How to complain about a sub-standard B&B?

Kess

terryw wrote: »

I am really really sympathetic to your parents' problem. But by giving a cheque which sequentially bounces they have really weakened any case that they might have. The bounced cheque is enough for the owners to sue for the full amount.

Ah, but the original cheque for the full amount didn't bounce. Although my parents did cancel it just in case, the hotel agreed to post it back to them when they phoned to complain, and they did.

knightstyle

Is the B&B in any organization? Try local tourist board and if they are listed tell them about the state of the place.

Kess

No, they're not - as I mentioned earlier we spoke to the Bournemouth Tourist Board and they were disinterested because this B&B/hotel doesn't appear in their listings. (They catch people via big friendly adverts in doggie magazines, doggie websites etc.)

Thanks for all the comments everyone. Unfortunately I'm abroad on holiday for the next 2 weeks so hopefully my parents will be able to resolve this situation amicably.

moneysaver

You cannot stay in a b&b for 3 nights use their facilities( whether clean or not), not complain & then go home & then decide the b&b was not up to standard & expect to pay nothing or get a reduced rate. This probably happens in the hotel industry all the time.

If you went abroad & stayed in a place you did not like for any reason you would speak to rep to be moved to a more suitable place. You would not put up with it for 2 weeks & then go home & write to the tour operator & expect a refund.


Moneysaver

terryw

moneysaver wrote: »

<snip>
If you went abroad & stayed in a place you did not like for any reason you would speak to rep to be moved to a more suitable place. You would not put up with it for 2 weeks & then go home & write to the tour operator & expect a refund.


Moneysaver

Unfortunately many many people do exactly this!

Kess

Thanks again for all the comments. Unfortunately I've just returned from holiday to find my parents have received a letter from a "no win no fee" debt collection agency demanding full payment. Fortunately my parents - who are becoming more and more determined to fight this - have been speaking to Consumer Direct who have proven to be very helpful and reassuring, and have been told that Trading Standards are now getting involved.

Oh well, time to search for advice on how to deal with debt agencies...

minimoneysaver

I really wish that you would name this place. I really don't want to end up booking the same place and doesn't sound like anyone else would like to stay there either.

Hope your parents manage to get it sorted without too much stress. x

Kess

minimoneysaver wrote: »

I really wish that you would name this place.

I'm getting close to naming and shaming them, but was trying not to antagonise the hotel.

As an example of their behaviour when antagonised, the original invoice received by my parents was for the 3 nights they stayed. However, 10 days later - just after the EH officer visited the hotel at my parents' request - they received an "amended invoice" for the 4 nights they had booked. (A handwritten note on the later invoice states that it's in accordance with the hotel's booking conditions. However, these conditions do not appear on any literature we have ever seen, are not printed on the invoice, and are not on their website, so I'm unsure if that later invoice is entirely legal.)

But, needless to say, it's the higher value "amended invoice" that the debt agency have been told to pursue.

Mark_Hewitt

£100 a night for a non-ensuite room?! Blimey! And I think paying £50 for a room at travelodge is too much

molerat

Mark_Hewitt wrote: »

£100 a night for a non-ensuite room?! Blimey! And I think paying [STRIKE]£50[/STRIKE] £9 for a room at travelodge is too much

edited for us real moneysavers