Annual Leave Compensation?

[s-w-p]

We've just returned from a holiday in an awful hotel. I won't go into details on this thread but in short it wasn't as described, didn't have the facilities or services advertised and wasn't deserving of the 4* All Inclusive rating - it was neither 4*, or All Inclusive. I'm pursuing a refund for the cost of the holiday.

My question here though is this: even if we get a refund on the holiday (which to be honest I fully expect to), we have still both wasted 5 days annual leave each which we can't obviously get back. Is it possible to claim compensation for this?

Any advice gratefully received.

[dingg]

its always worth a try

but did you complain about the holiday immediately or wait until you arrived back home?

this will have a BIG influence on how your claim is handled

good luck

[s-w-p]

Thanks for such a quick reply.
We complained during the holiday to the local rep, the hotel management, and made calls to the booking agent at home and sent them an email, all whilst we were there. Last night I sent off a massive complaint letter detailing everything. And we have loads of photographic evidence.

[herewego]

I'm sorry you had a bad holiday but not sure why you'd expect a full refund. I mean you don't go on holiday to stay in a hotel do you, it's just somewhere to stay while you get out to explore the location. You can expect a reduction for sure if it didn't meet the description or 4* norm.

[Stu R]

herewego said:

I'm sorry you had a bad holiday but not sure why you'd expect a full refund. I mean you don't go on holiday to stay in a hotel do you, it's just somewhere to stay while you get out to explore the location. You can expect a reduction for sure if it didn't meet the description or 4* norm.

Apply the same analogy to anything you buy, ever, and you might realise how ridiculous that statement sounds in hindsight.

[Deva Link]

s-w-p said:

My question here though is this: even if we get a refund on the holiday (which to be honest I fully expect to), we have still both wasted 5 days annual leave each which we can't obviously get back. Is it possible to claim compensation for this?

There was a case which made the news a few years ago where a guy sued for compensation for his wasted holiday time. I think the point was that to take the holiday again, he would have to take time-off without pay.

[s-w-p]

herewego said:

I'm sorry you had a bad holiday but not sure why you'd expect a full refund. I mean you don't go on holiday to stay in a hotel do you, it's just somewhere to stay while you get out to explore the location. You can expect a reduction for sure if it didn't meet the description or 4* norm.

If we wanted just a base, somewhere to sleep, we would have booked the local equivalent of a Travelodge. We deliberately booked this All Inclusive hotel because we didn't want to go out exploring; we wanted to be able to lounge around relaxing when it was sunny and using the listed facilities if the weather wasn't quite so good.

[s-w-p]

Deva Link said:

There was a case which made the news a few years ago where a guy sued for compensation for his wasted holiday time. I think the point was that to take the holiday again, he would have to take time-off without pay.

Thanks. That's my point too, will go dig around then and see what I can find out about that.

[sneijder]

Stu R said:

Apply the same analogy to anything you buy, ever, and you might realise how ridiculous that statement sounds in hindsight.

Have to say he's completely correct.

If the taxi to the airport was 15 minutes late, should it be free with a bit of compo thrown in?

If it was the flight getting in an hour late etc etc ...

I understand if you bought a suitcase and it dropped to bits you'd expect your money back in full, as it hasn't met it's purpose.

OP has had a holiday that kind of hasn't fit its purpose.

Trip Advisor is your friend OP, read the hotel reviews on there for where you stayed and see what the general consensus is.

Then write your own review and link it to is here for a chortle!

[s-w-p]

sneijder said:

OP has had a holiday that kind of hasn't fit its purpose.

Precisely. It wasn't a 4* hotel as advertised, it wasn't All Inclusive, and pretty much all of the facilities & services listed as part of the AI package were either missing altogether, unsafe, or closed.

[Deva Link]

Some guidance on the ABTA website, including about lack of enjoyment:
http://www.abta.com/consumer-services/travel_probl...

[s-w-p]

Thanks Deva Link. Funnily enough I was just reading that

[bleesh]

Torquay??

[sneijder]

s-w-p said:

Precisely. It wasn't a 4* hotel as advertised, it wasn't All Inclusive, and pretty much all of the facilities & services listed as part of the AI package were either missing altogether, unsafe, or closed.

Are you saying it was not all inclusive at all, or the all inclusive options were more limited than you thought?

There's a difference, one is a clear cut case, and the other is opinion and a whole lot murkier.

[s-w-p]

I'll reword it; the majority of things listed for this hotel under the All Inclusive facilities and services advertised were either not available or didn't happen.

I'm under no illusion that we have a valid claim for breach of contract etc, I just wanted to know if it's possible to also claim compensation for the lost holiday time. And as it appears that it is I shall be including that in my claim, so thanks guys.

[mattdaniels]

I think trying to claim compo for your annual leave days might be stretching it a little. Regardless of your claim for the quality of the holiday itself, the fact remains that you had a holiday and did not work on those days. I'm not sure you'd get very far with such a claim, happy to be proved wrong though.

[s3fella]

s-w-p said:

... made calls to the booking agent at home and sent them an email,

stongly worded..? If so, it is in the bag!

[s-w-p]

mattdaniels said:

I think trying to claim compo for your annual leave days might be stretching it a little. Regardless of your claim for the quality of the holiday itself, the fact remains that you had a holiday and did not work on those days. I'm not sure you'd get very far with such a claim, happy to be proved wrong though.

We may not have worked on those days but we certainly didn't have an enjoyable holiday in any sense. We endured the place and counted the days until we came home. We booked this holiday because we wanted, and needed, some R & R. We didn't get this because the place was so dire. We have in effect each wasted 5 days annual leave which we can't get back, monetary compensation won't change that but it would soften it slightly and mean that we could then book a week's unpaid leave and go elsewhere if we chose to.

[s-w-p]

s3fella said:

stongly worded..? If so, it is in the bag!

Ever so slightly, yes.

[eybic]

I suspect you may not get anywhere with the holiday pay claim due to (as someone else pointed out) you did have a holiday, yes it didn't meet your expectations but you did have a holiday. If you didn't get to go anywhere then yes you may have a claim but you did go on holiday.