Filthy caravan, no refund

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gwin
gwin Posts: 102 Forumite
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in UK holidays, days out & entertainments
Booked a week's holiday at a caravan park. 3 adults, 1 ten month old baby. On arrival the cooker and sides had grease on them and there were ants crawling over it. Also found ants in the bed. I have photos.
Rang around and found another van on a different site.
Rang the van owner who became abusive and hung up.
Rang the site owner and said it's between me and the owner.
Rang the van owner who said it's up to the site owner whether I get a refund.
Rang site owner who denies saying this.
Rang van owner who said I must have "walked them in" then again hung up.
Please can someone give me advice on what I can do next?

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  • molerat
    molerat Posts: 31,868 Forumite
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    Did you give whoever you paid the chance to rectify the problem at the time of arrival ?
  • Oakdene
    Oakdene Posts: 2,560 Forumite
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    Did you have to pay extra when you were moved to another caravan?
    Dwy galon, un dyhead,
    Dwy dafod ond un iaith,
    Dwy raff yn cydio’n ddolen,
    Dau enaid ond un taith.
  • gwin
    gwin Posts: 102 Forumite
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    Molerat, his reply was it's not dirty, I have a cleaner go in. If you're bothered buy some ant powder. He expects us to 1) go shopping for ant powder. 2) put this poison down with a ten month old toddler crawling/climbing everywhere.
    Oakdene, yes, I had to pay virtually the same amount I paid for the first.
  • molerat
    molerat Posts: 31,868 Forumite
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    Letter before action then.
  • gwin
    gwin Posts: 102 Forumite
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    To him? To the site owner? The guy has hung up on me twice, I wouldn't expect him to acknowledge a letter from me.
    I get the impression the sie owner is trying to wash their hands of it.
  • k3lvc
    k3lvc Posts: 4,174 Forumite
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    Who did you pay ?
    How did you pay them ?
  • gwin
    gwin Posts: 102 Forumite
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    Paid his sister who deals with that side of thing by bank transfer.
    He has just texted me to say I removed smoke alarm batteries so I could have a smoke. I've never smoked in my life!
  • TBagpuss
    TBagpuss Posts: 11,204 Forumite
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    You make a claim against whoever you have a contract with, which in this case sounds like the van owner.

    In a dispute, you are normally expected to try to mitigate your losses - in this case, that would certainly include calling so he could arrange to deal with the issue, or to offer you an alternate van, if he has more than one.

    Whether the situation justified you moving elsewhere and seeking a full refund is harder to call.

    If you want to pursue it, send a formal letter before action, set out exactly what you want (e.g. a full refund) and if he ignores it, you can make a claim through the court.

    If you booked via a company then they may have a complaints process you can use.

    I can't see that the the site owner would have anything to do with it at all. If the van owner employs the site owner to clean and turn over the van, then that might mean that the owner can claim back from the site owner if they have to refund you, but that is none of your business.

    It would only be relevant if the van owner explicitly instructed you to notify the site and that they would sort it out, and you didn't.


    If there was really a bad infestation of ants as opposed to one or two, send the photos to the owner
    All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)
  • forgotmyname
    forgotmyname Posts: 32,554 Forumite
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    Paid whose sister? I wouldnt pay a business by bank transfer.
    Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...

  • Vectis
    Vectis Posts: 692 Forumite
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    Most caravan sites (all the big ones certainly, Park Dean etc) will warn you about ants. Caravans aren't secure against nature, unfortunately.

    Grease on the side of the cooker sounds a bit subjective, to be honest (unless it was covered in grease). Should have been cleaned, obviously, but unless it was major I wouldn't have thought it a cause to move to a different site.

    What would you have done at home with ants coming in and a young child present? Used ant powder where it couldn't be reached by the child perhaps? Sprayed them? Certainly you wouldn't have moved out, would you?

    Sorry to sound unsympathetic (it's difficult when we don't know exactly how bad it was - a few ants or an infestation) but moving to a different site and hoping for a refund sounds a bit extreme to me.

    I have to admit, given what you've said, I would have bought a can of ant spray for a couple of quid and sprayed them. Had to do it a few weeks ago here at home and it killed the lot within 10 minutes. You could have claimed back the couple of quid I suppose...
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