£50 goodwill gesture!! whoopee woo!!

[busterbas]

hi,

am new on this site,as i stumbled across it today,looks exactly like what i need though...Anyway,back to the matter in hand,myself partner and 4 children took a holiday to menorca last year,wow,the holiday from hell,i can tell you,first off 3 days into the holiday,we moved hotels,as the first one had flys all over the food,all the staff were obnoxious and rude to our children,and didnt make us feel welcome at all..

the hotel pool was used by people living across the road,who liked to sit and watch all the young girls in their swimwear,and talk to each other in spanish whilst doing so.

day 3,we are told we are moving to a 4 star hotel,woooooo,only to find that when we get there it is a 3 star,but we had paid 150 euros to do so.

the room,well,it was damp,there was mould,paint peeling off the walls,so we head off down to the reception and go see our rep.she tells us she willl get the hotel to inspect the room,and see if they can rectify the situation.

yep,you got it,no-one comes at all,so we wait only to remain waiting for the final 11 days of the holiday!!!!!!

it dosnt stop there,my son had 2,yes 2 accidents,in the second hotel too.

first of all,hes walking in between 2 tables at mealtime when he slips on some food which had been discarded earlier that afternoon,during snack times(we was all inclusive),so,a young boy,11 yrs of age,on his back after hitting his head after slipping lying on the floor crying,what do the staff do??,they ignore him,and find a dustpan and brush,and sweep the food up pretty sharpish!!

may i add,that we were 60 seconds behind him,so when we walk in it was another holidaymaker tending to him(oh,did i not tell you.....there wasnt no qualified first aiders working in the hotel)

the second incident was when we were coming back from an evening out at the marina(god the food was awful at the hotel),and my son ran ahead,as he wanted to get back for the entertainment,he goes through the door as we enter the carpark,and as we get through the lobby door,there he is(my son) at the reception blood pouring out of his finger,"whats happened" i asked,"he's had his finger trapped in the door",another holidaymaker who is tending to my son,the lobby door had slammed shut on his finger,as the arm to the door,which is supposed to slow the door down when closing had broke.because cruella de vill(the receptionist) was constantly telling the children off for letting the door slam,he had tried to hold the door so it closed slowly,but it trapped his finger.again,no first aider,but anothr holidaymaker and myself tended to my son,who was screaming in agony.

the following morning,the doctor turns up,and the hotel tell us they are paying for her to call round,paying for our taxis to hospital,their and back,and also covering alll medical expenses that occur,surely,admission of guilt!!

anyway,when we're back in the uk,and put all this n writing to airtours,we are offered £50 "goodwill gesture":rolleyes:

nope,we told them in no uncertain terms where they can put their £50:D

anyway,is there anywhere we can go,and further our complaint,i have a little lad 11 yrs old,saying to me now"dont worry dad,i not ruin the next holiday",because thats what he actually thinks,that he did ruin it........no son you didnt,the hotel and tour operator did a good enough job themselves!!

[ScarletPimpernel]

It strikes me that some of your expectations are unrealistic.

 

You say that you were unhappy with the first hotel because you had concerns about food hygiene, you did not feel that the staff treated you appropriately, and the swimming pool was not for the exclusive use of holidaymakers.

 

As far as the food is concerned, Airtours will no doubt have ensured that the hotel meets the appropriate local regulations; any concern should have been raised with the staff and/or the Airtours rep - did you do this?

 

The question of staff attitude is subjective, and again should have been brought to the attention of your Airtours rep, who should have dealt with it with the hotel management. Did you do this, and was there any change?

 

Quite a few hotels allow non-residents to use facilities; locals living nearby may have such an arrangement. However, it would probably not be unreasonable for Airtours to mention this in their brochure, or for the rep to explain to you when you brought it to his/her attention. You say that these locals looked at young girls in swimwear - does this mean that they were children, and you thought that the activity of the locals was inappropriate or suspicious? If so, did you report the matter to the police?

 

To complain about Spanish people were speaking Spanish in Spain is absurd.

 

When you arrived at the second hotel, you list a number of complaints about the room, and say that whilst you brought these matters to the attention of the rep, who raised them with the hotel, but that nothing happened for the remaining 11 days of the holiday. You do not say what you did when nothing seemed to be happening. Did you keep the rep informed, and ask him/her for progress reports? Did you photograph the offending aspects of the room, and forward the images to Airtours?

 

Moving on to the incidents involving your child, a significant feature of your description of both incidents is that the child seems to have been insufficiently supervised. If you were aware that the door slammed, why did you allow your son to go ahead by himself?

 

No first aider? You weren't in UK, and cannot expect UK standards to apply. Health and safety legislation is different, too. Accidents do happen, and it isn't always possible to blame someone for them.

 

Thankfully, it is clear that in neither episode the injuries sustained were minor, in that they did not require immediate medical attention.

 

Under EC arrangements, hospital treatment is free in Spain, so there should be no medical costs.

 

Did you report the accidents to the Airtours rep at the time?

 

In summary, you may have had some cause to complain about some aspects of the accommodation, but you will probably find that within the terms and conditions of the booking is a clause that says you must make all complaints to the reps at the time rather than waiting until you get home. It is unreasonable to expect Airtours to assume liability for things outside their control, such as your own parental responsibility or the locals failure to speak a language you understand.

 

In the circumstances I think Airtours gesture is reasonable, but you can take it up with ABTA if you think you still have a case. What would you expect to be a reasonable outcome?

[busterbas]

re the food hygiene,and the staff,this was reported to the airtours rep,and the hotel manager,and he was having certain staff in the office,this was the reason why we were moved hotel,because we knew once they had had a talking to,our holiday may not of been the same if we had remained there...

 

re the girls in the swimming pool,yes,they were girls,as young as six,2 men sat at the pool,ogling girls of this age,talking in spanish to each other,c'mon,even i can see what was going on there!!

 

re the 2nd hotel,the rep was informed within an hour of our arrival about the room,and everytime we seen the rep,we told her,as we didnt get anywhere with the hotel staff.

 

photographs were enclosed to airtours,when the initial complaint was made to them back in october,a week after us arriving home

 

our son is a normal 11 yr old son,yes,the incidents may of happened without us being right next to him,but we was in close proximaty of him on both occasions

 

a hotel of the size we was in surely have a contingency plan for all accidents,wether it be a first aider or a lifeguard,neither were available,at this hotel

 

all accident reports were filled in for which i have copies of them

 

all complaints were made in resort,as well as returning home and doing so

 

a reasonable outcome,would be a letter of apology,and them to review hotels they offer,as standard when some seem to sub-standard..

 

im just glad my son has no lasting injurys

[ScarletPimpernel]

In light of the additional information about your reports to reps and so on, I suspect that you may be able to take this further. However, I think you need to stick to this and not be distracted about the side issues of Spanish-speaking Spaniards and minor accidents. These may be irritating, but Airtours weren't responsible for them; the accommodation was a constant problem, had a significantly detrimental effect on your enjoyment of the holiday, and was Airtour's responsibility.

 

I'd be inclined to write to Airtours again, highlighting the fact that you followed their procedures whilst in the resort, but without success. I'd be specific about saying that whilst you appreciate them acknowledging (with the £50) that things were not right you would like them to apologise and provide an undertaking to look into the hotels in question.

[busterbas]

thanks for your opinions:)

[busterbas]

Has anyone got the email address to airtours,as ive sent two emails to them,but have not had a receipt returned to me showing the email was read...

The email address i am using is [email protected]

 

thanks

[jamie_c2000]

If i was you i would write to them and send it by recorded mail, at least then you will know when it arrives & can say who has signed for the document.