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Sorry this is a long one....
We went on a very expensive holiday last year (£16000) which was for 6 of us. This was supposed to be a holiday of a lifetime, that we put a life savings and a lot of hard work into for a special family occasion. Stayed at a 5 star "luxury" resort and bought the holiday through a very popular travel agent. Five days into the holiday a member of our party contracted severe food poisoning. The hotel doctor initially reviewed her and completely fobbed us off and said it was the change of diet, he gave her an injection of something that was banned in the UK to bring fever down. She is never ill and is fit as a fiddle in her 20s. So we trusted him and took her back to the room and bought rehydration sachets from the gift shop which he recommended. She then collapsed in the room and was in such a bad way, her feet and lips were blue, she was losing so much fluid from both ends. It was awful to see her so ill and we were all worried sick. We then had to call and ambulance, at this point the hotel manager and her crew arrived and was doing her best to tell us not to tell the other guests or create a scene. We got to the hospital and she was in hypovolemic shock and was close to death. When we got to the hospital there was an issue with the insurance (which we were sold from the travel agent) and lots of problems ensued and we had to pay on credit card etc (£6000 in initally). She spent a week in hospital and it was confirmed that she was infected with ecoli along with amoebic dysentry. If we hadn't taken her to the hospital she would have died.
The hotel did all they could to fob us off, cover up and tell us that it wasn't their fault, that their hotel is the best and not to tell other guests or post reviews online etc. We also had been on a day trip to a park outside the hotel (organised by the UK travel agent) and the hotel kept saying she must have caught this on the excursion. They had various members of staff checking up on us daily and asking who we have spoken to, if we are complaining etc etc. The manager was constantly trying to defend the hotel and would not accept any form of responsibility. The rep for the UK travel agent was useless and he was the same - fobbed us off, told us there was nothing he could do and didn't even check in on us to see if she was okay.
Seeing her in such a state and being so ill, it was all very traumatic for us, she spent 6 days in the hospital, we all had to travel to the hospital to see her every day. The insurance issues were horrific and there was lots of admin and chasing up when we got home and we were never fully reimbursed for the payment of the hospital treatment. The insurance company would not pay for the expenses to and from the hospital for us visiting etc. It was all a complete nightmare.
Anyway, we all got home and she was safe and well (Thankfully). However, our whole holiday of a lifetime had been completely ruined. One of the members of our party managed to get lots of photos of various unhygienic practices throughout the hotel, a lot of it was candid footage. On top of this they also recorded the "doctor" who claimed he was a doctor and a nurse at the hotel and told us she did not have food poisoning and that it was a change of diet. That man was unbelievably negligent. We are not sure legally what we can do with this footage or if it would ever be able to be used as it was taken candidly. At the excursion location the member of our party also took candid footage of a lot of unhygienic practices that were disgusting. So there was evidence at the hotel and the excursion location of filthy and dangerous practices.
We have tried two no win no fee compensation companies and both of them have said they will not take the case on because we went on an excursion outside of the hotel (that was actually organised and paid through the UK travel company). The travel company have never even offered an apology to the complaint and also did not offer any form of compensation.
We honestly feel robbed and we do no know what to do about any of this.
Can anyone suggest what rights we have or if they know if any decent solicitors that would take on such a case, despite us going on an excursion that was all done via the travel agent in a park they recommend?
We went on a very expensive holiday last year (£16000) which was for 6 of us. This was supposed to be a holiday of a lifetime, that we put a life savings and a lot of hard work into for a special family occasion. Stayed at a 5 star "luxury" resort and bought the holiday through a very popular travel agent. Five days into the holiday a member of our party contracted severe food poisoning. The hotel doctor initially reviewed her and completely fobbed us off and said it was the change of diet, he gave her an injection of something that was banned in the UK to bring fever down. She is never ill and is fit as a fiddle in her 20s. So we trusted him and took her back to the room and bought rehydration sachets from the gift shop which he recommended. She then collapsed in the room and was in such a bad way, her feet and lips were blue, she was losing so much fluid from both ends. It was awful to see her so ill and we were all worried sick. We then had to call and ambulance, at this point the hotel manager and her crew arrived and was doing her best to tell us not to tell the other guests or create a scene. We got to the hospital and she was in hypovolemic shock and was close to death. When we got to the hospital there was an issue with the insurance (which we were sold from the travel agent) and lots of problems ensued and we had to pay on credit card etc (£6000 in initally). She spent a week in hospital and it was confirmed that she was infected with ecoli along with amoebic dysentry. If we hadn't taken her to the hospital she would have died.
The hotel did all they could to fob us off, cover up and tell us that it wasn't their fault, that their hotel is the best and not to tell other guests or post reviews online etc. We also had been on a day trip to a park outside the hotel (organised by the UK travel agent) and the hotel kept saying she must have caught this on the excursion. They had various members of staff checking up on us daily and asking who we have spoken to, if we are complaining etc etc. The manager was constantly trying to defend the hotel and would not accept any form of responsibility. The rep for the UK travel agent was useless and he was the same - fobbed us off, told us there was nothing he could do and didn't even check in on us to see if she was okay.
Seeing her in such a state and being so ill, it was all very traumatic for us, she spent 6 days in the hospital, we all had to travel to the hospital to see her every day. The insurance issues were horrific and there was lots of admin and chasing up when we got home and we were never fully reimbursed for the payment of the hospital treatment. The insurance company would not pay for the expenses to and from the hospital for us visiting etc. It was all a complete nightmare.
Anyway, we all got home and she was safe and well (Thankfully). However, our whole holiday of a lifetime had been completely ruined. One of the members of our party managed to get lots of photos of various unhygienic practices throughout the hotel, a lot of it was candid footage. On top of this they also recorded the "doctor" who claimed he was a doctor and a nurse at the hotel and told us she did not have food poisoning and that it was a change of diet. That man was unbelievably negligent. We are not sure legally what we can do with this footage or if it would ever be able to be used as it was taken candidly. At the excursion location the member of our party also took candid footage of a lot of unhygienic practices that were disgusting. So there was evidence at the hotel and the excursion location of filthy and dangerous practices.
We have tried two no win no fee compensation companies and both of them have said they will not take the case on because we went on an excursion outside of the hotel (that was actually organised and paid through the UK travel company). The travel company have never even offered an apology to the complaint and also did not offer any form of compensation.
We honestly feel robbed and we do no know what to do about any of this.
Can anyone suggest what rights we have or if they know if any decent solicitors that would take on such a case, despite us going on an excursion that was all done via the travel agent in a park they recommend?
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