Raging at cancelled Irish break
A coach travel company based in Hamilton left holidaymakers cursing their luck when it pulled the plug on a St Patrick’s Day trip to Ireland at the last minute.
Carol Kearney, who lives in the town’s Victoria Court, was one of dozens of people who were preparing for a five-day/four-night break when she received a phone call from tour operator Harmony Coach Holidays to say it wouldn’t be going ahead, just hours before the agreed departure.
Carol had been looking forward to staying at Treacey’s Hotel in Enniscorthy and forked out £509 in cash for the trip to the Emerald Isle.
The 62-year-old, who is disabled and has mobility issues since suffering a stroke, was left fed-up after trying to get an idea of when she would get her cash back.
Despite calling the travel company on numerous occasions, she has failed to get hold of a company representative and has no idea when, or if, she will receive a refund.
She said: “I got a call on the Tuesday, about 4.50pm, saying the trip had been cancelled due to ‘technical difficulties’ and that I would receive a refund. I tried phoning the day after and the phone just kept ringing out.
“To be honest I got totally fed-up as no one was picking up, so I jumped in the car and drove round, but the place was shut up and deserted.
“I looked on social media and there were comments about them doing it the week before with another Irish holiday.
“And it seems different people are being given different reasons as to why these trips are being cancelled. One of my work colleagues was on the same trip.
“I did a bit of digging and it would seem the company has changed names a number of times.
“I checked the seating plan for the coach and it was full, and I believe the one they cancelled the week before was also full. That’s a lot of money.”
Carol was looking forward to the wellearned break, and was set to travel on her own.
Her husband has dementia and couldn’t travel with her, and her sister passed away at Christmas.
She said: “I can only use one arm since I had the stroke when I was 29, which paralysed me.
“I’ve had a bit of bad luck recently and just fancied getting away on a trip.”
The weekend passed and Carol still hadn’t received any further contact from the travel company, and was still unable to get in touch with them.
She decided to report the company to Trading Standards and is fearful now she may have lost all of her money.
“I paid the money up front in cash as I didn’t have my credit card with me at the time,” she admitted.
The managing director of Harmony Coach Holidays Ltd is 55-year-old John Docherty.
He is also listed with Companies House as a director with four other travel companies, three of them with the same registered address at Brandon House, Unit 34, Brandon Street, Hamilton, United Kingdom, ML3 6DA.
The others are; Coach Tour Services Ltd (dissolved), Harmony Leisure Group Ltd, and Harmony Transport Services Ltd.
And the fourth, Travel by Coach Ltd, was registered at an address at Hagshaw View in Douglas, Lanark but was dissolved in September 2021, just 18 months after being incorporated.
Harmony Coach Holidays have been contacted for comment.