Suffolk Cottage Holidays

miketdavey

Can I enquire if anyone else is having problems with Suffolk Cottage Holidays?

We have a cottage booked with them for 1st July to 9th July and the balance is due on 5th May.

 I emailed them on 28th April 2020 as my wife has been classed as 'extremely vulnerable' by her cancer specialist due to both her Lymphoma and asthma and we have been told to stay at home with no visitors.  Her current deadline for leaving the house is 12th July which is 12 days after the start of the holiday we have booked.  I asked if it would be possible to transfer this holiday to the same period in 2021 as we do wish to visit that part of the UK.

 On the 30th April I received the following from Rebecca at their office:    Thank you for getting in touch.  I understand that you would have requested a transfer for your holiday due to the Coronavirus pandemic. As there are currently no travel restrictions when your holiday is due to take place, we are unable to offer you a refund or transfer of dates at this time.

 I sent an email straight back on 30 April 2020 asking for one of their staff to contact me within 48 hours pointing out that there were travel restrictions in place put there by her cancer specialist but as yet my phone records show no sign of any attempt to call me.  I sent another email yesterday again asking to be contacted but nothing yet.

 Has anyone else had any dealings with this company?

 Suffolk Cottage Holidays e-mail address info@suffolkcottageholidays.com

comeandgo

As you can't travel due to illness your own travel insurance may be better to claim from.

Aylesbury_Duck

As above.  As things stand, there are no national travel restrictions confirmed for July so it's reasonable for the company to assume (at this stage) that they are permitted to let out the cottage.  That means your decision to not travel at that time is yours (based on your own travel restrictions), and therefore it's an insurance matter.

The alternative is to wait, see how the national picture unfolds and whether not the company cancels, in which case they'd be obliged to refund you or offer alternative dates if that's what you want.

miketdavey

Aylesbury Duck - the problem is not national travel restrictions but those imposed on us by a cancer specialist plus the fact that Suffolk Cottage Holidays will not contact us to arrange to transfer our booking to 2021.  

Aylesbury_Duck

miketdavey said:

Aylesbury Duck - the problem is not national travel restrictions but those imposed on us by a cancer specialist plus the fact that Suffolk Cottage Holidays will not contact us to arrange to transfer our booking to 2021.  

I understand that, but the company aren't obliged to agree to your request because the restriction is nothing to do with them.  It's your personal restrictions that make travel unwise.  That's not their problem and that's why this would be an insurance matter.

Personally I'd sit tight and see what happens with the lockdown.  The company will have to offer a refund or other options if they are not permitted to let you stay.

Sorry that the above comes across rather coldly - I'm just trying to set out your rights.

macman

Yes, but those travel restrictions are w personal advisory for medical reasons: they are nothing to do with the coronavirus lockdown legislation. You may think that SCH are being inflexible, but there is no contractual obligation for them to move your booking back 12 months. 
As pointed out above, this is a situation where you are cancelling, not them, and so the remedy is via your own holiday insurance provider.