Hi we did chose to travel during the hurricane season, but Thompson took away the right to make our own minds up they constantly misinformed us of our destination, had we known they were taking us to shelters in Cancun when we were 60 miles away, we would have hired a taxi and headed away from the hurricane and fended for ourselves, that decition was taken away, when they told us we were to be taken to hotels away from the hurricane, please read the letter I have posted then make your comments best regards Roger.

Hi, anyone who was traveling with Thomson's in Cancun Mexico during hurricane Wilma, a web site has been set up to fight Thomson's for compensation due to there gorse neglect of there 'duty of care' to there customers if you are interested or have any comments please go to

http://WWW.HURRICANE-WILMA.CO.UK

Having arrived at our destination on the above date we settled into our adequate accommodation. We had three full days at this hotel, which took us to Wednesday 19th October. It was on this day we heard rumors that a category five hurricane was approaching and was on course to hit the area that we were in. Information posted in the reception area confirmed this and naturally we were most concerned, especially as Hurricane Katrina was still so fresh in everyone's minds. There were no instructions at this point, just to keep an eye on the notice board in reception. At about 2300hrs that night a ' Thompson Rep', telephoned our room to inform us that we were to be evacuated to a structurally stronger hotel of similar rating at 0945hrs the next morning. Relieved that we were to be taken to safety, we thanked him and packed our belongings.

THURSDAY

The next morning was chaos in the hotel. Everyone had to 'check out' and wait for coaches. Whilst waiting I asked the rep for the camera that he had recovered for me (having left it on the coach transfer) and stated that he had it in his car and would bring it to me. I also asked what kind of accommodation they were taking us to. He replied "At least four stars". When I questioned how Thomson's had managed to find accommodation for so many people at such short notice, he told me I asked too many questions. As I could see he was obviously very busy and I had no reason to disbelieve him, I said no more about either our journey ahead or my camera. We dutifully boarded the coaches to await our transfers. Three and a half hours later we were still sat on the coach out side the hotel. The excuse being that they were waiting for confirmation as to our destination. We were very confused as we had been assured by the rep that we were going to a four star hotel in land. Meanwhile the weather was worsening, we were beginning to panic and the children were getting hungry and restless. Just seconds before the coach went underway; the rep came aboard, stated, "You're going into Cancun", and got back off the bus. Stunned by his statement the coach got underway, all of us in total disbelief and completely confused as to why we were being taken into the hurricane and into danger instead of being evacuated to safety. We went like lambs to the slaughter all the time believing that Thomson's must have a really safe place for us to go otherwise they would have taken us well away from danger. We drove for over an hour into a very run down and deprived looking area. For about ten minutes before we stopped, we noticed people looking, pointing and laughing at us but couldn't understand why. When the coach came to a stand still, the driver said we could use the toilet here if we needed to. I was relieved that this was to be a short stop only as some of the local Mexican people were carrying guns and machetes, which they were delighted to show us. The building itself was in a filthy state. There was broken glass along the tops of the walls; some people spotted rats, the toilets were indescribably filthy, plain concrete floors and no security or locks on any of the doors. We seemed to be there for half an hour or so when the drivers started to unload packs of bottled water and bags of what looked like bread. We thought maybe they were just making a delivery on the way to our hotel. I can't describe the horror we felt when we realized exactly what was happening. This dreadful and dangerous place WAS OUR FOUR STAR HOTEL! Roger (my husband) had been on the telephone to the British Embassy, to a lady, on the journey into Cancun because we were so concerned and frightened at being taken into the hurricane. We felt the obvious and safest course would be to drive as far away as we possibly could and we desperately needed some help. People started to get off the coaches to see what was happening. Another Thomson rep traveling in one of the coaches, was trying to reassure everyone but didn't really seem to know what was going on either. Along came another rep. I don't know her name but she was slim with long dark hair and quite aggressive! She announced that this was our designated hurricane shelter and we were all to get off the coaches. We couldn't believe what we were hearing. Surely they didn't expect us to stay in this terrible place. Of course everyone objected and refused. At this point, the female rep threatened to have us forcibly removed from the coaches by armed guard if we didn't comply. We couldn't believe this was happening. Our family holiday, booked through what we thought was a family friendly, caring company was turning into a nightmare. How could this treatment towards all these people, especially the children, be justified? Roger again contacted the British Embassy who had previously reassured us as they thought we were being taken to hotels. He informed them of what was happening to us and was told this was not acceptable. Roger relayed this information to the female rep that just dismissed what he was saying stating ' there was no lady of that name at the Embassy'. Roger continued to argue his point and made the rep speak to the Embassy. I don't know what was said between them but a few minutes later we were told to board the coaches and that we were being taken to the town/city hall. We were all very relieved, as we genuinely feared for the safety of our families. About half an hour later we arrived at the town hall. The driver went to speak to someone in authority but we were then told it wasn't safe to stay there and that we would have to go to a school in another area. About an hour later we arrived at our second four stars all-inclusive accommodation.

