Holiday cottage changing rules to allow pets

[notwoof]

I've got a holiday place booked for August. I always book places that don't allow pets as DH is allergic to dogs.

Email today from holiday lettings place 'good news you cottage now allows pets'!

I don't care how well they clean it if a dog has been in there before us DH will have streaming eyes all week.

So now I don't want to stay there. Rang them and they basically said tough shit, if you cancel you lose all your money.

AIBU they changed the rules therefore they should let me cancel!?

That’s so frustrating for you! Not unreasonable of you at all I don’t think

That’s shocking, is the cottage part of a company, can you try & raise it with someone higher up?

Some time ago we needed a short term rental, I specifically chose somewhere that didn’t allow pets as my DH is allergic to cats. When I went to look round I noticed a cat basket & apparently the previous tenant had been allowed to ‘break the rules’ ? Fortunately they agreed to have the carpets professionally cleaned before I moved in but Zi was not happy, no other suitable properties to rent unfortunately.

And what would your DH do if someone with an assistance dog had stayed there the week previous to you? There is no such thing as dog-free accommodation as guide dogs are allowed everywhere by law.

It's frustrating for you, but given they've only just changed their rules then to be honest I doubt they'd have any room to book any dog owners in this summer! So the likelihood of this happening is probably pretty slim.

Check the T&Cs of your original booking carefully to see what it says about cancelling. The person on the phone will obviously not want to lose a booking but there might be something in the fine print that will let you cancel.

But wouldn't that change render any contract you sign null and void? They are changing their Ts&Cs, aren't they?

Unfair. If you really can't cancel I'd leave an appropriate review at least. They should have given you the option to cancel

Can he not take anti histamines in the week before holiday? If his allergy is streaming eyes surely anti histamines will be sufficient.

Anti histamines arenot sufficient if you have a severe allergy unfortunately.

I would be raging if this was me as we couldn’t stay as it would kick off dhs well managed asthma. The tough shit attitude is appalling. Not everyone with an allergy just gets sneezy. For some people it can be life threatening.

No, you can't just take anti histamines

I would also want to cancel under these circumstances.

@rj
OP states streaming eyes which I believe are not life threatening.

YANBU - I find their attitude pretty poor to be honest.

In the circumstances can they transfer your booking to another more appropriate property?

I didn't think about assistance dogs, good point- though that'd be less frequent.

The cottage has availability for the two weeks before we go. I think they change to allowing pets to entice more people?

I'll see what DH says about anti histamines. He's on other meds that I'm sure he's not supposed to mix but not sure.

I'm writing to the letting agent again once I've double checked t&c.

YANBU - I find their attitude pretty poor to be honest.

See this is why I also think YANBU. It wouldn't bother me if the accommodation now allowed pets if they had acted professionally when you called up there would have been no problem. The fact they have said you should basically suck it up is ridiculous!

In this situation they OPs DH might not have a severe allergy but surely people understand that such allergies exist, it could just have easily been life threatening, the company have no idea and their attitude is tough shit hopefully he wont die.

I'd be happy with a transfer to somewhere else in nearby location tbh. I'm hoping I just spoke to someone who isn't a decision maker!

But wouldn't that change render any contract you sign null and void? They are changing their Ts&Cs, aren't they?

Yes, surely this?
Kick up a fuss, OP. Bollocks to antihistamines; why should he have to do that?

Could you threaten small claims court right now due to them changing terms and conditions? It might be enough for them to return what you've paid as they probably won't want the hassle.

DH allergy is such that if an actual dog were present in the room his breathing would be hindered. Somewhere cleaned after a dog has been there a week wouldn't be as severe but still unpleasant for him.

This happened to us once, the company called and checked whether we had a problem with it and said they’d wait until after our booking if it was an issue. They should either do that or allow you to cancel. Ridiculous to pretend this might be ‘good news’

I find it hard to believe there'd be no mechanism to cancel, unless you booked as a non-refundable advance rate, which I know happens a lot with hotels. Do check the T&Cs!

If it's "good news"-wouldn't that suggest that there's a queue waiting to take Op's place?

I wouldn't be happy, without dog allergies.

I always book dog-free accommodation after staying somewhere where the weather had got warm mid-stay and a whole load of fleas hatched out. I was walking around in white socks and picking the bastards off my ankles. One of the beds had obviously been used as a dog bed and became unusable. It is hard to be free of them just with cleaning.

Changing the rules and then refusing to let you cancel is rubbish, and I’m a dog owner (although said dog is non-allergy-causing but that’s not the point).

Is it a privately owned cottage or did you book via a company?

Ridiculous to pretend this might be ‘good news’

Good news for us dog owners but totally not ok for OP.
I would definitely kick up a fuss.

Can you check with Trading Standards what the situation is?

Alternatively, if you have legal cover with your home insurance/bank account/work/trade union etc - might be worth checking with them too...

I run a cottage on the Isle of Wight. Most of the island is very dog friendly and so generally most cottages allow a dog. However, what happened here is totally unreasonable to you! Most bookings for the year are secured between Dec and Feb. The owner ought to have introduced this change at the end of the last season once most of their bookings are in the system. If your booking was via an agent, then I'm sure the T&C's that you agreed to have been broken here. They should either offer you a complete refund or an alternative cottage that is a non pet cottage. Threaten to escalate. I agree go small claims if you need to but hopefully they will see sense!

I always book pet free even as a pet owner. I don’t want to be staying in a place that smells of pets and has pet hair. It’s why when we visit haven type places we never book the cheap accommodation as it’s always had pets in.