I wrote a letter of complaint to Butlins about a month ago after an absolutely appalling stay there. They replied yesterday (bang on the 28 days they have to reply) stating that they were sorry we were not happy and offered us £100 refund.
I am not happy with this as we had the most awful time. We went to Butlins at Skegness for the ‘Just for Tots’ week from 15th -19th September. We paid over £500 for 5 days in a gold apartment with premier dining with B line passes.
When I telephoned to book the holiday I enquired about the ages of the children who could attend the ‘Just For Tots’ break. I was advised that it would be adults with children under 5, although older siblings were welcome. I asked if any all-adult groups were allowed and was told categorically no. This convinced us to book the holiday as we had heard horror stories about hen/stag groups at Butlins. I also asked if there would be anyone to help us with our luggage as I would be travelling with my elderly mother, my 2 year old with special needs and my 6 month old. I was told that if I went to the Gold Reception someone would be able to assist me. This was particularly important as we were unable to book a ground floor room as they were all taken.
Upon arrival after a 4 hour trip I asked at Gold Reception for some assistance with luggage and was told that no one was available and we would have to do it ourselves. This took me 3 hours to do on my own, in between breastfeeding a baby, whilst my mother looked after the children. It was a very hot day and was utterly unpleasant.
That night we were all awoken at 1.30am by what sounded like a lot of drunk people going up the stairs next to our apartment. We were then kept awake until 5am by bumping, banging, laughing, shouting etc. It sounded like a group of men, although obviously we were sure that they must have children in there as we had been told adult groups were not allowed. We tried to phone the security number 3 times but there was no answer.
I complained at the Gold Reception the next day and a very harassed receptionist wrote my room number on a scrap of paper and said she would look into it. I never heard anything else.
The next night exactly the same happened, although at about 3am it sounded like some women turned up and joined in the drunk shenanigans. This continued every night of our stay.
When we left the apartment on the Friday I went to Gold Reception to ask if we could have some help with bringing the luggage down from the apartment. The receptionist told me that ‘we don’t do that due to the risk of damage to items’ which was completely contradictory to everything I had been told previously. I therefore had to struggle with our luggage myself. The cleaning staff then started to harass us at 9.30am to get into the apartment and we had to actually argue with them in order to get them to wait until 10am.
When I was packing the car I saw the people in the apartment above start to leave. I thought it would be interesting to see who came out as we had been unable to see hide nor hair of anyone. Imagine our shock and horror when 4 rough looking males came out and appeared to walk in the direction of the train station. I took a photograph of them and went immediately to complain to Gold Reception. First I was told that they must be people who had booked their break years in advance, before the Just For Tots breaks were arranged. I said that they were definitely not the sort of people to have done this. I was then told that they must be workers who they have to accommodate. This was much more likely as most of them were foreign and they looked like manual labourers. I was absolutely furious! We had paid a large amount of money for the best accommodation and Butlins thought it appropriate to put workers above us, who were out drinking until all hours and who carried on drinking thoughout the night. Why on earth they weren’t put into the staff accommodation or the caravans opposite I have no idea.
I believe that this was a safeguarding issue as these men could have been anyone. I was also concerned that if they were working on-site during the day they had been heavily drinking all night.
I believe that the advertising was misleading, the information I received over the telephone was incorrect and that my children were put at risk during our stay. All of us suffered healthwise from having hardly any sleep for 4 nights.
In their reply, Butlins stated that they had had no other complaints... blah de blah and that the people in that apartment were NOT contractors. They then implied that if people lie about who is on the booking then that is not their fault. I find this reply even more worrying! If 4 men go to the trouble of booking during a Just For Tots break, making up and paying for an imaginary child, then surely this needs investigation.
I am unhappy about accepting their offer of £100 and feel I should take it further. Luckily I have a brother in law who is a solicitor so he should be able to help me.
What would others do?