REGION 505 MANZANA 2
LOTE 1
FRACCIONAMIENTO PEHALTUN
SC. ANTONIO MENDIS BOLIO

It must have been about 1800hrs when we arrived. It was starting to get dark, the weather was worsening, no one had had anything to eat or drink since early breakfast and everyone was weary and almost dazed.
There were about ten classrooms - all very basic, not like English schools. We all just filed into different ones, not in any particular order, just the nearest one with some space. There were seven people in my party, my husband Roger, myself, my eighteen-year old son Tom and his friend Ashley and my three small children, Molly aged 9, Joe aged 8 and Benjamin aged 6. In our classroom, however, there were thirty people in total. People we will never forget.
There was electricity when we first arrived. Everyone pooled any food, drink, equipment that they had to try any make the situation a little more bearable. I had a travel kettle, cups and coffee, travel plug etc. Other people gave what they had but none of us had left the hotel prepared for this. We were told we were going to hotels. Why would we need to grab food or blankets etc? It was about this time that Roger started making phone calls home and to any one who would listen in an attempt to highlight our situation. We couldn't understand why we had been here. Why hadn't we been driven hundreds of miles away to safety when they had the chance? My family managed to contact Central News who was very interested in this story. Roger gave an interview over the phone and also provided video footage, which was screened on regional and national television that night. We genuinely thought that all the publicity would help get us out of there quicker. As it turned out, I don't think it made any difference. We naively believed that the storm would pass and in about twenty-four hours or so we really would be going to our four star hotels. The room had a tiled floor and a few chairs in it. There was a teacher's desk but that was about all apart from a few pieces of classroom equipment. We tried to make ourselves as comfortable as possible on the floor with towels and jumpers for bedding. There was nothing to eat or drink at this point and the children were now very hungry and confused. There were some children's toilets, girls and boys, but within a couple of hours of being there the girls toilets were blocked/overflowing and we were wading through six inches of water (or something - I hate to think what it was). Consequently that put those toilets out of action completely leaving us with four boy's toilets for one hundred and fifty people. Within a very short space of time these were blocked with human excrement and beginning to over flow. It doesn't take much of an imagination to visualize the conditions we had to cope with and send our children into. Within a few hours there was no fresh tap water to wash with either. It was at about 2300hrs that night that the Mexican people, who were there to look after us, brought us some thin foam mattresses. Having been sitting/lying on a tiled floor these were very welcome. At approximately 0100hrs they came with some blankets, which again were very much appreciated.

