Bristol dad 'fuming' after Boots loses his PCR test before flight to Thailand

[webfact]

Nicholas Baggs with his partner and two children in Thailand, taken before the Covid pandemic (Image: Nick Baggs)

 

Nick Baggs had hoped to spend Christmas with his family in Thailand

 

By Assiah Hamed

 

Nick Baggs from Bristol was due to fly to Thailand at the end of November to visit his girlfriend and children for the Christmas holidays.

 

However his plans took a drastic turn when Boots, which Nick Baggs used to purchase a 'Fit-to-Fly' PCR test before leaving the country, lost the kit - meaning he was unable to fly.

 

The father-of-two has shared his disappointment with Bristol Live and said he will 'never use Boots' services ever again'.

 

On November 29, the 54-year-old visited the health retailer and pharmacy's Broadmead branch to take a PCR test, requiring a negative result to enable him to fly, and was told to wait up to 48 hours for a result.

 

Even when the deadline had passed two days after his test, he was convinced he would receive an email from the laboratory as 'Boots is a huge household name’.

 

Full story: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-dad-fuming-after-boots-6311598

 

-- © Copyright  Bristol Post 2021-12-07

 

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[jacko45k]

Get another test and take a flight in a few days..... plenty of time before Christmas..... 

[steven100]

yes .... although it's totally unprofessional & unacceptable action by Boots,  it's not all lost and gone,  mistakes do happen even in the UK,  it was probably all a complete misunderstanding as the well known Thailand excuse.

Get another test and flight booking immediately ..... 

 

 

[BritManToo]

I would have thought Boots would have just lied about the loss and sent him a 'Negative' result.

Who would be to know?

[Gottfrid]

49 minutes ago, webfact said:

Even when the deadline had passed two days after his test, he was convinced he would receive an email from the laboratory as 'Boots is a huge household name’.

Yeah! So, deadline not important, but when he finally realizes it´s too late, then it´s time to start complain. Sounds to me he could have been a little bit more pro-active and done something about it.

[mvdf]

Not the end of the world, Mr Baggs.

 

In other news, I'm having a cappuccino this morning. 

[poohy]

Sadly these things happen

But

Hopefully boots have covered all his out of pocket expenses...eg charges to rebook issue new flight (although it only says they refunded kit amount)

[RandolphGB]

Has a Thai girlfriend and two kids but left two years ago and hadn't returned since.

 

Sounds like he should have had his visa situation in order first or made the effort before  now to return before now.

[John Drake]

Trivial.

[Kadilo]

2 hours ago, poohy said:

Sadly these things happen

But

Hopefully boots have covered all his out of pocket expenses...eg charges to rebook issue new flight (although it only says they refunded kit amount)

Pretty sure they will have a get out in the small print somewhere to mitigate against any larger claims, which must be the case as it looks like he has gone to the media as he is trying for compensation. 
 

Think anyone booking now would get a flex ticket with the number of variables that could go wrong and possible changes 

Edited December 7, 2021 by Kadilo

[UKPaul67]

Very scary, I was going to use Boots ????, but read bad reviews, glad I never used them, I choose a clinic appointment and got my result in 9 hours????

[khunPer]

I hope for Nicholas Baggs that he has a Covid-19-travel insurance, which covers lost flight and re-booking, then the problem is minor, there's still a long way to Xmas.

 

From the article:

"We offer our wholehearted apology to Mr Baggs for the disruption this has caused to his travel plans and have offered a full refund for the price of his test."

It might be cheaper for Boots to offer som help and compensation to get Nick airborne to thailand, than the bad-will this story might create, being more helpful might instead create a positive story and goodwill...

[metisdead]

A troll post has been removed. 

[IamNoone88]

This is news? Get a life and another PCR kit. 

[richard_smith237]

It’s clear that not one of you who commented so flippantly have tried to build the house of cards it takes to return to Thailand.

 

 

 

5 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Get another test and take a flight in a few days..... plenty of time before Christmas..... 

 

5 hours ago, mvdf said:

Not the end of the world, Mr Baggs.

 

In other news, I'm having a cappuccino this morning. 

 

3 hours ago, John Drake said:

Trivial.

 

11 minutes ago, IamNoone88 said:

This is news? Get a life and another PCR kit. 

 

 

 

[morocco]

It is very unfortunate but s#*t happens. Deal with it and be positive, you will make it for Christmas. 

Edited December 7, 2021 by morocco

[daveAustin]

5 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

It’s clear that not one of you who commented so flippantly have tried to build the house of cards it takes to return to Thailand.

Yes, some odd balls out there. Don’t worry; karma has a knack of seeking them out. ????

[richard_smith237]

This is awful....

 

After finding the right flights, getting promotional fares, booking the Test&Go hotel, Applying for Thailand pass and receiving QR code (a relief in itself)... the applicant (returnee) can relax a little - steps to return have been put into place - only one thing stands in the way, a positive PCR test result. 

