Shola Lee
A devoted husband has slammed TUI after he lost thousands on a holiday as his wife battled cancer.
Grandad-of-five Nick Eldridge booked two holidays for him and his wife Eileen with the holiday company.
They were excited to jet off to Mauritius and the Dominican Republic, but a missed admin fee led to the couple's £5,000 holiday being cancelled.
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Nick had booked a two-week Mauritius holiday for £5,000 back in September 2021 for November that year; In March 2022, the couple used the same company to book a trip to the Dominican Republic for January 2023.
Due to Covid, Nick was forced to move the Mauritius trip to September 2022 and subsequently received a bill for a £190 admin fee to change the date, but this only came through in June 2022.
Nick assumed the fee was related to his Dominican Republic trip, so he called the TUI office: "We got an email in June to say that there was a payment due on my holiday.
"I thought it was for the holiday to the Dominican Republic. I phoned up the branch and said 'do I owe any money?'
"They said 'no you don't'. I explained I'd had this email but they said not to worry about it. I thought there'd been a mistake there so I didn't do anymore."
Nick assumed everything was fine with his holiday and thought no more of it as he was blindsided by his wife's cancer diagnosis shortly after.
"Right at that time was when my wife was diagnosed with lung cancer. Of course, our minds were everywhere at the time, and we didn't know if we were coming or going.
"She had an operation in July to have part of her lung removed, and to go on holiday in September was something she was really looking forward to - to get away and relax.
"They've now cancelled the holiday and took £2,580 off us. That's nothing to TUI.
"We saved so hard for it, we work hard for our money and to have that taken off you is soul-destroying.
"Did they really think that for £190 I would forfeit a £5,000 holiday?"
Nick has suggested that the 'morally right' thing for the company to do is to refund them.
A TUI spokesperson said: "At the time of booking, we make customers aware of any payment dates and when their final balance is due.
"We can confirm that Mr Eldridge was notified on three separate occasions that the payment for his holiday was overdue.
"As per our terms and conditions, as no payment was made following the final reminder, Mr Eldridge’s holiday was subsequently cancelled."
TYLA had contacted TUI for further comment.