FRIDAY

I think it was the next morning that some tins of tuna and Mexican beans arrived along with some bottled water, although there wasn't much and it had to be shared between twenty-eight of us. All the time the weather was worsening. We only had shutters on the windows, which didn't offer protection from the elements. There was a kind of locked storeroom next door to our room, which had some tables and chairs in, and we did wonder whether to break in and use what we could find to barricade ourselves in for protection. As we thought we would probably be leaving within twenty-four hours or so it didn't seem right to cause that kind of damage unnecessarily. Little did we know what was to come! All the first day the weather progressively deteriorated, becoming very wet and windy. The gusts of wind were very strong at this point and I thought this was the hurricane in full flow. How wrong I was. This was just the beginning and we were getting frightened. Roger had spent much of the day trying to unblock the toilets (without any equipment) so our children could at least use them but by the end of that first full day, with only having had a mouthful of food each and now no electricity, we tried to settle down for our second night in our Thomson four star all inclusive accommodation.

SATURDAY

The next day, day 3 in our holiday camp, the wind and rain was appalling. Thomson's guests at the opposite end of the classroom had spent all night trying to keep the room from becoming saturated as the rain kept pouring in through the shutters. They had tried to stop some of it by fastening bin liners to the windows. There wasn't any thing to fasten them with so they just had to trap them in the shutters and hope for the best. The best they could do was to keep mopping up with their own towels and keep wringing them out. The weather was now very fierce. Again Roger had tried to keep the toilets clear so the children could use them. It was almost impossible to walk outside at this point and it was also dangerous. Fortunately, as no one had had much to drink and very little to eat, they kept toilet trips to a bare minimum. I have to say though we were starting to feel quite ill. We were all becoming weak through starvation and dehydration. Yes there was some food given to us but far from even the bare minimum and what rations we had we gave to the children. We were also starting to get stomach cramps and diarrhea. Not surprising given the filthy conditions and complete lack of basic sanitation. That night was terrifying. At one point I thought the shutters were going to be blown in and then what protection would there be. Another night spent mopping out.

SUNDAY

It was a little calmer on this morning. I remember feeling relieved, thinking that at last it was over and the end of our terrible ordeal was in sight. Wrong again! We ventured out to the toilets and to get some air. Our rep, came to see us. This was pretty much the first time we had had any information as to what was going on since we got there. We had felt very abandoned. Unfortunately the rep only had more bad news. This calmer period we were experiencing was just the eye of the hurricane and it was coming back, this time in the opposite direction. I despaired. I just couldn't believe we would have to endure still more of this horrendous ordeal. I sorry to say, that for the second time, I broke down in tears. I didn't think I could take any more. The children were so hungry and feeling poorly. Molly had developed a rash and we had no medication, we were all filthy dirty and had no way of washing as there was no clean water, only a lake of rain water possibly mixed with sewerage from our over flowing toilets. Further more there didn't seem to be any help on the way. We pleaded with the rep to do something to get us out of there. We had no communication to the outside world, we were helpless and there was nothing we could do about it. We had been abandoned! The men tried to make the most of the calmer period and although it was still windy, raining and the roads were in deep floods, they went out in search of food from the local shops. They found some biscuits and snacks but that was all. The Mexican people had no food either. Roger spent another day unblocking toilets and using flood water to try a fill the cisterns in an attempt to keep them flushing. We couldn't spend another night in fear of being sucked or blown out by the hurricane so the men broke into the room next door to find something to make a barricade. They used tables and any flat object they could find to cover the windows. There were some nails, which they hammered in with stones. They filled bin liners with sand from the waste ground/playground by the school to make sand bags to try to stop the water coming in through the door. Roger also tried to make a weatherboard for the bottom of the door. As the hurricane came back, and this time much fiercer, we shut our selves in and prepared ourselves for another terrifying night. The window barricade helped but the water kept pouring in through badly sealed window frames and an ill-fitting door. The water also seeped through cracks in the walls. We stuffed towels everywhere we could but were constantly wringing them out to such an extent that we had pressure sores on our hands. I had a pot of Vaseline, which we used in an attempt to seal the window frames, which helped, but we were fighting a loosing battle trying to stop the water coming through the door. Before we had shut our selves in that night the water level on the playground was so high, another inch or two and we would have been swimming.

