A devastated grandad has slammed travel firm TUI after they cancelled his luxury holiday but kept his 'hard-earned' £2,500 due a 'missed payment mix-up' - while his wife battled cancer. Nick Eldridge had booked two holidays for him and his wife Eileen Eldridge with the holiday giant - one to a four-star resort in Mauritius and one to the Dominican Republic in January 2023.
The £5,000 Mauritius holiday was originally booked for November 2021, but due to Covid was rearranged to September 2022 and a £190 admin fee was requested to make the change. As the deadline approached for paying the additional charge on the Mauritius break in June, retired caterer Eileen, 68, was diagnosed with lung cancer and then underwent surgery in July.
Nick claims he received an email warning him that payment was due on a holiday - but crucially that it didn't specify which getaway it was for, merely quoting a booking reference number. Under immense personal pressure, and believing it to be a demand for payment on the Dominican Republic holiday, the 64-year-old rang the branch he booked it at.
The electrical site supervisor says staff reassured him no payment was needed, so ignored the email. It was only when he received an email in July informing him that his Mauritius trip had been cancelled that he realised that it was for that particular trip and that he'd lost £2,580.
Now, the grandad-of-five is appealing to TUI to do what he believes is 'morally right' and refund the four-figure sum after what he claims has been a challenging period for his family. TUI said they sent Nick four payment reminders over text and email over a period of three weeks before cancelling the booking in July.
Nick, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, said: "I'm absolutely gutted. My wife was diagnosed with cancer in June. She had an operation in July to have part of her lung removed and to go on holiday in September was something she was really looking forward to - to get away and relax.
"They've now cancelled the holiday and took £2,580 off us. That's nothing to TUI. We saved so hard for it, we work hard for our money and to have that taken off you is soul-destroying. Did they really think that for £190 I would forfeit a £5,000 holiday?"
The couple had booked the two-week Mauritius trip online in September 2021 and in March 2022 they booked to go to the Dominican Republic at TUI's store in Eastbourne, East Sussex.
In June, Nick received an email to warn him a payment was due on his holiday but claims the email didn't clearly specify which of the two trips it was for.
The dad-of-two then claims he called TUI's store to enquire about any money he might owe on his Dominican Republic holiday and was told he didn't and 'not to worry about it'.
Nick, who says the family 'didn't know if they were coming or going' while preparing for Eileen's major lung surgery, had forgotten about the small additional fee due on their trip to Mauritius.
Nick said: "We booked the holiday to Mauritius to go on November 23 2021. At the time, we paid for the holiday in full but unfortunately due to Covid it had to be rearranged. We put it back a year and rearranged it for September 17 this year.
"They said it would be another £190, which I wasn't happy with because it was a Covid reschedule but I accepted it. They said I didn't need to pay it then - I could pay it nearer the time. Between then and June, we booked another holiday from TUI in store in Eastbourne to the Dominican Republic to go next January.
"We got an email in June to say that there was a payment due on my holiday. When it came through, it didn't say 'there's a payment due on your holiday to Mauritius going on September 17'. It just says there was a payment due for my holiday.
"I thought it was for the holiday to the Dominican Republic. I phoned up the branch and said 'do I owe any money?' They said 'no you don't'. I explained I'd had this email but they said not to worry about it. I thought there'd been a mistake there so I didn't do anymore.
"Right at that time was when my wife was diagnosed with lung cancer. Of course, our minds were everywhere at the time and we didn't know if we were coming or going.
"In July, I took my granddaughter on holiday to Turkey and that was when TUI sent some more emails to us, which I didn't get because I was away. My wife just happened to look and saw there was a cancellation. They'd cancelled our holiday because I hadn't paid the £190."
Frantic Nick then claims he called TUI while in Turkey to explain the situation and try to salvage their much-needed break - but was eventually told it wasn't possible and he would instead lose the money.
Nick said: "I called them to say I'd pay it and didn't realise it was for that holiday. With everything going on, it went out of our heads. They said they'd cancelled it now and we couldn't. We also had to forfeit 50% of the balance which is £2,578.
"They just kept talking about terms and conditions. I said 'you might be right there but are you morally right to take that money off me given what's happened?' We went on TUI's email complaints and it took weeks for them to get back [to us]. They got back to say it'd gone through to the wrong department.
"I eventually got through to someone on the phone and explained again what happened. She told me I could reinstate the holiday for £100 per person. I said we'd do that. She said the hotel wasn't free anymore so I said we'd pick another hotel. After being passed on to someone else, they told us we couldn't do it. We'd have to cancel the entire holiday and re-book, forfeiting the £2,578.
"I was really aggrieved that they didn't even listen to the circumstances we have been under, to even come to some sort of middle ground. It was just 'we're taking 50% of your holiday and that's it'.
"All it needed was for them to say 'your holiday to Mauritius'. They put an eight-figure booking reference, which I didn't take any notice of and not thinking straight, I thought it was the Dominican Republic holiday."
TUI said it sent Nick four payment reminders over text and email over a period of three weeks before cancelling the booking on July 21.
A TUI spokesman said: "At the time of booking, we make customers aware of any payment dates and when their final balance is due. We can confirm that Mr Eldridge was notified on three separate occasions that the payment for his holiday was overdue. As per our terms and conditions, as no payment was made following the final reminder, Mr Eldridge’s holiday was subsequently cancelled."
