Online Shopping Guide

British Couple Want Compensation After Horrible Holiday

A British couple, who went on a holiday to South America, are seeking a compensation claim due to the fact that they became extremely unwell, while they were away and for being misled by the holiday details they received when they planned their travels.

The couple, who are now pursuing legal action with travel experts at law firm Irwin Mitchell, had to deal with overflowing toilets in their room, rats, a shortage of food and discoloured water at the three-star hotel, where they were staying. The even revealed that the waiters had to be paid, before they would serve the guests.

The couple travelled to the Pueblo Caribe International Beach Hotel on Margarita Island in Venezuela to celebrate the husband’s 50th birthday after months of planning and preperation for their break. The pair from Peckham in South London, said the holiday in December was ruined by gastric illness, which lasted for days and left them in tears, leaving the pair desperate to fly home a week early.

They were both then struck down by severe diarrhoea, stomach cramps and vomiting, which meant that they were confined to their room for the rest of their holiday. The wife even suffered from the symptoms after she had returned to the UK.

The perfect holiday?

The wife said: “It took a lot of planning and time to find the perfect holiday and when we finally thought we had, we were very excited. What greeted us at Margarita Island though was not what we had seen in the brochure or the website. It wasn’t a holiday island, it was a holiday slum.

“The holiday got off to a rocky start, as the coach was unable to navigate the pothole-ridden roads, which led to the hotel and we had to walk up to the hotel. But it got much worse when we both started to feel ill suffering from all sorts of painful symptoms.

“The experience was so upsetting that we wanted to leave the resort a week early but couldn’t, as the cost of an earlier flight out was more then we could afford. I have never cried because of a holiday before, but what was supposed to be a celebration turned into a disaster.”

Persistent problems

The couple, who booked the holiday through the tour operator, First Choice, said that they also had to call the hotel’s maintenance staff several days continually, to fix an overflowing toilet in their room but the problem persisted.

The husband said: “After four days of it breaking down, I took it upon myself to sort out the problem and it was fine after that. I had to take matters into my own hands, because it was overflowing so much that we had used all of our towels to soak up the mess.”

He added that the tap water and shower water was rusty brown throughout their stay and also criticised the standards in the hotel restaurant.

“We had to compete with other guests for food, tables and cutlery. We also had to pay the waiters to serve us, otherwise they ignored us. There didn’t seem to be enough food to go round. Basically, if you weren’t at the restaurant as soon as it was open, you were not going to get anything to eat except leftovers.”

Other travellers have also reported similar problems during their stay at the Pueblo Caribe in recent months and Vishal Mahay, the lawyer from Irwin Mitchell, which is representing the couple, and a group of other holidaymakers, said he was concerned by the reports that he had heard.

Mr Mahay said: “Quite simply, our clients deserve far better than the conditions which they have described. People go on holiday for a break and to relax, not to end up being poorly.”

He added: “It just isn’t good enough to have a number of people falling ill and the hotel and tour operators need to make sure lessons have been learnt here. We have written to First Choice with details of our clients’ claims and urge them compensate them for their loss and suffering.”
RESOURCES
If yoy have been injured in an event that was not your fault, find out if you could make a compensation claim, by speaking to one og our injury lawyers.

Tag: compensation claims, Compensation, Personal injury, Accident claims, Injury lawyer, Legal, Travel,