An Inverness mother and daughter claim they were “blackmailed” and “treated like criminals” by staff at a Turkey holiday resort.
Viv Mackie says she was left horrified when a Jet2 holiday rep demanded that her 16-year-old daughter, Holly, stump up £50 to repair damage to a hotel bathroom which they did not cause.
The holiday at the three-star Sahra Su Holiday Village was the mother and daughter’s first trip together, all paid for by teen Holly as a wedding gift to her mum and to celebrate sitting her final higher exam.
Ms Mackie, 47, then claims that staff forced her to write a note saying she was having a “great time” at the resort – and to promise she would not put a bad review online.
‘It was meant to be a holiday of a lifetime’
The pair travelled to Turkey on April 27 and were looking forward to spending some time at one of Ms Mackie’s favourite holiday destinations.
She told The P&J how on arriving they immediately had problems with their showerhead, drainage in the bathroom and a faulty lock on the door.
They asked for the shower head to be changed three times as the pressure of the water was too high.
Ms Mackie said the showerhead kept flying off, and that there was flooding under the floor in the bathroom.
When the holidaymakers raised their concerns, Ms Mackie claimed that a Jet2 holiday rep insisted that they had caused the problem – and ordered Holly to stump up £50 or leave.
“The first I knew there was a problem was when a holiday rep was talking to Holly on her own about paying £50 for damage to the room,” she said.
“I could not believe it – we were being asked to pay for asking for a working showerhead and to have something done about flooding from underneath the floor in the bathroom.
“We felt intimidated and treated like criminals.”
Inverness pair paid up to avoid being thrown out
After initially refusing to pay up, the pair said they felt “intimated” and didn’t want to be left homeless in a foreign country.
So they took out money from the bank to pay for the damage.
When they returned to the hotel, Ms Mackie said that staff at the reception told them they would not have to pay if they signed a piece of paper saying they were having a “great time” and promise not to write a bad Trip Advisor review.
Ms Mackie said: “For the second time in a day we were being blackmailed. All we wanted was a working shower and a bathroom door that closed without locking us in.
“I think that the holiday rep took one look at Holly, thought she was sharing with another young person and targeted her for the money.
“It didn’t for a minute feel like they listened to our side of the story before asking.”
A Jet2 spokesperson confirmed the company had received a complaint.
“We will of course respond to her directly, however as an award-winning company we are always disappointed to hear any negative feedback from our customers,” they said.
“We are investigating in further detail, but we can confirm that Ms Mackie was not charged any fee for damages, and that both the hotel team and our team worked hard to assist Ms Mackie during her holiday.”