TUI holidaymakers’ snowless Lapland journey has household fuming at Scrooge bosses
A couple have been left devastated after they blew their ‘life savings’ on a Christmas get away to Lapland that was ruined after a lack of snow in the weather forecast
A couple has been left devastated after they spent their “life savings” on a holiday to Lapland that was ruined by a lack of snow.
Lisa O’Neil, her husband Wayne and son Finn, booked a £3,482 holiday to a Finnish holiday resort through the operator TUI. Numerous booked activities on the family’s itinerary list were cancelled including a husky ride, snowmobile trip and a reindeer encounter – due to the lack of snow.
The couple raised concerns about the weather forecast before leaving. They expected TUI to either cancel the trip or reschedule it under their, “No snow you don’t have to go,” policy.
Mrs O’Neil noted that other families on the resort were similarly irritated about the experience. She said: “Everybody was obviously upset, very angry that this situation had been foreseen by so many of us that had phoned and raised concerns ahead of time,” reports BBC.
Mrs O’Neil reached out to TUI contacting them about the forecasted snow on December 1 prior to the holiday. She was told that she would not be entitled to a refund if she cancelled the holiday herself and that “staff on the ground were confident that the holiday would go ahead”.
The company website states: “If we think there’s not enough snow to run the itinerary… you’ll have the opportunity to amend to something else or choose not to travel.”
Mrs O’Neil commented: “TUI took all of our money and had that policy in place that gives you the peace of mind that TUI’s got your back, that they’ve got you covered and your life savings are in good hands and your children can have the holiday that they deserve.”
Despite being offered a 50% refund on their holiday they request a full refund for their holiday and believe TUI should have rescheduled their trip. “I want them to do the right thing,” Mrs O’Neil said.
“I’m not asking for anything unreasonable, I’m asking for them to follow their own advice.”
A company spokesperson said: “Our teams have been in direct contact with all impacted guests to offer a resolution.”
