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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To bail out of our caravan holiday?

21 replies

DarlingDuck · 30/08/2011 17:31

We're staying in a caravan for the first time as it's all we could afford this year. We arrived and it is AWFUL, tiny, damp, dirty smelly and COLD!!! We have friends nearby who we could stay with, would it be awful to jump ship after 2 days?!

OP posts:
scurryfunge · 30/08/2011 17:32

Can you speak to the people you have hired it from?

NestaFiesta · 30/08/2011 17:32

Demand your money back. It's unacceptable to be given unacceptable accommodation. Demand to be moved or your full money back.

Secrecy · 30/08/2011 17:33

Hell no!

defineme · 30/08/2011 17:34

Can you request a cleaner/fire or move to alternative? Or a refund?
Not worth suffering though-move if you have to.

Original poster
DarlingDuck · 30/08/2011 17:34

The thing is I think this is just what caravans are like, or so says DH... they get cold inside whenit is cold outside. It's not terribly dirty just a bit shabby

OP posts:
fluffles · 30/08/2011 17:35

usually they have a gas fire in the living area... assuming it's a static van. does yours not?

we've stayed in them in the depths of winter when it's too cold to camp and always manage to warm them up with the fire on.

Original poster
DarlingDuck · 30/08/2011 17:35

It was only £325 for a week Blush

OP posts:
scurryfunge · 30/08/2011 17:36

Put the heater on for a bit, warm it up and reduce the damp feeling and/or open the windows and give it an airing.

MissVerinder · 30/08/2011 17:38

£325?

You could have gone on a cruise for that!

No, seriously, having been in caravans plenty of times myself, it shouldn't be as bad as you're describing.

Move or money back, YADNBU

Andrewofgg · 30/08/2011 17:40

Caravans are the work of the devil. He was in a particularly malicious and evil mood the day he thought them up. Get out now with or without your money and never go near one again.

Original poster
DarlingDuck · 30/08/2011 17:41

Andrewofgg- Ha! Kept thinking of my fat gypsy wedding, hey manage it fine, right?!

OP posts:
ZillionChocolate · 30/08/2011 17:43

Complain! That's what I did when I stayed in a caravan with a leaky sink that had soaked the bedroom carpet and I had to squelch around in my trainers. They gave us a new one.

£325 is £46 per night, you could probably get a travelodge for that. This weekend I stayed in a lovely four star hotel for about that much with breakfast included.

Groovee · 30/08/2011 17:48

We had a caravan holiday in April and we headed to sainsbury's in a local town to get heaters and had one in the hall near the bedrooms and one in the main bedroom. We managed to cope with it once we had heat.

If it's that bad go to reception but I suspect you're expecting too much

usualsuspect · 30/08/2011 17:49

I love caravans

AgentZigzag · 30/08/2011 17:51

We bailed out on a camping holiday to Anglesey after three days, 50 mph winds, damp, cold, fuck that Grin

We just said we had a family emergency and had to go, to our lovely comfortable beds they refunded the difference, which was nice of them.

If you're not having a great time, go home Smile

Pandemoniaa · 30/08/2011 17:52

Caravans aren't wonderful but there's no way you should be paying anything at all for a damp, shabby, dirty and smelly one.

A friend of mine recently stayed at what I'd better describe as a "well known caravan site in East Sussex" and they got given a caravan which had a carpet inches deep in water that had leaked from the shower and walls that were mouldy. They complained and the site management thought that the solution was to put towels over the soaked carpets so that the squelching would be less obvious!

After a more robust complaint they were upgraded to a caravan that was habitable. So no, caravans are supposed to be so shyte that you can't reasonably stay in them. OP should complain, firmly and if you get nowhere at all, decamp to the friend's house and send in a formal, written complaint,from a warmer place.

BreadCrumbsandButterBeans · 30/08/2011 17:54

Oh no! Whereabouts are you staying?

We're taking the DCs on a caravan holiday this weekend. Now feeling a little apprehensive reading your op.

Hope I don't end up living to regret it!

Insomnia11 · 30/08/2011 17:57

My parents live in a static caravan. Top of the range though - it's nicer than a lot of flats. They love it. I guess the majority of holiday vans are not quite so new or deluxe though.

Bigpants1 · 30/08/2011 18:01

Is it a privately owned one that you rented, or one owned by a holiday site? It shouldnt be dirty in either case, but I think you probably have more recourse from the latter if you are not happy.
Yes, caravans can get cold, if its rainy and damp outside, but should warm up if you put the heaters on for a while.
I think if you havent stayed in one before, you maybe are expecting too much. And, maybe if the weather was better, the caravan wouldnt seem so dreary IYSWIM.
Do you have dc with you? Are they enjoying it? My dc like caravans and finding places to put their treasures etc. If your dc are having fun, it seems mean to up and leave, but if you are all miserable, then maybe that is the best option.

CheshireDing · 30/08/2011 18:40

For the first time last year I stepped inside a show caravan to have a look whilst we were camping in an tent in Cornwall. Bloody hideous it was, right chintzy evil thing.

Give me a tent any day.

myBOYSareBONKERS · 30/08/2011 18:48

I love caravans BUT I always go for a private hire with double glazing and central heating!!

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