Holiday complaints are on the rise and in the age of social media, everyone is a reporter. Today, for example it was reported that holidaymakers complained when staff at a Turkish resort stormed the pool area with fake guns and cans of ‘fuel’.
One guest apparently said that “There were loads of British people round the pool, and suddenly everyone became terrified. I looked around and saw Arab-looking guys stalking around and above the pool carrying big guns. One ran up to me with a bucket with ‘Fuel’ written on the side. He threw it over me and got out a cigarette lighter. I jumped up, not knowing what on Earth was going on. So shocked to see them dressed up. One was dressed in army pants walking round with a gun and pointing it at people.”
Jet2holidays has apologised for the incident, saying ‘The hotel management have assured us it was never their intention to cause any offence or upset with their entertainment programme. This was a Hollywood-themed poolside show, which included the characters Rambo and Superman, and is always well received by the hotel’s residents. The management now understands some of the costumes may have caused offence and will no longer use these in their shows.’
Clearly tour operators cannot control all aspects of a holiday and how every hotel is run, but they are increasingly bracing complaints like this. In this case, the complaint appears to have been well handled, but if the customer won’t accept an apology and the outcome of the complaints, we would recommend mediation through ProMediate as a way forward.
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