A GOUROCK woman is facing a second holiday headache as she again fights to claw back thousands of pounds from a cancelled dream holiday.

Eleanor Gillespie was devastated when a trip to the Icelandic capital Reykjavik with her sister to celebrate her 70th birthday fell through because of the global pandemic.

But she has been unable to get a full refund from travel agents Barrhead Travel for the £2,400 six-night stay after months of wrangling asking for her cash back.

It is the second holiday disaster for unlucky Eleanor, after the Tele stepped in three years to help when a £6,000 cruise turned into a nightmare.

Eleanor, of Tower Drive, said: "My sister Agnes stays in Germany and we decided to organise a holiday together because I was turning 70 this year.

"We always wanted to go to Iceland and travel around.

"I booked the holiday with Barrhead Travel in Braehead last December.

"We paid it all in full and we were so looking forward to it."

The sisters had paid to stay in a four star Radisson Blu with breakfast and dinner.

But the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown meant that like thousands of holidaymakers they had to cancel their plans.

Eleanor added: "We were so disappointed.

"But that has turned to concern because I can't get my money back from Barrhead Travel."

After weeks of persistent calls Eleanor finally managed to get a partial payment of just over £1,000 refunded on August 28.

She was told the rest would follow - but three months on they are still waiting.

Eleanor said: "Barrhead Travel say they are waiting for money from the airline.

"But I booked with Barrhead Travel, so I don't accept that.

"It is very frustrating and I am worried I won't get the money."

Three years ago Eleanor and her husband Les were all set to go on a luxury 26-night voyage from New Zealand to Singapore via Indonesia, Bali and Kuala Lumpur.

It was a holiday-of-a-lifetime for the couple and part of Les's 70th celebrations.

But just days before their big adventure, the couple discovered that due to technical issues with the Norwegian Star vessel — which has previously visited Greenock — they would miss no fewer than four of the destination ports.

Eventually the couple were refunded by the travel agent, after the Tele stepped in.

A spokesperson for Barrhead Travel said: “We really appreciate how frustrating it is for customers to wait for full refunds and we are doing everything we can to help Ms Gillespie through this process.

"As the agent, we must first wait for our suppliers to refund us before we can pass these funds on to our customers.

"In this case, all monies have been refunded to Ms Gillespie with the exception of the airfare as it is still outstanding from Icelandair.

"We’d like to thank Ms Gillespie for her patience as our team continue to work tirelessly to secure the airline refund on her behalf.”

The Tele has contacted Icelandair for a response.