A mix-up at a travel agents led to a couple being forced to spend the night in a Barbados bus stop because they were unable to board their flight home.
Delivery driver, Darryl Morrey, and his partner Rebecca, an NHS nursing assistant partner, had previously spent the whole week in an all-inclusive hotel on the Caribbean island while accompanied by 20 friends and relatives to celebrate his mum's £30,000 wedding. But the lovely holiday ended on a sour note when the airline said they had no record of their flight reservations - and calls to their travel agent, Love Holidays, went unanswered.
It meant the Aer Lingus flight took off without them on board on Wednesday evening, and left the parents of five stranded in Barbados with no money, accommodation or credit to make phone calls or texts. Fortunately, the pair, who had spent the whole night on the streets, were able to befriend a British couple who allowed them to log onto their WiFi.
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Darryl's mum was able to fork out £1,200 for TUI flight back to Manchester yesterday evening (April 7) - nearly 24 hours later than they should have been flow out. Dad-of-one Daryl, 30, and mum-of-four Rebecca, 30, were due to finally land in Manchester this morning (April 8).
The Cheadle man- a former soldier who completed two tours of Afghanistan - told StokeonTrentLive : "When we got to the airport, they said they had no record of us being on that flight. We'd got there three-and-a-half hours early so I thought we'd get it sorted. I called Love Holidays' emergency number but they kept telling us to wait.
"I range 50-plus times and used 750 minutes of credit. They told us to speak to British Airways, a partner of Aer Lingus, but there wasn't anyone there to help. They still wouldn't let us on the plane and it took off without us.
"We'd been all inclusive at the hotel and we'd used all our spending money so we were completely stuck. All our relatives were uncontactable as they were in the air.
"We ended up spending the night at a bus stop. It was really scary for my partner, we didn't get any sleep at all. There were men approaching her and drug deals going on. The hotel was really safe but it's a different story in Bridgetown at night. We were being harassed and my missus was so scared.
"Taxis are really expensive. The equivalent trip from Bentilee to Hanley cost about £40 and we just didn't have the money. We just sat their and begged people to borrow their phone. Luckily we befriended a British couple who were willing to help and let us use their WiFi.
"My partner has four kids at home and I have one. We're just glad we took the decision not to bring them with us. It's been a complete nightmare."
The couple suspects the issue with Love Holidays booking began when they were booked on flight for March 28 until March 30 - because of this it is generally believed they were classed as no-shows and had thei holiday cancelled as a result. Darryl added: "Love Holidays messed up the booking and had us going out and coming back two days earlier
"They let us on the flight out but then stopped us getting back. It doesn't make any sense. My mum had to pay for the new flights on her credit card else we'd still haver no way of getting home. She's just paid £30,000 for the wedding so it's not on.
"After my mum paid for new flights Love Holidays rang me and eventually offered to pay for new flights. I'm now waiting to speak to a manager. We'll be doing everything we can to get our money back. The holiday was great, we had a brilliant time celebrating my mum's wedding. It's just been ruined by what happened."
Love Holidays is now investigating the complaint. A spokesman said: “We are sorry to hear that Mr Morrey and his partner experienced difficulties with the return journey on their trip and had difficulties contacting loveholidays via telephone. We appreciate any and all feedback from our customers and will be investigating this situation as a matter of urgency.”
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