Monday, 29 May 2017 07:13

Hotels To Check Alcohol Consumption Of 'Sick' British Guests

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British tourists scam Gran Canaria hotels with false food poisoning claims British tourists scam Gran Canaria hotels with false food poisoning claims photosgrancanaria.com

Gran Canaria hotels lost 4.6 million euros in 2016 due to a 700% surge in bogus food poisoning claims from British tourists.

Hotels in Gran Canaria are fighting back by refusing to pay out without a fight. They are now checking their guest's alcohol consumption during the period that they claimed to have been sick. If guests drank while claiming to be sick the hotel refuses to pay out.

Hotels are also asking visitors to sign satisfaction questionnaires before they leave and are changing contracts so that bogus claims have to be heard in Spain rather than in the UK.

Gran Canaria and Spanish hotels that detect cases of fraud also plan to sue the perpetrators for damages. This has already started

The scam and how it works

The food poisoning scam has been around since 2013 when the Jackson Reform changed UK consumer law and allowed law firms to target companies outside the UK. However, 'claim farm' legal firms started to work the legal loophole in 2016 causing a huge spike in claims.  

Basically, all-inclusive tourists are approached during their holiday and told that they can claim their holiday costs and extra compensation as long as they make a false food poisoning claim against their hotel. All they have to do is go to a chemist and get a receipt for some non-prescription tummy medicine. 

The law firm then makes a claim against the tour operator and they often just pay up rather than go to court. The tour operator then passes the costs on to the hotel without giving it a chance to defend itself. 

After a multi-million pound bill in 2016 and continued cases in 2017, Gran Canaria's all-inclusive hotels plan to fight back. Some hotel chains are even considering stopping British tourists from booking all-inclusive holidays.

Across Spain, the food poisoning scam has cost hotels almost 60 million euros due to 10,000 cases, many of which are bogus.

 

Read 8137 times Last modified on Monday, 29 May 2017 09:55
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Tip of the day

  • The Parafarmacia In Gran Canaria Is Not A Chemist!
    The Parafarmacia In Gran Canaria Is Not A Chemist!

    If there is one thing we hate it is visitors being tricked in Gran Canaria. In the past we've warned about overcharging at Gran Canaria chemists, and rip off electronics shops in resorts. 

    In this Tip Of The Day we return to the island's chemists or rather, to the island's fake chemists.

    A chemist in Gran Canaria is called a Farmacia and always has a green cross sign. Farmacias are the only place tobuy medicine in Spain, even basics like paracetamol.

    However, there is another kind of shop in Gran Canaria that looks and sounds like a chemist but doesn't sell medicine. This is the Parafarmacia and it also uses a green cross sign.

    A parafarmacia is a herbal medicine shop that is not allowed to sell any normal medicine such as paracetamol, ibuprofen or antibiotics. 

    Instead, parafarmacias sell herbal alternatives to medicine but don't have to prove that they work and they can charge whatever they want.

    We recently heard from a visitor to Gran Canaria who went into a parafarmacia and was charged 40 euros for a herbal alternative to Ibuprofen. It was only when they read the label that they realised what had happened. 

    To locate a genuine farmacia, see this website and search within your municipio (Puerto Rico is in Mogán, Playa del Inglés is in San Bartolomé de Tirajana). At weekends and on fiesta days many farmacias close but there is always one open, known as the farmacia de guardia, in each municipio.

    Search for the nearest one to you with this tool

    Lex Says: To keep costs down, see this article for the way to ask for generic medicine rather than expensive branded alternatives. 

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