Acknowledgement of service - Hoseasons

Marco84

Hi, I'm looking for some advice, I made a small claims online against Hoseasons after having a bad experience at one their parks. I'd like to know if I have a leg to stand on

A bit of a long back story: I have a little boy severe autism, he loves to go to relaxing parks with nature and water, we already been to two other parks with Hoseasons this year that were absolutely lovely. I booked a small 3 night break to go to Riverside Park in Bleadon as it was described as "in the greenbelt landscape of Bleadon and unites a tranquil setting with superb facilities. A perfect retreat for a traditional family..." with a beautiful picture of the river with birds to watch, perfect retreat for my son.

On arrival it looked like we arrived to an industrial estate. Checking in the park wanted a £100 security deposit as they just had vandalism, alarm bells really ringing in my head now, I was given the keys to our Gold mobile home, it was located literally a stones throw away from the busy and noisy A370 to the rear, the parks rather busy main road a metre from the door with their work vans shooting up and down to my knowledge breaking the parks slow speed limit, I didn't feel safe for my son if he ever managed to dart out of the door or mobility pushchair when putting him in and out as he has no sense of danger. To the front of the caravan was car parking literally surrounded by cars, no sight of any river or nature. Inside the caravan was very noisy and vibrating from lorries on the A370, personally I found it disturbing but my son was suffering much worse from the constant noise and all shut in a humid caravan.

I went to reception to ask to be relocated but they were fully booked, I went back to the caravan to give it one more go, but my son couldn't bare it and had a meltdown, so I had to checked out the same day and went home.

At home I wasn't sure who to complain to so I wrote to the park directly asking for a partial refund, they said Hoseasons will be in contact. Hoseasons wasn't in contact so I wrote to them. Hoseasons said they will investigate it and got back to me two weeks later with an off the shelf apology and said that as an agent only they can't issue refunds. I wasn't happy with that response and wrote again to them. They told me to write to a travel ombudsman such as ABTA. I was about to do that then I found out from ABTAs website they are not an ombudsman and in fact there is no travel ombudsman. I asked Hoseasons why did they lie to me and they said they provided me with all information.

I felt like I was having the wool pulled over my eyes, especially previously being a loyal customer getting such indifference treatment, so in my frustration I made a small claims court against them. on the 23rd I got an acknowledgement of service from them saying they want to defend all the claim for £169.

So do I have a leg to stand on? Is it true that they are only an agent? and what's the worse that can happen if I lose?

Thank you for reading my long post and for any help/advice.

unholyangel

Tbh the blurb saying its located in a greenbelt would've had me bypassing it if I was looking for a quiet relaxing holiday. Greenbelts are areas where building is restricted - usually located in extremely busy/heavily built up areas.

Did you tell them your son has autism and has special requirements? Did you ask to be moved/make them aware of the problem before leaving the site?

The T&C's at the time you booked should tell you who your contract was with.

agrinnall

Just because ABTA is not an ombudsman doesn't seem to be a reason not to use them.

http://www.hoseasons.co.uk/abta

Marco84

unholyangel wrote: »

Tbh the blurb saying its located in a greenbelt would've had me bypassing it if I was looking for a quiet relaxing holiday. Greenbelts are areas where building is restricted - usually located in extremely busy/heavily built up areas.

Did you tell them your son has autism and has special requirements? Did you ask to be moved/make them aware of the problem before leaving the site?

The T&C's at the time you booked should tell you who your contract was with.

I live and learn, I'll avoid all greenbelt areas for now on.
I told reception that he has autism and they could see he was distressed. they said they were fully booked and their help went as far as being told just to keep the windows shut, which didn't help, esp with an incontinent child.

On reflection I feel like I've handled all hot headed going to small claims and should have let it go, but sometimes its hard to think clearly being a full time carer, lack of sleep, a house move happening and wasn't able to even have a break for us. But now I'm in this mess, what's the worse that can happen if I lose? or If claimed against the wrong company. Thank you

elsien

You need to let them know at the time of booking if you have any special requests, mobility issues etc with regards to location in the park. Still can't be guaranteed but you've more chance of getting the quiet end of the park that way, rather than turning up then asking to change.
Did you check out TripAdvisor before you booked? I always found that helpful when booking for the people with LD I worked with.

BorisThomson

The absolute worse that can happen is that you'll lose and they'll apply for you to pay their costs. It's very unlikely that you'll end up with a costs award against you though, unless you are seen as vexatious.

Did you send a letter before action, before issuing the claim?

I have hyperacusis. Before going away I speak to the hotel several times to confirm that I will have a quiet room. You should have done the same with Hoseasons, they can't be expected to make adjustments if you don't let them know beforehand. They're not psychic and they will have allocated their available units beforehand.

