A furious holidaymaker says a travel giant’s refund policy could see people lose the roof over their heads during the coronavirus crisis.

Ben Fenton, who was due to go to Mexico, hit out at TUI after being refused a refund worth thousands of pounds while suffering a 35 per cent pay cut at work.

He says the government should be doing more to protect consumers and has asked MP Justin Tomlinson to act.

Ben, 34, told the Adver: “The pay cut at work works out slightly better than being furloughed but it’s still not a great situation to be in.

“I’m sure you could find someone who is impacted worse than I am. We’re not rich, we’re kind of middle of the road.

“But that £2,000 will give me a lot more security in an uncertain world than it being sat in a credit note.”

The response Ben received from TUI confirmed his worst fears as he was told he would be given a credit note instead of a refund.

The national sales manager added: “It just seems to me that the British consumer public are being made to pay at both ends.

“We’re having to pay a premium to go on holiday during the school holidays but then it’s equally acceptable for these companies to keep our money for a year when things are not going so well.

“It seems to me that the government is almost saying if it’s the choice between you getting your holiday refund to keep your house or TUI going under, we would rather TUI didn’t go under

“The holiday refund for those people could be the difference for people to keep their house or losing it.”

Ben appreciates that it is a difficult time but he believes more needs to be done to help people in similar positions.

He said: “I get business and supporting the businesses but I’m left with a bitter taste in my mouth thinking that this is wrong on all levels.

“The government needs to look after these companies and guarantee the money.

“I appreciate that if TUI goes bust, we won’t be getting anything.”

Ricky Bailey, 32, is in the same boat. He was due to be going to Rhodes later this month.

He told the Adver: “The only way I can obtain a cash refund is to apply for one once my credit refund is processed, which they are saying will be four weeks from my departure date.

“I’ve had my holiday, costing me over £2,000, cancelled with no immediate refund and worse still I now have to fight for this refund.”

And Ricky is having other issues with TUI.

He added: “To add to my frustrations my phone records have taken a hit from attempting to contact them directly only to be cut off every time due to them being too busy to take any more calls

“It really is impossible to get hold of TUI right now, which begs the question as to why they just didn’t refund all customers from the beginning.

“With more holidays due to be cancelled the increase in calls and complaints are only going to escalate, which will also add to the impossibility of getting your money back without a huge fight.”

The Adver contacted TUI about the issue and received a statement in response.

It said: “We’re really sorry that some customers have had to wait longer than we expected to receive their refunds.

"As an industry we are having to adapt to the current crisis and the unprecedented cancellation of worldwide travel.

“We are processing refunds as quickly as we can.

“Where a customer has their holiday cancelled we’re offering them 120 per cent of the amount they paid towards another holiday or they can get a cash refund.

“We haven’t refused to refund any customers but we’re exceptionally busy and most refunds are taking around four weeks to process.

"This is longer than we would like but these are extraordinary times.”

North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson said: “I agree refunds could and should be issued as quickly as possible.

“I don’t believe it is acceptable to just offer a credit notice, it should be a choice.”

Mr Tomlinson added that the Competition & Markets Authority will be launching an investigations into the situation.