South Yorkshire family still £4,449 out of pocket after holiday company fails to refund cost of Rhodes trip

Nicholas McGowan, aged 52, from Rotherham, was due to travel with his wife and three children for an all-inclusive two-week holiday to the Greek island of Rhodes on July 18 last year.

However, the trip was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the family have been trying to get the £4,449 it cost them from Teletext Holidays ever since.

The law states that holidaymakers should be reimbursed within 14 days of their holiday being cancelled, but Nicholas has yet to see a penny.

Two dates on which the company promised to refund the money in October and December came and went, and he has now found out hundreds of other people are in the same boat.

He said: “We’ve not been abroad for a few years now and it was a lot of hard work saving up for it. It is heartbreaking.”

“With everything we have been through I’m just absolutely fed up with it now. We paid in full for the holiday a year ago now but the refund has yet to arrive.

“Teletext Holidays are just not playing ball at all. It is quite sad to be honest.”

After failing to get anywhere with the company, Nicholas joined a Facebook group where other holidaymakers in similar situations have been sharing their frustration with each other.

In the group, some have shared stories of successfully obtaining their money while many others are still waiting and some have even begun going down the small claims court route.

Nichoas, who is self-employed, has also contacted Alice Beer from the BBC’s Watchdog consumer affairs programme who are believed to be interested in investigating the scandal.

“They have ignored letters and when you get through it is a call centre somewhere abroad and they just laugh at you,” said Nicholas.

“There are three or four hundred people on this Facebook group all in the same position.”

Teletext Holidays are yet to respond to requests for comment.

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a digital subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.