As a travel consumer blogger I receive a lot of emails from consumers asking how to complain about a holiday company, so I put together this guide in the hope that it will help people. Some companies are better than others when handling customer complaints, in an ideal world, every company would have their complaints procedure available on the website informing customers of the process, but many do not.
Here are my tips on how to complaint about a holiday company.
Deal with the issues while on holiday
Some holidaymakers wait until they arrive home before they complain. It’s important that you give the holiday company involved an opportunity to resolve your issues. If it’s an issue with a package holiday then the representative from the tour operator should sit down with you and complete a complaint form and that will be sent to the head office.
I have read emails from people who are sending in the complaint months after their holiday. This is much harder for the company to deal with and will probably mean you’ll not get the complaint resolved to your satisfaction, so complain straight away.
Collect evidence of your holiday complaint
Try and collect any evidence to back up your complaint. Take photos and videos; document the issues with dates, names of staff involved, take copies of any police or doctor reports. The more information that you give the company, the quicker it will be for them to deal with your complaint.
Technologies like smart phones play a useful role in collecting evidence. I read an email where the complainant had collected the opinions of other holidaymakers on an audio app on his iPhone, and backed this up by providing contact details for all of the holidaymakers.
Writing the holiday complaint letter
I know how easy it is to want to rant when you’ve had an issue while on holiday but it is the worst thing you can do. I have lost count of the number of complaints that I have received in my inbox that go on for pages and pages, and I loose interest after the first page.
The best thing you can do is include an opening paragraph with the dates you travelled, any booking reference numbers and useful information that is going to help the company find your details on their system.
Then bullet points the issues that you are complaining about.
The final paragraph should be what you want to achieve from the complaint; do you want compensation, a refund, or just an apology; the company will then have an idea what they need to do to resolve your complaint quickly and to your satisfaction.
If you have a video or photos then you could use services like You Tube or Flickr to store these photos and send the link within the letter.
Keep a photocopy of any documentation and the letter, and make sure that you send it recorded delivery. This way you can track and make sure that someone at the company has signed and received the complaint.
Telephone or Email communication
I must admit that when I telephone a company to complain I always forget to take a note of the person’s name that I am speaking to. So make sure you do that. Also record the times you have called too. Make a note of what was discussed. If you are sending an email, keep a copy of it for evidence.
If you have spent a lot of time on the telephone make sure you keep a copy of your telephone bill and highlight the times you’ve called the costs involved. The majority of holiday companies expect you to call premium telephone numbers, and this can be costly, and should be factored into any compensation or refund that the company offers to pay.
Where to go to next
Hopefully the company has resolved your holiday complaint in a timely manner, but if they haven’t dealt with it to your satisfaction then they are other options you could take. This would depend on the complaint and type of company that you are complaining about.
For complaints about an airline or airport the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) might be able to help deal with any issues, where as ABTA and ATOL, should be able to assist with an issue with a travel agent or tour operator, if they are a member.
Other organisations include the Financial Ombudsman or the Office of Fair Trading.
Using social media
I have had a few complaints sent to me that I have helped resolve by simply using social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Most holiday companies are using these websites, so if you have not being able to get the company to communicate with you, then you might be able to catch their attention here. My advice would be to use this as a last resort, but public complaints can get companies swinging into action.
Hopefully you won’t have to complain online or to another organisation, but some travel companies are pretty bad at dealing with complaints in a timely manner. You will find some will try and sweep it under the carpet but as a consumer you do have rights so make sure you complain if you are not satisfied.
Sharing your experiences online
I believe that consumers should have a voice and share their holiday issues. Review websites and travel forums are great places to visit to do this. Make sure you keep to the facts though, don’t include staff names and confidential information and certainly do not write anything libellous.
Be polite when complaining
My final piece of advice is no matter how angry you are, be polite. Remember that the person you are communicating with was more than likely not responsible for the issues you’ve had on holiday. Being polite means your complaint is more likely to be resolved to your satisfaction.
