A grandad from Norfolk, who’s an everyday on P&O cruises, claims he is been banned for all times after elevating security considerations on social media.
Steve Kidd, 66, had a two-week Caribbean cruise booked together with his spouse Elaine, 62, however was nervous when he discovered they’d be flying with Maleth Aero. The couple have been solely instructed concerning the airline after paying £2,994 for his or her vacation.
They joined Facebook teams sharing security worries concerning the airline, which P&O began utilizing final yr. Users on social media have been chatting about issues on board, which the cruise firm say a few of which is inaccurate. It follows an incident of ‘freak turbulence’ on Maleth final yr that was allegedly with out pre-warning and resulted in a single passenger breaking their neck, the Mirror stories.
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(Image: Getty Images for P&O Cruises)
In an electronic mail from P&O, the corporate tells Steve “it is thus no longer appropriate for you to travel with us”, earlier than letting him know he’ll get a refund for his booked cruise and any future bookings will likely be stopped.
P&O claimed that Steve had already threatened to cancel and never ebook future cruises, in addition to planning a giant protest on the firm’s head workplace towards the contract with Maleth, if he did not get what he needed. They additionally accused him of spreading “incorrect information” seen on-line, and stated it was “unfair” for employees to should take care of him.
The granddad-of-four thinks he and his spouse have spent practically £10,000 over 5 years with P&O however now he is been instructed he is not welcome on any of the corporate’s journeys.
(Image: Steve Kidd)
Speaking to the Mirror, he stated: “I did bombard them with a lot of screenshots from what people were saying on Facebook and said ‘is this acceptable? Comments please’. I’ve done nothing malicious, I have suggested P&O should hold their heads in shame the way they’re treating people and that they’re a disgrace to the travel industry, but I’ve made no malicious threats to anybody to do with P&O and Maleth.
“I’ve principally conveyed to them what persons are serious about and relaying my very own considerations concerning the security for this airline that they have been going to place me on.”
(Image: Getty Images for P&O Cruises)
Steve and Elaine, who had achieved Atlantic Tier standing with P&O after seven cruises to numerous locations, have been enthusiastic about boarding Arvia, the fleet’s latest and largest vessel.
However, he stated: “It was just the flights we had an issue with, but they’re just not listening, they aren’t taking anything on board. I did say to them can we at least get P&O to admit they’ve made a grave error in signing up with Maleth?
“They have fully dismissed the entire thing…they cannot simply sit there and take the compliments, they should take the criticisms as properly. They’re not listening to individuals.”
Steve feels that his function as a “ringleader” for complaints has led to him being singled out. He added: “At the end of the day, I’m not too fussed…I’m done with them. I wouldn’t go with them if they offered me a free cruise.
“In one respect, I’m relieved that I haven’t got to go on the flights anymore. There are different cruise traces on the market equally nearly as good, I can go along with them. It’s simply this journey we have been actually wanting ahead to with our buddies.
“We’ll pick ourselves up and get over it, but it’s the principle of it. There’s a lot of people out there who are still absolutely c****** themselves about going on these Maleth flights.”
An electronic mail despatched to Steve from P&O on January 12 stated in his correspondence with the corporate he had made “direct threats to cancel, threats of not booking any future cruises, and more recently “a mass deputation” to our head office to protest about our contract with one of our airline partners, if you did not receive the remedy you were/are seeking”.
They stated such threats had “taken the form of requests for full apologies, compensations, changes to one of our airline partners, as well as statements of admission for alleged failings and mistakes on the part of P&O Cruises”. They stated a lot of his complaints have been linked to social media posts “containing factually incorrect information” and regardless of being “fully explained…on several occasions” he has “continued to repeat the same assertions”.
The electronic mail went on to say P&O has “taken great steps to reach an accommodation with you”, reassuring him “of the relevant and applicable legislation and guidelines that this airline partner stringently adheres to”, however the agency has determined his behaviour “clearly demonstrates we cannot cater for you” and it’s “unfair” for employees to should proceed to “deal with your issues”.
The letter concluded: “It is thus no longer appropriate for you to travel with us, or any of the Carnival group brands. This includes Cunard, P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises. We will now make arrangements to cancel any bookings you have and to return any monies held in respect of the same to you, either directly or via a Travel Agent, dependent on how the booking was made. These will be actioned today and will be with you within 5 working days dependent on your bank.”
“In the event that you seek to make any future booking with any Carnival brand notwithstanding the terms of this letter, then even if it is initially accepted (either directly or indirectly) we will cancel the booking. This decision does not apply to your wife, who is free to re-book any of the cancelled bookings she was a named passenger upon, should she wish to do so.”
A spokesperson from P&OCruises defined: “This matter relates to the conduct of a potential customer where P&O Cruises took the view that the relationship had irretrievably broken down between the parties. We therefore cancelled the booking and issued a full refund.”
The Mirror and Daily Star have reached out to Maleth for remark.
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