Airtours

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In 2003
I paid £280 pound for a name on arrival holiday promised to be 3 star.
I choose rhodes as it looked beautifull.

I went alone so requested a secure place where i could sit on a balcony and watch the pool if possible.

I was dumped in a rotting broken down building right on the end of pefkos, with no lighting, no raod lighting and basically after dark i was cut off,

10 ft down the road, the road! had fallen into the sea so teh beach i was assured i had was no longer thier and i was advised when i arrived by locals that teh slide was 15 months previouse to my holiday.

Everything was broken in the appartment, and the sheets where ripped and rotten.
No mosquito blinds and no nets, i came home with 76 bites in all.

I complained to the companies rep who stated i had missed the morning meeting,
The morning meeting had been written on a post it note stuck on the dirty mirror in my appartment, which had fallen on the floor before I had arrived.
but the rep being full of him self was having none of it and made sure the whole situation was my fault.

So i was denied a move.
the woman who owned the appartment owned the bulding that Airtours was using in pefkos.

As Airtours sent me to see the Owner of the building, who was a local and Ii knew then I was out of my depth.

I came home and wrote to the Rhodes embassy who replied once for more information and I never heard from them again.

Since this holiday I am being treated for Lyme disease, Bartonella which Is carried by wild cats,fleas and ticks, it causes neuro and physical illness.
Maybe the wild cats (in and out of my room all night due to scorching weather and no nets.)
Which caused my 76 bites had something to do with it
I have now been sick 3 years,
Thank you Airtours

[Bookworm]

Writing to the Embassy wouldn't sadly make any difference.

You need to write to Airtours head office, although they might query why it took you over 2 yrs to lodge a complaint. It certainly will be hard to prove that your medical problems stemmed from then.

However, it is likely that you wouldn't have been the only one to complain about such poor standards, so it could still be worth writing.

[BankFodder]

Well, yo have left it rather late, but you do have 6 years to bring a claim for a breach of contract. Have you received any compensation from them and if you did, then did you sign anything which said that it was in full settlement?
Also, do you have any evidence that the illnesses which you suffer stem from that holiday experience? Do you know anyone else who was on the holiday with you? Do you have any photos?

[Maxie]

If what you have said is 100% correct there was a The breach of contract, brach of duty of care and misrepresentation. These holiday claims can be complex and even if you are in the right, holidays companies can be a little 'slow' in accpeting liability, shall we say.

I can see some serious causation problems with a claim for your ill health. Lyme disease can be picked and lie dormant in the body so unless you had excellent medical it was only as a result of you visit to Rhodes there could be a good defence. however, Bartonella is rather different, if I remember rightly its a tropical disease so not endemic to the UK.

As for the hotel etc not being what you paid for and was agreed to, that can be actioned on.

As for taking 3 years to make a claim? Seems to me you've been too ill to cope with a case but now are feeling better.

I'd love to help you out with this.

[breadline]

Oh Sorry
I did do this in 2003 on my return, sent photos and quotes etc, Airtours ignored so i sent to the embassy.

i dont think much could happen this far ahead now, but i wrotethis to emphasis that if someones health is not cared for , please insist on better care.

thanks
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[breadline]

i had no ideal i could make a complaint with in 6 years,

Maxi i know the Bartonella is a far stretch and to prove it is dier, to prove it for medical aid is a nightmare.

I didnt actually think of going for a cliam again untill i read the 6 years to apply.

The embassy will have my letters logged in 2003 and i can state that Airtours was sent a letter a month before.

Anyone know what amount a hooliday provider would have to pay back?

thanks
jules

[BankFodder]

The measure of any award of damages is calculated to put you into the position that you would have been if the problem had never arisen.
So some assessment would be made of your actual losses - expenses etc which are called specific or special damages (liquidated damages) and the general damages - inconvenience, pain suffering etc - unliquidated damages. Most people tend to over-value their general damages.

However, the Good news is holiday Companies, are one of the only contracts you can sue for Non-pecuniary Losses as well. This means you can claim for disappointment and distress,

Therefore, you should recover a lot more than your holidays original cost.

[BankFodder]

Non-pecuniary losses - damages are available in any contract action if it is possible to say that this kind of loss would have been foreseeable as being a natural consequence of the breach.

However, I would certainly say that this would be much more likely in a holiday contract then, say, a contract with a bank

[ethank]

I found the Holiday Watch support group a great asset in helping me recover money back from a travel company. http://www.holidaytravelwatch.com/

(sorry if I am not supposed to put links in for other sites!)

[Loula]

Hi,

You need to write to Airtours and insist they pass the claim to their Tour Operators Liability (TOL) Insurance consultant.

As you bought a package from them (full price or at reduced cost) they have a liability to you to provide the holiday you paid for. They can only refund (plus costs) the "lost" part of the holiday. Also for injury/dmage caused by their holiday.

This was my forte at work so let me know if you need any help. I can't remember who underwrites Airtours TOL policy but can give you a couple of leads if they play hard ball with you. They will probably try to fob you off with a no, then the minimum £250 which is the smallest excess this type of policy carries (saves them having to put a claim through to the insurance company).

Stick to your guns if you feel you holiday was really that bad, and have proof. Any photos, fellow travellers staements, written documents etcs should all be photocopied and provided with your claim.

Any help required PM me or reply on this thread.

Good luck

LOULA

[breadline]

Hi Loula another late reply.

I went alone on holiday. i have no documents, i had lovely pictures of the island and some of the state the room all lost in kitchen water damage, gutted as the views where beautifull and even though the holiday was stress full it was still memorys of time on a beautifull island.

The only thing i have that may give me any backing atall, is photocopies of the pictures and tickets and everything possibly needed as i photocopy and scan to a point of obsession lol, but its all sat in the embassey in Rhodes.

I could conatct them in writting ask if they still have the file?

what do you think?

thnaks again
BL