Haven Mis-leading platinum standards!

OnAndUp

Gosh that is expensive!

Maybe you should go to Greenacres then Shegirl!! It is a nice Park and the surrounding area is stunning. Even with the extortionate cost of petrol would prob still be cheaper! lol!

Like I say if you know what dates you want try looking them up first couple weeks of Jan.

Maybe you would be better looking for an owner van, if they are generally cheaper?

God I'm not tight but I like value for money and would baulk at having to pay a grand for a caravan! Surely you can get a flight and a nice hotel somewhere for that?!?

ps. There is only two of us you see I suppose it's not so bad if you are a family of 4+!

shegirl

OnAndUp wrote: »

Gosh that is expensive!

Maybe you should go to Greenacres then Shegirl!! It is a nice Park and the surrounding area is stunning. Even with the extortionate cost of petrol would prob still be cheaper! lol!

Like I say if you know what dates you want try looking them up first couple weeks of Jan.

Maybe you would be better looking for an owner van, if they are generally cheaper?

God I'm not tight but I like value for money and would baulk at having to pay a grand for a caravan! Surely you can get a flight and a nice hotel somewhere for that?!?

ps. There is only two of us you see I suppose it's not so bad if you are a family of 4+!

Mad really isn't it!I usually go on my own with ds and take trains.With him being on the severe end of autistic it's our limit really!He loves it though so in that sense it's well worth it!I do think I should just end up buying a caravan though with the amount we spend at haven each year!!!!

Unhappy_Camper_2

shegirl wrote: »

Through online booking..this is copied and pasted:

Price£12.00 Add 0 1 2 Subtotal£0.00

• A comfortable travel cot for infants up to 12 months
• Saves you time and hassle - no need to bring your own travel cot

Cots are suitable for infants up to 12 months old. You will need to bring your own cot linen. In most holiday homes cots will only fit in the living room area


It's always been there.It's in the brochures and you,yourself,admit that it's in the terms and conditions (which you would have read otherwise you wouldn't know it's in there.If you didn't read any of this until you had been and were annoyed it is wholly your own fault)

ahh, ok. So where is it clearly advertised on the website booking process? You have shown me where it is when wanting to add extras to your holiday. No good if you skip this bit as you have your own travel cot. Or do haven assume you are going to add more cash to their bulging profits?

Also, I notice that it says MOST HOLIDAY HOMES. Implying that there are holiday homes available where infants can sleep in the bedroom. So the caravan they give us was unsuitable.

As for me reading the terms and conditions, Yes it was pointed out to me in havens first response. Which I might add they apologised for and said I should have been made aware at the time of booking.

Thanks for all your opinions so far shegirl, however I will not be replying to anything more that you might have to say, as you seem far to concerned with picking holes in my story rather than being objective.

You also seem very defensive over anyone who questions haven's standards.

OnAndUp wrote: »

I have just had a similar experience stayed at a Haven "prestige" caravan for 1 week. We have stayed at the same caravan park for the last 2 years in Prestige Caravans and been happy with the Caravan's that we received.

However this year I was shocked when I saw it I though that they had made a mistake and that it was the next grade down from Prestige.

So we went and complained and they said it was Prestige but they gave us another caravan, again it was nowhere near as nice as the ones we had previously had but it was slightly better than the first and the only other one available (allegedly!!) so we had to make do with that.

Where as the prestige ones had a little bit of the "wow! factor" this one was very dull compared, it had no stylish touches was just very basic and functional. The main differences where before we had a freestanding dining table and chairs both times this time we had a built in seating area with 2 small crappy stools. No net curtains, that may sound trivial but as we spend quite a lot of time in the caravan it does make a huge difference to privacy with all the windows it was really starey. Both previous times we have had two toilets last year we even had a second shower this year we just had the one bathroom toilet. We had a dressing room even one of the years, both times we had plenty of storage, including like a sideboard unit in the living area. This time there was hardly any storage in the whole Caravan, and no coffee table or anything like that. Both times before the heating in the bedrooms was proper adjustable radiators, this time it was just warm air vents in the bottom of the bedrooms tiny wardrobes that you could only turn on or off.

The worst part was I had to change the dates of my holidays so originally paid £368 for it but had to change it to 2 weeks later at the time when I changed it I had to pay £540 total :eek: had no choice but to pay it. Then happened to look a week after I changed it and the prices had come back down to £380 so I was already peeved as I had theoretically paid more than the price of a Platinum Caravan anyway.

I think Haven are up to something dodgy and imagine that if we had booked a platinum caravan it would have been a similar spec to what Prestige was previously.

Your caravan defo looks very similar to the spec on the Prestige caravans we previously had, which is what I was expecting to get this year.

It makes me so MAD!! :mad: I'm also annoyed with myself for not taking photos of the caravan!! I agree that their photos are really misleading too making everything look so much nicer and bigger.

I think I will write in and complain but don't really expect to get any joy.:(

Write in and complain Onandup, They need to know where they're going wrong. I think your situation is a lot worse than mine considering that you have had to pay over the odds. I notice that there is another thread on here about Havens devious sale prices. Maybe worth a look.

