TUI apologises for ‘ruined’ wedding after scaffold protest
TUI has promised a full internal review of how it handled a customer’s wedding booking after he resorted to erecting scaffolding outside one of its stores as a public protest when his big day was allegedly ruined.
The company has also apologised to Jason Cooper and offered him a full refund for the trip to the Greek island of Zante last September.
Cooper alleges that TUI had initially dismissed his complaint that when he arrived in Zante the hotel that he had booked was only able to hold 45 of the 100 guests due to attend his wedding.
He was forced to find an alternative venue, at his own expense, but he said that when he returned home, TUI took three months to reply to his complaint and earlier this week rejected his complaint.
The 37-year-old, who runs a Margate-based scaffolding company, then erected scaffolding poles outside the TUI shop in Broadstairs in Kent, from which he hung a poster saying ‘TUI ruined my wedding’.
Police were called but decided not to take action as the protest was on private land. Store staff allegedly removed the poster, but he put up a spare one.
TUI told Kentonline: "We would like to sincerely apologise to Mr and Mrs Cooper and their party for the mistakes made with their wedding booking.
"We understand this would have been a stressful experience and extremely disappointing for the customers during what should have been a very special time.
"We are carrying out a full internal review into what happened, both during the booking process and also since the customers have returned home.
"We are in contact with Mr and Mrs Cooper to apologise and we have offered a full refund of their holiday and extra costs."
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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