The Sun "£9.50" Holidays discussion thread

Former_MSE_Lucia

Hi all,

Please post your feedback on The Sun "£9.50" Holidays here.

For full information on how it works, see our full The Sun "£9.50" Holidays guide (updated regularly).

Thanks,
MSE Lucia

Wendover_Champ

Beware. I booked a Butlins break. For my chosen week, The Sun charged £38.50, and Butlins charge £120, hence total of £158.

I then looked to upgrade accommodation to Silver self catered apartment at a cost of £72. This took the total to £230. Silver self catered apartment directly with Butlins would have been £174.

Total rip off booking via The Sun unless you want to stay in the cheapest accommodation which is basically a bedsit.

JuicyJesus

Worth looking at the sort of place which advertises through this lovely promotion: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g1752567-d607436-Reviews-Pontin_s_Camber_Sands_Centre-Camber_Rye_East_Sussex_England.html

A holiday for £9.50 advertised in a rag like the Sun is so innately guaranteed to be sh*te that you're probably better off not having a holiday.

springdreams

MSE Lucia, you may get more / better responses if this question was posted on the UK holidays board rather than the Overseas holidays one ..... just saying

fuzzgun19

I got enough tokens for this and looked at booking today and it wants to charge me £80 for 4 people 3 nights in England in March! not exactly peak time.

..and that doesn't include any extra charges... I thought these were supposed to be £9.50?

springdreams

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

I got enough tokens for this and looked at booking today and it wants to charge me £80 for 4 people 3 nights in England in March! not exactly peak time.

..and that doesn't include any extra charges... I thought these were supposed to be £9.50?

Yes they are ..... £9.50 for the booking fee. There are additional charges for entertainment passes, linen and a daily service charge. Read the small print.

You'd be hard pressed to get a room at the Travelodge for one night for £80, let alone 3 nights.

byran121

Holiday cancelled, after booking, as the resort wanted to charge for using their facilities i.e. bar, restaurant and swimming pool plus linen. This turned my £9.50 holiday into a +£100 holiday (for just 3 nights). However, not concerned with all that ... what bothers me more is that The Sun is refusing to refund the £38 deposit that they have taken from me just to place the booking in the first place. The Parkdean Resorts, Torquay were very helpful and were more than happy to cancel the booking with no fuss. However, they informed me that the initial deposit of £38 was paid to The Sun. Despite emailing sunpaymentqueries@react-now.co.uk, no-replies@communicate-now.co.uk, holidaymail@communicatenow.co.uk, dtgeneral@dreamteamfc.com (I know nothing to do with them but they responded anyhow and re-directed me), I have not yet had a suitable response from the Sun except for quoted terms and conditions. Last, but not least, I received a confirmation email (from holidaymail@communicatenow.co.uk) informing me that my holiday is booked etc etc despite me telling them that my holiday has been cancelled (and confirmed cancelled by Parkdean Resorts, Torquay). All I want back is my initial deposit of £38. Maybe, just maybe, I will have to get Judge Robert Rinder on the case!!!!

bazzyb

byran121 wrote: »

Holiday cancelled, after booking, as the resort wanted to charge for using their facilities i.e. bar, restaurant and swimming pool plus linen. This turned my £9.50 holiday into a +£100 holiday (for just 3 nights). However, not concerned with all that ... what bothers me more is that The Sun is refusing to refund the £38 deposit that they have taken from me just to place the booking in the first place. The Parkdean Resorts, Torquay were very helpful and were more than happy to cancel the booking with no fuss. However, they informed me that the initial deposit of £38 was paid to The Sun. Despite emailing sunpaymentqueries@react-now.co.uk, no-replies@communicate-now.co.uk, holidaymail@communicatenow.co.uk, dtgeneral@dreamteamfc.com (I know nothing to do with them but they responded anyhow and re-directed me), I have not yet had a suitable response from the Sun except for quoted terms and conditions. Last, but not least, I received a confirmation email (from holidaymail@communicatenow.co.uk) informing me that my holiday is booked etc etc despite me telling them that my holiday has been cancelled (and confirmed cancelled by Parkdean Resorts, Torquay). All I want back is my initial deposit of £38. Maybe, just maybe, I will have to get Judge Robert Rinder on the case!!!!

