A COUPLE who feared losing out on thousands of pounds on a cancelled holiday-of-a-lifetime have finally got their money back - after the Tele intervened.

Robert and Margaret McCowan became embroiled in a near-three-month battle with their travel firm to claw back the cash after their dream trip to Jamaica, booked to celebrate their Golden Wedding, was called off.

They'd been all set to fly out to enjoy a £4,000 all-inclusive stay in a five-star luxury resort in June - then the pandemic hit.

Months after they were told by TUI that the holiday wouldn't go ahead, the retired husband and wife were still waiting for their money back.

We highlighted the case with TUI bosses on Tuesday - and now the couple have been told they will get their money back.

Margaret, 67, of Juno Terrace, said: "We knew as soon as lockdown happened that we wouldn't be going on holiday.

"But we were told way back at the beginning of May that it was definitely cancelled.

"We didn't think we would still be waiting this long to get our money back.

"We tried everything and no-one came back to us."

In the run-up to their anniversary on January 26, Robert and Margaret booked a holiday with Thomas Cook which was later transferred to TUI.

Margaret, who worked in catering, added: "It was before Thomas Cook had problems.

"We booked it way last year.

"Originally we were going to go to Africa but we needed too many vaccines.

"We decided on Jamaica and TUI offered a direct flight from Glasgow, so they transferred the holiday.

"We paid for our holiday upfront."

Mr & Mrs McCowan featured in the Tele earlier this year as they celebrated their Golden Wedding with their close knit family.

Readers loved their heart-warming tale of romance as they recalled falling in love as teenage sweethearts.

During married life they were blessed with five children and daughter Paulajane spoke of their happy upbringing by their hard-working parents.

To celebrate the pair planned a 14-night stay in the exclusive RIU Reggae in holidaymakers' heaven Montego Bay.

Retired coach driver Robert and Margaret had been at the end of their tether when they turned to the Tele for help.

Mr McCowan told the Tele: "We couldn't get through to anyone, we also tried emails.

"When they did get in touch they said they had sent a voucher to the wrong address, then we heard nothing again.

"We even went to Clydebank when the TUI shop there opened back up.

"They took our details but we have not heard anything back.

Confirming the refund after our approach on the couple's behalf, a TUI UK spokesperson said: "We’re really sorry that refunds are taking longer than expected.

"Please be assured our teams are working tirelessly behind the scenes as quickly as possible.

"We have contacted the customer directly to process their refund."