November 2, 2005
Travel agent to blame for sending British vacationers to Cancun?
How responsible is a travel agent for sending tourists to Cancun while a hurricane watch is in effect?
We may find out since Ros Davies, a solicitor who specialises in personal injury claims, may sue MyTravel after being trapped with her family for four days in a Mexican hotel room with little to eat or drink after Hurricane Wilma struck is considering legal action.
She thinks the travel firm should ahve found her an alternate vacation spot since they had some advance warning about the hurricane. The travel agent says they had no way of knowing exactly what kind of weather would come.
The company says:
"We completely reject the suggestion that we would knowingly fly people into an area that was expected to have a hurricane. There is a big difference between a hurricane watch and a hurricane warning."The Caribbean could not function if everything ground to a halt when there was a hurricane watch. At the time the Davies family flew out, we had no idea a hurricane was going to hit the area where they were staying."
"Our main priority has been to get people out safely. The evacuation exercise has cost us £4m and it is remarkable that no British holidaymakers have died.
"The hotel where the Davieses were staying had sufficient protection for people not to be evacuated.
"Of course we have sympathy with them, but they were a lot better off than many other people - they were, after all, in a five star hotel."
The would be holiday maker says:
"When we arrived at our hotel on the evening of October 18, everything was fine. The day after we heard rumours from other guests that the hurricane was on its way, but when we spoke to the tour rep she told us we were only likely to get the tail-end of it. By the Thursday evening things were pretty bad and after we had gone to our room a note was pushed under our door telling us the hurricane was expected to pass over and that everything would be OK.
"But when the hurricane hit we were stuck in our room with no electricity, running water or food. Fortunately we had some bottled water. The staff delivered bags of food on the Saturday and Sunday - we each got a ham sandwich, a cake and a juice box to last a day.
"Our room was in a building outside the main hotel, and it was considered safe for us to go into the main building on the Monday. When we got there, we were given a paper plate with some cold pasta and melon.
"We left last Thursday and after our flight from Cancun was cancelled three times we were taken to another airport. The flight was going half an hour later, so we had to abandon our luggage and leave only with the clothes we were dressed in.
"They flew us to the Dominican Republic, where we stayed on the tarmac for a couple of hours while the plane was refuelled.
"The holiday cost £3,000 for the three of us and a further £2,200 for my in-laws. I honestly think we should have been offered an alternative holiday before we left Wales."
Posted by James Trotta at November 2, 2005 5:24 PM
Hi James,
It makes you wonder to what degree a travel agent is responsible for communicating due dilligence to their customers. I for one can not believe that so many people in the UK want to travel to Florida in October and November, the height og the hurricane season. I know WHY it is cheaper to travel then ( read: Hurricane Season! ) and I would generally advice against going there at that time. But would I stop anyone from travelling? Of course not.
Cheers,
Jon
Get real! Talk about frivilous law suits ! You know the risks going in. When will people grow up and assume some responsibility for their actions !
Posted by: Mike at November 3, 2005 3:56 AMI think the British vacationers know how to turn on a t.v. before they travel. Most people traveling check the weather channel or internet. I don't think it was the travel agents responsibility. That agent did what was asked... To book a flight and package to Cancun. I agree with Mike and Jon. It's October and November. Hurricane season! If you want a cheaper package, you might have to pay the price. Travel agents don't predict the weather... That, again, is why we have the WEATHER CHANNEL AND INTERNET!
Posted by: Misty at November 3, 2005 4:53 AMTake some responsibility yourself
Posted by: Joe at November 3, 2005 6:14 AMMy boyfriend and I arrived at the GR Solaris Cancun on October 15, due to leave on the 22nd. We were evacuated on the 20th and stayed in a shelter until Monday, October 24. We ran low on food and had to ration water the last couple of days. When we learned there were over 30K tourists affected by the hurricane, we knew we had to get moving before they all realized the Cancun airport was decimated and they couldn't fly out of Cancun soon. We, and another couple, packed a taxi, caught a bus and ultimately flew out of Merida, by way of Mexico City. We didn't wait for the travel agent to warn us, OR get us out of Cancun. We knew we were responsible for our own security and destiny. Our travels amount to what could make a really good Hollywood B movie and we learned from the experience. When we finally flew out on Wednesday afternoon, we learned that many of the people from our shelter were STILL at the shelter, waiting for who knows what to save them from themselves. The four of us took action, IMMEDIATELY and relied on no one to get us out. When are people going to look in the mirror and recognize that person is responsible for what happens to them? Hell, just getting out of bed entails some risk and faith that the day will go right! Get a grip!!!!!
