In February, I booked a £1,868 package holiday in Crete for myself and my 16-year-old foster son through Jet2holidays. The confirmation said it was two bedrooms in a four-star beach hotel for a week in June. It was to be a validating vacation for him when he had finished his GCSEs. For any child, getting through exams is an achievement and foster children face a whole set of additional obstacles. Six weeks before our departure, and just as the GCSEs started, Jet2 told me that our accommodation was, in fact, one bedroom and one living room with a sofabed. We require two private bedrooms for obvious safeguarding reasons, but Jet2 has refused to find us alternatives. Initially, it stated that we would lose the whole cost of the holiday if we cancelled. Now it says it will refund us, or we can find different accommodation and pay the difference. Essentially, it has sold us something that never existed and tells us it’s our problem to fix.
CM, Devon
It gets worse. After you wrote to me, Jet2, which took three months to inform you of the issue, gave you a 24-hour deadline to decide whether to cancel so, in a panic, you found a villa for a similar cost 75 miles from where you wanted to be and swapped your booking. You contacted travel trade body Abta, which offers a mediation scheme, but Jet2 wrongly told it you had cancelled, so Abta closed your complaint.
Jet2’s behaviour is a disgrace. Under package travel regulations, holiday providers must offer a suitable alternative or a full refund if the booking is significantly altered, and Abta expects compensation to be paid on top if the changes are made after the balance has been paid. Jet2’s letter notifying you of the room situation did not offer you the chance to cancel, and left it to you to find more suitable accommodation. It stated magnanimously that it would not charge you an administration fee for amending the booking.
I reminded Jet2 of its legal responsibilities, and pointed out your particular family circumstances that made the privacy of two bedrooms a must. It ignored all my questions and merely replied: “Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We are in contact with the customer and the travel agent to try to resolve this matter.”
You say you haven’t heard a peep from Jet2, or received an apology, but it did instruct its partner agent to offer you two options: a package that cost £3,598 more than you had already paid (it offered to split the difference), or a 3.5-star villa 1.5km from the beach that costs £350 less that your original booking. You have reluctantly accepted this. It does not have the facilities of the hotel, or the sea on the doorstep, but you get a private pool and a hire car is included in the price, so you should still be set for a good break.
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