As sick as a parrot? Hotel secretly f ilms ill guest cavorting
A HOTEL in Turkey has compiled a surveillance dossier on a British couple after being tipped off that they were planning to make a holiday sickness compensation claim.
The hotel owner examined CCTV footage whilst the couple were still staying at the hotel with their young children and saved images of the man frolicking and dancing by the pool.
The guests – 36-year-old Martin Brown and his wife Lindsey, 34 – were on an all-inclusive break at the four-star Emre Hotel in the popular resort of Marmaris.
Back in the UK, the couple launched a claim for £1,200 in compensation, alleging that they suffered nausea as a result of poor hotel hygiene. Tour operator Jet2holidays are contesting the claim.
During their holiday, the Browns complained to the hotel that they were suffering from stomach upsets and the hotel referred Mr Brown to a local hospital doctor.
Unknown to them, the hotel had started keeping them under surveillance after a guest had informed the hotel that the couple were planning to make a claim.
Hotel owner Emre Deliveli said: ‘We were told by another guest that Mr Brown had mentioned he was going to make a sickness claim, so
‘We had him running around by the pool’
we made sure each evening that we had recorded footage that might help our defence.
‘We put him under surveillance, so when the complaint came we had the CCTV footage ready. We had him running around, by the pool, dancing.’
In one piece of footage, recorded on May 30 last year, Mr Brown can be seen dancing, before jumping in the pool. He was also recorded setting off for a boat excursion.
On June 2, Mr Brown allegedly told a local doctor that he had started feeling nauseous three days previously. This would include the day the poolside video was taken.
However, Mr Brown’s lawyers now assert that he did not begin to feel ill until the following day.
The hotel arranged for Mr Brown to see the doctor at a local hospital after he said he was feeling sick. Mr Brown, from Chorley, Lancashire, was given a prescription for anti-sickness medicine.
The MoS has previously highlighted how there has been an explosion in holiday sickness claims by British tourists which threatens to push up the price of holidays. Mr Deliveli told the MoS: ‘We used to have a handful of sickness issues that we would resolve but now we have solicitors who get involved and there is currently around £100,000 of outstanding claims. It is cheaper for the tour operator to settle the claim rather than pay the legal costs but in this case Jet2 has taken the decision to fight.’
A spokesman for Jet2holidays said: ‘We are contesting this claim based on evidence compiled by the hotel. Compensation claims are putting all-inclusive holidays at risk for millions of hardworking British families and can result in serious legal consequences too.’ Mr Deliveli revealed that his hotel routinely examined social media postings when dealing with compensation claims.
Photos posted on Mr Brown’s Facebook account after he returned home showed him and his wife enjoying an evening on holiday with no mention of the illness. One picture showed a smiling Mr Brown posing with a parrot on his shoulder alongside his wife. The photos were captioned: ‘Back home top holiday wish I was still there with **** and the rest bangin time roll on next year.’
Mr Brown told the MoS: ‘The whole place was a joke for the money I paid. I was the worse. My partner had sickness as well and one of the children was really ill. If I was dancing around, I was still with my children on holiday. I’ve still got to look after them.’
Stuart Matthews, of Treadstone Law, Manchester, the Browns’ solicitor, said: ‘Any person who genuinely suffers illness as a consequence of poor hygiene standards on holiday has a right to damages for breach of contract.
‘Mr Brown and his family correctly reported their concerns about the hygiene standards and received appropriate medical treatment from the doctor which allowed him to go on to enjoy his holiday as
best as he could.’