A devastated bride found out on Facebook that her dream wedding abroad had been cancelled. Hope Woolston said she broke down in tears when she saw a post on social media that said TUI was cancelling holidays to Costa Rica, a location Hope and her fiancé had fallen in love with and decided to marry there.
After initially planning a traditional 'white wedding', Hope and her partner decided to take the plunge and book a wedding and holiday to the Central American destination, which TUI had assured them was a "stress-free" way to get married, with everything sorted out for them.
The pair headed to their local TUI store in Colchester, Essex, to book their dream package, with Hope saying a wedding surrounded by gorgeous beaches, a tropical climate and incredible wildlife sounded "right up our street", she wrote in EssexLive. Four months after booking, while the couple were eagerly awaiting their incredible trip, Hope saw something on social media that sent her into "panic mode".
Checking for the latest updates on the Facebook group for the hotel they were due to be staying at, Hope's heart sank when she saw that TUI were cancelling holidays to Costa Rica that had been booked up until the end of April - throwing their May 2023 wedding into chaos. The company was also no longer offering any holidays to the tropical paradise between February and November 2023.
Breaking down into tears at her mum's house, journalist Hope was left fearing their wedding had been cancelled and had no idea what to do next. She contacted TUI, who said only up to April had been confirmed, with no news on May at that stage.
Hope said: "Over the next few weeks, we tried to stay positive and go forward as if we were still going as nothing had been confirmed. However, around a month ago we got a call telling us that TUI was not flying to Costa Rica in May.
"Despite being told by a member of TUI staff, the store that we booked at was refusing to confirm that our wedding and family holiday would not be happening, instead telling us that they were working through cancelled bookings in date order. We were told that when, and if, our booking was cancelled we would be offered a 10 per cent 'rebooking incentive'.
"However, that discount was off current prices, which I was seeing go up by hundreds of pounds each week, rather than the prices from May when we had booked. The next few weeks were very stressful and confusing with different people telling us different things.
"One person told us we could go and rebook before the cancellation was confirmed, but we wouldn't get the discount, while another told us we would be charged to do that. We were given a date when the discount code would be available but that passed and nothing happened."
Hope said her and her fiancé were left "in limbo" feeling like they had no control over their own wedding day with less than eight months until they were supposed to tie the knot surrounded by their close family. Their special day was also looking increasingly out of reach as prices for a new holiday continued to spiral out of their reach.
She said: "Mid-October came and we were still getting nowhere, I tried to contact as many people at TUI as I could, desperately looking for someone that could help me but each attempt was fruitless. I finally decided that enough was enough and I needed to use my position as a journalist to raise awareness of what was happening because I knew I was just one of hundreds of people affected.
"I contacted the TUI press office and put my story to them asking for them to comment on what had happened and on whether or not Costa Rica would be happening in May. Within 48 hours I received a call from the Customer Care Team.
"I spoke to one of the directors who was very apologetic and confirmed that TUI was no longer flying to Costa Rica in May and that our booking was being cancelled. She offered me the chance to amend my booking with a 10 per cent discount and also offered a £100 voucher per person as a 'gesture of goodwill'.
"Given the experience, we'd already had I'd decided that I wanted a refund. The director told me I'd have to go into the store where we booked to get our money back.
"That's just what we did and despite the store having no idea about the conversation I'd had with the director, our refunds were authorised and three days later all of our party had received their refunds."
Hope has now managed to secure another wedding with a different company that they are looking forward to, but said the situation with TUI was so stressful she needed to share it - especially as it was likely so many other people would have been affected.
A spokesperson for TUI said: "We’re really sorry that Ms Woolston and her wedding party have been affected by these changes to our flying programme. We understand this was meant to be a special occasion and the cancellation of her booking is disappointing.
"We’ve provided a full refund to Ms Woolston and offered a gesture of goodwill for her to use on a future TUI holiday. Our team is currently working through impacted bookings in departure date order and they are proactively contacting customers affected by any changes.”
