‘Treated like cattle’ over cancelled f light
Family holiday delayed by ‘catalogue of errors’
ADAD says his family was “treated like cattle” after their flight abroad was cancelled. Lee and Ele Larter from Leckhampton spent £10,280 on a two-week package holiday with their three children in Crete, which was meant to start on Tuesday.
But their flight was cancelled and 34 hours of travel hell followed, prompting Mr Larter to accuse travel agency and airline TUI of a “catalogue of errors”.
The plane was originally scheduled to take off from Cardiff Airport at 12.45pm on Tuesday.
Following its cancellation, more than 100 passengers had to wait until a replacement flight departed at 11am yesterday.
Mr Larter, 40, said: “We have been treated really awfully.”
The sales director arrived in Cardiff Airport at 10.45am on Tuesday with Mrs Larter, 38, and their children, nineyear-old Toby, seven-year-old May and three-year-old Stanley. Mr Larter said: “We were in the queue for check-in when we were told it had been cancelled.
“They said the flight had been diverted to Aberdeen because some people needed to be taken to their cruise ship.”
He was unhappy with the way he was spoken to by TUI employees on the phone.
“They were all very unhelpful and patronising,” he added. “The most disappointing thing is the lack of empathy.”
Mr Larter claims the family was told they would have to wait until 1.45pm before they could get any information.
He says no drinks vouchers were provided by TUI during the wait.
The passengers were informed at 2pm they would be taken to stay overnight in Bristol.
“They sent us an old broken-down coach,” Mr Larter said. “It broke down on the M4 at Cardiff Gate, and they had to send another one.
“We arrived at the Mercure Bristol Holland House at 4.55pm. They said there was no room for us.
“We spoke to TUI operations after being on hold for 20 minutes.
“They called us back at 5.45pm with confirmation of an interconnecting room.
“Reception then informed us there was no interconnecting room, so the family would need to be separated.”
Mr Larter said it was a “traumatic evening”, with the family split across two separate rooms.
“At the buffet they refused to provide any drinks other than water,” he added.
“There were people in tears in the hotel.”
Mr Larter says hotel staff told him coaches would collect passengers from the hotel at 6.30am the next day.
“So there were about 100 people outside with bags at 6.30am,” he continued.
“No coaches arrived and no information was provided to front desk, so I called TUI operations and was told the coach was now arriving at 7.30am.
“When the coaches arrived, we were told they would not leave at 7.30am because they were still waiting for about 20 passengers to check out.”
After Mr Larter called TUI again to complain, the travel agency gave the go-ahead for the coaches to leave.
The family checked in at Cardiff Airport for a new flight to Crete Heraklion Airport, which left at 11am.
After the plane took off, they were informed they would land in Chania airport, on the other side of the island. This meant two and a half hours in a coach to get to the Atlantica resort, where they arrived at 7.30pm yesterday in UK time – 24 hours later than scheduled.
Mr Larter said: “We have been treated like cattle. We won’t be using TUI again. “Travel time was 34 hours. All in all we sat in coaches for six and a half hours.
“The children have been agitated.
“Ele has ulcerative colitis. “She has been getting over a recent flareup and the stress really does not help.”
Mr Larter added that TUI has offered 400euros (£360.47) in compensation for each member of the family, in accordance with EU regulations, but he will seek to claim more.
A TUI spokesman said: “We’re really sorry for the experience of customers who were affected by a delay to their flight from Cardiff to Heraklion in Crete on Tuesday, August 7.
“Unfortunately flight TOM6246 was delayed due to operational reasons.
“Customers were provided with overnight accommodation and meals at the hotel, but we’re really sorry to hear their feedback about the hotel stay and the information provided to them.
“We will investigate these points further and look at ways we can make any improvements moving forwards.”
The travel agency added that it understands how frustrating a flight delay can be and thanked customers for their patience.