Our food during a stay on the Costa de la Luz was not the four-star quality for which we had paid
My husband, daughter and I recently returned from a Thomson holiday (which had cost £2,188 – nearly £730 each). We had a half-board stay at the Meliá Atlántico hotel, which we had visited three times in the past, on the Costa de la Luz in Spain.
Meliá took over the hotel at the end of last year, and clearly there are teething problems. The food in particular was horrible and unappetising. The promised pan-global buffet, "show cooking", vegetarian meals etc did not materialise and the food was definitely not the four-star quality which we had paid for and had been expecting.
Thomson acknowledged the problem by awarding some compensation to passengers who flew out from Birmingham on 9 May (the flight we were on) and returned on 16 May. We were booked for a 10-day holiday and flew back on 19 May. When we spoke to the representative about this we were told – puzzlingly – that the compensation was only for people who were there for the week. CW, Bingham, Nottinghamshire
It seems astonishing that you had to tolerate dreadful food for a further three days and yet did not automatically receive the compensation. And while you can't make a claim from Thomson just because you didn't enjoy your holiday, you were prepared to overlook other minor problems because your main gripe was the food.
As this was a package holiday, you are protected by the Package Travel Regulations. These place a legal obligation on the tour operator to make sure the foreign suppliers fulfil their respective parts of the contract so that the holiday described is supplied, while price details and other information provided in the brochure must be "legible, comprehensible and accurate".
Following our involvement Thomson agreed that you, your husband and daughter were eligible for a refund, and offered you each £50 in cash or vouchers (which are not redeemable on all its holidays) of £75 each.
It said in a statement: "Thomson takes any complaint seriously and after reviewing the feedback from CW we have offered what we believe is an appropriate amount of compensation. The Meliá Atlántico hotel continues to be a popular choice with our customers."
We thought this was a paltry offer and urged the company to increase it, which it refused to do. We believe that as your holiday clearly didn't match the description in the brochure, you had a case for taking legal action for breach of contract. But you have accepted the offer and are planning to take further holidays with Thomson. Hope the food is better next time!
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