Family turned away from Disneyland Paris after spending £3,000 on tickets

A family claims their once-in-a-lifetime Disney holiday was ruined after an admin error led to their park tickets being cancelled. Sue Batters paid more than £3,000 to treat her two daughters and five grandsons to a three-day break in Disneyland Paris.

The package deal, booked with Times and Travels UK, included the Eurostar, hotel stay, and tickets to the two main theme parks, Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios. The 68-year-old said everything was fine until the final day of their holiday, when their Disneyland passes suddenly stopped working and they were told they’d been cancelled.

She said “I was in tears. My grandchildren kept asking me why I was crying. What are you supposed to do when you have five children who want to go to Disney? They did not understand why we could not get in." The London-based firm has since apologised and confirmed the day passes were cancelled by its supplier without notice.

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Sue, who lives in Avery Way, Allhallows, on the Hoo Peninsula, was initially sceptical of the package deal offered, which came up on her Facebook, as she was not familiar with the agency. However, she looked into the company, checking its website and reviews, which were all positive, and made sure its holidays were protected by a professional trade body.

When happy, she decided to go ahead and book the trip for the end of May, for her, her daughters Rebecca and Hayley and her grandsons Archie, Alfie, Freddie, Stanley, and Parker. Everything was going smoothly until the final day when their passes stopped working trying to access the Walt Disney Studios Park.

The group of eight was told by staff their passes had been cancelled and that they should call Times and Travels UK for assistance. After trying to contact the travel agents all morning, the family were finally told at 1pm that the tickets had been cancelled two days before they travelled due to a £497 discrepancy.

Sue, who is a semi-retired driver, argued that she had paid the full cost of the holiday and eventually found out there had been an “admin error” which led to the cancellation. She added: “This was a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I spent all my savings on a magical holiday, but this ruined it. I was meant to be a lovely trip away for the family, but instead we were standing outside Disney crying with five children.”

She was advised to buy new passes at the park, which she did for £650, and that they would be refunded. Sue has yet to receive the reimbursement, but Times and Travels UK told her they were working to process the repayment and apologised for the delay in doing so.

According to its terms and conditions, its package deals are financially protected, and it takes responsibility for its suppliers under the Package Travel Regulations. Sue said that the firm has offered to pay her £459 and then two £100 instalments, but she has not accepted this as she wants to agree to a one-time payment of the full amount.

The grandmother added: “What if someone did not have the money to buy the tickets at the door? Not everyone has that option, and it is not a small amount that you might have extra. I always book holidays with the likes of TUI and Jet2, but I checked it out and it looked fine. I did have a bad feeling, so I booked it on the credit card and made sure I was protected.

“In the back of my mind, I was worried.”

Times and Travels UK has not responded to a request for comment.

However, in a reply to Sue’s review on online review platform Trustpilot on July 7, the firm explained that the day passes were cancelled by its supplier without prior notice. It added: “We acknowledge this was frustrating and we sincerely apologise for the stress it caused. As soon as you made us aware, we investigated and confirmed that you will be refunded for the cost of the cancelled tickets. This promise still stands, and we are working to process it.

“We have never refused your refund, and at no point did we say we would not take responsibility. We understand the delay has caused frustration, and we truly are sorry.”

It added: “Times and Travels UK is a registered travel business. We have helped hundreds of families and couples travel to Disney, Asia, and beyond, and we take our reputation seriously. Our small team is still working through a backlog due to a recent internal change in management, but no one has been ignored or left behind intentionally, and every pending case is being resolved.

“We hope you will allow us to complete the process and make this right.”

According to Trustpilot, the majority of reviews left for Times and Travels UK are five stars.

What to do if you have travel trouble

Citizens’ Advice tells customers who book package holidays that they are entitled to compensation if, like in Sue’s case, they have to spend extra money because of a problem. It is called claiming out-of-pocket expenses.

The leading advice charity also tells holidaymakers to report any issues with their trip as soon as possible and then write to the customer service department of the tour operator to claim compensation. It also states that if the company makes an offer that they think is too low, they can ask for more, like Sue has done.

The next route is to complain to a trade association, like the Association of British Travel Agents, or, as a last resort, take the firm to a small claims court.