Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Should they give a refund and let us cancel?

142 replies

Idolikeanicepieceofcake · 29/04/2019 16:08

I booked a holiday for next week a year in advance for a dog-friendly, quiet, rural cottage. It was meant to be a week of peace and quiet for us after enduring 7 months of building work from the house nextdoor. We are due to go this Saturday.
Yesterday the people who rent it emailed me to say that there would be building work going on during the time of our break, but they have asked the builders to refrain from doing their noisier work before 10am or after 4pm. That to me says that there will be noisy building work between 10am and 4pm, the time that we would have been enjoying the garden/having bbq/reading/sunbathing weather permitting.
I am really upset because it cost a lot of money, and I do not want to go on what should be a peaceful getaway and spend the whole time with building work in the background. They also have only given us 6 days notice that this will be happening!
Do you think that I would be unreasonable to ask for a complete refund so that I can try and salvage this one precious week of annual leave?

OP posts:
palahvah · 29/04/2019 16:09

YANBU

SihtricsHorseWitnere · 29/04/2019 16:09

YANBU

Elpheba · 29/04/2019 16:10

Definitely not unreasonable.

Justmuddlingalong · 29/04/2019 16:10

I agree. YANBU.

MotherOfGodFella · 29/04/2019 16:10

Omg that’s awful. Yes I’d be asking for a full refund or alternative accommodation if it’s through a company.

Chartreuser · 29/04/2019 16:11

YANBU

TheLoneWolfDies · 29/04/2019 16:11

Nope you should definatly request a refund, they should have informed you sooner. If you don't ask you don't get. The worst they can say is no.

MrsTerryPratchett · 29/04/2019 16:11

YANBU.

Was it booked through a site?

AppleKatie · 29/04/2019 16:12

Yanbu. Full refund needed definitely.

GabriellaMontez · 29/04/2019 16:13

On the house you're staying in?! If so yanbu. How cheeky of them.

Pretry · 29/04/2019 16:13

Yes def ask for your money back, did you pay by credit card?

Original poster
Idolikeanicepieceofcake · 29/04/2019 16:15

Booked through their website, and have all the correspondence. I have tried to ring all their numbers but no one is answering the phone so I have left voicemails asking to ring me back. Have also emailed them and gone through their Facebook page.
If it was emergency work then I would understand, but in their email they say that they are having an extension put on, hardly unforeseen circumstances!

OP posts:
heartshapedknob · 29/04/2019 16:19

Not unreasonable at all, the building work should have been disclosed at time of booking or as soon as they knew about it. I would want a full refund.

MotherOfGodFella · 29/04/2019 16:20

Jeez why would anything think that was going to be acceptable? I am literally like this Shock

Original poster
Idolikeanicepieceofcake · 29/04/2019 16:23

MotherOfGodFella my face was the same when I read their email. Not even enough time to book and alternative airbnb or anything. The fact that they won't ring me back is upsetting me most as if there is no refund I will have to work during my leave to earn that money back!

OP posts:
AlexDrake1981 · 29/04/2019 16:24

I just can't believe they thought you would be totally ok with it and say 'yeah, that's fine. We're quite up for a fair bit of building work happening to our holiday home'. Op, you are most definitely not being unreasonable. Unfortunately, I fear you may have a fight on your hands for your refund. Their silence is very telling.

eddielizzard · 29/04/2019 16:27

TOTALLY unacceptable!! What CF's!!

Celebelly · 29/04/2019 16:29

Why on earth would they let it out when they're doing planned building work?! YANBU

ethelfleda · 29/04/2019 16:29

Poor you OP.
YANBU!
Did you pay with a credit card? Can you claim it back that way?

AlexaAmbidextra · 29/04/2019 16:30

Outrageous that they think it acceptable to rent the cottage out while having work done. The greedy bastards should take it off the market for the duration of the work. If you don’t get a full refund take them to small claims court. No court would find in their favour.

FlyingElbows · 29/04/2019 16:31

Yadnbu. What kind of loon schedules building work on a house they let out for holidays? That is beyond unreasonable.

Sexnotgender · 29/04/2019 16:32

YANBU. That’s utterly shit.

AnneLovesGilbert · 29/04/2019 16:33

YANBU and 6 days notice is outrageous. You poor thing.

DarlingNikita · 29/04/2019 16:33

YANBU. They're idiots. Whether you specifically needed to recover from building work at home or not, they can't just drop that on you Confused

I hope you find something else.

LaCastafiore · 29/04/2019 16:35

YANBU at all!

fingers crossed you get your refund urgently. No one would find it acceptable and everyone would ask for either a full refund, or some might be happy with a heavy discount - I wouldn't be.

Then it's worth looking for last-minute cottage, if you are a bit flexible on the general area, you can always find gems last minute.

Swipe left for the next trending thread