We’ve all had our problems which we complain about when we go on holiday such as slow transfers after a long flight, a noisy building site next to the hotel, poor quality food, no sunbeds, etc. But sometimes the complaints we hear are beyond belief. Listed below are genuine complaints which were compiled by the former customer service staff of the now defunct Thomas Cook and other holiday companies. I’m sure they’ll give you a good laugh 🙂
If you’ve heard anything humorous on your travels that you can add to this list please feel free to include them in the comments box at the end of the page.
I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts.
It’s lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during ‘siesta’ time – this should be banned
On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don’t like spicy food at all.
We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels.
A tourist at a top African game lodge over looking a water hole, who spotted a visibly aroused elephant, complained that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel inadequate.
A woman threatened to call police after claiming that she’d been locked in by staff. When in fact, she had mistaken the do not disturb sign on the back of the door as a warning to remain in the room.
The beach was too sandy.
We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white.
A guest at a Novotel in Australia complained his soup was too thick and strong. He was inadvertently slurping the gravy at the time.
Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined as my husband spent all day looking at other women.
We bought’ Ray-Ban’ sunglasses for five Euros from a street trader, only to find out they were fake.
No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled.
There was no egg slicer in the apartment…
We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish…
The roads were uneven..
It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it took the Americans only three hours to get home.
I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends’ three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller.
The brochure stated: ‘No hairdressers at the accommodation’. We’re trainee hairdressers – will we be OK staying there?
There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners now live abroad’
We had to queue outside with no air conditioning.
It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel.
I was bitten by a mosquito – no-one said they could bite.
My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked.
This one “It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it took the Americans only three hours to get home.” really made me laugh and shake my head! It makes me wonder if they ever passed a geography course! Thanks for posting these gems!
Chinese guy was having breakfast and kept on staring at the owners little dog. She asked him if he likes her dog and he answered, that type is very delicious.
In Ireland a woman was arguing with the cashier because they would not take US $, saying that the US $ was fine everywhere else. In Spain, one comment from the group, “no wonder the economy is so bad when everything closes during the day when she wanted to shop” People like this should really never leave home! It makes the rest of us look bad
Speaking to someone who’s husband was admitted to a Spanish hospital, she said the all TV was in Spanish. Uhm what did she expect!!
Working for the security staff of one of the “American Airlines” in a UK airport I once asked an American lady to put her camera through an X-Ray machine. Stood at the other side of the machine she was intrigued as to how her photos had come out!!!!
I used to be a holiday rep, so have probably heard every complaint imaginable and some! One of the best was from the man whose son was disappointed because the hotel restaurant didn’t have the right style of glass for him to drink his coke out of.
The saddest genuine one was from a tiny girl who said she’d lost her hedgehog and mummy thought he’d gone down the laundry chute! (happy ending – he was rescued before being washed!)