A TUI customer has claimed the holiday company has asked for an extra £2,000 to rebook her holiday to Turkey that they cancelled last week.
Cheralea Galvin booked a family holiday last year but said the travel operator decided to cancel the holiday and requested extra money to secure it again.
The 31-year-old had booked two weeks at the Holiday Village in Sarigerme, Turkey for May this year for her family of five, costing £4,500.
Last week when Cheralea tried to pay the remaining balance on the trip the website wouldn’t let her complete the payment.
She claims to have later found out that this was because TUI cancelled the holiday as one of their flights looked to be operating at a lower capacity.
After spending hours on the phone, the mum from Tunbridge Wells, Kent was delighted when TUI found the same holiday, on the same days, so they could rebook again.
However, they were then told they would now have to pay £2,000 on top of the original price as the holiday has increased due to ‘live pricing’.
Cheralea hit out at the company on social media on Saturday, writing: “Setting up a Twitter account to call out @TUIUK @FirstChoiceUK.
“We booked a holiday last year for May 2022, for them to change it four days ago.
“Original holiday still available yet they want £2,000 to rebook it!
“Six plus hours on the phone to be told, we work on live prices, wow #moneymeansmore.”
Speaking today, Cheralea said: “After explaining everything, crying asking to speak to management nothing was done, I even walked to my local branch for help but was told we can’t do much as it’s a web booking, which wasn’t the case when originally booked but since they changed it, it had been rebooked via the web.
“All of us were trying to find new holidays so that we could all travel together as planned but everything was coming out so much more expensive and for a lower rated place.
“We kept looking in hope something would come up and on the Saturday morning a similar holiday to the one we had booked 21st May – 4th June had become available so I called them again.
“After spending a further 3-4 hours on the phone going from department to department and senior staff to management I was told that I could be booked onto my original flight out there, stay at the hotel on my original booked dates, same style room but be booked on an easyJet flight home as the TUI flight was still unavailable.
“I agreed as this was the closest to what we had wanted and allowed us to still travel with our friends and spend everyday together just on a separate flight home.
“We each have young children that had planned where they were sitting on the plane with their friends and had wanted to go as a group and now part of our holiday is separate.
“I was then told it would be another £2,000 to pay as they work on live prices.
“After begging and crying the same script was read to me, you can accept the holiday we have changed you to as that’s our right, or receive a full refund or book another holiday with 10% off.
“I explained that 10% off is nothing and I can’t afford the extra and why should I have too? The original holiday is there to be booked.
“They said it would be unfair to their customers if I was allowed more than a 10 percent incentive as a company, that’s what they offer.
“My response was ‘how are you being fair to me, your customer, changing my holiday and trying to charge me an extra £2,000 four days later to have it back?
“They said sorry but that’s all we can do.”
TUI has been approached for comment.
