The world-famous tour operator TUI offered a foreign tourist symbolic compensation for 3.5 thousand hryvnias equivalent to a change of clothes after his suitcase was lost at the airport of the Spanish island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands). The man stayed at the resort in only swimming trunks for a two-week vacation, which he took with him in his hand luggage.
According to the Daily Star, the situation was doubly frustrating for the 41-year-old British traveler as he has been diagnosed with a mental and behavioral disorder called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which causes him to iron and fold his clothes in a certain way.
It was clarified that the man became suspicious when he did not see his suitcase at the airport of arrival, although he had checked in the luggage at Manchester Airport along with the clothes. As a result, the Brit left with nothing, in a shirt, shorts, and swimming trunks in his pocket, to a previously booked hotel, for the cost of rest and service under the “all inclusive” system, in which the tourist paid the sum of 260,000 hryvnias.
As the victim later explained, he was lucky to have traveled to Mallorca with his friends – five other adults and four children, who decided not to take too much and left their suitcases at Manchester Airport the night before they were due to travel. The reason for their apprehension was simple: this summer, due to the chaos at the airports of the UK and other European countries, tourists began to often face the loss of luggage.
“In the hope that everything will be clarified within 24 hours, we reached our hotel. All TUI will offer is £25 per day for a maximum of three days. How crazy is that? I’m on holiday for 14 days and then I have to go out and buy this pathetic amount of clothes. I spent £150 on new clothes. Our travel insurance can cover the extra amount, but I haven’t claimed that yet. I spoke to the lead representative who told me that the situation in Manchester had gotten so bad that I needed to lower my expectations and accept that the case would not be investigated during our holiday. I found it overwhelming. I bought most of the things specifically for the vacation, including stroking and folding each item perfectly,” the publication cited part of the tourist’s story.
Since the suitcase went missing, the victim has contacted TUI and Manchester Airport daily. “We have been at the resort for 10 days and now they have stopped responding to my emails. Our trip was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus, so we were desperate for everything to go well. I don’t have any definite information on where my luggage is, I don’t know if it is at Manchester airport or if it went on another flight somewhere else. The chief representative stated that the global parcel tracking system is also damaged, so the barcode to find the missing suitcase is practically useless,” he lamented.
At the same time, a representative of the tour operator stated the following: “We are very sorry to hear about the problems the tourist encountered. We are investigating this matter with our baggage handler and our team at the resort will contact the customer as soon as possible to help resolve the issue.”