The £38 is not a deposit unfortunately, it is the full payment which The Sun take and it does clearly state before booking "absolutely no amendments or cancellations whatsoever". I don't see how you will be able to get this refunded. The additional service charges payable directly to the park are on top of this base price and are clearly shown before booking. Whilst the actual service charge needs to be paid the other extras are optional - for example you don't have to pay for the entertainment passes if you don't want to use the facilities available on-site, and you don't have to pay the linen charges if you are happy to take your own. It could have been possible to take your booking to a lot less than £100 without these optional extras (depending on which specific site and date).

You have changed your mind since booking and decided to cancel, therefore you will lose the £38 you have paid.

Tizzytink

Room booked for 2 Adults & 2 Children. 2 single duvets & 3 pillows were in the room on arrival? We were sent back & forth (reception, house keeping & security office) for the best part of an hour trying to get a double duvet & a pillow - along with several other guests with ‘room’ issues. Parking is awful & I had my car damaged/hit by what must have been an on-site vehicle/lawn mower (as it was the passenger side that was not by the road but the grass verge) - Staff wasn’t interested. No bathroom light, the toilet & sink leaked, which left you paddling every time you used the bathroom - obviously an ongoing problem as the room stank of damp & pee. What cutlery was there, was dirty & obviously hadn’t been checked/cleaned. When you used the kitchen sink it filled the kitchen drawer with water. The windows were absolutely covered in bird poo & the frames were all moldy. Fag ends everywhere. TV worked but was from the dark ages (was surprised it was colour). Very drab & dirty curtains & furniture. The railings/balcony were broken in several places, leaving quite large gaps - dangerous! For such a large complex the food situation was awful & it was just about edible - there are no opening/closing times displayed & whenever you ask staff, it’s always ‘10 minutes’ - we waited 50 minutes for the pizza place to open after being told 10 minutes & 25 minutes then for the pizza to be cooked (even after the wait, it was only just edible). Next to it is a burger/chip place, which also opens in ‘10 minutes’ the girls with long hair (no hair net, not even tied up) cooking (I use the word ‘cooking’ loosely!) they were cheery enough but I wasn’t overly impressed with the extra’s I got in my food & again it was barely edible. The reception staff hadn’t a clue about anything it seemed - I asked about the kids club lanyard, if the England game would be showing, about my missing bedding, my car being hit, leaking toilet, go kart opening & tokens but they couldn’t answer any of my questions & always sent you to someone else that then didn’t really have any answers either. Clearly there’s a problem as the manager (saw him twice) walks round with the security guard! We walked to the go-kart guy (miserable as sin) to see what time he was open until, he said 17.00 was the last race, so he told us where to get tokens (back to reception) The token machine in reception was broke & reception was closed (early closing Sunday I’m afraid) but a LOVELY chap from the arcade, sent us upstairs to another machine, we purchased the tokens (£6) & walked back to the go-karts (4.35pm) there were other people waiting now but instead of the guy saying anything, he let my 10 year old son stand and wait for 25 minutes & then said ‘I’m closed now’. I asked what time he opened the following day & he said he didn’t know if he was open Monday as he hadn’t had his rota yet. I explained we were leaving that next day but he just shrugged his shoulders & walked off! The next morning, I asked at reception if the go karts were open, they said ‘it should be’ but told me I’d have to walk down & check, the go karts were closed, so I went back to reception & said we were leaving today (check out at 10am) & could I have my tokens refunded but POINT BLANK ‘NO’! Again there was another chap there with about £20 in tokens & he had the same problem as each time his kids had tried to use them, either the bikes wasn’t available, the trampoline area was shut or the go-karts closed or too busy. You can’t book any of these, so the pedal bikes for instance, you have to keep going back to see if there’s any been bought back & if you’re waiting for 2 or 3 you’ve had it, as they won’t hold them for you. I suppose you get what you pay for 3 nights for £90, what did I expect...not this, that’s for sure, I didn’t think such places existed to be honest! On a positive note, the kids entertainment staff were fantastic, they went all out to please the kids & work so hard putting their shows/dances together 5stars for you.

nellykim

Does anyone have the sun codes for the latest Hols.. ( Aug 2018) many thanks.

NoodleDoodleMan

What do punters expect for £9.50 ?