A family that was expecting to holiday in a winter wonderland were devastated to find their activites cancelled as Lapland had no snow.
Lisa O’Neil, 39, from Gosforth in Cumbria, told the BBC that she had presumed the trip would be rescheduled amid weather forecast concerns after splashing £3,482 to travel with Tui to a Finnish resort.
Although, on arrival, there was sufficient snow for sledging and snowball fights with husband Wayne and son Finn, rising temperatures and rain quickly melted the opportunity for snow-based activities.
During the four day trip, taken in the height of “Santa Season”, itinerary activities including a snowmobile trip, reindeer encounter and husky ride were cancelled last minute due to the lack of snow.
According to Tui’s “no snow” policy, customers affected by “unseasonal weather conditions” can usually change their travel dates to any other Lapland trip or cancel for a full refund.
No alternatives were offered with holiday reps advising outside activities would be at their “expense”, said Mrs O’Neil.
The family claim they had contacted Tui with concerns over the weather forecast before they took off on 1 December but were told staff were confident the holiday could go ahead.
Customers are not entitled to refunds if they cancel their holiday against travel provider advice, said Mrs O’Neil.
She added that other families who encountered the same problem were “obviously very upset, very angry that this situation had been foreseen by so many of us who had already phoned and raised concerns ahead of time”.
Tui offered the family a 50 per cent refund for their holiday, but Mrs O’Neil has since submitted a complaint to the holiday provider.
She called on Tui to “do the right thing” and instead “follow their own self-imposed policy” by fully refunding the trip.
Mrs O’Neil said: “Tui took all of our money and had that policy in place that gives you the peace of mind that Tui’s got your back, that they’ve got you covered, and your life savings are in safe hands and your children can have the holiday that they deserve.”
A Tui spokesperson said: “Our teams have been in direct contact with all impacted guests to offer a resolution.”
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