A man was left with just a pair of swimming trunks after flying to Majorca for a long-awaited family holiday with TUI. Paul Hesp, from Liverpool, was travelling to the Balearics from Manchester Airport on Tuesday, July 26, with four children and five other adults when his luggage nightmare unravelled.
The 41-year-old has ADHD, which means that he has to fold and iron his clothes in a certain way and lay them in their own case. As a result, the only thing Paul kept in his hand luggage was a pair of swimming shorts, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Paul and his family got through security at Manchester Airport and passport control with no issues. Their flight was delayed by 55 minutes, although they did not allow this development to get their spirits down. But when the family landed the other side in Majorca to start the all-inclusive holiday that they'd paid £6,000 for, problems began to arise.
Read more: Jet2 announces expanded 'winter sun' flights from Bristol Airport
Paul and his sister-in-law's luggage did not appeal on the baggage carousel. He told the Liverpool Echo: "We flew out on Tuesday (July, 26) and dropped cases at Manchester Airport on Monday night, thinking it’ll help them out and being aware of the issues.
"The flight was delayed by 55 mins but we were okay with that. The issues came at Majorca Airport when two of the cases didn’t appear on the baggage carousel, one of the cases in question being mine. I had packed a small number of items into our other two cases but did take a gamble."
As a result of the problem, Paul was left with the shirt and shorts he wore to travel to Majorca and a pair of swimming shorts. He said: "In the hope the case would be with us within our possession in 24 hours, we got ourselves to our hotel.
"All TUI will offer is £25 per day for a maximum of three days, how mad is this? I’m on a 14-day holiday and I have to then go out and buy clothes with that pitiful amount. I've spent £150 on new clothes.
"Obviously, our travel insurance may provide extra, but that is a claim I’m yet to make - I have spoken to them to confirm how to proceed. I spoke to the head rep who basically told me the situation at Manchester was so broken that I needed to lower my expectations and accept the fact that this case was not going to appear for the duration of our holiday.
"Two weeks all inclusive £6,000 bare this in mind - I found this staggering. I’d bought most of the items specifically for the holiday, including ironing every single one."
Paul has emailed, phoned and tweeted TUI and Manchester Airport everyday since his luggage went missing, and has also tried contacting Swissport until he realised they 'don't take inbound calls'. He said: "We’ve been in resort which is now ten days and they have stopped responding to my emails now.
"This (the holiday) had been cancelled in 2020 due to Covid so we were desperate for it to go well. I have no definite information where this case is, if it is even in Manchester Airport or travelled on a different flight somewhere else, the head rep stated that the global package location system is also shot, so the barcode for the missing case is pretty much worthless.
"TUI customer service is literally non existent. People need to be aware that the situation is completely f****d and their holidays that they have paid fortunes for could be ruined also. I’m hitting brick walls everywhere."
A spokesperson from TUI said: "We’re very sorry to hear about the issues Mr Hesp has had with his luggage. 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."
Let us know your thoughts on this story by logging in and leaving a comment down below.
Read more:
Weston-super-Mare man accused neighbour of being a terrorist with a gun, court told
Future of Bristol's abandoned Old Seamen's Mission Church and 'prime' overgrown spot questioned
Police still trying to identify man in CCTV as teen attacked in Wetherspoons on first ever night out
More fires reported around Bristol as temperatures soar
Man fined nearly £1,000 for throwing cigarette end down drain