MONDAY

It had been another sleepless night of wringing out towels. By now we were totally exhausted. We had had only mouthfuls of food and limited fluids for four days now going into our fifth day. We were getting desperate and tempers were rising. The worst of the storm at least seemed to be over but it was still raining. The rep came to see us and of course every one vented their anger and desperation on him, demanding he do something to get us out. He was our only link with Thomson's and our only real hope of getting us out of there. Some of the children in another room had now contracted impetigo - a highly contagious skin disease caused by poor hygiene (not really surprising). It wouldn't be long before we had dysentery and goodness only knows what else. Were the government and Thomson's waiting for someone to get really ill before they did anything about it? A gang men formed chain-collecting floodwater and took it up to a tank above the toilets in an attempt to keep them flushing. It took a few hours and a lot of hard physical effort, energy they didn't have from lack of food. During the day some of the men, my son include attempted to go further a field to try and find some food. The few tins of tuna we had been given had almost gone and there were no more. They returned empty handed as the army had turned them back. There had been looting and shooting as people were trying to find food. Later that afternoon, some of the local neighbors brought some pasta for the children. It is an image that will stay with me forever as my children ran across that playground, cup in hand, in the pouring rain in the hope of getting a few mouthfuls of food. They were so hungry and there was nothing I could do to make it better. The holiday they had so long looked forward to have come to this. I think it was this day the rep had managed to contact someone but was told to ring back the next day and they may have some news but nothing was happening yet so we were to spend yet another night in our camp with still no food. We found some wood and bricks that night and made a kind of barbecue. There were a couple of tins of Mexican beans left so we warmed these up on the fire.
Some people had managed to contact relatives and were astounded as their families were being told that all the English holidaymakers had been placed in safe hotels and were being well fed and cared for!!

