Justified or not?

[JohnR, Chippenham]

See https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/ka...ndation-widget

Can a cruise line with some 20,000+ passengers on board it's ships at any one time cater for a range of back/sleep conditions and hold appropriate mattresses to suit all? I suspect not, particularly if it was not mentioned when booking.

The gentleman nearly fell off the bed several times because it was so super soft. I would have thought with a super soft bed you would sink in rather than fall off! You certainly don't need to be "wedged in" on a super soft bed. We have a firm bed at home and always find the P&O beds quite firm, certainly not super soft.

Fair complaint or compo seeker?

[BigMac, Glasgow]

Unable to access the article without subscribing.

[JohnR, Chippenham]

Unable to access the article without subscribing.

I didn’t realise, that’s a pity. No doubt the anti cruise Daily Mail will pick it up sooner or later!

[Cooke, Ashby]

Compo seeker. It would have happened before if it was an issue. I find Seabourn beds and pillows the most comfortable ever, except for the beds at the Beverley Wiltshire, LA.

[annie, Glasgow]

Curious if the couple specify type of mattress when booking a hotel??

Annie

[carol, welwyn garden city]

I've always found the mattresses on board ships very comfortable. However we have just been to Feurteventura and the beds were so hard, I didn't sleep very well at all, and my daughter used the sofa in the room instead, but my other half and son slept really well on them.

Everyone is different, you would never be able to satisfy everyone with the same mattress .................................................. ...Carol

[cruiser, Larne]

Here is the text for those who cannot access.

I never imagined I’d need to ask for your help, but here I am. Last year, I booked a cruise for me and my husband, which was due to set sail in December. It was supposed to be a fortnight of blissful rest in the warm Canary Islands sunshine. We would watch the New Year fireworks in Madeira, and then return home feeling refreshed.

My 82-year-old husband is disabled and I am his carer. We’ve been together for 44 years, but normal holidays are difficult now because he gets very tired. Cruises have given us both a lifeline. I get a bit of a rest and he gets to see more of the outside world. But quite unexpectedly, our holiday with P&O Cruises became a nightmare.

Unbeknown to us, P&O had installed new mattresses on the ship that were so super-soft that my husband nearly fell off the bed several times, and I was reduced to being crippled with back pain and barely able to walk. After complaining to P&O and asking for a firmer mattress, P&O had me sleep on the corrugated iron base of my twin bed, covered with just three polyester duvets and a folded blanket, instead of a mattress. P&O said it was that or nothing.

One impossible night later, I asked for cardboard to cover the corrugated iron, to at least make it a bit smoother. It was supplied, but in spite of that, I ended up sleep-deprived with severe pressure-point pain. It was more of an endurance test than a holiday, as sleep only came at the point of exhaustion. There were nights when my Fitbit tracker recorded no sleep at all.

This cruise cost us £8,178. I suggested to P&O that, as one normally sleeps one third of the time, it should refund one third of the holiday cost. So far it has offered £400 as a “gesture of goodwill”.

[cruiser, Larne]

The response:

I can’t see that there was much goodwill about this £400 gesture. At less than 5pc of the £8,178 you paid for the cruise, it was nothing more than a good old-fashioned fob-off.

As a result of the uncomfortable bed, you suffered severe pain and sleep deprivation, which marred your entire holiday. It was supposed to provide two weeks of much-needed respite from your everyday life, where you work tirelessly to look after your husband and run the household. But as it turned out, you were longing to go back home just so you could get a decent night’s sleep.

You say you’ve been on P&O cruises before and not encountered this problem with the saggy mattresses. I asked P&O for the make and model of the mattresses in question. It told me they were made by Matterol, which specialises in making beds for cruises, but declined to share the model. If you found this mattress so unbearably uncomfortable, I can’t imagine you were alone. But P&O remained tight-lipped on the matter.

The problem could have been alleviated had P&O had a stash of alternative mattresses on board the ship, to cater for a range of tastes. It should know that many of its customers are elderly with physical difficulties, meaning they may be more sensitive to poor beds than average holiday-makers. But as it hadn’t had the foresight to think of this, you were forced to sleep on corrugated iron with just a few duvets for padding. The thought of this made me wince.

To make up for your lack of sleep, you asked P&O to refund a third of the value of your holiday, as this was the time you should have spent sleeping soundly, but didn’t. I understood your logic, but I disagreed with it. I actually thought you deserved more.

I asked P&O to refund the full price of your £4,089 ticket. This was on grounds that your sleep deprivation spoiled your entire holiday. This was not the case for your husband, who did sleep soundly after you had wedged him into the bed.

Days later, P&O called you and offered you £2,726, which was a third of your total holiday cost, as per your original request. Although a significant improvement on £400, this left both you and I feeling deflated. It fell short of what felt fair, especially given its handling of your complaint.
I told you I was going to stand firm, and I went back to P&O with a seven-point argument, asking it to reconsider for a second time.

An hour later, it phoned you back and said it wanted to refund the full £4,089 price of your ticket. After weeks of it digging its heels in, you were shocked it had upped its offer so speedily and with minimal resistance. In the end, P&O did the right thing. You have kindly donated a portion of this money to suicide prevention charity, the Samaritans.

You say you will use this money to go on another holiday and get the recuperation time you so badly need. Whether you will travel again with P&O remains unclear, but the next time you book a cruise I’d advise that you inform the company about this bad experience, so they can arrange for an alternative mattress to be provided, if needed.

It’s a shame P&O hasn’t told us the model number of the one you didn’t get on with, as without this, you cannot guarantee this won’t happen again.

[cymrucruiser]

That’s hilarious it sounds like a wind up

[BigMac, Glasgow]

How utterly ridiculous. Why couldn't they put a pillow on their side to stop rolling out. Alternatively, he could have taken a Viagra every night.

[annie, Glasgow]

How utterly ridiculous. Why couldn't they put a pillow on their side to stop rolling out. Alternatively, he could have taken a Viagra every night.

The refund was for her lack of sleep.

Annie

[Cooke, Ashby]

P&O could have put a board under the mattress. Not exactly rocket science,

[Haworth, Wokingham]

How utterly ridiculous. Why couldn't they put a pillow on their side to stop rolling out. Alternatively, he could have taken a Viagra every night.

Well, it made me laugh, great line

[Yogini, Waterlooville]

I'm not a P&O cruiser, but every ship that I have sailed on has had firm mattresses. People on FB cruising groups often complain about the firmness of the mattresses.

It all sounds rather odd. It looks like P&O have paid up to make the complaint go away.

[carol, welwyn garden city]

Well we know what to do in future, complain we didn't get any sleep and get some money back!!! ....................................Carol