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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be really put off booking at this holiday park?

64 replies

Worriedmotheroftwo · 14/08/2025 17:20

My friend stayed at this holiday park recently and said it was quite nice, but I've been on their social media to have a look and maybe book, and was a bit shocked at their attitude to a complaint they had from a guest. They've literally screenshotted her email to them and pht it publicly on their Facebook page.

Admittedly, the grammar and punctuation are lacking, but AIBU to think that you just don't screenshot customers' emails to you and plaster them on social media?? I have no idea who is really in the right here re her complaints (they've said their side but who knows what her side really is - they don't show her actual complaint) but I'm a bit appalled that they didn't even black out her name (is this even compliant with GDPR)? Anyway, it's really put me off booking there. Some of the comments are awful, mocking this 'Julie' woman, and people trying to find her on Facebook. Interested in other people's thoughts. (Or am I foolish to care at all?)

To be really put off booking at this holiday park?
To be really put off booking at this holiday park?
OP posts:
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Original poster
Worriedmotheroftwo · 15/08/2025 20:01

Shatteredallthetimelately · 15/08/2025 09:51

My friend stayed at this holiday park recently and said it was quite nice,

How well do you know this friend?
How well do you know Julie?

As much as we all have and are entitled to an opinion I think I'd take what she's written with a pinch of salt, your friend said it was nice, didn't seem to have any complaints and reading the way Julie seems to think it's fine to send threatening emails by way of complaint I know which one's opinion I'd go with.

It sounds like bullying is her first port of call.

Oh dear ... just because my friend (who is a colleague and who I know quite well, thanks for asking) said that she found it quite nice, that doesn't mean that nobody else ever has a justifiable reason to complain 🤦🏼‍♀️ You do see that, right?

Now, maybe Julie did have grounds to complain. Maybe she didn't. We don't know, because the holiday park woman has selected just one specific email to put out in public, and not the original complaint email (I wonder why?). But regardless of whether Julie's complaint is valid or not... the fact still remains that "Rachel" should never have taken a private email from a customer and put it on social media with her full name on it. That's just not okay for any business to do to their customers, no matter how 'exhausted' the business owner (or whatever she is) is. The attitude shown by "Rachel" definitely overshadows my friend's quite lukewarm recommendation of 'quite nice'.

OP posts:
Shatteredallthetimelately · 15/08/2025 09:51

My friend stayed at this holiday park recently and said it was quite nice,

How well do you know this friend?
How well do you know Julie?

As much as we all have and are entitled to an opinion I think I'd take what she's written with a pinch of salt, your friend said it was nice, didn't seem to have any complaints and reading the way Julie seems to think it's fine to send threatening emails by way of complaint I know which one's opinion I'd go with.

It sounds like bullying is her first port of call.

Original poster
Worriedmotheroftwo · 15/08/2025 00:08

Fargo79 · 14/08/2025 23:44

Yikes. This would totally put me off as well. It's extremely unprofessional and it's basically a not-so-veiled threat to customers to not complain otherwise you'll be put on public blast with your name and email published far and wide, and other people encouraged to jump into the pile-on.

Anyone who has ever worked in a public facing role knows that a decent portion of people are fucking awful to deal with. That's the nature of the job unfortunately. It's how you respond to a bad review that often matters more than the review itself.

That's exactly how I feel. I've seen this sort of thing before on Airbnb reviews, when airbnb hosts leave aggressive and retaliatory replies to bad reviews and it's always put me off booking. This is so much worse though.

OP posts:
Fargo79 · 14/08/2025 23:44

Yikes. This would totally put me off as well. It's extremely unprofessional and it's basically a not-so-veiled threat to customers to not complain otherwise you'll be put on public blast with your name and email published far and wide, and other people encouraged to jump into the pile-on.

Anyone who has ever worked in a public facing role knows that a decent portion of people are fucking awful to deal with. That's the nature of the job unfortunately. It's how you respond to a bad review that often matters more than the review itself.

GiveItAGoMalcom · 14/08/2025 23:31

MeadowLakesCaravanHire · 14/08/2025 19:05

It’s a tired exhausted mother of 2 trying to keep her business going and at the end of my tether with people thinking it’s ok to blackmail me for days for a refund on her holiday.
Yes not my best move, but just one to try and keep my business going.

Show quote history

Julie sounds unhinged and apart from leaving her name in, I completely agree with the response to her.

However, the "tired exhausted mother of 2" line is disappointing as your choice to be a parent should have nothing to do with how you chose to deal with the complaint.

It's almost as bad as a woman blaming hormones.

You dealt with it well (apart from leaving the name in), so just own it 👍

Original poster
Worriedmotheroftwo · 14/08/2025 23:04

bellamorgan · 14/08/2025 22:41

She’s definitely real. Not sure why her posts got removed @mnhq any light on it?

How do you know?

OP posts:
Denim4ever · 14/08/2025 22:42

Random looking customer threat. I should think they are fighting back

bellamorgan · 14/08/2025 22:41

She’s definitely real. Not sure why her posts got removed @mnhq any light on it?

