TUI passengers were shocked to hear the reason for their flight disruption (Picture: Getty)
Passengers were left ‘gobsmacked’ after cockroaches found on a TUI plane caused two flights to be severely delayed.
Holidaymakers flying to and from Tenerife and Gatwick had their flights delayed for 8 hours on September 15 due to a cockroach problem on their plane, despite initially being told the delay was down to ‘catering issues’.
Enraged passengers are now planning to take the travel firm to court after TUI refused to compensate them for disruption, citing ‘extraordinary circumstances.’
Michelle Coates, 57, a foster parent who was stuck in Tenerife while the plane was fumigated and an alternative plane was found, said: ‘I was gobsmacked. How did the cockroaches get on there? That is a worry for their hygiene.
‘It is just disgusting to try and fob it off on the customers.
‘TUI say it is not their fault. Well, it is their fault. If I invite someone round to dinner at my house and there’s a cockroach that’s my fault.
‘We are loyal customers that spend a lot of money and have to spend a lot more as a result of their negligence.’
Michelle Coates and her husband David on holiday in Tenerife, a holiday that ended with severe delays caused by cockroaches (Credit: Michelle Coates)
Michelle Coates and her husband, David, were coming to the end of their £1100-a-head holiday when they were taken from the airport to a hotel by TUI staff and made to wait hours to board their flight.
The couple had to fork out for new swimming costumes to replace their English weather clothing in the 30 degree heat, and had to pay £150 for their foster children to be looked after for another night.
Passengers were initially told that the reason for the disruption was ‘catering issues’ in the aircraft still at London Gatwick.
Once they were sat on the plane at 19:30, eight hours after the original scheduled take-off, the pilot informed them that cockroaches on the initial plane had been real cause of the disruption.
Michelle’s TOM7475 flight had been the second flight delayed due to the pest control problem that day, as passengers flying earlier from Gatwick to Tenerife had also been delayed 8 hours while the plane was treated with chemicals.
The pair waited 72 hours after the flight home, as instructed by TUI, to submit a claim for compensation, however she did not receive confirmation and was told that TUI’s online support chat could not progress her claim.
She was eventually told on October 17 that she would not be receiving compensation for the costs of the disruption because of ‘extraordinary circumstances.’
The ‘catering issues’ that were first cited as the cause of the delays turned out to be something else (Credit: Julie Mussell)
Michelle said in response to TUI’s refusal to compensate her: ‘It has really pissed me off quite frankly, I would certainly think twice about using TUI again. This is the first problem we have had with them.’
The foster parent is now part of a …read more
Source:: Metro
