A law student from Manchester abandoned her £550 Jet2 package holiday after claiming she was bitten around 100 times by bed bugs. Mobina Atashi, 22, flew out on July 12 for a seven-night break near Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, but returned home after just two nights.
Discovery of bed bugs in hotel room
Atashi checked into her hotel at midnight and found the room in a poor state, but decided to rest before raising her concerns. A few hours later, she woke with an itching sensation and, turning on the light, saw bed bugs crawling through her bedding and red bumps appearing across her body. Footage she captured appears to show several insects scurrying across her sheets and duvet.
At 5am, she went to reception, showed staff the videos, and was moved to a new room, which she claims was also dirty. She alleges hotel staff told her the bites looked like an allergic reaction and insisted they were not bed bugs.
Cutting the trip short
Unable to sleep again, Atashi cut her trip short after two nights and flew home, spending an additional £40 on a flight back to the UK. On her return, she lodged complaints with Jet2 seeking a refund, but claims the holiday firm told her they were unable to confirm the bites had come from the accommodation.
Atashi said: "I arrived after midnight. The room was very dirty but I decided to sort it out in the morning, it had hair everywhere. After a few hours of sleeping, my body was itching and I was confused. I turned the lights on and there were so many bugs."
She added: "My whole body had red bumps and it got worse after a few days. They were on my breast area, neck, chin, behind my ears, legs and arms. There were at least 20 on my arms, probably 100 in total. It was like I had chicken pox, it was painful and mostly itchy."
Complaint process and Jet2 response
Atashi said she tried to speak to Jet2 through their live chat function but was told she needed to deal with the hotel directly. After returning home, she made several complaints for a refund and received no response for three months. When Jet2 finally called, she said they apologised but could not prove the bites were caused by the accommodation.
She said: "They said they can't prove the bugs were caused by the accommodation and that my bites could have been caused by something else. I wanted to go on a relaxing holiday because I have anxiety and wanted to relax by myself. I never expected this."
Atashi said she has been left "scared at night" and has vowed never to book holidays through Jet2 again. She said: "I'm scared at night. If my body itches, I think it is a bug. It is so traumatic. I'm never using Jet2 in the future, especially not package holidays."
A Jet2 spokesperson said: "We're very sorry to hear about Ms Atashi's experience. We take concerns like these very seriously and we are investigating in further detail. We will contact Ms Atashi directly once this investigation is complete."
