Going on holiday is supposed to be one of the happiest and most relaxing times for you and your family. If you have had a negative experience when going on holiday, it is only right that you would wish to complain to the appropriate company or person. Sending a letter is one of the best ways to complain after a holiday mishap as all letters sent to travel or holiday companies must be investigated and replied to, you’re almost guaranteed to receive a refund or compensation.
What do you need to include in your holiday complaint letter?
There are some important details that you should include when writing your holiday complaint letter, without including these details it may slow down your compensation process and result in the need of further contact with the company to confirm details, if you include all the necessary information in one letter the travel company will be more likely to act as soon as they receive the letter.
- Include all relevant personal information, this includes your address, email address and full name
- Make sure to mention all relevant holiday information such as airline, flight number, hotel name, room number, booking number, name on the booking (if it is different to your name) etc.
- An overview of the issue you have experienced, this should include any important details such as employee names (or descriptions if you do not remember)
- Include any relevant legal information to back up your complaint, this includes your ATOL Protected rights, consumer rights and any information you think is important from the terms and conditions of your booking contract
- An outline of any actions you would like the company to make to provide you with compensation for the issue or to ensure that this issue does not affect other holiday goers or you if you choose to go on another holiday in the future with the company.
Who should you send your letter to?
When choosing who to send your letter to it is important to find out where the head office of the company is. If this head office is in your country that is the best place for you to send it to. It is best to send the letter to the head office as they companies often have a policy to investigate every letter they receive at the head office with urgency, which means your issue will be resolved at a faster pace than if you sent it to a customer service PO box.
What should your holiday complaint letter look like?
When writing a complaint letter it is important to set it out in the correct manner, this makes the letter easier to read and also makes it look more professional. We have provided you with a template to use below.
[YOUR ADDRESS]
Apartment Number
Building Name
Street Name
Town Name
County Name
Postcode
[THEIR ADDRESS]
Company Name
Building Name
Street Name
Town Name
County Name
Postcode
[SUBJECT] Re: Customer Account Number: XXXXXXXX / Booking Number: XXXXXXXX
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing to make a complaint about an issue which I have experienced whilst on holiday with your company. [INSERT REASON: e.g. The hotel was overbooked/My seat was not reserved on INSERT FLIGHT NUMBER AND DATE OF TRAVEL]. I was not happy to discover that [INSERT DETAILS OF THE ISSUE: e.g. I was left without a room to stay in/I had to sit apart from my family although I had paid extra to reserve our seats together].
When I spoke to [INSERT REPRESENTATIVE/EMPLOYEE NAME] on [INSERT DATE] I was informed that [INSERT INITIAL PROMISE OF ACTION: e.g. you would issue a refund within X days]. However, you have failed to uphold this commitment, as [INSERT FURTHER ISSUE: e.g. I have still not received a refund X days later]. Hence, I am writing this letter to you to request that you take immediate action to correct this issue.
I expect you to respond to this letter by writing to the address above, sending an e-mail to [INSERT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS], or calling [INSERT YOUR PHONE NUMBER] between the hours of [SPECIFY YOUR AVAILABILITY FOR A PHONE CALL]. To resolve this problem, I would like for you to [INSERT DETAILS OF YOUR PREFERRED RESOLUTION: e.g. issue my refund of £X.XX/ensure this issue will not happen to future customers] as soon as possible, and contact me to inform me that you will be doing this. I would also expect for you to [INSERT YOUR PREFERRED FORM OF COMPENSATION: e.g. refund my flight seat reservation fees/issue a goodwill voucher] as an apology for all of this inconvenience. Otherwise, you will lose a previously loyal customer.
I will also have no other option but to escalate my complaint to [INSERT NAME OF THE RELEVANT OMBUDSMAN SERVICE OR REGULATORY BODY] if you do not resolve this by [INSERT DATE 8 WEEKS FROM DATE OF COMPLAINT]. I have the right to do this as a result of you failing to address the issue adequately. According to [INSERT CONDITION OF BOOKING FROM OFFICIAL COMPANY TERMS AND CONDITIONS], and in accordance with [INSERT RELEVANT CONSUMER LAW], you are in breach of contract. Consequently, you must take the aforementioned action to rectify this error. I have copies of [INSERT LIST OF SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: e.g. receipts, e-mails, social media messages, photographs] to verify everything that I have mentioned, and would be glad to provide these if required. I look forward to hearing from you regarding this complaint in order to settle the matter.
Yours sincerely,
[INSERT YOUR FULL NAME] [INSERT YOUR SIGNATURE]