TUESDAY

It had finally stopped raining and the sun had begun to shine. There was another problem. Someone had left a tap running and the water that had been put in the overhead tanks for the toilets had run dry. All that hard work and effort had been wasted. What's more the floodwaters were quickly draining and there wouldn't be any of that left to use either. So we were now faced with the prospect of still no food and not even any rainwater. The local residents showed us where there was a well. There wasn't much water in it and it wouldn't be fit to drink but it would be clean enough to wash our hands in if we were careful and rationed it. The men formed another chain and bucket-by-bucket drew up the water. It was then bottled and distributed between the rooms. My son and some other men went out looking for food again whilst we were waiting for the rep to return. Roger and I went out of the camp to try and phone home but were unable to find a phone that worked. We felt so cut off and abandoned. What were we going to do? I felt the situation was so desperate we were at risk of becoming seriously ill. Still no food, very, little drinking water and no sanitation. And where were Thomson's? If it hadn't been for the local residents and their kindness and generosity, the children wouldn't have had the little they did have and these residents had precious little themselves. By way of a thank you we decided to try and clear the playground by the school. It had been trashed by the hurricane and we thought it was the least we could do to in some way repay their kindness. The rep finally returned to camp at about 1100hrs with some good news at last. He said that the coaches were coming for us soon but that we would have to go on a four hour journey to Meridian airport inland, then fly to the Dominican Republic and fly back to England from there. A huge cheer went up. Everyone was so relieved, no one cared about a four hour journey, we would be out of there, and we'd be able to eat something and have a wash and use a clean loo!! What luxury!! Everyone gathered their belongings and at long last everyone was smiling. At last we were going home. The coaches finally got under way about 1300hrs. We traveled through the town and saw some of the destruction that the hurricane had caused. We also saw Mexican people queuing for food. If they hadn't got any we certainly weren't going to get any either.
We hadn't been traveling for very long, perhaps an hour when we hit the first of the floods. The coaches drove through the first of these although it was very deep and lasted for about a mile. Watching the other coach in front we could see the water was about half way up the bus. I was very frightened, as I didn't think we'd make it through or we'd break down in the water and be stranded there indefinitely. As we finally came out of the water there was a loud scraping noise. Some thing was obviously wrong with the coach. What else could go wrong! The driver and his co driver got off and checked underneath. Something had come adrift, an engine cover we think, but the drivers were able to fix it. Relief as we went underway again. Surely nothing could go wrong now. Yet again this was too much to hope for. We hit another flood. The coach in front decided to drive straight through it but our driver didn't want to risk it as he thought it was too deep. We then backed up, crossed the central reservation to attempt the possibly shallower flood on the other side. However, the traffic queue was very long and slow as vehicles were being towed both ways and there were so may breakdowns that we were still sat waiting to move four hours later. When finally it was our turn, I couldn't believe what they were going to take us through. The water was lapping at the drivers window it was that deep. In front of us, a VW Beetle was being towed by a truck, but it was floating from side to side in the water like a boat. There was an overturned coach deep in the water to our left; also we could just see the rooftop of a car that had been submerged in the floods. I was petrified but tried not to show it, as the children were frightened enough already. If these vehicles had ended up like this, so could ours. Was this nightmare ever going to end? After about a mile we reached the end of this flood but the road was blocked with traffic. To continue it meant we would have to cross back over the flooded central reservation (a deep dip) to pick up the road opposite which was higher with no floods at that point. In doing so, at the point of almost making it across the coach started to tip over on to its side, approximately forty-five degrees. There was panic on the bus and we all went to one side in an attempt to counter balance the weight. We were all very frightened. We were then told to get off. While we waited a little way up the road the driver reversed and attempted the maneuver again. I think on his third try he was successful but the coach had sustained some damage. There were one more floods to negotiate but after the last drama, it was a piece of cake. There were a few trees on the road further ahead but there were no more hold ups and we finally reached the airport at about 2330 four hour journey had taken about eleven hours. Still no food or drink. When we reached the airport we had to wait another two hours just to drive in. The coach couldn't stop right outside the airport so it parked about two hundred yards away. We then had to drag our saturated luggage (it was very heavy) across to the entrance. There was a massive queue of people waiting to check in. We couldn't see any Thomson reps and didn't know where to go. In frustration Roger asked if there was a Thomson rep in a very loud voice and as if by magic, one appeared. I find it hard to believe that there wasn't a rep waiting for us after all we had been through. We were then ushered to the back of a very long queue where we had to wait for two more hours to check in. All of a sudden there was an abundance of reps handing out leaflets, express concern and stating that health, safety and welfare were Thomson's priority. I couldn't believe what I was reading. If it hadn't been for Thomson's we would never have been in that situation. Still there was no food or drink. There was a psychologist on hand if we needed one but nothing for the children to eat. Unbelievable!! Once through check in we thought we would be able to buy some food and a hot drink but all the airport shops were closed so we still had nothing. I find it very hard to believe that a company like you couldn't (or wouldn't) organize some basic food or even a hot drink for all the refugees. After all that we'd been through it was the very least you could have done. We then waited on the floor of the departure lounge, not a rep in sight, until 0700 hrs when we finally boarded the plane.

The cabin crew finally brought us something to eat but the children were so exhausted they slept most of the way to the Dominican Republic. Emotionally and physically drained and probably because of shear relief, it was at this point that Roger broke down in tears, something that, in all the years we've known each other, he has never done. Why had we come to this? It was supposed to have been a wonderful and relaxing time for us.
It must have been about lunchtime when we landed. I remember thinking that at least when we reached the hotel we could finally relax, have a long awaited shower, rest overnight and start to feel human again. Yet again we had to haul our wet, heavy luggage on and off the coach and stand in yet another queue at the hotel whilst rooms were allocated. The hotel was very pleasant and we enjoyed a shower and something to eat and drink but there wasn't much time to rest or relax, as we had to be at a meeting at 17.30hrs to inform us what was happening next. Well, we were one of the lucky ones. At the meeting the rep called out certain room numbers and said the occupants of these had fifteen minutes to pack as they were flying them back to the UK that night. Had Thomson's no heart! Obviously not. We had been through this terrible ordeal, were totally drained and exhausted, had then been made to travel through horrendous conditions for over twenty-four hours and were then being made to undergo another fifteen to twenty hour journey home. Cattle are treated better than this. My families were more fortunate however. Our room number was not called out so we were able to stay and rests over night until a meeting next morning.

