How much of a refund would you expect?

[chocolatesaltyballs22]

We splashed out on a 5 star all inclusive holiday in July to a green list country when restrictions were removed. Paid a lot of money for it - nearly £3500 for two adults. Have made a complaint with the tour operator as these were the issues we had:-

Hotel totally full and not enough sunbeds by pool, had to pay for sunbeds on the beach every day defeating the object of paying for all inclusive

Only a third of restaurants and bars advertised were open

Hotel severely understaffed so there was a long wait for anything in any of the restaurants and bars which were open

The one a-la-carte restaurant we managed to get into, we had to walk out after 2.5 hours without dessert as the service was so slow

Main buffet restaurant for dinner had food hygeine issues with raw meat - I won't go into details but suffice to say we couldn't eat there and had to eat out most nights

The tour operator called yesterday and offered me £250 since my complaint was only in relation to the accommodation and the flights were ok. I have rejected this - when you pay for an all inclusive holiday if your accommodation isn't up to scratch you're pretty much screwed. I know adjustments should be made for a pandemic etc etc however I didn't pay an adjusted price.

How much of a refund would you expect for this scenario?

I would be looking for about £1000. As you say the accommodation is a big part of an all inclusive.

Ive never been on an all inclusive in my life as exploring the local cuisine and surroundings is for me part of the travel experience. I would not want to be stuck in a hotel with a lot of tourists. But each to their own.

I had far worse issues than that and couldn’t get a penny out of them

Did you raise this with them while you were there, to give them an opportunity to rectify it? (Even if there was no obvious way to do so, the law entitles them to try).

If so, I’d be expecting a lot more off.

If not, I think you’ll have to settle for less, as they didn’t have the chance to potentially mitigate costs by moving you or whatever. But I’d still go back and push that £250 feels tiny compared to everything that was wrong.

Agree with LtDan I went via ABTA and raised grievances for much worse and got nothing.

memberofthewedding no need to be such a sanctimonious prick

@memberofthewedding

I would be looking for about £1000. As you say the accommodation is a big part of an all inclusive.

Ive never been on an all inclusive in my life as exploring the local cuisine and surroundings is for me part of the travel experience. I would not want to be stuck in a hotel with a lot of tourists. But each to their own.

It's possible to stay in an AI and sample local cuisine and surroundings, you know. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive

OP it's worth pushing a bit more for a better refund but if there were the usual covid disclaimers about certain things not running as usual (e.g. restaurants) you might not get far unfortunately.

I got a nasty bug on holiday and got nothing, I think your lucky to get the 250 for trival things especially as staff could have been isolating regardless of restrictions.

Thanks for the replies so far (except for the snobby all inclusive comment...) Yes I raised with the hotel and the made the right noises but in reality could not have given less of a shit. The rep was nowhere to be seen and their call centre has a long wait so I couldn't be arsed phoning them.

I suspect that they'll say you could have foreseen some of these issues. If a country has had covid and restrictions, the hotel will have fewer staff, thereby meaning that service is slower than usual and some bars etc. will be closed if they have staff isolating / on a furlough equivalent. I'm not sure that it was realistic if you went expecting the whole experience to be "business as usual" to be honest. Having said that, I'd also expect it not to be full of holiday makers, meaning there was no access to loungers by the pool. I'd be more concerned about the numbers of holidaymakers and the impact of them on social distancing etc. especially if there were longer queues.

I would take the £250.

I stayed in a god awful hotel in Turkey with serious food hygiene issues and ended up spending a week in hospital as I became so ill. Loveholidays didn’t refund me a penny.

What on Earth did you expect going on holiday during a global pandemic?
Of course they're going to have staff shortages and things will be slower due to extra cleaning requirements. Lack of available sunbeds around the pool is a normal issue in a lot of AI resorts as everyone hangs around on site to get their fill of free food and drink rather than venturing further afield. The raw meat on the buffet is a justifiable complaint but one you should have taken up with the catering staff in the hotel at the time.
I find it hard to believe that anyone is expecting holidays to be business as usual anywhere at the moment. I'd
take the money offered and be grateful - as others have said they've suffered worse outside of a pandemic and got nothing.

Had they warned you prior to the holiday that services would be restricted?

Is that £250 each,or in total?

£250 in total. No warning prior to holiday that services would be restricted. As I've already said, if we hadn't paid such a high price (ie a price which is usual for this type of holiday) I wouldn't be so bothered.

