PBH / off topic: do your thing (travelguide, pictures) / post

Brit's holiday from Helmut

A DAD who took his family to a luxury holiday hotel only to find they were surrounded by Germans was awarded £750 by a court yesterday.

David Barnish, 47, forked out £4,000 for the all-inclusive trip to the Greek island of Kos.

But on arrival at the 700-room Grecotel Park hotel with wife Karen and his three daughters, David grew suspicious as he noticed all the unoccupied sunbeds draped with towels – and the sound of just one distinctive accent.

He said: “We tried to join a windsurfing lesson and yoga classes but all the instructions were in German.

“My youngest daughter wanted to attend the kids’ club but couldn’t understand what was going on.

“Even the TV was in German, except for one channel.�?

The finance company boss, of Madeley, Staffs, claimed the Thomson break for Karen and daughters Molly, 12, Gemma, 19, and 21-year-old Kim was spoiled because the hotel did not cater for English people.

He said: “We entrusted Thomson with our holiday, going for an upmarket Premier Beachclub hotel for its facilities, but we weren’t able to use many of them.�?

Yesterday Thomson holidays was told to pay David £750 at Stoke-on-Trent County Court for breach of contract.

Deputy District Judge Naish ruled that a customer going to a hotel featured in an English brochure “doesn’t expect to have to press for activities to be accessible in their own language�?.

He added: “The brochure is significantly misleading.�?

David, who represented himself, said afterwards: “I’m not racist, as equally I wouldn’t like my family holiday at a hotel overrun by English.�?

A Thomson spokesman commented: “We are sorry that Mr Barnish did not feel the entertainment on his holiday was what he expected. However, we are pleased with the outcome.�?

By kat1 (Moderator) on May 31, 2008, 02:52 in Off Topic.

kat1 (Moderator) says on May 31, 2008, 02:53:

gezz he could have learnt German.. heheh
would have he complained if all the staff didn't spoke German but Greek instead? their national Language

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slguy says on May 31, 2008, 06:40:

poor guy! what if it had been french? the award would have been significantly higher, if there's any justice in the world...

Before you throw me out, make sure I pay my bar tab

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britabroad says on May 31, 2008, 09:00:

I had the same thing happen to me in the Dominican Republic. Not only in the hotel, but also the excursion trips. One of the tour guides informed us that there were English days and German days - we'd been booked in on German days by mistake. They used to mix them up together but apparently, apart from the language problems, fights had broken out etc.
Never thought to claim any money back though. Had too much of a good time taking the piss out of them.

Leave the big stick at home...carry a cannon!

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Cerealkiller says on May 31, 2008, 15:06:

see this is what happens when you cant speak German... knowledge of German should be made compulsory to anyone who wishes to travel in continental Europe. (Meaning everywhere in Europe except Britain, because british people have trouble seeing themselves as european except of course when they need a cheap holiday or want a decent meal :P)

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives -John Stuart Mill

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billyb says on May 31, 2008, 15:17:

" knowledge of German should be made compulsory to anyone who wishes to travel in continental Europe."

As was the case some 60 years ago :)

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slguy says on May 31, 2008, 15:22:

if there's an uglier language to hear spoken than german, I have yet to hear it.

if german was compulsory for visiting europe, they'd never see this pirate over there. bad enough having to run the risk of dealing with Parisians...;)

Before you throw me out, make sure I pay my bar tab

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adrimm says on Jun 9, 2008, 22:02:

Dutch can be somewhat gutteral...but personally I don;t mind listening to German. I actually think that for men german-accented english can be very attractive :)

I'd be happy to study it. I *hate* not understanding (especially when some words are so close)........... also I am a firm believer of "when in Rome".

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sloopskipper says on Jun 18, 2008, 11:33:

There are subtle variations in Dutch. The high Dutch spoken in Noord Holland is far more gutteral and somewhat harsher sounding than what you might hear in Limburg, in the south, between Germany and Belgium.

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