WEDNESDAY

We awoke early to make sure we were ready to leave at 0900 as we had been advised the previous evening. At the morning meeting we were told there would be two flights that night. - One at 1900hr and one at 2100hrs but that we had to keep an eye on the notice board for further information. During the course of the day the information kept changing so no one, including the reps, seemed to know what was happening.
We did explore the possibility of staying the remainder of our holiday at this hotel in an attempt to salvage something from, it. We enquired with the Thomson rep who said she would look into it. Meanwhile, we asked at reception about availability. They said that wouldn't be a problem as they had plenty of room. They gave us a price per person per day and Roger went on the Internet to see if we could get some flights but he had no luck so we hung on to the hope that the rep could arrange something for us. Ultimately, there were still a few days of our holiday that we could try and salvage. It wasn't to be though. We waited around all day for some news but they said we would have to leave with everyone else on the 1900hrs flight. We asked that they put this in writing as we didn't want to be sent home early from our holiday and we already had a flight booked from Cancun for our return journey. The rep said she wasn't able to do this, as she didn't have authorization. We continued to argue our point all day as we wanted to continue our holiday but the Area Manager for Majorca said that this was the only airplane for us to return to the UK on. So at 1930 we set of again.
The rest of the journey back to the UK was, thankfully, uneventful and we arrived at Gatwick on Thursday afternoon where we collected our car and drove home in an almost shell shocked state.

We have all been unwell with gastrointestinal upset as a result of our experience. On return to the UK the children were unable to resume school straight away and both my husband and I were not fit to return to work.
We spent over seven thousand pounds on this holiday and all for the privilege of being lied to and deceived deliberately, starved of food, basic hygiene and sanitation, treated like cattle, cleaning out sewerage and toilets, threatened with armed guards, driven through dangerously deep floods, almost tipped over in our coach and being put into life threatening situations, all unnecessarily.
Why were we ever taken into danger?
Why weren't we driven well away from it?
Who is going to compensate our suffering?
Who will re-reimburse us for our pre booked airplane seats?
Who will repay us for excursions booked, paid for and not able to take?
Who will repay us the money we spent trying to feed ourselves when we had already paid for an all-inclusive holiday?
As a result of being sent home, our traveler's cheques were not used and it cost one hundred pounds to change them. Who is going to pay for that?
Who will pay the telephone bill we now have with all those calls from Mexico made in an attempt to get us out of somewhere we should never have been in the first place?
Where is my camera supposedly being looked after the rep?
Where is the rep?
Why were we lied to? We had a right to know the truth. If we had, been told we were to be put in shelters (not four/five star hotels) we could have made an informed decision as to what we wanted to do and maybe hired a car and driven ourselves in the opposite direction (which you should have done) to safety. YOU took away our freedom of choice with your deliberate deceit. Who gave you the right to do that, consequently endangering our lives?
Why were our families at home being told we were safe and being well fed and cared for?

It has been a hugely traumatic experience. It is difficult to believe that such a renowned company as Thomson's, taking families into potentially dangerous areas on holiday, haven't a satisfactory or safe contingency plan in the event of catastrophe which, as a result, this failing put all our lives in real danger.

This is just our account of the holiday. No doubt one of many complaints you will receive, however, they will all tell a similar, appalling story. We also have video film and audio recordings to substantiate our account.

Thomson's have a duty of care to its customers which, in this case, and the case of the other one hundred and fifty people who traveled with us, has been seriously and grossly neglected.