To be really annoyed with Center Parcs?

[VivaLeBeaver]

A year ago I booked a break with them for this August.

Have just today had an email saying that there will be fairly major building work close to my cabin and to expect noise and disruption from 8am to 6pm.

They will give me £50 of vouchers to compensate me or I can book other (far more expensive) accommodation away from the noise or I can cancel my main summer holiday six weeks before I go.

I go for the peace and quiet and the squirrels and ducks by the patio not to spend it in a fucking building site.

[McKitten84]

Complaining on their Facebook page seems to get noticed by the staff manning it!!!
worth a try

[arethereanyleftatall]

This sounds really dodgy. Surely there would be a link on a centre parcs email, and a generic phone number. Gave you called sherwoos direct?

[LetsFaceTheMusicAndDance]

£450 for CP in August is unusually and incredibly cheap. Are you 100% sure that the reason for the price was that there'd be work going on and you'd somehow missed that info?

[ChameleonCircuit]

www.centerparcs.co.uk/discover/news/village_news.jsp

Only thing I can see at Sherwood is upgrading the changing rooms in the spa.

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

Kick up. They should move you to another cabin. £50 in vouchers isn't a fair compensation. Their holiday parks are advertised as a sort of d'état thing ant they? All peace and quiet in the cabin and activities as you want them.
They're not going to stop the building work. What would you like them to do? Move you? Vouchers for a family meal and for a spa day for you? Refund and compensation? Then e mail them.

[LadyCybilCrawley]

The only decent option is a free upgrade away from the noise

Be super polite and ensure you are respectful but stand firm that you will accept thing less than the upgrade for free

Polite complaints get better outcomes than abusive ones


Of course of you happen to be a free lance journalist and was hoping to write of your family's holiday experience as part of a larger piece on holidays for different ages and you happen to mention that based on previous holidays there you were looking forward to writing a great piece and it's a pity that this will clearly be different now ....


Good luck

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

Good grief. What sort of spelling mistakes are they?

I meant to say they promote themselves as a sort of retreat place.

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

Yes I agree with LadyCybil that they should upgrade you without cost to you.

[LetsFaceTheMusicAndDance]

I take that back - they really are cheaper than the other CPs.

Ponders....

[Namechangearoonie123]

How have you got there in August ??? For 450

Every single time I've ever put a school holiday date in to CP it's been £2k?!?

[VivaLeBeaver]

Two bedroom villas aren't much more in the school holidays than term time as they assume you don't have kids. Downside is I have to share a bed with dd.

And sherwood is a crumbling shithole.

[EverythingCounts]

Blimey, that is a lot cheaper than I'd have expected. Even so, it's very short notice of them to tell you about the building work, and £50 isn't a lot. I would definitely get an email in and say you will be contacting media outlets who would be interested (the Guardian, for instance, have a travel supplement and also a money section where I think they might cover something like this) and also get on social media.

[Namechangearoonie123]

I have just done a search on Sherwood for any 2 beds for any time in the rest of July and all of August

There is Nothing ! For any price

Flog it on EBay and go somewhere nice?

[LetsFaceTheMusicAndDance]

Definitely worth complaining - maybe even in writing .

Or email their CEO with a link to this thread at the end.

We were due to go to Elveden the week directly after it burrned down. We managed to get the last villa in Sherwood and it was ropey even then, though they were building some new stuff.

We got a £250 voucher and a huge bouquet of flowers for the inconvenience and further vouchers when I complained, with photos, about the nasty state of the villa.

That standard of customer service has kept us going back year after year. What a shame they seem to be incompetent and unbothered now.

[LetsFaceTheMusicAndDance]

[email protected]

This is their CEO

[hippoesque]

Ok, here is some insider knowledge for you. On Monday phone them direct at the park and get the name of the reservations manager. Be nice and polite (difficult I know but it really does work) and don't drop it. Go through the same person for EVERY communication and keep going on and on until you get what you want. Obviously they won't cancel the building works but at the very least you should be able to get a free upgrade. If that's not what you want then a free transfer to another park (again it doesn't make up for the unwanted travelling but it really depends on the outcome you want) I've seen it time and time again where a guest gets really worked up and shouts and they get fobbed off with a voucher to calm down the immediate situation but it breeds as feeling as it's not the outcome they really wanted. Be calm, assertive and lay down what you want and you should find a happy compromise. Hope it all works out for you.

[VivaLeBeaver]

The vouchers are no bloody use to me to be honest.

We swim pretty much all day and do a bit of bike riding.

I refuse to partake in any activities and we take our own food.

I don't need vouchers as I have no desire to do archery, go rock climbing, etc, eat out.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Thanks Hippo. I am always polite and calm to people as I've worked in call centres before. I don't blame the people on the phones.

D you think ringing the reservations manager is better than ringing the person who sent the email. That was someone from the sales and marketing team.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I've been twice a year for the last few years. This is the last bloody time.

[FrontForward]

Centreparcs have really lost the edge for customer service. They are so profit focused their service is shit

[JodieGarberJacob]

I'm absolutely stunned at that price. Just got an email from them showing prices for the summer and there's nothing under £700 for a mid week.

[Branleuse]

complain, phone, keep complaining and ask to be moved

This happened to us, but they didnt tell us in advance.

[monopoly123]

We went in winter about 4 years ago with 2 babies in the villa, we'd paid extra to get a central villa so we wouldn't have to walk much and had no warning about them replacing the villas opposite - every single day they started at 8am and the 2 babies who would invariably have been up all night were woken by the builders! We left a day early and for some reason I accepted just a £75 voucher to be spent at CP. I wish I'd have complained more.

[FrontForward]

It's always worried me that they reserve the right to shut the pool down and that's just tough. They must know when they are planning building works.

[caroldecker]

Unfortunately I don't think you have a legal leg to stand on as thier terms and conditions state:

F12. Improvements and maintenance
As we continually improve our facilities on our Villages you may find that:

• new facilities are on offer;
• listed facilities are temporarily closed for maintenance and/or improvement;
• some facilities and/or accommodation units have been altered, replaced or closed;
• there is development or refurbishment work going on in certain areas of the Village;
• maintenance work or housekeeping tasks are undertaken in and around your accommodation during your stay, although in such circumstances we try to minimise any inconvenience;
• different equipment is provided to that described in our brochure or other communications.