You may have had to complain about room service or cleanliness of the pool on holiday but what about the number of pebbles on the beach near your hotel?
One distressed holidaymaker did just that after she claimed she had chipped her manicure while sunbathing on a trip to Mexico. Another woman complained that her holiday abroad was ‘too hot’, the food ‘too spicy’ and ‘hardly anyone spoke English.’
And it seems that some people believe their holiday company can control the weather.
One couple demanded a full refund for their two-week trip honeymoon in the Maldives because it had rained one afternoon and they had been told it would be ‘sunny day-in-day-out.’
Another angry thrill-seeker who had booked a trip to Universal Studios, Florida, requested a refund for his trip as one of the rides, the Incredible Hulk rollercoaster, had been too scary.
The bizarre complaints were revealed by holiday company Opodo.co.uk. Its customer service team deals with over 500 calls a day and some are stranger than others.
One hungry air passenger asked whether he could pack a plate of his mum’s roast dinner in his hand luggage, while a nervous customer flying to Bucharest asked how best to ward off vampires.
And many travellers just couldn’t bear to be parted from their pets. A woman requested an upgrade for her cat from cargo to first-class, while a man who had booked a ticket to Brazil wanted to know whether he needed a passport for his pet python. He claimed he wanted to reunite the snake with its family in the Amazon.
When it comes to holidaying abroad, not everyone is a seasoned traveller.
When one customer’s flight from the UK to Miami was cancelled, the man asked whether he could take the Eurostar to the American city instead. Another man tried to pay for his trip by posting his credit card to the company, complete with a self-addressed envelope.
The company’s customer service staff are even asked to get involved in lover’s tiffs. One man thought he had booked a romantic trip for two to Rome, Italy, but instead landed in Rome, Georgia.
He called the company to demand it help him get back his furious girlfriend who had dumped him for the mistake.