A young couple, Lois Light and her partner Dexter, were left furious after being wrongly accused of vaping and subsequently banned from a holiday flight. The incident occurred during a Tui flight from Gatwick to Lanzarote when cabin crew caught two other passengers vaping on the plane.
Lois and Dexter, who had never smoked or vaped, enjoyed a week-long break in Lanzarote. However, their return journey took an unexpected turn when they were summoned to reception by their Tui representative.
To their shock, they were informed they were banned from boarding the plane home due to allegations of vaping on the outward flight. Despite protesting their innocence and highlighting the mistaken identity, the couple were forced to book a separate flight with another airline at an additional cost of £500 for new flights, transfers, and luggage.
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Lois, a nurse from Norwich, expressed her frustration, saying:”It ruined our holiday and has caused a huge amount of stress since. It is shocking that a mistake like this can happen and Tui said there was nothing they could do to help and seemed to not believe us.”
The couple’s pleas to resolve the situation and clear their names fell on deaf ears. They were left with no choice but to find an alternative flight home, resulting in an Easyjet booking seven hours later and nearly £500 out of pocket.
Lois, said: “We tried saying there was a mix-up but initially, everyone we spoke to said there was nothing they could do.
“You’d think they would be able to look at the CCTV on the plane or see we did not match the description from staff.
“I was even asleep at the time with headphones on so I didn’t even know it had happened.”
Upon their return, their complaints to Tui initially went unanswered. However, after sharing their ordeal on social media, Lois finally received an apology from the company.
Tui accepted liability, compensated the couple for their distress, and covered their travel expenses. Nevertheless, Lois believes the offer falls short, expecting more from Tui given the emotional impact of the incident.
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A Tui spokesperson, said: “We are sincerely sorry for the ordeal they experienced on their journey home from Lanzarote.
“Unfortunately, a human error meant that the couple were falsely identified as disruptive passengers following their flight.
“We have since apologised to the couple and offered them compensation and have paid for the travel costs as well as offering them a goodwill gesture.
“Instances like this are extremely rare, and we take security matters very seriously.
“We can only continue to apologise for this error, and we hope that the couple were still able to enjoy their holiday before this unfortunate mix up.”
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