Bamboozled by a holiday sickness tout ... and it cost us £4,250
I FEEL I have to share my story after a couple has been jailed for making a £20,000 fraudulent claim for holiday food poisoning against Thomas Cook (Mail). We were contacted by touts six months after our return from a Thomas Cook resort in Cuba. During the phone conversation, the young man said he was working for solicitors to get compensation for holiday-makers who had become ill after four or five days at the resort. This had indeed happened to my husband Steve and me, but we hadn’t mentioned it at the time to the staff or the rep as we felt it was probably due to the change of food, drink or climate. During the phone call, we were asked if the food hygiene was good, had there been any animals or birds in the eating areas, did the staff wear gloves at all times, was the food as hot as it could have been and was freshly prepared food added to cooling food in the servers. I confirmed that yes, there were cats in the restaurant, birds were flying in and out, landing on the food servers and helping themselves, and no, the food wasn’t always as hot as it could have been. We were told that many people were claiming and that we would be contacted by a law firm who would be happy to take on the case. I had some misgivings, but agreed that the solicitors could proceed. After I signed a disclaimer that said I would be charged if the claim was withdrawn or proven fraudulent, we were contacted by a private GP and completed a medical form. We also received various letters and requests for statements from the solicitors, with which we complied. But none of this rested easy with me. During a recent trip to Cyprus, which we had arranged ourselves and not through a travel company, we suffered from the same symptoms we’d experienced in Cuba. On our return home, I contacted the solicitors and withdrew the claim as I felt that Thomas Cook could not be held to blame for our earlier illness. The solicitors advised us that the cost to us for the work carried out was £5,400, but if we settled immediately, they would reduce this to £4,250. I offered to pay on my credit card, but they insisted on a cash transfer directly into their bank account. We were warned that if the payment was not made to them within seven days, the matter would be passed to their enforcement team. I would like to caution others who may be bamboozled by these touts as we were. It appears to be a very lucrative business!
mrs J. reeVes, Beaminster, dorset.