

Ultimately your contract and the brochure promise (part of your contract) is with TUI not the hotel.

Complain to TUI now don't wait till you are home.

Ring all the no.s you have, email all the addresses now and get on social media.

As well as your complaints to the hotel.

Tui is German owned so will offer same accommodation to other European clients,

Are you on Twitter or Facebook or know someone with plenty of followers? Complain publicly, leave a shit review now on their website/ TropAdvisor with photos of the lorries/sewage at 5am, complain to TUI, the rep, the hotel.

We rang the TUI helpline number whilst we were at reception the first day we got there and were allocated rooms miles away from each other. There was no response. We rang the next day and we’re told to talk to the rep which is why we walked for 30 minutes to another hotel to find her. She gave us her own personal number (she said she shouldn’t but I guess she felt sort for us) and we texted her to say they wanted to move our DC next to us in rooms overlooking the service entrance. Not had a reply yet.

Honestly, we have never been away from reception complaining. My DH practically had a breakdown there this morning saying we can’t cope with being woken at 5 every morning and the stench of constant shit being pumped. It was sad to see. He has worked so hard to pay for this holiday and we have both done loads of overtime at work to pay for it.

Thankyou for comments about taking photos and recording conversations etc I have a truly horrendous video showing the shit being pumped at 5 with the most horrendous noise.

Review on TripAdvisor and trustpilot whilst you are there. According to a TUI complaints Facebook group they respond quickly to trustpilot. Also post on their twitter page and on hotel Facebook page if they have one. I've just returned from a ruined holiday at a hotel that they have now stopped sending people to due to d&v.

Forget about the hotel and off the record conversations with random reps. You need to complain via TUI's social media platforms including the steps you've taken and shit pump videos etc, copy and paste the review on Tripadvisor for the hotel and any other TUI platforms/websites. Do it now.

Complain now!!! NOW.
Don't complain to reception.
Complain to tui via social media or trust pilot like pps have said. Log all your complaints to reception and tui thus far. Take a screenshot of call log to show calls to tui

I would complain but as someone currently involved in a complaint against TUI I would say don't expect a satisfactory response (and good luck)

Ok thanks, this is really helpful. We can’t leave a trip advisor review but neither DH and I are on social media, I know both DCs are on TikTok and Instagram so maybe I can use one of their accounts. Is Twitter the best platform? I can try and set up an account to complain.

Sorry that should say CAN leave tripadvisor review, I am so tired.

You can try to complain but I wouldn't hold out much hope. We booked with TUI last year and vowed never ever again.

Keep a paper trail of all correspondence and complain via Resolver. Be persistent, don’t give up. It doesn’t sound like you’ve received the experience you paid for. Good luck!
https://www.resolver.co.uk/

Complain while you are there. Also if you can record the reception staff whilst you complain we got a full refund when we complained to reception about the dirty room/ corridors/ poor breakfast. Said he was a student on a management programme and this was the shittest hotel in the group. Delivered in a C’est la vie kind of way. Complained at head office on return home. They said their staff would never say that. Sent them the video and they refunded.

You absolutely have to lodge a formal complaint with the Tui rep while you are there. Don't take no for an answer. If you don't you will get nowhere with any complaint.

Although you should definitely complain via TUI, and keep on at them until they do something about it, the hotel should not be using rooms leading to people getting woken up at 5am every day. That's unacceptable whoever you booked through - I would be constantly contacting them, and also the hotel manager, until they agree to give you another room.

I don't think I would have been bothered if my kids were in a different part of the hotel, especially a 16 year old but I understand it was not what you booked. I would be expecting some compensation for every day your holiday wasn't what you were rightfully expecting.

Some of the outcome will depend if you overlooked anything when booking - what rooms did you actually book, if you booked 2 doubles and the lower end of the range of room types, rather than a 4 person family room/suite or refurbed room you are not going to get very far on the rooms being not adjoining as that is never a guarantee. It is a request at best and had you actually put that request through to TUI when booking and also to the hotel before arriving? They won’t assume it.

As for the crap rooms, if it is a room category you booked then again you may not get too far either but the noise disturbance etc is a case of complain complain and complain now to be moved to another room in same category you booked etc

Crux being have they actually breached contract with you, do you actually have anything different to what you booked, whether you realised or not.

Well you can tell them you have posted on mumsnet - loads of us on here will take on board what you have said. I know l will.

Complain on the Facebook page, twitter, Instagram, whatever channels you can to get the issue out there on paper. I'm so so sad this has happened to you.