My advice would also be to write to BBC's watchdog like I have. They ran a story a few months ago about the cleanliness of havens caravans so if enough write in and complain maybe they will follow the story up. Not going to be good publicity for them.

Also give consumer direct a call, They have been great in helping me with what to do.

01438 518809

Best of luck Oneandup. Don't let them get away with it.

Unhappy_Camper_2

adviceforall wrote: »

At Littlesea Platinums are over £1400 we charged £799 are have been fully booked for months, half the summer holidays were booked around July last year. Even adding on passes you save hundreds by booking with an owner and you know exactly what the caravan looks like when you book, whether a travel cot will fit in a bedroom or lounge, where on park the caravan is. We supply a lot of children's things free that Haven make you pay for, eg travel cot, 2 bed guards, clip on chair for the table, door guard etc etc.
We also have a box of toys, books, video's,dvd's, games, PS2 and games, books and puzzles for adults as well so they are not left out.:)

Some owners will also supply you with a pushchair. We have patio furniture and an outside light (if you get any good weather lol)

Now that to me sound like platinum! Are you listening HAVEN?

OnAndUp

shegirl wrote: »

Mad really isn't it!I usually go on my own with ds and take trains.With him being on the severe end of autistic it's our limit really!He loves it though so in that sense it's well worth it!I do think I should just end up buying a caravan though with the amount we spend at haven each year!!!!

That's great, I'm glad that your son loves it.:) I have never been to Devon - always meant to but it's quite a looong way from up here!

Yes owning a caravan would be nice, If I had a lottery win I would like one of the lodges think they start at £100,000 ++ :eek:

adviceforall

"I should just end up buying a caravan though with the amount we spend at haven each year!!!!"

I could give you a voucher for that lol ( I know your not serious)

shegirl

Unhappy_Camper wrote: »

ahh, ok. So where is it clearly advertised on the website booking process? You have shown me where it says it when wanting to add extras to your holiday. No good if you skip this bit as you have your own travel cot. Or do haven assume you are going to add more cash to their bulging profits?

Also, I notice that it says MOST HOLIDAY HOMES. Implying that there are holiday homes available where infants can sleep in the bedroom. So the caravan they give us was unsuitable.

As for me reading the terms and conditions, Yes it was pointed out to me in havens first response. Which I might add they apologised for and said I should have been made aware at the time of booking.

Thanks for all your opinions so far shegirl, however I will not be replying to anything more that you might have to say, as you seem far to concerned with picking holes in my story rather than being objective.

You also seem very defensive over anyone who questions haven's standards.




Write in and complain Onandup, They need to know where they're going wrong. I think your situation is a lot worse than mine considering that you have had to pay over the odds. I notice that there is another thread on here about Havens devious sale prices. Maybe worth a look.

My advice would also be to write to BBC's watchdog like I have. They ran a story a few months ago about the cleanliness of havens caravans so if enough write in and complain maybe they will follow the story up. Not going to be good publicity for them.

Also give consumer direct a call, They have been great in helping me with what to do.

01438 518809

Best of luck Oneandup. Don't let them get away with it.

The caravan they gave you was not unsuitable.If you took your own you should have asked.Everything states most caravans they only fit in the living room,they do not give you a different one just because you are taking one because they will fit in.It was not unsuitable you just didn't like it.What makes you think you should have different to everyone else?Other people put them in the living rooms,not many caravans can fit them elsewhere,deal with it!

On points like that you just seem essentially fussy and as if they should cater to your unnecessary demands.If it's good enough for everyone else why is it not for you?It is not their fault if you refuse to have the travel cot in the living room and don't bother reading information!

adviceforall

I think the above is pretty harsh, the OP had never stayed in a caravan before, I would not wont to put a baby in the lounge to sleep, when the baby is asleep I expect the couple would like to relax in front of the tv ( not easy if you have a baby in a cot trying to sleep.) If she is a new mum and if the baby is small she wants to have the baby close to her in a strange place where baby might be unsettled.
She has come here for advice, some of it might not be what she wants to hear but there's no need to be so abrupt about it, and to her personally.

Unhappy_Camper_2

adviceforall wrote: »

I think the above is pretty harsh, the OP had never stayed in a caravan before, I would not wont to put a baby in the lounge to sleep, when the baby is asleep I expect the couple would like to relax in front of the tv ( not easy if you have a baby in a cot trying to sleep.) If she is a new mum and if the baby is small she wants to have the baby close to her in a strange place where baby might be unsettled.
She has come here for advice, some of it might not be what she wants to hear but there's no need to be so abrupt about it, and to her personally.

Kind words adviceforall, thank you.

Just to be clear, it was unsuitable because there was nowhere for us to sleep in the main area.

I don't think expecting to able to sleep in the same room as your child, whether that be in the bedroom or in the main living area on a sofa bed to be an unreasonable demand.

They knew we had a infant, so I don't quite see how it's our fault.

andrealm

They knew you were bringing an infant but plenty of people bring babies and either put them in a travel cot in the living room or bring them into bed with them. I think you said you managed to fit a Moses basket into your bedroom so what was the problem?