 

OR... the no response - its a horrible wait... after building the house of cards on mistake, one misplaced swab, one error in the e-mail address, one human mistake and the whole house of cards comes crashing down.

 

The recovery is daunting... Re-book flights ??? its fine to say that... but do you actually know how much fares increase a few days before a travel ???

 

We booked a Business Class flights (3 weeks in advance) and got a great fare (£1800 for 3 of us), if we tested positive we could re-book free of charge and only pay the fare difference... the issue., the fares had gone up to £4800 (for 3 of us)....  

 

We would also have to re-book the Test&Go hotel - Would they have availability at short notice ?

We’d have to rebook a new taxi.

We’d have to rebook new PCR tests (for the whole family)

We’d have to Re-apply for the Thailand Pass and go through that whole charade again.

 

 

In their mistake the knock on hassle Boots have generated is Significant for this family and its very likely that it makes travel, re-booking seats at short notice a lot more expensive. 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, poohy said:

Sadly these things happen

But

Hopefully boots have covered all his out of pocket expenses...eg charges to rebook issue new flight (although it only says they refunded kit amount)

It is unfortunate that these things ‘can’ happen... but the consequences of someones screw up are horrible. 

 

I doubt Boots would offer a refund for the whole costs, but they definitely should and if not there is room to make a claim against Boots - but thats not what someone wants at the beginning of a holiday.

 

The cost of re-booking may also be significantly greater as while Airlines offer free re-booking that does not include fare differences - the cheaper promotional fares are usually unavailable when booking closer to the travel date and the fare difference is often quite a lot. 

 

 

[TheScience]

This will only end up with a legal disclaimer.

 

Make ever effort to return results in x time but we will not guarantee it...

 

Corporations are sh1+

Edited December 7, 2021 by TheScience

[mvdf]

38 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

It’s clear that not one of you who commented so flippantly have tried to build the house of cards it takes to return to Thailand.

 

Indeed indeed. Neither left nor travelled since that day the virus first struck. 

[Big Bert]

5 hours ago, poohy said:

Sadly these things happen

But

Hopefully boots have covered all his out of pocket expenses...eg charges to rebook issue new flight (although it only says they refunded kit amount)

Nope they only refund test fee. In the small print. No test service gives compo

[Big Bert]

44 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

It is unfortunate that these things ‘can’ happen... but the consequences of someones screw up are horrible. 

 

I doubt Boots would offer a refund for the whole costs, but they definitely should and if not there is room to make a claim against Boots - but thats not what someone wants at the beginning of a holiday.

 

The cost of re-booking may also be significantly greater as while Airlines offer free re-booking that does not include fare differences - the cheaper promotional fares are usually unavailable when booking closer to the travel date and the fare difference is often quite a lot. 

 

 

Flights and hotel can be rebooked free atm. he can get a same day test and Thai pass allows 72 hrs deviation from dates provided

 

[Smokey and the Bandit]

3 hours ago, Kadilo said:

Pretty sure they will have a get out in the small print somewhere to mitigate against any larger claims, which must be the case as it looks like he has gone to the media as he is trying for compensation. 
 

Think anyone booking now would get a flex ticket with the number of variables that could go wrong and possible changes 

"Think anyone booking now would get a flex ticket with the number of variables that could go wrong and possible changes"

Absolutely right, free re booking etc.

But you cant blame him for going to the media?

[sawadee1947]

7 hours ago, steven100 said:

even

Delete this, then your statement is OK.????

[Millcx]

7 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Get another test and take a flight in a few days..... plenty of time before Christmas..... 

Riveting News 55555

[poohy]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

The cost of re-booking may also be significantly greater as while Airlines offer free re-booking that does not include fare differences - the cheaper promotional fares are usually unavailable when booking closer to the travel date and the fare difference is often quite a lot. 

Fully aware that's why i posted that

 

Issuing air tickets was part of my business so i know alternatives although maybe existing are unlikely to be cheap, that's before restarting or amending the Thailand entry stuff

Edited December 7, 2021 by poohy

[Doowat]

Plenty of negative reviews on Trustpilot that warns that the Boots service isn't always reliable. On the other hand Express Test gets a good rating ,and my experience with them bears this out. 

[madmitch]

3 hours ago, khunPer said:

I hope for Nicholas Baggs that he has a Covid-19-travel insurance, which covers lost flight and re-booking, then the problem is minor, there's still a long way to Xmas.

 

From the article:

"We offer our wholehearted apology to Mr Baggs for the disruption this has caused to his travel plans and have offered a full refund for the price of his test."

It might be cheaper for Boots to offer som help and compensation to get Nick airborne to thailand, than the bad-will this story might create, being more helpful might instead create a positive story and goodwill...

I'm pretty sure that no insurance would cover this.

[Suradit69]

7 hours ago, steven100 said:

all a complete misunderstanding as the well known Thailand excuse

I was wondering how long it would take before the blame would be shifted onto Thailand. 
 

Quote

mistakes do happen even in the UK, 

incredible.