Complaints

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We present 20 of the most ridiculous complaints made by holidaymakers to their travel agent, taken from research by Thomas Cook and ABTA.

A tourist at a top African game lodge overlooking a waterhole, who spotted a visibly aroused elephant, complained that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel "inadequate".


A woman threatened to call police after claiming that she’d been locked in by staff. When in fact, she had mistaken the “do not disturb” sign on the back of the door as a warning to remain in the room.


"The beach was too sandy."


A guest at a Novotel in Australia complained his soup was too thick and strong. He was inadvertently slurping the gravy at the time.


"Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined as my husband spent all day looking at other women."


"We bought 'Ray-Ban' sunglasses for five euros (£3.50) from a street trader, only to find out they were fake."


"No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled."


"It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans three hours to get home."


"My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."


"I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends' three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller."


"The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the accommodation'. We're trainee hairdressers - will we be OK staying here?"


"There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners."


"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 my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food at all."


"We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels."

[SpursFan1902]

I wonder why some people travel at all! It is like that scene out of "Shirley Valentine"...with all the English people in the restaurant in Greece looking for chip and egg and such. Classic human stupidity.

[nekokate]

The Ray-Ban knock-offs one is classic. How the hell is that the fault of the travel agency that they are gullible idiots? Of course they're going to be fakes!!

[Brown Sauce]

if whoever had waited and bought their friggin' raybans now, they'd be paying a fiver and not a poxy 3 parnd 50. so be gratefull ya prat.

[major.tom]

Some gems in there. "Too many foreigners" was especially rich.

[pirtybirdy]

I liked the guy who complained in India that every restaurant served Curry and he doesn't like spicy food! What a maroon.

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An angry guest came down to the front desk of a Holland America Line cruise ship demanding a different room. The attendant tried to calm him down and find out why he disliked his cabin so much. He responded: "I paid a lot of money for this cruise and was promised a sea view, the only thing I can see through my window is the damned parking lot!"

We’d not yet left the dock.

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We had taken a two-day coach trip from Sousse (in Tunisia) to the Sahara with stops off in various places en route. At Matmarta we pulled into a small hotel for lunch. We were served couscous and were just about to start our meal when a lady sitting at the next table proclaimed in a loud voice "What's the foreign rubbish? I'm not eating that stuff. What do you think you are doing? Bring me some real food, I'll have an omelette, now, and hurry up". I didn't know where to look as I folded up with laughter. By the way the couscous was wonderful.

"The disappointment telling the children that the reindeer could not fly was incredible…you must state this clearly in your brochure in future"

"I realise that there is no electricity in the Wilderness Cabins, but there should have been somewhere to recharge my phone"

"I think that it is appalling that you cannot go white water rafting in a stretch of river with no rocks"

"I was shocked to discover on arriving that my Spanish Pesetas were no longer accepted"

"You said that your local Slovenian reps spoke English, but you failed to mention the Slovenian accents"

An American lady tourist visiting the amphitheatre at Epheseus, Turkey, said: “If this had been built in America they would have put an elevator in.”

At Machu Picchu I encountered a British tourist arguing with the entrance staff demanding a refund for his entry fee. His complaint, "There are too many clouds around the surrounding mountains".

"The leaves of the plants in the front garden are dusty"

"There is somebody living in the attic and he has poisoned the food in the freezer. We want it replaced"