Couple kicked out hotel and banned from TUI flight in holiday nightmare

Daily Record

7 hours ago

Paul and Ellie Bell were ejected from their hotel and barred from flying home by TUI for behaviour that was considered unacceptable and disruptive, however, the couple dispute this.
A fuming British couple claim they were kicked out of their hotel in Corfu and denied boarding on their flight back to the UK.
After previously enjoying a stay at the Terezas Hotel in Sidari, Corfu, Paul Bell, 64, and wife Ellie, 65, of North Shields, booked a new week-long half-board holiday.
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However, their holiday was cut short, despite the couple having booked a package deal, when TUI ejected them from their hotel, and barred them from flying home.
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Paul says he cannot understand why they were booted out, and then left several hundreds pounds out of pocket having to arrange an alternative flight home with Jet2, take a taxi to the airport instead of a transfer, and book into another hotel for the remainder of the holiday.
In correspondence seen by ChronicleLive, TUI says that the decision was based on repeated incidents during their stay which were considered unacceptable and disruptive. However, Paul disputes this, and says that TUI never asked him or Ellie for their version of events.
Earlier in the holiday, Ellie had complained to the manager about the quality of the food, which Paul described as "tepid" and "not very nice". He said: "Some of the things you would get were rice with sprouts, or another time you'd have rice with a slice of beetroot in it.
"My wife spoke to the manager twice, she complained about the food being inedible and he didn't seem interested. She asked him to join us for breakfast the next day so we could show him what we meant, but he never turned up."
The couple went out for the day, and say they "had a word" with the rep when they returned. The next day, while waiting for a day trip to Corfu town, Paul and Ellie were handed a letter informing them they were unable to stay at the hotel for the remainder of their holiday.
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The letter, dated May 20, said: "You caused a serious disturbance by shouting inside the hotel restaurant in front of other guests, resulting in significant distress and disruption to the peaceful environment of the hotel," and "you directed aggressive and disrespectful language towards both hotel staff, the hotel owners, and TUI representatives on site."
Paul states that this is not the case, and says the decision was made without anyone from TUI approaching them for an explanation. Paul said: "I don't remember anybody shouting.
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"We only spoke to the rep on the day she was at the hotel and there was nothing disrespectful shown to her. They've never come and spoke to us to find out what happened, they've decided off what the manager has told them.
"But surely there are always two sides to a story? I was furious, because it spoiled the day we had planned."
Rather than given a right to respond or appeal, Paul and Ellie were told to contact the UK consulate if they required any further assistance. Then, on May 21 at 22.28, the couple then received another letter saying that Ellie was barred from flying home on the TOM1531 flight on Friday, May 23.
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Just over 12 hours later, yet another email stated that both Paul and Eleanor would be blocked from boarding the flight. TUI said that this decision had been made in accordance with their terms and conditions, and that the decision was "due to your conduct and behaviour".
Paul booked flights home from Corfu with Jet2 on Thursday, May 22, for later that day at a cost of €328.56. But after arriving back in North Shields, the couple received another email from TUI saying that "the refusal of carriage for Paul Bell and Eleanor Bell has now been revoked, and you will now be allowed travel on your inbound flight".
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Paul finished: "That doesn't help us now, because we were told we have to make our own travel arrangements and we came home. We had to pay €60 for a taxi to the airport as well, because we weren't allowed on the transfers.
"When we go on holiday, we try to go somewhere nice and quiet, sit and chill, try the local stuff, go to the towns and see the scenery and to have food like we did (in the hotel) was really disappointing. We got no back-up whatsoever from TUI.
"They took whatever the manager said as gospel and came to a decision just like that. Had we been drunk and disorderly, fine, but we weren't - we've never had any bother on any holidays before, until this time with TUI."
It is understood that TUI plan to refund the couple's flights home with Jet2.com and their travel to the airport. TUI declined to comment further.
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