Couple evicted from TUI hotel and banned from flight after 'complaining about food'
A dream holiday turned sour for a pair evicted from their Corfu hotel and then barred from their return flight.
Paul Bell and his wife Ellie faced a Grecian getaway gone awry when they were ejected after TUI accused them of "aggressive and disrespectful language" in the hotel's diner. The North Shields couple, Paul, 64, and Ellie, 65, had to spend a hefty sum on another stay in Corfu, book alternative flights, and sort out their transportation after the fallout with TUI.
In defiant response, the Bells promise never to use TUI again, denying the claims of causing trouble at Sidari's Terezas Hotel restaurant — an establishment they'd praised before. The controversial episode erupted following Ellie's expression of discontent with substandard food to the manager, with Paul labelling the offerings as "tepid" and "not very nice".
Paul laid bare their culinary grievances, describing meals such as: "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."
Paul and Ellie were utterly shocked when they got a letter the next day telling them their stay at the hotel was cut short. The letter, dated May 20, accused: "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 claimed "you directed aggressive and disrespectful language towards both hotel staff, the hotel owners, and TUI representatives on site," as reported by the Mirror, reports the Irish Mirror.
(Image: Iain Buist/Newcastle Chronicle)
However, Paul disputed these allegations to Chronicle Live, maintaining that he and Ellie hadn't gotten the chance to present their version of events to TUI. He explained: "I don't remember anybody shouting. 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."
Without the opportunity for a formal response or appeal, all Paul and Ellie were told was to contact the UK consulate should they need further assistance. Then, on the evening of May 21 at 22.28, the pair received yet another upsetting piece of news - a letter declaring that Ellie was prohibited from getting on the TOM1531 flight back to Newcastle scheduled for Friday, May 23.
Barely half a day had passed when Paul and Ellie got a shocker of an email informing them that they'd been banned from their TUI flight home. TUI said the ban was "due to your conduct and behaviour", in accordance with their policies.
In a scramble, Paul booked return flights back from Corfu using Jet2, shelling out €328.56 (£280) on Thursday, May 22. But when they got back to North Shields, TUI dropped yet another bombshell via email.
The latest update stated: "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". Paul fumed over the hassle, saying "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,".
(Image: Paul Bell/Chronicle Live)
Explaining their peaceful holiday style, Paul remarked, "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."
He vented his frustration with how quickly the decision was made, detailing, "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."
ChronicleLive has learned that TUI is planning to reimburse the couple's unexpected Jet2.com flights and their taxi fare to the airport. TUI has opted not to comment further.
The Mirror has contacted TUI for further information.
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