A Dundee mum has hit out at a major travel agency and says she has been left £1,200 out of pocket.
Lyndsey Lauder had been looking forward to a trip to Marmaris, Turkey in October, her first holiday as a family of four.
However, she claims travel agent TUI wrongly told her the trip had been cancelled because of coronavirus quarantining measures and asked her to book a new holiday.
Lyndsey, who had already put down a £600 deposit, says she was then asked to stump up a £150 admin fee and a £467 cancellation fee due to issues with rebooking.
Speaking to the Tele, Lyndsey said: “I was hearing nothing and it was approaching the final payment date for the holiday to Turkey and I didn’t know what to do.
“When I got through to them they confirmed what I had feared, my holiday had been cancelled.
“I was given the option to postpone the holiday to next year instead and looked at Menorca, but I said I needed to go and speak to my husband about it because it is his holiday too.
“There was no mention of an admin fee or anything like that.”
Lyndsey said she waited around a week for TUI to call her back about changing the holiday to Menorca, but heard nothing from the company.
She instead called them and was told the holiday to Menorca was no longer available because they use a live booking system.
She continued: “They then offered a worse holiday in Turkey instead – I was supposed to be going to a four-star resort with lots for the kids, and instead they offered me a run-down, grotty resort with terrible reviews, with flights out of England.
“I have not slept at all and it feels like I have a ball in the pit of my stomach.
“I was so looking forward to going away and having a nice time, but it has been a nightmare and we haven’t even gone anywhere.
Last week Lyndsey was then told her original holiday plans for October 2020 were still scheduled to go ahead, but by this time she had shelled out on a staycation instead.
“I will never travel with TUI again, I don’t even want to hear the name,” she said.
“It has been horrendous.”
A spokeswoman for TUI told the Tele: “We’re sorry to hear about the confusion with Ms Lauder’s booking.
“We can confirm that Ms Lauder’s holiday is scheduled to go ahead and hasn’t been cancelled, and when Ms Lauder has reached out, our team of advisers has explained to her our terms and conditions around cancellation and amendment fees.
“We’ll be in touch with the customer directly to help resolve her issue.”
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