Outrage as TT Tours owner goes bankrupt

Local operators step-in to provide free trips for those left stranded.

Passengers and their friends and relatives expressed outrage as a coach trip to Torquay due to be provided by Bilston-based TT Tours was cancelled without prior notice to passengers.

Angered comments were left on Facebook over the cancellation of the coach holiday, which left would-be passengers stranded in the cold as they waited for a coach that never arrived. The tour agent’s owner, Anthony ‘Tony’ Taylor, was reported on the company’s Facebook page to have filed for bankruptcy. The case is now in the hands of Trading Standards and police.

TT Tours is the trading name of TT Holidays Ltd, incorporated on 17 July 2019. Its Director is Anthony Alan Taylor (born December 1963). An Anthony Alan Taylor (with the same birthday) is listed as a Director of TT Tours Ltd, a separate concern to TT Holidays Ltd, which was dissolved on 15 January 2019.

TT Tours had an office in Bilston Market. A message on the Facebook page of ‘The Market Place’, the Wolverhampton area’s markets, said: “Trading Standards will be at Bilston town hall to support holiday makers let down by a tour operator located in Bilston.”

We can’t begin to appreciate how devastating it must have been

TT Tours used Facebook to keep customers updated about refunds concerning the holiday that was never made. The messages were made by Carol Bayliss, who described herself as an employee of TT Tours. She said on Facebook on 17 February: “I am working as hard as I can to contact everyone, to make everyone aware I am an employee of the company, not an owner. I am trying very hard to sort this. This is my job and livelihood and I am not a scammer, I have worked in Bilston for 14 years and many people know me very well. Tony has assured me everyone will get their money back and I am spending the next few days working with him on this.”

In a post on 19 February, Carol said: “I am aware you are all upset but this situation is completely out of my control. I have answered my phone to everyone trying to keep you all updated. I have worked in Bilston for 14 years with no complaints and built up respect and trust with the people of Bilston and believe me this situation is really hurting me.”

Operators save the day

Wolverhampton-based Plimbley Travel stepped-in to offer a free day trip to all those affected by the TT Tours case. The Mystery Trip will depart Bloxwich High Street at 9am on Sunday 1 March. There are 106 tickets available. Those interested had to provide proof of booking with TT Tours.

A statement on the operator’s Facebook page said: “We can’t begin to appreciate how devastating it must have been to find out that your holiday had been cancelled, let alone being stranded on the day of departure. So we thought a free Mystery Day Trip may help lift spirits and restore faith in your local day trip and holiday companies. A big thank you to Coach Tours & Travel of Wolverhampton for providing us the vehicles to run this trip.”

Another Wolverhampton firm, Homer’s Travel, also offered a free day out for those affected by the TT Tours debacle. The company is offering a free trip on 4 March, but the destination had yet to be decided at the time of writing.

A message from Homer’s Travel said: “We would like to say we are not connected in any way with TT Tours/TT Holidays or Tony Taylor. We did have a meeting last year when Tony Taylor promised to “fill our diary” with work. But when we looked into his work and prices it soon became apparent that the holidays couldn’t be done at those prices. We had no more dealings with Tony Taylor or TT Tours/Holidays.”

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