A family may have to abandon their two-week holiday in Mallorca and head home after their suitcase with bank cards, clothes and medication failed to arrive in Palma. Louise Ali flew with TUI from Manchester Airport on Wednesday with husband Hassan Ali, 38, and their two young sons Haris, eight, and Raff, two.
Their case containing credit and debit cards, a pre-paid holiday money card and vital treatment cream for Raff's eczema has disappeared, meaning the family may now have to come home. Louise dropped her suitcases off on Tuesday night in advance of the family's 6.20am flight.
She had to queue for three hours to wait for the drop off. The family returned to Manchester Airport at 3am the next day and got through security, but their flight was delayed for two-and-a-half hours, reports MEN.
Passengers were told the delay was due to baggage issues and that the only pilot available had not had enough sleep to meet safety requirements, Louise said. The family finally reached the Mallorca airport - but their bags never arrived.
"It's been horrific from start to finish," Louise said. "I got to the desk at Palma and there was no help. They said it could come on the next flight, tomorrow, in a few days. They said this is happening all the time at Manchester - don't worry.
"TUI said to call back after six days - what do I do for six days? It took me eight hours to get hold of somebody and they said there was nothing they could do."
Louise was told to check the tracking page on TUI's website, but her bags are not shown. "There's no sight of these cases anywhere, they have vanished," said Louise.
"You wouldn't mind if someone said they were looking into it for you, they will try to find it, but it's nothing - radio silence. They couldn't care less.
"We can't go out now. They said to go and find some [steroid cream] from somewhere and we could claim it back but we've got to wait for three weeks in case they find our cases. I've got no clothes, no shoes, nothing.
Louise is now left regretting her decision to keep her cards in her luggage, rather than taking them on board. She added: "I was just rushing, it's the perfect storm. I'm kicking myself for being so stupid. I can't stay here because I've got nothing. I've got to go home.
"There are probably loads of us [in this situation]. The person we spoke to at Palma said Manchester was the worst for it, there are so many bags going missing all the time."
A spokesperson for TUI said the company was 'very sorry' to hear about the luggage issues which have affected the family. The spokesperson added: "We are urgently investigating this with our baggage handler to find out exactly what happened and our team in resort will be in touch with the customer as soon as possible today to help resolve the issue."
Swissport, which handled Louise's luggage at Manchester Airport, has been approached for comment.
