Q:With winter approaching, my spouse and I are thinking about a warm-weather holiday. However, last year we took one and it was bad. The resort was dirty, the food was horrible, and it was an unpleasant experience. Is there anything we can do about this?
A:There are several things you can do.
Booking holidays through a reputable travel agent is one way to reduce the odds of having a bad experience. The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) is a national trade organization representing retailers of travel services. You can also contact an ACTA representative, who will try to help you resolve your issues.
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If you don’t receive satisfaction, you may have to consider suing the travel agency with whom you booked, the provider of the holiday service, or both.
There are many cases on this sort of lawsuit, and they are generally based on a breach of contract.
You enter into a contract to have a certain type of holiday supplied. Minor differences must always be expected, but you may have a case if it is substantially different.
There is an important English case from the 1970s called Jarvis v. Swan’s Tours.
Mr. Jarvis, a lonely English lawyer, booked a two-week holiday in the Alps. There were promises of a party house with 30 people, high tea and an evening with an authentic yodeler. He was sorely disappointed.
There were only 13 people at the house, tea consisted of potato crisps and dry nut cake and no one spoke English. The skis were mini skis, only three feet long, and the bar was open only one night. The yodeler came in wearing his work clothes, quickly sang a few songs and left.
Mr. Jarvis sued and won.
A 2005 Canadian case, Kent v. Conquest Vacations Co., involved a couple who booked their holiday based on a brochure and on information supplied by the holiday provider.
Everything went downhill when they arrived.
They were not in the same hotel complex they had booked.
The hotel was supposed to be a three-star facility, but the trial judge said the resort was “so far from a three star hotel as to be as close as you can get to the worst of misrepresentation.”
The couple booked this resort partly to play tennis. This was difficult, considering there was no tennis court. The husband also liked to dive, but diving was not available, which was discovered upon check-in.
The couple won its case and an award of more than $7,000.
Rick Danyliuk is a lawyer with McDougall Gauley LLP in Saskatoon.
