Has anyone ever sued Tui?

[KatStratford]

We booked a luxury upgraded package holiday with Tui but when we arrived at the hotel, Tui had booked only a basic package for us. No VIP access to restricted areas, no premium restaurants and only a basic room. We tried to resolve it while we were there but even though Tui admitted their error, they did not resolve the problem. We spent most of the vacation trying to sort it out and came home more stressed and in need of a holiday than when we left.

Tui did acknowledge that we had not received the package they sold but their offer of compensation (after further weeks of negotiation) was less than the cost of the premium that we paid. Not to mention the stress, anxiety and lost vacation time that we suffered.

it seems our only option now is to take them to court. Has anyone ever done this?

I'm confused as to wha is the difference between what they are offering and what you've asked for.

OP says in the first post...

So for example she paid £3000 for a premium holiday with extras. She gets there to find that she isn't getting that, she's getting the basic holiday without the extras which was £2000. So she complained and asked Tui to at the very least refund the cost difference between the basic and the premium. And they have offered her less than that.

@KatStratford

I would want more than just a refund of money for the services you didn't receive.

You should receive compensation for having a different holiday than you booked and also for all the hassle on holiday.

This happend to us. Tui rep couldn't/wouldn't sort and as an excuse as to why not was racist about the attitudes of the people in the country we were in. I kicked off repeatedly with the hotel and got moved to a slightly better set of rooms after a cleaner told me they were empty but they were not the ones I'd paid for. Tui routinely ignore all complaints and force you to go to Abta. They will not respond to anything you send them. I did the Abta thing, got offered £400 off another holiday (upgrade cost £750) I could have gone to the next stage which would have cost £120 but I had run out of steam at that point so I just vowed never to use them again.

I had a similar issue with BA. I was helped by Which? The Consumer Site and they advised that BA was part of an arbitration scheme. It might be worth checking if TUI is as well? This involved me filling in some forms and if I lost the maximum cost was £50. It took a couple of months but of course I won and BA paid up.

And they have offered her less than that
Yes, but what they exactly offered?

As others have advised, start with ABTA. Depending on how you paid could you also raise a chargeback claim under the reasoning of not received, or not as described?

In my experience TUI are a dreadful company to deal with. I have booked a holiday through both First Choice and TUI and both times had a lengthy drawn out process to receive compensation/refunds. They most definitely try to make the process as difficult as possible, and the rep in resort did everything possible to avoid taking action. I also found them sneaky/underhand, eg. they sent a bottle of wine and some fruit up to our room as an apology for a specific incident and then when I was following up on the wider complaint back home they claimed I had accepted this as compensation for the issues! I would never book with them again.

Stick with it OP, they'll pay out in the end.