A dementia support group claims it has lost more than a thousand pounds after booking two trips with a Welsh coach company which stopped responding to them. Sue Davies, who heads the dementia care group at the White Rose Resource Centre in New Tredegar, booked the two trips with Merthyr Tydfil -based firm Travel With Matthew (TWM) Holidays
In January, she booked a day trip to Paignton in Devon which would later take place in June. In March, she also booked a five-day holiday to Paignton which would go ahead in September.
However, the 70-year-old said she became concerned after hearing the company had cancelled a number of its customers' trips. Sue claims she rang the company numerous times and even visited its branches in person over the last few weeks, she said nobody was able to confirm that her trips would be going ahead.
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Travel With Matthew Holidays did not answer WalesOnline's request for comment in relation to the group's claim, but a spokesperson previously said they were dealing with "devastating issues with a former employee" that had cost the company "just over £85K in contracts which had not been actioned correctly".
Sue said: "I visited their branches in Merthyr, Porth and Treorchy but they were completely empty with just a few brochures in the windows. Last Thursday, I rang the phone and got through to a man who said he 'thinks' they are going ahead. Since then I have been ringing but I can't get through to anyone."
Sue said the day trip cost £483 for 21 people, while the holiday in September required a £50 deposit each for the 13 people attending, totalling £650. The holiday itself cost £4,000 in total, but this has not yet been paid. It means for those attending each trip, they have been set back by around £75 - which was paid up front and in cash on both occasions. To get the latest news from Merthyr Tydfil straight into your inbox, click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
Concerned, Sue said she called the hotel in Devon where they were supposed to stay during their five-day trip in September. She said: "They said no booking had been made even though we had already paid our deposit [to TWM Holidays]."
Instead, Sue said the group paid coach company Acorn for transport. She said it made her sad to think members of her group had been left out of pocket through no fault of their own.
She said: "I have early onset dementia myself and I decided to get a group together for people living with dementia and their carers because in lockdown the support for us stopped. These trips are something for them to look forward to and to give them an extra quality of life and now we have lost money."
In early April TWM Holidays issued a statement to WalesOnline which said "a number of contributing factors" led to some of the issues raised by customers. It also included an apology and said a brand-new admin department had been appointed.
The statement said: "Throughout the year of 2021, we faced some devastating issues with a former employee. There is an ongoing investigation that prevents us from providing specific details. The employee in question has sadly cost the business just over £85K in contracts which had not been actioned correctly...We understand and have recognised that we have fallen short on our usual standards of service, despite our very best efforts to recover from this impact as quickly as possible. We are a business, that has been trading for just three years, and two of those years we were unable to do what we aimed to do best, with lockdown restrictions in place. As a business, we want to acknowledge where we’ve gone wrong, and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this has caused our customers."
TWM Holidays has been approached for further comment.
