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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think we were miss sold this short break by Haven?

184 replies

givemebooks · 26/06/2019 09:37

I could really do with some advice with how to take this complaint we made to haven holidays forward

Just before the may bank holiday we looked for last minute getaways in the UK and we found a good deal for 4 nights min to fri to Haven Church Farm.

Even more great as we wanted to check the site and look in to buying our own caravan at haven

So i contacted Haven by chat as last year we discovered that both my son and husband were Coeliac so i want to check if the site did any gluten free food

As this was a break to relax!! Quick breakfast at the van but main meals would be at the restaurant while the kids enjoyed the pool and other facilities.

I was assured that they provide gluten free options and could ask for the menu or the allergy list in the restaurant, so we booked

Drove from yorkshire to sussex and arrived van was nice and we were happy we headed to to main complex and had a drink decided to ask about the gluten free menu or allergy list to look over while we settled in with a drink and order later.

The young lad on the bar just said we dont do gluten free stuff sorry!?

I was a bit shocked as so far we had never been anywhere that could not do something?

So i asked a waitress thinking as working more with the food she might know more what i meant! But again was told as they don't have 2 kitchens they don't do allergy food?? They could tell me the ingredients if i wanted but they were not 100% and she said they were very busy and really did not have time for stuff like this!!

I was quite shocked, we had our drinks and drive out to chichester to eat and go to tesco so long story short we spent the whole trip driving around to eat or trying to cook for 5 in the cara an with 1 shelf in the tiny oven!

I was so angry as i would never have booked this break if i had known the issue with the food so i tweeted haven to be given an email to contact customer relations

Not only did the chat service say they provided allergy food, they had a sign in the resturant and it was printed on the menus!! It is also in havens own terms and conditions!! On the website!

I was then told that haven would not respond until 14 days after the end of the trip???

I did mention it to the reception onsite they put notes on my booking but the only option they had for dealing with complaints was resutrant vouchers!! Which was they very thing we could not use!

So it took after much chasing 23 days for haven to FINALLY respond to the complaint

And the stated that they do not provide gluten free food it is a company policy all parks for bourne leisure follow this and they were sorry but that was it!

So AIBU to think i was miss sold my break? And request a full refund!? I replied to haven with all my evidence and its been a week and they have not answered yet!

I expect it will be weeks again!

So i am right? Should i keep going with this??

Also a heads up to ANY food allergy or Coeliacs Haven is a place to avoid!!!!!

I will try and attach pictures of the signs and email!

OP posts:
Original poster
givemebooks · 26/06/2019 09:38

Sorry!!
I posted this from the app and the paragraphs have buggered off!!

OP posts:
TestingTestingWonTooFree · 26/06/2019 09:51

A full refund seems disproportionate as you did receive some benefit from the holiday. I would agree that a partial refund is appropriate as it was missold.

Send them a calmly worded complaint and see what happens. If they refuse to play ball, consider making a small claim in court.

delilahbucket · 26/06/2019 10:20

Pursue it and go for a full refund. While you still went on the holiday I am sure this made it very stressful for you and not the relaxing holiday you paid for.

Ihatesundays · 26/06/2019 10:22

My DD is coeliac. I would only book somewhere she could eat.
I think social media is your friend here.

Original poster
givemebooks · 26/06/2019 10:26

Thank you for your suggestion, i will look in to small claims, could i claim.back on my credit card?

Also is it legal for haven to state the cater for food allergies/needs in there terms and conditions and show signage and have it written on there menus when they admit they have a company wide policy NOT to provide these things??

I sent my initial complaint email with no suggestion of any out come and haven have said sorry but just confirm the do not cater for allergies/coeliacs.

Only in my reply did i state i would like compensation, which to me would be a full refund as even though the area was lovely and the caravan was fine we would not have booked or spent our money on this break if they had been truthful and told us they do not cater for coeliacs. Waste of money for us, I save so so so hard for our money and i want to spend it on things that are worth it and are what they say they are!

Also i feel its different to booking a hotel, surely with Haven you are booking a full experience? Like if you were going to butlins or centre parks? Your booking the whole experience accomodation/food/drinks/entertainment/pools/activities.

OP posts:
MummyDummyNow · 26/06/2019 10:26

What a nightmare! Definitely pursue it for a full refund. As PP said, Social Media is your friend. Tweet, Insta, FaceBook about it. Don't let it drop. Good luck OP. X

MummyDummyNow · 26/06/2019 10:27

Also meant to say, this is false advertising, which means they can be taken to court over it.

delilahbucket · 26/06/2019 10:28

What is the specific wording on the menu and on the restaurant signage? Also what does it state exactly in the terms and conditions?

Nesssie · 26/06/2019 10:31

If you can prove that Not only did the chat service say they provided allergy food, they had a sign in the resturant and it was printed on the menus!! It is also in havens own terms and conditions!! On the website then you would have a claim for a partial refund.
I would suggest going for a full refund is a bit OTT and unlikely to work, but I would come up with a fair amount (including the receipts and bills from the restaurants you had to go to) and write to them explaining all the ways it says they do provide gluten free option, the seriousness of your families allergies and the inconvenience caused.

Snowy81 · 26/06/2019 10:33

I would hit social media with this, as others have said. Yes you got the ‘caravan’ however, driving around, finding places to eat, took away from your ‘holiday’ that you wanted on site. I’m sorry you experienced that, but kicking up a big fuss allows others in the same position to be made aware that somewhere saying they provide ‘gluten free’ is not always the case. I would have thought that after the sad death of the young girl last eating food that was not correctly labelled, companies would understand the importance of ‘allergies’ and what it truly means!

sweeneytoddsrazor · 26/06/2019 10:35

I think you will need to heck the wording carefully and then possibly try to get some compensation back for false advertising. Technically you got the holiday you paid for -a self catering ccaravan holiday so even though you were unable to eat in the restaurant that was only ever an option not something you had already paid for.

