HAVEN at Primrose Valley GRRRR

Lifeisbutadream

codger wrote: »

£330 is a helluva lot of money for 3 days in. . . a caravan.

I know it is a lot of money - thats why I would have expected it to be a really special holiday. Thanks for all your info on everywhere else as well - very useful information which I will take on board.

I did feel that they simply didn't care or want to make me feel like a happy customer, which was why I posted on here. I run a business and sometimes you have to go out of pocket to keep someone happy, but thats just part of the job!

codger

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

I run a business and sometimes you have to go out of pocket to keep someone happy, but thats just part of the job!

. . . which sadly, is the difference between big business and small business, because whereas the latter has to work hard to acquire and retain customers, the former doesn't have to give a damn if the money's rolling in.

As is the case with "Bourne Leisure", an outfit that's a principal beneficiary (along with debt collectors) of the recession, as more and more families decide the £ to Euro exchange rate is a joke and they'll be better off holidaying in the UK.

£330 is a ludicrous charge for a caravan for so short a period, but ludicrous pricing is possible now in view of the resurgence of stay-at-home holidaymakers. And Bourne Leisure knows it.

Sneezy

Towels aren't usually included in any of the Holiday parks we've stayed in (Haven, Brit Holidays, Parkdean etc) and we've stayed in approx 30-40 different caravans! (Over 16 or so years) And most of the time my parents have paid a little extra for Gold.

maggie111

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

I know it is a lot of money - thats why I would have expected it to be a really special holiday. Thanks for all your info on everywhere else as well - very useful information which I will take on board.

I did feel that they simply didn't care or want to make me feel like a happy customer, which was why I posted on here. I run a business and sometimes you have to go out of pocket to keep someone happy, but thats just part of the job!

I'd recommend posting on Trip Advisor too - that's where I'd look when choosing a holiday.

nemo25uk

I stayed at the Primrose Valley Haven site last year. I was disgusted at the state and smell of the caravan we was given! We have a small dog and so we could only upgrade to a Standars Plus caravan and my god it was vile, it did smell of wet dog and stale smoke. I wouldnt have let a scabby dog with mange stay in there it was that bad so we didnt even take our bags in, we just went straight round to the reception and complained, we got another caravan which did not smell but was still dirty, I cleaned it best I could and tried to make the most out of our holiday! I can't understand why people with dogs have to be put in crappy caravans, my dog is cleaner thatn most people lol. It was a joke and I will never go there again!

(no I didnt bother complaining when I got home as it is pointless, they wouldnt do anything about it)

Lifeisbutadream

Sneezy wrote: »

Towels aren't usually included in any of the Holiday parks we've stayed in (Haven, Brit Holidays, Parkdean etc) and we've stayed in approx 30-40 different caravans! (Over 16 or so years) And most of the time my parents have paid a little extra for Gold.

Towels were included (or not as in this case) - it was a so called Platinum, top of the range holiday.

Now I obviously can't find the exact holiday, as it was at the beginning of May, but look at this link for the same place, but on the August Bank holiday:

http://www.haven.com/sw/BSearchCategory.do?extId=C0A829DE00000121B06B227400000A24&r=consumer&login=true

Look at the picture on the 'prestige' which is a lower holiday than the one I paid for, the TV in that room is not a 14". It also says that it includes 'private' parking and more than average space.

None of those things are true! having stayed in a Gold before, it was exactly the same, apart from it was about £150 more expensive.

Lifeisbutadream

Just looked at the price for the link I have given above £678 for three nights!!!! fcku me someone is going to be more dissapointed than me!

willo65

Is this the caravan you booked?

http://www.haven.com/accommodation/caravans/exclusive.aspx

If so then I think the only failing was that in your opinion it was shabby and no Towels whic are advertised on the site.

Sorry it's not what you want to hear but don't think you will get anything for a lack of towels and a not too clean caravan.

Lifeisbutadream

willo65 wrote: »

Is this the caravan you booked?

http://www.haven.com/accommodation/caravans/exclusive.aspx

If so then I think the only failing was that in your opinion it was shabby and no Towels whic are advertised on the site.

Sorry it's not what you want to hear but don't think you will get anything for a lack of towels and a not too clean caravan.

A shabby caravan and things that were wrongly advertised are IMO not good enough. Why should I put up with a dirty caravan?

I have refunded customers for a lot less!

I have a 5* timeshare that works out cheaper per week than I paid for 3 days! I paid good money because I expected it to be top notch (as advertised)

I know I won't get anything, I have asked, they said no. I think that customer service is horrendous and as I have said, I wont be going back. I hope that others won't either.

codger

willo65 wrote: »

Is this the caravan you booked?

http://www.haven.com/accommodation/caravans/exclusive.aspx

If so then I think the only failing was that in your opinion it was shabby and no Towels whic are advertised on the site.

Sorry it's not what you want to hear but don't think you will get anything for a lack of towels and a not too clean caravan.

The phrase "not too clean" (your words) isn't some passing triviality: it's actually at the core of what a customer is entitled to expect when paying out so VAST amount to stay in a Haven Holidays' "exclusive" caravan.

But why not forget the caravan's condition and instead, look at the condition of Haven Holidays -- specifically, its mind-set? It has just charged someone the kind of money I'd spend on a 4* or 5* star hotel and when that customer complained. . .

. . . It couldn't care less.

So it's not the company's caravan that's the test of this company.

It's the company's treatment of its customers that's the test.

And oh boy, did it fail miserably.

Hopefully this thread will long continue: Haven Holidays deserves all the publicity (via Google searches which finish up here) that it gets.