A retired couple suffered 70 hours of delays after both their outbound and return flights on their Greek holiday were cancelled.
John Dawson, 72, and his wife Ann, 65, went on holiday to Crete for two weeks. But the couple suffered 70 hours of flight delays and had the added insult of their suitcases being left behind at Manchester Airport on their outbound flight.
The pair were due to originally fly out on September 2 but their 6.35pm TUI flight from Manchester Airport was cancelled. The pair were taken to a hotel in Stockport where they claimed they were given no information. John, a retired insurance agent, said the following day they were told they would be picked up by coach and taken to Gatwick Airport at 1pm.
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But the coach did not arrive until 3pm, despite them being "kicked out the hotel as there was a wedding on". The couple, from Sheffield, said there was no toilet on board the coach and everyone had not eaten since breakfast. Ann said a pregnant woman insisted on the driver stopping so she could board another coach following behind to use the toilet.
Ann said the driver stopped on the motorway - and "traffic was flying past, we thought someone could get hit". The disgruntled pair said they were given a £20 voucher each for food and drink when they finally arrived at Gatwick Airport but the shops had started to shut.
The weary couple flew out at 11pm to Crete on September 3 - almost 24 hours after they should have been flying. And when they arrived in Greece and went to collect their luggage, they were told it had been left behind in Manchester. John told the Manchester Evening News : "Everybody's luggage was still in Manchester. There were babies with no push chairs. We had no clothes and felt a bit scruffy and a bit fed up. We had to fill in forms to say what our luggage looked like."
The pair were taken by coach to their hotel and eventually arrived at 6am. After contacting a TUI representative in the UK, they were told to buy clothes and toiletries and claim the money back. The suitcases finally arrived at 5pm the following day.
The pair enjoyed their holiday following the 27 hour outbound flight delays. But when they were returning on Saturday, September 17 their flight was repeatedly delayed and finally cancelled. John said: "We travelled 20 yards on a bus to get the luggage off the plane, then we were kicked out of the baggage area and had to hang around for two to three hours. People were sleeping on the pavement outside. As daylight came up we were put on a coach and sent to a hotel nearby for 10am, in time for breakfast."
They received a text telling them they would be picked up at 5pm to fly back at 8pm. But again the flight was cancelled just as they were ready to board. The exhausted couple were taken to another hotel and stayed there overnight before eventually flying home on September 19 at 3.30am - arriving home 43 hours later.
John said: "I understand mistakes in life happen, but there was no correspondence. I booked my holiday in a shop and I don't have modern technology and an app."
TUI told the Manchester Evening News the outbound flight was delayed as a "disruptive passenger" had to be offloaded, taking crew over their maximum legal working hours. The last minute delay meant luggage could not be taken off the flight, but was sent to customers the next day. A spokesperson said: "We fully understand Mr and Mrs Dawson’s frustrations and sincerely apologise for the delays they encountered travelling to and from Heraklion. Whilst we do everything we can to get customers on holiday and home again on time, sometimes there are circumstances beyond our control that don’t make this possible.
"And regrettably in the Dawson’s case, a combination of unforeseen circumstances impacted both their outward and return journeys. Our teams kept in touch with them throughout their delays and we provided accommodation, transfers meals and details of how to claim the compensation they are entitled to under EU 261 regulations. We’d like to thank them for their patience and repeat our apologies for their unfortunate experience."
Commenting on the delayed return flight, TUI said the company "fully understands customers' frustrations" and thanked passengers for their "patience and understanding". The flight operator also stated overnight accommodation was sourced for all customers in Heraklion, that customers were provided with food and drink at the airport and a TUI holiday voucher, that customers were advised of their rescheduled departure time via email and text messages, and that customers are entitled to EU 261 compensation.
The company spokesperson added: "We fully understand customers’ frustration due to the delay of flight TOM2571 from Heraklion to Manchester, which was unfortunately delayed due to a technical fault which meant the aircraft needed to remain in Heraklion overnight."
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