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British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
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Ill
on Holiday by Mavis Morley Over the years I have been fortunate enough to enjoy many holidays at home and abroad, inexpensive and luxurious, touring or staying put in one resort. I have been well on all these holidays but others have not always been so fortunate. However these people have always been well cared for by the tour leader, local representative or even the driver/couriers who have always been kind and helpful to those who were taken ill or had had an accident. This year we arranged a family holiday for my husband and I and our two grown-up sons. Our sons had persuaded me that I ought to make an effort to visit Australia, particularly as my brother lives there. We set off at Easter and enjoyed a fascinating stopover in Bali which none of us had previously visited. From here we flew to Sydney for a week. We enjoyed our time there and also surprising my brother when I phoned from our hotel. Next we were looking forward to going to Cairns for a week and hoping to see the Great Barrier Reef, crocodiles, the rainforest and other new experiences. The night before our intended early morning flight to Cairns disaster struck. One of my sons, Alan, was rushed into hospital for an emergency appendectomy. We contacted our local representative (incidentally we were travelling with the same large tour operator whose local I representatives let Trudie Lazarus down in Bali (VISA Winter 1997). I was very shocked when the girl I spoke to informed me that it was not her responsibility to assist us in these circumstances and at any rate the office was about to close for the night and I would have to sort things out for myself. Fortunately the receptionist in the Casualty Department was more helpful and sent a fax to our insurance company whilst we waited for our son's operation to be completed. They sent a fax in reply asking for a few additional details. Naturally they did not at the time know our itinerary and realise that urgent new arrangements had to be made and probably assumed with the time difference we would have been going to bed shortly. During the night therefore we had to pack all my son's belongings and move them to our room so that we could check him out with reception but keep a safety deposit box for him. One person only could remain with the patient which it was decided should be me. My husband had closed our safety deposit box ready for leaving the hotel so I had to open another one for me. I had to phone Qantas to advise them that two of us would not be flying the next day and also to arrange a later flight to Cairns for my husband so that he could visit Alan in the hospital early next day. As our hotel booking ran out the next morning I had to negotiate with the management to book accommodation for me. They were kind and helpful and said in the circumstances they would offer me the lowest possible discounted rate which compared very favourably with what we had paid the tour operator. It was therefore the middle of the night before anxious and exhausted I went to bed. Next morning we realised that the travellers cheques were in my husband's name and he had to rush out and get some more cash for me. The next day I was unable to contact the local representative in Cairns to advise him of our situation so once again telephoned the Sydney representative. I told her I did not consider her lack of help acceptable and she said she would advise the tour operator's head office in the UK of our situation, which she failed to do. We never heard from the local representative again. The next week was tiring and stressful with travelling out to the hospital to visit Alan and when I returned to the hotel there were always lots of telephone messages waiting from the airlines or the insurance company. I learned something new from the airlines which was that, even if the surgeon or doctor says that a patient is fit to fly on a certain date, clearance still has to be obtained from the airline's own medical department. I think this is quite understandable as the cost of diverting a plane due to a medical emergency must be enormous. Evidently airlines have different rules about when they consider a person can fly following surgery or a stay in hospital. After a week we were allowed to fly on to Hong Kong. We had wheelchair assistance organised for Alan as we all know how far you have to walk in some airports. It took a while for the Qantas staff to find a wheelchair but later a lady came to take us to the plane and we boarded before the other passengers. At Hong Kong another member of the airline staff came to the plane with a wheelchair, took us through Immigration and then collected our luggage from the carousel and escorted us through Customs which was a great help. My husband had informed~ the tour operator's local representative that we would be arriving on a different flight but they said they would not meet us and we would have to make our own arrangements to get to the hotel My opinion of this tour operator sank even lower. British Airways also provided wheelchair assistance when leaving Hong Kong and from the plane right to the car at Heathrow. Our taxi driver was quite shocked when he saw us and said to Alan "What happened? You weren't in a wheelchair when you went on holiday!" It took two months, much form filling and telephone calls to complete our insurance claim. Letters to the tour operator's Quality Control Department did not produce an adequate apology or any form of compensation. Particularly when I consider the very large amount of money we spent on the holiday we felt very badly let down by their local representatives especially when we have seen in the past the kindness and support offered to patients and their families by other tour companies. I would be interested to know of any other TravelSlG member's experiences. Phew, after
all this I feel quite exhausted; I think I need a holiday! |