We missed our flights to Canaries because of Covid test delay

QAs visitors to the Canary Islands need to show proof of a recent PCR test for Covid-19, my wife and I booked walk-in tests at the Vivo Clinic in Lon- don on Dec 3. We paid extra for its express service – a total of £498 – which promised the results in 24 hours.

I chased these on the evening of Dec 4. The clerk said he couldn’t locate my order and promised to call me back. Nobody called. Next morning, I phoned again and was told the test laboratory’s switchboard opened at 8am and someone would check and ring me straight back. That did not happen either.

I tried to change the departure time of our flights to Gran Canaria, but the agent said it was too late and we would be treated as no-shows. Our test results finally arrived just before 6pm on Dec 5.

I ended up booking new flights for Dec 7, which cost £774, and new Covid19 tests for another £400. Vivo has told me that it is not responsible for our financial loss. Can you help?

– Mark Powell

AWhen Mr Powell returned from his trip he asked Vivo to explain the delay. The clinic said the results of the original tests were “inconclusive” and the laboratory needed to re-run them. So why wasn’t this communicated to Mr Powell on the evening before he flew?

Vivo’s terms of business clearly state that it is not responsible for delays outside its control or for customers missing flights. However, its terms do say that, if it is aware of a delay, it will contact the customer to minimise the effect of the delay. “Provided we do this, we will not be liable for delays”.

I put it to Vivo that Mr Powell had made it aware of the delay to his test result, but its staff had not dealt with it professionally. He should have been advised on the reasons for the delay so he could minimise his financial loss.

Vivo accepts it could have done better and says it is recruiting and training more staff. It has apologised to Mr Powell and agreed to refund the cost of his tests as a goodwill gesture.

The clinic processes around 3,000 tests a day. These are sent to private “mega labs” that also process Covid tests for the NHS. Because of the huge volume of tests, the labs cannot alert clinics if a test needs to be re-run. Nor can clinics easily check on the status of a sample, as their call centres are open from 8am to 6pm. When a result comes through, it is the lab – not the clinic – that emails the result to the customer.

Having talked to Vivo, it is clear that if a customer has not received a test result email from the lab by 11pm on the due date, it is usually because the test has had to be re-run. This takes six hours or more. Vivo says it can try chasing the result the next day and recommends customers book an afternoon or evening flight to allow more time.

One government report claims that up to 5 per cent of Covid-19 PCR tests need to be re-run. This is why there is such a big risk that express tests won’t arrive in time for flights. Not surprisingly, testing clinics are now refusing to guarantee turnaround times.