Tui mis-sold

[Iusedtohavefun]

We booked a holiday with Tui last year due to travel 6th June. We specifically booked this hotel as it’s listed as having a heated pool and two play parks. My children ate 1&3 so too young for kids club. Recent reviews suggested the pool isn’t heated and was in fact unusable for small children as it’s so cold and the hotel have since confirmed that the pools aren’t heated and there are not any play parks..

we would never have booked this hotel if it wasn’t listed as having these things. I’ve contacted Tui to find out options. Stated that’s it’s misrepresentation and false advertising and need to be able to change our holiday or cancel. Because it’s within 14 days of h
our holiday, they are really dragging their feet in giving a response, promised calls not happened etc.

just wanted to see if anyone has experienced similar and had a positive outcome? The holiday isn’t fit for purpose if we can’t use the pools and they have no play parks as they were main source of entertainment for our young children

I used to work for Airtours and this would be classed as a minor change to a booking, not something warranting compensation or a change of property. Best you could hope for is price up a couple of neoprene suits in decathlon and ask them to cover the cost. You might get lucky.

pxuld you share the name of the one that was heated in June? I’d like to go please x

Missing the point entirely but wearing the long leg and sleeve wetsuits is really useful for UV protection too! I think children just get on with it. No way I get in a cold pool but my DC couldn't care less

I just don’t get why they don’t beat the pool. We’ve done swim up once and like you couldn’t use it as was freezing. Lesson learned though never booked one again. I understand it costs to heat but holidays cost us a fortune and we deserve some heat

I have a pool I live in Spain. It's unheated. I would be surprised if it's not warm enough for you. The last few weeks it has warmed up nicely. Definitely ok for babies to be in
To answer your question, use twitter for a quicker response. They hate not solving issues publically

Edited to add:
I have never been aware of anywhere that heats their pools in June ... The sun does it then

Completely agree, they were getting slated on the Facebook site and trip advisor, surely they would rather heat them than receive all the unwanted press. X

You can raise a complaint with ABTA about being mid-sold. I’ve done this with TUI, when we booked a Maldives holiday and the images for the accommodation showed a water villa, however when we got there it was a normal villa. It took about a year to go through however we got £800 back.

I really really feel for you OP, I expect that you have been so looking forward to this holiday and counting down the direct debit payments. It’s not cheap and takes an awful lot of thought and planning especially with tiny tots.

It’s not right for it to not be what is promised.

We are honestly having a lovely time with the temperature being so hot here the unheated pool is warm and full of kids.
If you are unable to change I had hoped to reassure you somewhat that there is a chance you might have a nice time in the end.

I think it's unusual for sunshine holiday resort pools to be heated, they don't need it once the season starts?

Tui are a nightmare to deal with if something goes wrong or isn't as stated (look on TrustPilot). They will force you to go to ABTA. We paid an additional £750 to upgrade to luxury rooms that turned out not to exist. Kids were put in a room 20 doors down from us in a room with only a double bed (I have a DS and a DD). I raised merry hell when we were at the resort and managed to get adjoining rooms eventually but it took over a year to get the £750 back. I've never booked with them again. The shop staff will not help so brace yourself for an ABTA complaint.

Have a look at the Package Travel and linked arrangements regulations. There may be guidance in there. I think you might be on a road to nowhere getting it changed beforehand but you might be able to get money back after.

Be prepared for them to get back to you the day before!

I booked with TUI last year and a few weeks before I noticed quite a lot of trip advisor reviews mentioning food poisoning. I rang them and they asked for all of the evidence so they could consider the change and they didn’t get back to me accepting it until the day before. Super stressful.

I would keep ringing.

Yes, we found this. Another time I cut my foot on an unsafe set off steps coming out of a pool and got I think £700 compensation (a year later, going through ABTA). I’m not a compensation chaser but TUI do seem to mess things up with inaccuracies on the website and poorly maintained hotels sometimes. In a hotel right now which we booked through TUI and the swimming pool which was one of the reasons we booked here doesn’t actually open for another two weeks, so I sense another complaint going through.

This would annoy me too OP, as I’ve also got a toddler and we look for similar things in a hotel. Hope you can get it sorted!

The lack of the play park is quite a difference I agree. But many hotel pools aren't actually heated in the Summer season and normally it says on the hotel website in very small print which months they will be heated.

tui def need to update the marketing materials

however I’m in southern Spain at the moment the poop is definitely not heated yet plenty of babies and toddlers and enjoying all the same. Few hotels will be heating their pools at this time of year. The sun does the job.

unfortunately you might not get anywhere but next time make sure you check hotel website and trip advisor very carefully. Were there actual pics of a playground? I would have been wary if none.

tbh except for early and late the play park is too hot to use. But the pool is fine.

You shouldn't need a heated pool at this time of year.

We were in Turkey at easter, the pool was freezing day 1, but 5 days of sunshine later it had warmed up nicely and you didn't need to brace yourself to get in.

By now any outdoor pool in the med should be warm enough, and especially kids pool which is shallow.

I’m afraid I agree with a few other posters. Heated doesn’t mean turned on in June. (It also doesn’t mean warm). It’s unfortunate that you had booked it in anticipation of a guaranteed warm pool, but I have a feeling that the T&C won’t be on your side.

FWIW I booked a holiday with a “free shuttle bus to the resort, only to discover it wasn’t running. That wasn’t fun with a toddler and a 30 min walk, but there wasn’t a lot we could do.

More positivity, it probably will be warm, and your DC could wear a T-shirt or rash vest to keep them warm. Hope you have a great time.

A lot more responses then anticipated - thank you.

As I’ve mentioned, if the advert says ‘just so you know, one of the pools is heated too’. Then the expectation is that the pool is warm and intact heated. Same as the two play parks they advertise, expectation is that they should exist. British airways advert specifically state pools are not heated so can feel cold. Every trip advisor review from the last week. Mentions that the pool is too cold to use. If I’d used another agent to book the holiday wouldn’t have been mis-lead

Ugh I hate how they use the phrase "just so you know" on their marketing material.

Poop is usually warm, and doesn’t require heating 🤣

Would you be willing to link to the offending advert?

I’ve got through to Tui on Messenger before to sort something out, that could be worth trying.

I don't really understand the complaint here (about the pool; the play parks are a separate issue). Surely the question is not whether or not the pool is heated, but the temperature of the water on the day you arrive?

In the OP you say "The holiday isn’t fit for purpose if we can’t use the pools". But if that's the case, presumably you would have checked very carefully at the time of booking that when they say "heated", they meant "heated to 25°", or whatever the minimum temperature is that your 3yo can accept. You're presumably not interested in it being "heated" if the heating is only to 23°, but equally, you presumably don't care if it's not heated if the water is currently 27° naturally.

@samarrange Complaint is that the hotel isnt as advertised. They advised 2 parks on Tui website, they don’t exist. They advised a heated pool. So that by definition that means heated above ambient temperature, meaning it’s more comfortable to swim. Two material reasons for booking the hotel. The hotel has confirmed it’s not heated, recent reviews quote the pools to be unusable due to temperature. The general manager is replying to trip advisor reviews saying it’s a good tip to bring a wetsuit for small children, it’s a pool not the North Sea. Kids can’t use kids club as too young so no pool and no parks means main source of entertainment is removed. We would not have booked this hotel had we had accurate information