A look at some of the stupidest travel complaints

Actual complaints include the beach being too sandy
Mike Lloyd November 21, 2013

“The beach was too sandy.”

“We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish.”

Thomas Cook has come out with a list of some of the dumbest travel complaints you’ll ever hear.

The complaints are real; they’re from actual dissatisfied customers, like the one who says his holiday to India was ruined because almost every restaurant served curry and he doesn’t like spicy food.

It’s enough to drive a travel agent nuts.

“We get a lot of complaints about things that are completely outside of our control,” says Wendy Lanphear with Travel Best Bets. “I got a call the other day, complaining about ticks in the jungle of Puerto Vallarta. This woman was irate because the agent didn’t warn her.”

Her advice? “Any sort of mishap, you’ll just have to pack your patience and remember you’re on holidays. It’s supposed to be fun and enjoyable.”

“Really, [we’re] just a sounding board. People are upset; they just need to sort of vent,” adds Lanphear.

Other complaints:

“I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts.”

“It’s lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallarta to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during ‘siesta’ time — this should be banned.”

“We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price.”

“We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow.”

“They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax.”

“Although the brochure said that there was a fully equipped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers.”

“No one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared.”

“I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention mosquitoes.”

“It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair.”

“The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guide book during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun.”

“I compared the size of our one-bedroom suite to our friends’ three-bedroom and ours was significantly smaller.”

“The brochure stated: ‘No hairdressers at the resort.’ We’re trainee hairdressers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service.”

“There were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners.”

“We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning.”

“It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel.”

“My fiance and I requested twin-beds when we booked, but instead we were placed in a room with a king bed. We now hold you responsible and want to be re-reimbursed for the fact that I became pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked.”