A man whose suitcase never arrived at his holiday destination found it on a truck when he landed back in Manchester Airport.
Peter Mowbray flew to Marrakech from Manchester Airport on August 1 for a "once in the life-time trip" with his wife and son. The holiday was to celebrate the couple's 30th wedding anniversary, reports LancsLive.
However, the family's holiday was quickly tarnished after Peter's luggage - containing all of his clothes and a number of items belonging to his wife and son - didn't arrive with them. The 55-year-old was left with one pair of underpants - which he had to wash daily - and claimed he was left "abandoned in Morocco with nothing" by the airline.
READ MORE: Aintree hospital A&E department closed after fire
The dad said he intentionally travels with a pink polka dot suitcase so that should it ever go missing, it is easy to identify. After landing in Morocco, he said it was the only bag on the flight not to arrive.
Peter said: "So basically, my wife booked a holiday. It's our 30th wedding anniversary this year and it was a holiday full of surprises that I didn't know about. She spent a great deal of time of organising it."
Peter's wife had planned surprise experiences for the family, like the hot air balloon ride, and a 100-mile round trip to see stunning waterfalls. Each was revealed to Peter in sealed envelopes as part of the the couple's milestone anniversary celebrations.
Peter added: "So this was supposed to be a holiday of a lifetime, really, with my son, Bradley, who's 21. So we booked into the Manchester lounge and we had a lovely time in Manchester and we waved our cases goodbye and went and had a nice experience in the Manchester airport lounge."
After landing in Marrakech, the family went to collect their luggage. Peter said "everything" but his pink polka dot case arrived which included his wife's dresses, clothes for events and dinners, as well as Peter's day-to-day essential holiday clothes. At the time, Peter was wearing a tie-dye t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts, both of which were all he had for the remaining holiday.
He said: "That's all I had and the case didn't come out, the case hadn't come out, there was no one to talk to with answers, the coach had gone. Over the week, I was constantly washing I did get a couple of T shirts but they weren't the T shirts that I'd normally buy.
"It got a bit desperate every day. I was asking the reps and the resort but their hands were tied." Peter asked TUI when his luggage would be sent to him and he was told it would be sent over on the next available flight. As the week passed, his case never surfaced.
Peter said: "There's only so much washing of the same clothes you can do and being creative. I had to wear the same shirt every night, I washed it by hand and hung it out to dry. I was embarrassed, it was a really nice hotel and I didn't want to seem to wear the same clothes every day."
A kind holidaymaker offered Peter his Adidas sliders when he was due to depart the resort. Out of desperation, Peter accepted the pair which were too small. Peter, a size 14, made attempts to fit into the size 7 flip flops.
The dad said due to the family's stay in an all-inclusive resort, their budget for spends was set. Using the budget to buy a new wardrobe, rather than using it for his family, didn't feel appropriate.
He added: "So every day, I was washing my clothes and my one pair of underpants, it wasn't acceptable and TUI, the communication from the United Kingdom was shocking." Despite assurances that his case would be located and returned to him while in Marrakech, Peter landed back in the UK in the early hours of this morning (August 9).
At Manchester Airport he said he saw a man with a trolley which had his pink polka dot suitcase on - a moment he described as feeling like a kid at Christmas. He said: "I ran over to it excitedly and said 'that's my case'. It looked like it had been dragged in the field by a tractor."
Peter said while the contents of his bag remained sealed inside, it was without a security tag and there was no sign of it having been searched ahead of his departing flight. Peter said: "It had stayed in Manchester, despite them telling me they could not find it. All I ask from people is that they're honest.
"We paid a lot of money for this holiday and it was meant to be a holiday of our dreams. It was severely tarnished." Since arriving back in the UK, TUI has offered £75 in compensation to Peter equating to £25 per day for the missing bag. It will be paid into his account within 14 days.
He added: "We're not after compensation, we wanted people to know that TUI had told us lies while we were on holiday. They told us they couldn't find the bag and when they do, it will be on the next available flight.
"They did tell me several things, just the things I wanted to hear. I had multiple communications from the UK from various TUI agents. Not one took ownership of it. I want them to explain why they lied to me and why they left me on holiday in a resort that my wife spent thousands of pounds on with no clothes.
"Its easy for them to say, he's reunited with his case everyone is happy, we trusted them with our personal belongings. When we put the bags on the weighing scales at Manchester Airport and waved goodbye to it, I was trusting TUI with my suitcase.
"They are responsible for my luggage from the moment that happens. I am more angry at the sense that they told me lies. I thought they were an honest company and we fly away quite a lot. And I've never had this problem with any other airline."
TUI have been approached for comment.
READ NEXT: Family's heartbreak as 'brilliant' mum-of-11 dies, aged 39
Patients on beds outside Aintree hospital after fire evacuation
Revenge porn veteran conned company out of tens of thousands of pounds
Mum stepped out shower to find ex-boyfriend and gang in her house
Gang took £40,000 in cash after raiding seven convenience stores in a month