Posted by: Cindy in Nevada, USA at November 3, 2005 12:44 PMi think its not right blaming the travel agent
each one of us is rensbonsible of our actions.
why the family didnt fly to cancun during september or august?maybe because it was too expensive?
I suggest you take your passport and flush it down the toilet.
Posted by: Al at November 3, 2005 9:33 PMThis is why I am no longer a Travel Agent after 17 years. The TA gets the blame for everything. The stress is not worth it. Such as,if the airline decides to change equipment and the seat configuration is changed at the gate it's the TAs fault. I went back to night school and got a better job.
No thanks.
Hey, why do the British think the USA is just Florida and Mexico is Cancun? Go west during the hurricane season for goodness sake - Southern California has the best weather all year round and it's so close to the Mexican border you can get the best of both worlds - AND you can meet all sorts of nationalities here instead of holidaying with 30,000 other Brits!!! We have Disney, Hollywood, Sea World, Beaches, Grand Canyon, Cruises, Fox Studios, Las Vegas and a whole host of other attractions within driving distance..forget Florida and Cancun between June and November....Come to Southern California - you'll never go back to Florida or Cancun again!!!
Posted by: Roger at November 4, 2005 6:05 AMAt least you all got to go home. The locals are still in a bad way, with no power or communication. All you complainers...it's Mexico, Man, go with it!
Posted by: shy at November 4, 2005 10:31 AMI cast my vote with the people who think this is a frivilous lawsuit. I watched the storm from the safety of my home in the northern US and all were suprised that the storm lasted so long and hit so hard. Acts of God aren't covered by any human court. Travel to a hot hurricane zone during hurricane season and suffer the same risks as the people who live there.
Posted by: Todd at November 5, 2005 1:11 AMUnbelievable! They chose the place and the dates--if they can't do a little research on good times of year to go to a particular place then they deserve to have their vacation ruined. If the people doubted the weather before they left, they should have just changed plans to play it safe.
Something tells me that these people would go to Thailand during the wet season and piss & moan about the weather.
Posted by: wanderlust at November 5, 2005 7:41 AM
Any ideas regarding orphanage volunteering abroad? Gratefully, Gail E.
Ahern
Any ideas regarding orphanage volunteering abroad? Gratefully, Gail E.
Ahern
Where is your compassion, people? I feel badly for anyone caught in the throes of a natural disaster, whether they're British, American, African, Asian, Latin American ... it does not matter. No one wants to be in that frightening a situation, esp. when one travels with children. It's just not that easy, or that simple. Readers, you may not know what it's like to travel with a family/children; but I'm sure you haven't forgotten the lessons taught to you about compassion, humility & empathy.
Posted by: Kelli at November 6, 2005 12:54 AMHi Kelli,
I think you missed the point with your response. The topic isn't about compassion but about who is responsible for booking a trip during hurricane season in Mexico. I have two children of my own and when my wife and I went to Cancun with them we made sure it wasn't during hurricane season. I feel that the litigious person who originally posted needs to remember compassion, humility & empathy.
Hi Todd,
It's good to hear your viewpoint; but I must respectfully disagree with you. I am married to an atty. & hear far, FAR too many stories of unnecessary litigation. But this isn't one of those, I feel. I do believe that the agents involved owe these people an apology, at the very least; and perhaps more. I would add more to my perspective ~ but don't know this particular travel agent well enough to ascertain whether they did a good job for their clients (this family). It's a question mark in my mind. We are all human beings, however; that's the bottom line for me. We can't prevent natural disasters, certainly; but we can choose how we respond to them & to those in need ~ we can offer apologies & assistance when we've made an error in judgment, regarding where to travel or where to send others for travel; or we can criticize them.
Posted by: Kelli at November 7, 2005 10:12 AMHi Kelli,
I think that we can happily agree to disagree on this matter. Everyone will look at the exact same set of events from their valid viewpoints but the truth is always somewhere inbetween.
Anyone who travels to that area between August and November is at risk. Bottom line-you are totally responsible for any weather related problems, not the TA. A law suit would be the hieght of folly.
Posted by: Jerry in NJ at November 8, 2005 12:38 AMIf the professonals at the hurricane tracking centers can't accurately tell the path of a hurricane, how do you expect a travel agent to do so? If the agent advises you that you are traveling to a destination that is in the hurricane belt and you are doing so in hurricane season, then the agent has done their job. It then falls to you, the client, to asses the risk and make a decision. That same hurricane did not make landfall on thousands of places where it could have in the Caribbean, and no one could predict more than a day or so out where it would actually hit. (or less, See Hurricane Katrina/ New Orleans) As Jimmy Buffet sang, "Don't try to reason with Hurricane season."
I am sorry you had to live through that experience, but you lived and are wiser for it. This is no one's fault, but it is your responsibility, not the travel agent.