A Scots man has been left around £3,000 out of pocket after a holiday nightmare.
Craig Fraser, 33, had been looking forward to a relaxing getaway with dad Ian, 63, to visit family in America for the first time since the pandemic.
But the holiday got off to a rocky start when their flight from Edinburgh to Dublin was delayed on May 31 - resulting in them missing their connecting flight via Toronto to San Francisco.
When the pair eventually arrived in Dublin, Craig contacted booking agent Trip.com, who he had used to arrange his travel, and claims he was advised to book a hotel and new flights on the app, which would be reimbursed.
But the company have now refused to pay for the majority of Craig's expenses as the nightmare continued while they were in the States.
Speaking to the Record, Craig, from Renfrew, said: "It was very stressful in Dublin airport as we hadn't seen my family since before Covid.
"My dad was getting emotional when he thought we weren't going to make it there to see them.
"It took us four hours to get through to customer service. We eventually got through to someone who told us to book a flight the next day and book a three star hotel, all through the app, and said we would be refunded the expenses.
"So eventually we reached San Francisco a day later than planned, stressed out and still trying to contact Trip.com for the refund to eventually be told we weren't getting a refund."
The stress continued for Craig and Ian when they later found out their return flights home had also been cancelled.
Dad Ian was due to leave two weeks before Craig, on June 14, and only found out he no longer had a return flight when he tried to check-in.
Craig, who works as a joiner, continued: "My dad tried to check in for his flight home but it kept saying they didn't recognise his flight number.
"We then drove to the airport and they said his ticket was cancelled. We couldn't get him booked on the same flight so they must have resold his seat.
"We had to book him on another flight and pay for that too, and he didn't get home on the day that he was initially meant to get home, so this caused a lot more stress.
"We wouldn't have booked and paid for the extra flights over if we had known this would happen.
"It is fortunate we were staying with family because if we were in a hotel and had those extra costs then it could have been a lot worse."
Craig said he later found out his dad's return flight, as well as his own flight home, had been forfeited when they missed their initial flight to San Fransisco.
He has now spent around £3,000 on extra expenses as a direct result of the initial flight delay that led to them missing their first flights to San Francisco.
He had to use his credit card to pay for replacement flights from Dublin, a hotel overnight, two new Covid tests, travel to and from the airport and both return flights home. On top of that, he said he has racked up a phone bill close to £100 for calls to Trip.com.
He claims Trip.com have since only reimbursed him for the initial Dublin to San Fransisco flight that was missed after he contacted them again regarding the return flights.
Craig, who said the ordeal has not only cost him a fortune but also limited what he was able to do on his holiday due to rising debt he faces, is currently still in San Fransisco with family and will fly home on the cheapest flight on July 5.
He said: "I wish I had read the reviews about Trip.com on trust pilot before using the company, because if I did I would have never booked with them.
"One advisor even told me to borrow money from a friend when I told them I couldn't afford to pay for a flight home.
"After this, I'm definitely going to need to work most weekends now to pay off my credit card as I had to put everything on that. I want to pay it back as quickly as possible so there isn't as much interest."
Craig did not have travel insurance for the trip so was unable to make a claim. Ian has submitted a claim to his insurance company for his expenses.
A spokesperson for Trip.com said: “We are sorry Mr Fraser is unhappy with the service he has received from Trip.com.
"We pride ourselves on ensuring our customers have the best possible travel experience with Trip.com and are in contact with him to resolve the concerns he has raised.”
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