A Dundee couple were forced to fork out £130 for a taxi to Edinburgh Airport after a bus they booked failed to show up.
Ross Morrison, 55, was looking forward to attending a concert in Germany with his wife Amanda and sister Hazel Connelly last weekend.
But the trio were among around 40 passengers stranded in the city centre at 4:30am on Saturday after the Xplore Fly coach didn’t appear.
The healthcare worker now claims the bus firm have refused to compensate him the £130 fare – and instead refunded him just £22 for the bus tickets.
Ross said: “No bus appeared at 4.30am.
“People started panicking and started speaking to taxi drivers
“It got to 4.55am and we thought, ”We can’t risk this anymore’.
“We went online and there was no updates or information.
“The taxi driver said it was going be £130.
“It’s not an ideal start to your holiday”.
Believing he would be compensated for the journey, Ross held onto the receipt for the duration of his trip.
But upon returning home two days later and visiting the Xplore Dundee office, Ross was told by staff he would not be refunded for the taxi journey as it was not company policy.
He said: “We couldn’t believe it.
“Basically we were sent out the shop with £22 back for the bus tickets.
“But they had failed to give us the £130 for the taxi.
“I was absolutely raging at the way at the way I was treated and the way my family was treated.”
‘I am just gutted’
Ross had been looking forward to the trip since last October when he booked tickets to see one of his favourite bands, Depeche Mode, perform in Dusseldorf on Sunday.
He said: “I am a health care assistant at Ninewells and this is my first holiday since Covid.
“This was a little break for us.
“It really, really appals me that they treat people like this.
“People who relied on their business are now out of pocket because of their ineptitude.
“I am just gutted.”
Xplore’s Fly service is the only direct public transport link between the city and Edinburgh Airport.
Cancellation due to ‘driver availability issue’
A spokesperson for Xplore Dundee said: “We apologise to customers who were affected by the cancellation of our 4.30am Fly service between Dundee and Edinburgh Airport on Saturday.
“Unfortunately we had to cancel the service due to a driver availability issue and whilst some passengers were able to utilise our 3am and 6am services instead, we recognise the inconvenience this particular cancellation at short notice may have caused to some passengers.
“We have processed refunds for those passengers who had purchased tickets in advance and were unable to use them on an alternative service and we have been contacted by some customers who have specific points they wish to raise with us.”
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