Does your son not have noise cancelling/ isolating headphones?

unholyangel

Marco84 wrote: »

I live and learn, I'll avoid all greenbelt areas for now on.
I told reception that he has autism and they could see he was distressed. they said they were fully booked and their help went as far as being told just to keep the windows shut, which didn't help, esp with an incontinent child.

On reflection I feel like I've handled all hot headed going to small claims and should have let it go, but sometimes its hard to think clearly being a full time carer, lack of sleep, a house move happening and wasn't able to even have a break for us. But now I'm in this mess, what's the worse that can happen if I lose? or If claimed against the wrong company. Thank you

I can empathise. Being parent to even your average child can be demanding and exhausting, never mind if they have special needs. Likewise I can understand how lack of sleep can make you more irritable without realising so respect for being level headed enough to recognise that yourself.

Did you send them a letter before action?

Worst case scenario you're looking at being out of pocket for the filing fee, potentially a hearing fee and also their costs.

If you do decide to go ahead with it, try and show that the holiday was not as described. For example if the accommodation is described as relaxing/quiet & peaceful or anything like that, although ideally you'd also have something showing it wasn't - for example sound recordings showing how easily the noise could be heard compared to normal conversation level. Although that won't help if its not the party you entered a contract with.

If you didn't tell them about his needs before booking, then you would have to show that the noise level would be unacceptable to an average reasonable person.

In future, try and get written confirmation (even by email) they can provide quiet accommodation/making them aware of what requirements your son has before booking. It will put you on much stronger footing.

Marco84

Thanks for the advice guys. I did tell them I would make a small claims as they couldn't even meet me as a frequent customer half way.

I realise now I took a simplistic approach in the past, if looks good, good reviews and pay for deluxe accommodation nothing could go too pear shaped, until I got my fingers burnt with this A road side accommodation.

When I receive their defence in the post, is it possible to pull out or must I see it through until the end? Now I've calmed down after the house move, I realise it's not worth any more of my energy and time, I'll just take my custom else where in the future.

steampowered

My advice would be to wait and see what Hoseasons says in their defence, or if they make you a settlement offer. At the moment you just need to wait.

A few points to make:

- Do not worry about the fact that Hoseasons was only an 'agent'. They are the people that entered into a contract with you, so they are the party that is legally liable. You couldn't sue the park directly as you don't have a contract with them.

- Do not worry about the fact that you haven't been through ABTA. The ABTA is not an Ombudsman. They offer private arbitration, which is not a good thing for consumers - you are perfectly entitled to take this to the small claims court.

- In order for your claim to be successful, you would have to demonstrate either that (1) the holiday was misrepresented, or (2) the holiday company was in breach of contract. If the holiday was sold to you as being in a tranquil setting whereas actually you were next to a main road, it sounds to me like you have a perfectly valid claim.

- You don't have to see it through. You are able to withdraw your claim at any stage. Personally I would wait until the court requires you to pay a hearing fee, which comes after Hoseasons is required to file a defence. That would be a good time to decide whether you want to continue with the process by paying the hearing fee or whether you want to withdraw.

unholyangel

steampowered wrote: »

My advice would be to wait and see what Hoseasons says in their defence, or if they make you a settlement offer. At the moment you just need to wait.

A few points to make:

- Do not worry about the fact that Hoseasons was only an 'agent'. They are the people that entered into a contract with you, so they are the party that is legally liable. You couldn't sue the park directly as you don't have a contract with them.

- Do not worry about the fact that you haven't been through ABTA. The ABTA is not an Ombudsman. They offer private arbitration, which is not a good thing for consumers - you are perfectly entitled to take this to the small claims court.

- In order for your claim to be successful, you would have to demonstrate either that (1) the holiday was misrepresented, or (2) the holiday company was in breach of contract. If the holiday was sold to you as being in a tranquil setting whereas actually you were next to a main road, it sounds to me like you have a perfectly valid claim.

- You don't have to see it through. You are able to withdraw your claim at any stage. Personally I would wait until the court requires you to pay a hearing fee, which comes after Hoseasons is required to file a defence. That would be a good time to decide whether you want to continue with the process by paying the hearing fee or whether you want to withdraw.

An agent is someone who has authorisation to act on behalf of someone else (and enter them into legally binding agreements). You don't have a contract with an agent unless they are acting as an agent for you.

steampowered

unholyangel wrote: »

An agent is someone who has authorisation to act on behalf of someone else (and enter them into legally binding agreements). You don't have a contract with an agent unless they are acting as an agent for you.

Yes that is true in technical legal terms. However in the real world people use the word 'agent' in a less precise way.

Typically when you buy a holiday from a package/tour travel operator (who a lay-person might refer to as a travel agent), your contract is with the holiday operator rather than with the underlying hotel/caravan park.

Worth the Op checking their paperwork though.

Anyway, that's all academic if Hoseasons fails to raise the point in their Defence. The Op has issued the claim, so it is now a waiting game to see if Hoseasons defend and if so on what basis.