Vent: half hearted response to complaint letter

hwalkerh

Recently went on a caravan holiday with Park resorts who we had used before. We went to there Cresswell Towers site and found that the caravan was extremely dirty and poorly maintained.

There was shampoo all down the shower screen, food smeared down the side of cabinets and generally just really grubby, not just from one poor clean but built up dirty Also for a 'fully equipped' kitchen it didn't have any means to cook in the oven or get anything out of a pan.

I complained on site and about the caravan and someone came and looked and tried to fob me off with its all based on the age of the caravan, she didn't seem to understand that cleaning wasn't based on age, i didn't have a problem with the actually caravan and it didn't even appear that old! Day 3 someone came to re-clean which made it slightly better.

Wrote to complain with pictures when i got back and there reply seems that they are surprised the caravan didn't meet my standard (worded in a way like my standards were too high!) and that they had had no trouble before.

Googled for reviews and it has rating such as 80% of people would NOT recommend and 4/10. I only wish i did that before booking but had no trouble with other sites of there. Sending letter number 2 to advise I doubt no one has complained before and they should be ashamed of the reviews that are on the internet.

See where that gets us. I just find it so annoying they won't even accept responsibility even with photos! Hope they take it seriously this time.

Lifeisbutadream

I had a similar problem with Haven, I wrote to them 3 times and they wrote back (twice and then last letter was ignored), doing similar to Park Resorts have with you - kind of accusing me of being fussy.

I dont know what I even wanted to be honest, I certainly didnt want to go back, but an acceptance that they were overcharging and in the wrong would have been good enough for me. The obviously were not bothered about losing a customer.

Good luck! let us know how you get on.

Jacey53

These people are so stupid.

We all understand that there may be a problem with cleaning, appliances etc. The thing to do when it is pointed out is to apologise, accept responsibility and put it right straight away.

If they had done that, I'm sure you would have had such a different view of the companies involved.

When will they realise that, since so many businesses offer similar prices and products, customer service is the factor that separates good from bad - it beats any amount of advertising and in an uncertain economy can make or break a business.

I would no go there.

I am just sorry that your holiday was marred by such an occurrence.

PinkLipgloss

Jacey53 - great point. :T

I think everyone understands that mistakes can, and often do, happen. What separates a good company from a bad IMO is how they deal with these errors.

Fast, efficient resolution of issues is likely to be appreciated by customers who will, no doubt, recommend and use the company again.

joanne_d_3

i also had to write to Haven in regard to a complaint i had with my recent holiday on their Craig Tara site.

When i got there we found our caravan , went in and started to unpack . Every cupboard , drawer and nook and cranny was cram packed with someone elses belongings.

There were 5 of us staying in the caravan and without exageration we had to keep all of our clothes in our suitcases for the entire week because we had NO space available to store our own stuff. We even considered storing our suitcases WITH OUR CLOTHES STILL INSIDE THEM underneath the beds but when we looked here there were shoes , storage heaters , vacuum cleaners etc already stored there so that idea was out the window too...

The bathroom cabinet was also full of someone elses tolitries and the kitchen work surface (we were on a self catering holiday so i would have needed space to prepare meals for 5 people) was over powered by a MASSIVE beer pump / dispenser machine.

Of course we went to reception to enquire were we actually allocated the caravan of another holidaying family but what had actually happened was that the caravan we were in was being sub-let to us by the owner - arranged through haven !

We were falling over the other families belongings for a week !

As soon as i got home i sent an email of complaint to the park itself and heard nothing back . After two weeks i then emailed head office . A few days ago i received a letter saying they were "looking into the matter and would respond in 28 days"...we will see what happens.....

deanos

Had similar in Park Resorts Kessingland when we first went a couple years ago, we got in the caravan and it was dirty, rang reception and housekeeping where there in 10 mins and made it spotless, never had any problems with Park Resorts apart from that.

Its probably down to management at each resort.

Care to share the pics ?

Lifeisbutadream

Jacey53 wrote: »

These people are so stupid.

We all understand that there may be a problem with cleaning, appliances etc. The thing to do when it is pointed out is to apologise, accept responsibility and put it right straight away.

If they had done that, I'm sure you would have had such a different view of the companies involved.

When will they realise that, since so many businesses offer similar prices and products, customer service is the factor that separates good from bad - it beats any amount of advertising and in an uncertain economy can make or break a business.

I would no go there.

I am just sorry that your holiday was marred by such an occurrence.

I agree - I run a business myself and although we dont often have complaints, when we do I go out of my way to make sure that the customer is happy in the end - even if I dont think they were wrong I wouldnt say that, I would just give them the benefit of the doubt.

It isnt just about immediate profit, it is about thinking into the future and how this person would think about our company overall. I seriously dont think that we have had a customer who was still unhappy at the end.

joanne_d_3

Lifeisbutadream - out of curiousity , which haven site was it you stayed on and had problems with ?

My complaint is with haven's Craig Tara site.

Lifeisbutadream

joanne_d wrote: »

Lifeisbutadream - out of curiousity , which haven site was it you stayed on and had problems with ?

My complaint is with haven's Craig Tara site.

It was Primrose Valley

jumpycheese1

hwalkerh wrote: »

Googled for reviews and it has rating such as 80% of people would NOT recommend and 4/10. I only wish i did that before booking but had no trouble with other sites of there. Sending letter number 2 to advise I doubt no one has complained before and they should be ashamed of the reviews that are on the internet.

See where that gets us. I just find it so annoying they won't even accept responsibility even with photos! Hope they take it seriously this time.

If you need to write again, pop in a couple of the negative reviews about the place and highlight words like - dirty, mouldy, stained etc. :rotfl:

Rolandtheroadie

I've been to a few Havens over the years and never had any cause for complaint (noteably Craig Tara and my personal favorite, Primrose Valley).
What was the problem with Primrose Valley out of curiosity?
For the Craig Tara complaint, someones bought a caravan and allowed Haven to rent it for them (as your aware). If it was as bad as you say, I would have complained immediately to have the situation resolved, not wait till I was home again.