Original poster
Worriedmotheroftwo · 14/08/2025 22:39

EasternSkies · 14/08/2025 22:23

OP: the crux of this matter is that whatever Julie’s complaint was she did not raise it straight away so that it could be dealt with but once she reached home when she demanded a refund with menaces.

Which is not reasonable behaviour by Julie, whatever her complaint. Any issues? Raise it immediately and give the company the chance to put it right,

I guess we only have the holiday park woman's word for that though, don't we? 😊 Did Julie really not say anything while she was there? Guess we'll never know.

(I noticed MN has deleted "Rachel's" most recent post, so guess she wasn't real...)

OP posts:
EasternSkies · 14/08/2025 22:23

OP: the crux of this matter is that whatever Julie’s complaint was she did not raise it straight away so that it could be dealt with but once she reached home when she demanded a refund with menaces.

Which is not reasonable behaviour by Julie, whatever her complaint. Any issues? Raise it immediately and give the company the chance to put it right,

Radiowaawaa · 14/08/2025 21:54

Great advertising Hmm

WhatsTheEffingPoint · 14/08/2025 21:48

@MeadowLakesCaravanHire as a manager of a touring site (let alone static site) I feel your pain.

The complaints I get are laughable but we are expected to smile and take the shit! My biggest bug bear is complaining about something as the person is leaving after a weeks stay and the problem was on day one! We cant sort out things we dont know about!

Social media has weaponised reviews in favour of the customer. They can spout off and we are put in a position with our backs against the wall, we dont reply it stays there for everyone to see, we reply and it starts with customers demanding unreasonable things.

Prices change, thats life, we dont go charging round Tesco asking for refunds because something was cheaper last week!

Its been a long hot summer and patience is at an all time low with even more entitled cheeky fuckers about. Sometimes those people need to be called out publicly (although i would have blocked the name out) it shows what we have to put up with on a daily basis.

In my head I live by the customer isn't always right sometimes the customer is a c**t!

Original poster
Worriedmotheroftwo · 14/08/2025 21:34

Yes - it's just a big coincidence if you've randomly stumbled on this thread by complete coincidence within a couple of hours of it being posted! (And now starting to send me pms...)

OP posts:
MeadowLakesCaravanHire · 14/08/2025 21:05

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Original poster
Worriedmotheroftwo · 14/08/2025 20:44

menopausalfart · 14/08/2025 19:07

@MeadowLakesCaravanHire I completely understand the anger but at least remove her name. She's now going to get a lot of hate from people who are angry on someone else's behalf.

Yeh, I think her name should be removed as well.

OP posts:
Original poster
Worriedmotheroftwo · 14/08/2025 20:43

menopausalfart · 14/08/2025 19:00

@Worriedmotheroftwo Dealing with CFs is always going to be expected when you work with the public. It's how you deal with them though, and in this case, it doesn't look good when you're meant to be professional. Hopefully, it was just a one-off angry response from them and not a reflection on how they run their business.

I totally agree - I deal with emails from customers on a daily basis, many of whom are complaining about something (often unfairly) but I have always grit my teeth and been professional.

OP posts:
Original poster
Worriedmotheroftwo · 14/08/2025 20:41

Livingthebestlife · 14/08/2025 19:08

Brilliant 😂😂😂 better than an episode of EastEnders

Oh my god, just realised the holiday park woman in on here!! Is this for real?! Maybe Julie will turn up next!!

OP posts:
Original poster
Worriedmotheroftwo · 14/08/2025 20:40

VaseofViolets · 14/08/2025 19:05

Are you in the habit of writing unpleasant threatening emails for spurious reasons? If not, you’ll be okay.

Show quote history

Not for spurious reasons, no - but I would write a complaint email if I felt I had good reason (we don't know Julie's side of it). I wouldn't expect it to be screenshotted with my full name on it and put on social media!

OP posts:
Livpool · 14/08/2025 20:28

Julie sounds unhinged

LastKnownSurvivor · 14/08/2025 19:23

In all honesty, OP, I would ask MNHQ to take this thread down - it's doing no favours to Rachel from the caravan park or Julie the complainant. A case of least said, soonest mended for both of them.

Shatteredallthetimelately · 14/08/2025 19:23

Does Julie's brother know that she uses his profession when threatening other people.

Why would Julie not just get her brother to write/contact if she thought she had a case.

menopausalfart · 14/08/2025 19:13

@MeadowLakesCaravanHire I do get it, completely. Some people cannot be dealt with.

MeadowLakesCaravanHire · 14/08/2025 19:12

menopausalfart · 14/08/2025 19:07

@MeadowLakesCaravanHire I completely understand the anger but at least remove her name. She's now going to get a lot of hate from people who are angry on someone else's behalf.

In all honesty I thought I had. I removed her email address. It was that early in the morning, I was just annoyed to wake up to yet another threatening email from her that I’d just had enough. Her name was already out there and the comments went crazy. With views over 1.5 million there was no point in removing it. It didn’t break any GDPR rules and it was already on the post. So it was just a little too late 🙈. X

MeadowLakesCaravanHire · 14/08/2025 19:11

This reply has been deleted

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menopausalfart · 14/08/2025 19:08

@MeadowLakesCaravanHire If she leaves bad reviews, you can get them removed if she's trying to blackmail you.

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