Some British travelers are never satisfied
Not everything goes to plan on vacations, that’s expected, and is even part of the charm and adventure of travel – you just never know what’s going to happen.
But not everyone likes surprises, especially, it seems, the British.
A list recently compiled by the Association for British Travel Agents (ABTA) and Thomas Cook revealed some interesting grievances lodged by travelers last year.
For example, one tourist suggested his honeymoon was ruined after seeing the sight of an aroused elephant that made him “feel inadequate.”
One family carped that beaches were “too sandy” while another couple said their children were frightened by marine life, adding, “no one told us there would be fish in the sea.”
Others grumbled that there were “too many Spanish people” in Spain while others bemoaned that the food in India was “too spicy.”
And it seems travelers are complaining more than ever.
An ABTA spokeswoman told The Daily Telegraph in London that more than 22,000 people lodged complains with recognized tour operators in 2008, up nearly 2,500 from 2007.
Here’s a sampling of the complaints:
- We bought Ray-Ban sunglasses for five euros ($9) from a street trader, only to find out they were fake.
- The brochure stated: ‘No hairdressers at the accommodation.’ We’re trainee hairdressers — will we be OK staying here?
- (On a trip to Spain): There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners.
- We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white.
- We had to queue outside with no air-conditioning.
- I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts.
- (On another trip to Spain): 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.
- I was bitten by a mosquitoe — no one said they could bite.
- We booked an excursion to a water park, but no one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels.
- A woman wanted topless sunbathing banned after her holiday was ruined because her husband ‘spent all day looking at other women.'
- A guest staying at a hotel in Australia complained his soup was too thick and strong - he had, in fact, been eating gravy.
- A woman called police, saying she’d been locked into her hotel room by staff after misinterpreting a ‘do not disturb’ sign as a command to stay put.
- A tourist staying at a game lodge near a watering hole in Africa complained his honeymoon was ruined after the sight of a visibly aroused elephant made him feel ‘inadequate.’
- A traveler moaned after a holiday in the Caribbean: ‘It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans three hours to get home.’
- A visitor to Goa, India said they were ‘disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food at all.’
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