Holidaymakers slam TUI after 30-hour delay ordeal
Dozens of frustrated TUI customers have taken to social media to slam the operator after being left stranded in Mexico for more than 30 hours.
They claim they were given no food or drink during the long flight delay and that TUI provided them with little or incorrect information.
In a Facebook group set up by disgruntled passenger Emma Easterbrook from Henfield, West Sussex, a fellow holidaymaker accused TUI of ‘disgusting customer service’.
So far, 86 passengers have joined the Facebook group, named TOM23 after the TUI flight number.
The ordeal for the group, which included young families who had travelled to Cancun during the Easter holidays, finally ended on Tuesday when their flight landed at Gatwick.
They were due to fly home from Cancun on Sunday but the flight coming to collect them, TOM 182 from Manchester, was diverted to Merida due to bad weather.
Passengers claim that having spent a day at Cancun airport, during which no refreshments were provided, they were then put up in hotels overnight and transferred early the following day to Merida, a four-hour coach ride away.
The group included 20 members of a wedding party, which had paid a total of £67,000 for their trip.
Holidaymakers complained that no reps were available during the delay, they were charged £5 for sandwiches at the airport where no other refreshments were provided, and some passengers were given mis-information resulting in them waiting more than four hours for the transfer to Merida in the early hours of the morning.
One customer said young children and families hadn’t eaten ‘for hours’ and that mums were in tears.
After being contacted by TravelMole, a TUI spokesperson said today: "We would like to apologise to all customers affected by the disruption caused to their flight TOM023 from Cancun, Mexico to London Gatwick.
"The delay was caused by the diversion of the aircraft on its way to Cancun, which was a precautionary measure taken as a result of adverse weather conditions. Unfortunately due to mandatory crew rest restrictions the flight was further delayed and all customers were provided with overnight accommodation in Cancun. The customers continued their onward journey the following day.
"While we understand that our teams in resort did everything they could to make arrangements for these customers, we appreciate that this fell short of all of our expectations. As a result we will be in direct contact with all customers to follow up and offer our apologies once again for their experience and the inconvenience.
"We would like to thank all our customers for their understanding and reassure all customers that instances such as these are rare."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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