Unfortunately most hotels have a disclaimer that not all facilities will be available at all times, which removes that liability.

Hotel full and lack of sun loungers is very frustrating, but again could be limited by Covid, I.e. if they had to space them out more than normal reducing capacity. Many beaches have additional charges for loungers, especially if it’s not a private beach for the hotel’s use only. Was it? Although the disclaimer on most websites/brochures that some locally payable items apply would probably remove this claim too.

If the food was unhygienic and you provided photographic evidence to the company (or to the hotel/hotel group) then you may have some possible claim for a refund.

Sorry you had a disappointing trip, but I think £250 is a good offer in this situation

£250 for both of you is a bit feeble.

My friend had something similar a few years ago and got nowhere.
She ended up going to court and got nearly the full cost of her holiday back.

Have you looked on Facebook for the tour operator as they sometimes have groups you can join that people in similar situations who have complained with loads of different advice.

@chocolatesaltyballs22

£250 in total. No warning prior to holiday that services would be restricted. As I've already said, if we hadn't paid such a high price (ie a price which is usual for this type of holiday) I wouldn't be so bothered.

The lack of warning really surprises me. I've seen it on every hotel page I've looked at whilst trying to plan holidays during the pandemic. Very unusual!

Which tour operator was it?

Hotel totally full and not enough sunbeds by pool, had to pay for sunbeds on the beach every day defeating the object of paying for all inclusive

This is entirely standard in most hotels, though.

There’s never as many sunbeds as guests/rooms.

Only a third of restaurants and bars advertised were open

Hotel severely understaffed so there was a long wait for anything in any of the restaurants and bars which were open

The one a-la-carte restaurant we managed to get into, we had to walk out after 2.5 hours without dessert as the service was so slow

These are legitimate complaints if you were not warned in the small print- but I’d be really surprised if there wasn’t wording to cover this. Because again, bars being closed/some facilities not open all the time is quite a regular issue and so small print wording is usually tight. But understaffing and poor service I think is a legitimate complaint regardless.

Main buffet restaurant for dinner had food hygeine issues with raw meat - I won't go into details but suffice to say we couldn't eat there and had to eat out most nights

This is going to be a your word against theirs, presumably? If you’re not going into details can’t really comment but you choosing to eat outside the all-inclusive was your choice.

I’d push them to improve on £250 but I wouldn’t expect you’ll get more than £500 tops.

I feel for you. I am currently in a supposed high caliber and very expensive country retreat.

It's a joke compare with pre-covid. I understand they are short staffed but maybe limit the guests to reflect this.

No room service.
No clean towels.
Complimentary refreshments not replenished
No room cleaning
No turn down service
Cold cooked breakfast when it should be served hot
No condiments
No windows open

Just really poor service in every area.

I'm giving them space as it's obvious the staff are struggling. But filling the hotel to capacity is madness.

Rant over.

I hope you get a decent refund.

I've never stayed in a hotel where there were "enough" sunbeds. In thinks it's standard to have to go elsewhere if you're not nearly enough, unless you're somewhere very luxurious.

I've never done AI either, but based on the one time I did consider it, I don't think £3500 in school holidays is expensive?

Staff shortages are to be expected in a pandemic and there was almost certainly something to this effect in the small print.

Did you complain about the hygiene issue at the time?

It wasn't that you couldn't eat in the hotel, it was that you chose not to because you didn't like the standard of service.

£250 as compensation for poor service, rather than actual losses, seems reasonable to me.

@chocolatesaltyballs22 I guess it will depend a lot on how much of the costs were flights and how much of the costs were hotel. If it was long haul, I imagine the bulk of the cost was flights, and the accommodation may have been cheaper if it was in a less economically developed country? What percentage of the hotel costs does 250 represent?

I would accept the 250 and mid pandemic it's all things that would have thought possible in any hotel.

To clarify, it wasn't school holidays. And the £3500 cost was for two people. Plus, it was short haul. The sunbed thing was the least of our worries even though I listed it first. If everything else had been good I would have been less bothered about that.

@beautifullymad I hope your break improves, it's disappointing when you splash out and it's not as expected.

Tbh, I think the only thing that would possibly get you a bigger refund would be the hygiene issues with the meat (presuming you were actually made ill and can document that- and that being ill had an adverse effect on your stay)
The rest is just, sadly, stuff that happens in hotels. The sunbed complaint I think will end up in their "daft things people complain about" group, (unless it's a guaranteed part of their T&C obviously) The same really with the other things.

I'd take what they offered.