Pontins Southport issues.

rich_shot2003

My son stayed at Pontins Southport with his girlfriend last weekend for there 1st break together and when he got to the room he found the room was dirty and a inside room hanging off and ants running around.

So he took photos and a video and the next day came home as it was that dirty they could not stay for the whole weekend and when they took key back asked if he could see a manager and was told there was not 1 around.

I emailed them with photos asking for a refund and got one back today saying they was sorry about the issues but they was nothing more they could do because son did not speak with a manager on site but he did try but was told there was no one about to see him.

They stated that it was in there T&C,s that if its not bought up on site then no refunds will be given.

So what is my next step that i can take? Have i just got to leave it and move on?
From what ive seen about them online this week how they can still trade i really dont understand.

hollydays

What was hanging off?!
He should have spoken to them immediately not attempted to when he was leaving.
As in " there are ants in our room please can you sort it out" or " we'd like another room".
These places are cheap and not too cheerful from memory.

rich_shot2003

It was one of the doors into a bedroom.

I did tell him he sould had said something at the time not when he dropped key back on the Saturday.

hollydays

rich_shot2003 wrote: »

It was one of the doors into a bedroom.

I did tell him he sould had said something at the time not when he dropped key back on the Saturday.

Exactly so there is no recourse for him

BoGoF

If he had done his research beforehand he would have given this place a wide berth. A quick look at tripadvisor would have me saying no way within seconds.

Unfortunately there is probably nothing he can do as he did not give them a chance to rectify.

Aylesbury_Duck

Get your son to deal with it. His break, his room rental, his problem. Why are you dealing with it for him?

ThumbRemote

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

Get your son to deal with it. His break, his room rental, his problem. Why are you dealing with it for him?

Because most normal people will try to assist others where they can, even more so when they are family.

C_Mababejive

The place is well reputed to be a dump on TA

Aylesbury_Duck

ThumbRemote wrote: »

Because most normal people will try to assist others where they can, even more so when they are family.

Very true, but there's assisting and there's doing it all for them. In this case, Pontins don't have to deal with the OP at all because OP wasn't the customer.

[Deleted User]

A sad decline for Pontin's, but the current state of their once popular holiday camps is reflected both in the price and the level of customer service.

Les79

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

Very true, but there's assisting and there's doing it all for them. In this case, Pontins don't have to deal with the OP at all because OP wasn't the customer.

True true, but nothing inherently bad about a parent dealing with their son's problems. Would be nice for them to learn a lesson + deal with it, but experience is better sometimes.

That being said, OP's son not being on here to discuss their experience makes me wonder whether they'd be the type who would ask for a manager in the first place if a hotel/resort wasn't up to scratch... Who knows.

Anyway OP, I wouldn't necessarily rule you out from having a case. The Ts and Cs may well be unfair in that you'd expect them to provide a good standard of accommodation; if they don't it could be considered breach of contract and your son would be well within his rights to leave. BUT you may well be required to allow THEM the opportunity to rectify the issue first of all, even though the initial experience probably puts you off the idea.

Tricky one. I don't know much about Pontins or Butlins but, to me, they seem to both be relics from a previous age and ones with fairly bad reputations overall (I've heard the odd similar story in passing, never anything good). If so, they'll have bad luck with retaining customers and thus try and protect their income from new customers like your son; hence the reason why you are in a battle scenario.

I'd potentially contact the CAB and maybe a no win no fee solicitor to gauge their thoughts. Alternatively, you could always put in a letter before action and then issue a MCOL (small claims court) against Pontins if they don't reply.