Original poster
givemebooks · 26/06/2019 10:38

For some reason MN wont let me post pictures!! Keeps saying 6 max when i have posted none?

Anyhow I have photos of the sign in the restaurant and the menu

I have a screen shot of haven terms and conditions

This is what it says :-

. Food allergies

All our team members in food and beverage are trained in food allergen awareness. If you have a food allergy or special dietary requirement, please talk to one of our team members before ordering your food. Our food is all handled and prepared very carefully. We will give you as much information as we can about the ingredients and how the food is prepared so you can make an informed decision about whether or what to order in our venues.

I tweeted Haven on the first day, they were not very helpful and were the ones who said I would only get an answer upto 14 day after the end of the holiday! Bonkers!!

I am not very social media savvy anyone any idea of what to post to cause a fuss! 😁

OP posts:
madrush · 26/06/2019 10:39

We’re finding this more and more in chain restaurants/takeaways. Unfortunately, the news about food providers being prosecuted for allergic reactions seems to have make some companies revise their policy and some now refuse to say anything is safe for people with allergies, because of fear of making a dreadful mistake.

In terms of your holiday, what we have had to do is ask for ingredient lists and make our own judgements (no anaphylaxis in my family’s situation). I wouldn’t expect Haven to offer you much more than a goodwill voucher off a future booking, unfortunately.

IsabellaLinton · 26/06/2019 10:40

You can’t ask for a full refund Confused

You did stay there, and you did use the facilities. Your use of them shouldn’t come for free. The restaurant didn’t cater for your needs but it wasn’t so important that you decided to leave - which you could have done! - you just worked around the problem. You come across as rather grabby and entitled, I’m afraid.

IsabellaLinton · 26/06/2019 10:46

All our team members in food and beverage are trained in food allergen awareness. If you have a food allergy or special dietary requirement, please talk to one of our team members before ordering your food. Our food is all handled and prepared very carefully. We will give you as much information as we can about the ingredients and how the food is prepared so you can make an informed decision about whether or what to order in our venues.

All well and good - they can tell you what foods contain gluten. Where does it specifically say they provide gluten-free options?

I can’t see what they’ve done wrong here.

sweeneytoddsrazor · 26/06/2019 10:46

The wording in their terms and conditions doesn't state that anything can be guaranteed to be allergen free. It says they will give you informatiin on how its prepared and the ingredients so you can make an informed choice.

EarlGreyOfTwinings · 26/06/2019 10:47

That's outrageous! Basically you wouldn't have booked there if they had told you the truth.

Any chance you kept a copy of the chat?

Yes, I would strongly complain and ask for full refund. Most people would have just left though, it's just not manageable.

I don't know how much you can expect, but at the very least an apologies and a decent refund AND a warning to all other coeliac who will be faced with th same issue!

DGRossetti · 26/06/2019 10:52

The wording in their terms and conditions doesn't state that anything can be guaranteed to be allergen free. It says they will give you informatiin on how its prepared and the ingredients so you can make an informed choice.

I suspect if it came to court, there would be a bunfight as to how a "reasonable person" might interpret the wording. Especially as it specifically does not state they can't handle gluten free requests.

There's too much fast and loose in business advertising - deliberately intended to draw in punters and then go "aha !" when they don't deliver.

Original poster
givemebooks · 26/06/2019 10:53

I did not expect a full gluten free menu!

Though the chat service did say they do one, i understand using the allergy books to look at all ingredients they have this in all resturants i have been to, but they did not even have this

I asked for the allergy/ingredients book and the waitress said they did not have one she could tell me the basics? But they were busy and did not have time for this

I do not mean to come across as entitled and grabby!! I don't spend my life complaining! I just felt very upset and the fact remains had i known they would have NOTHING i would never have booked

Where church farm haven is we had to drive to chichester or bognor to go to restaurants and i muddled through cooking in the caravan but it was not the break we planned, we did nit plan on leaving the site! It had lots of walks, next to the beach had a pool and activities so been able to eat there was a must!

OP posts:
Yabbers · 26/06/2019 10:53

All our team members in food and beverage are trained in food allergen awareness. If you have a food allergy or special dietary requirement, please talk to one of our team members before ordering your food. Our food is all handled and prepared very carefully. We will give you as much information as we can about the ingredients and how the food is prepared so you can make an informed decision about whether or what to order in our venues.

This doesn’t say they have gluten free food.

olderthanilookapparently · 26/06/2019 10:55

For once I sort of hope the DM are watching this thread!

gotmychocolateimgood · 26/06/2019 10:55

Tweet and email. Ask for compensation for your food shopping or pub lunches etc out. Keep receipts.

Yabbers · 26/06/2019 10:56

I suspect if it came to court, there would be a bunfight as to how a "reasonable person" might interpret the wording

I’d consider myself reasonable. With so you can make an informed decision about whether or what to order in our venues, I’d say it’s reasonable to conclude you might not be able to order off the menu.

Butterymuffin · 26/06/2019 10:57

Was it an online chat where they told you they could cater for gluten free? Often with those companies give you the option to have the chat emailed to you at the end - did you do this? Sounds like someone told you something misleading at the start of the booking process. You need to find your evidence of that.

TantricTwist · 26/06/2019 11:02

Have you got solid proof in writing that you were told there were gluten free options other than being told verbally over the phone?
If not then I wouldn't bother with the complaint.

It's a caravan park so you have access to a kitchen - self catering so they will just say you could easily prepare your own food and that their catering will be fairly limited due to the self catering aspect in all accomodation provided.