Irwin Mitchell are currently representing a number of angry holidaymakers who suffered sickness during stays at Butlins resorts.
Andrew Johnstone from Oldham, said he was left with no choice but to join the growing number of holidaymakers taking legal action after being forced to cut his family break short when severe diarrhoea and vomiting left him confined to his room in agony. As a result of this, Andrew was left with no choice but to return home so he could visit his GP, despite urging staff at the Minehead resort to help him and his daughter receive medical attention, after she also began to suffer from similar symptoms.
Irwin Mitchell are also representing more than 260 people that have been taken ill at the Bognor Regis Butlins this summer, and are calling for urgent action amidst serious concerns that customer complaints are not being taken seriously.
Mr Johnstone claims it took Butlins more than a month to respond to their complaints and there was no indication the site had not demonstrated that action had been taken to investigate what happened, or taken any responsibility for their suffering.
Issues that were reported include:
- Serving undercooked food
- New food being added to existing meals on the buffet counter
- Unclean cutlery and glasses
Mr Johnstone recalls: “It was an absolute nightmare just a day into the break, but when you looked around the place it was hardly a surprise. We noticed a range of issues, particularly in the restaurant area, and were very underwhelmed by hygiene standards in the resort.”
As his condition continued to worsen, Andrew was also forced to contact his 67-year-old father to ask him to pick up and take care of the children. On the following day, Andrew and and his wife left the site and refused a refund from Butlins for the two nights at the resort they were missing out on. Despite sending a letter of complaint to the company at the end of August, the family only received a full response at the start of October.
Amandeep Dhillon from Irwin Mitchell’s Travel Law team is acting on behalf of the family against Butlins Skyline and comments: “After being contacted by so many people in relation to problems at Butlins in Bognor Regis already this year, it is a massive concern to hear the same kind of horror stories emerging from the site at Minehead.
“After hearing of this family’s experiences and seeing reviews on TripAdvisor which criticised hygiene standards at the site in the past, we’re hugely concerned more people may have suffered in the same manner.
“While Butlins have responded to the complaints of our client, they are yet to acknowledge that any steps have been taken to examine the cause of the illness problems they faced or that they have put any safety measures in place to prevent the same kind of issues from happening again.
“Understandably, our clients want Butlins to apologise for the problems they faced and provide reassurances that other families will be safe from such issues in the future. In addition, on behalf of all our clients, we simply want the company to provide evidence that it is addressing the issues we have been told about.”