discrimination against mobility scooters abroad

asp

has anyone else faced mobility scooter discrimination when, booking holidays abroad, just recently after booking a holiday to Tenerife, I received a phone call from my travel agent two weeks before departure informing me that the coach transfer company in Tenerife has refused to accept my mobility scooter on their coach. and that I would have to pay extra for private transfer. when I complained to the travel agent, they just offered to cancel the holiday and return my money. has this happening to anybody else, and what can we do about it. any comments would be appreciated.

JaneSkye

I had the same experience when booking a Thomson holiday two years ago to Majorca. I was told that I couldn't travel on the hotel transfer bus with my scooter, which folds into its own suitcase and could easily have been put in the hold. I was told instead that I would have to pay extra for a taxi transfer both ways , a very expensive option. They indicated that they would give me a discount on the taxi fare if I booked it through them but they initially quoted over €120 and eventually after I indicated I would be taking legal advice this came down to €85 www.thomson.co.uk/editorial/faqs/disabled-passengers/disabled-passengers.html  I took legal advice from the Equality and Human Rights commissions https://www.equalityhumanrights.com and apparently there is a loophole in the law as if the holiday were to take place in the UK this practice would be unlawful. However, as the bus transfer takes place abroad, it is not unlawful. There are instances of legal action against Thomson because of this practice and this link shows one. http://www.unity-law.co.uk/news.htm?id=2053
 I contacted Unity Law about this and they did indicate that they would take the matter on, on a no win, no fee basis but having never been involved in something like this in the past I was nervous about going ahead. The only other thing I could suggest would be to contact your MP as it seems to me that this situation will not change until the law regarding this is changed. My own feeling is that as the holiday is sold in the UK that UK law should apply to these transfers. 

Jackie

Hello There

Here are a couple of links to websites I suggest you make contact with to see if you could get some advice on your query:

http://disabilityhorizons.com/category/travel/

https://www.tourismforall.org.uk/About-TFA.html

I hope they can give you some guidance.