Brean holiday park operator Pontin’s has this week issued an apology to customers who were affected by a ‘computer glitch’ which caused holidays to be sold online at cut-price rates – only to be later withdrawn.
The Daily Mirror reported that around 20 families who booked bargain breaks over the Queen’s Jubilee bank holiday have had their holidays cancelled by Pontin’s.
Customer Scott Foster took advantage of a bargain deal for £33.07 for his family back in January. He received a booking confirmation and the money was taken from his account.
But three months later, he received an email saying his booking was cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances”. Pontin’s told him that the holiday park was overbooked, although he later discovered that there was availability for the same holiday at the higher cost of £550.
A self-catering break at Brean was booked for Scott, his fiance Claire and children aged 11 and six months. But Pontin’s has now cancelled the trip, and press reports suggest that around 17 other families who booked the bargain breaks are facing the same problem.
A Pontins spokesperson that the cheap deal should never have been available, and blamed a computer glitch.
“We apologise that our computer booking system did not work in this case and the cancellation was issued as soon as we realised the problem. It only affected around 17 bookings,” the spokeswoman told the newspaper.
She added that Pontins would give those affected a 50% discount on any visit at any other time of year.
