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

[givemebooks]

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!

Our menu has something for everyone

So says every restaurant in the world! It’s just flannel. They’re not promising you anything!

Since Haven don't seem to want to do more than offer a mealy mouthed apology you need to SM the shit out of their attitude. I don't think you can expect more than that but it will make you feel better.

I was customer care for a large holiday company and it's standard practice to have responded within 28 days. So I wouldn't put this in your second complaint as they will tell you they have acted within their t&c

Surely, the crux of the matter is that you booked something, in good faith, based on their misinformation

She was misinformed about an optional extra, for which she didn’t pay. OP’s inconvenience doesn’t have a price attached to it, although a goodwill gesture might be nice.

Everything she paid for and used was satisfactory. No case for a refund there.

I asked at the bar i asked that waitress, she was the team leader, i asked about the food , i asked for the allergen list or book they did not have one, i suggested 2 dishes a steak and a gammon and asked about ingredients she was unsure, i asked about the chips ie the fryer, i asked about alternatives she was unhelpful and too busy, so we did try again and again

Rude staff and no allergy book (aren't these required now? I assume it's part of a restaurant chain?) are absolutely grounds for a complaint.

We tend to go to more independent places to eat out these days. They're far more accommodating re: allergies in my experience. I've had the chef come and have a chat on more than one occasion and make something especially rather than me just picking plain menu items and cobbling together a meal for DS that way.
Which reminds me, I need to book a table for Saturday!

I think you have grounds for complaint that the online chat told you that they had GF food, and they don't. I think you have grounds for complaint that the staff member was rude/unhelpful.

I really don't think that this entitles you to a full refund, though. You stayed in the self catering caravan that you booked, you used the facilities - the only thing that you didn't use was something that you didn't pay for, so you haven't financially missed out.

I think a £50 goodwill gesture, or even better a gluten free hamper and a bunch of flowers delivered to you would be a more appropriate response. And an apology, of course.

Is there literally nothing that they could have ordered that didn't contain wheat? I ate a gluten free diet on my doctor's advice for two years and didn't find it very restrictive. I did find, at times, that going out meant that I had to skip toast or pasta or pancakes even oatmeal, which is sometimes processed with wheat. But of course they are correct if they say there are gluten free options because pretty much every other food besides wheat is gluten-free unless there is some reason there is cross contamination, no? Also, I'm afraid their guarantee is written in such a way that they seem to have covered covered their asses. I would be upset to get treated differently on the phone than in person, but I think they would win the legal battle.

I think they do owe you some kind of apology for not trying at ALL, though. They could at least have gluten-free bread on hand.

You come across as rather grabby and entitled, I’m afraid

Fuck off. Why on earth are British people so slavishly subservient to commercial operations? A holiday is a complete experience. One element being wrong - e.g. the weather - can ruin the whole thing. You can't control the weather, of course, but you bloody well can check with an organisation whether it can safely feed two thirds of your party - and expect it to tell the truth. I'd be looking for a full refund, OP, and sod everyone who's telling you that you should really feel grateful to have been allowed to stay there at all.

Why are people so ignorant about coeliacs? Why do posters keel suggesting the Ops family members should have just taken a risk and had a steak!? They haven't just given up gluten as a fad or on a whim. It would make them very ill.

An allergy book would have solved this. The waitress being helpful would have solved this. The chances are there were things they could have safely eaten but the restaurant was unaccommodating causing considerable disruption and disappointment. A partial refund 10-20% as a good will gesture seems reasonable here.

Unfortunately, bad customer service is not legally actionable. You are in no way out of pocket and have not been harmed in anyway so you have no claim for compensation.

Yes, they are legally required to provide you with a list of all allergens in their food and you could have insisted on seeing that the information. But the poster is the usual generic disclaimer and yes they do provide gluten free food but cannot guarantee no cross contamination.

I’m afraid that you will have to chalk this one up to experience and forget about it.

And to the poster who seems to think that repeatedly typing " she got everything that she paid for " somehow makes her point more valid; it doesn't. The OP paid for a holiday, as described to her by the organisation selling it. And got something different.

Fuck off. Why on earth are British people so slavishly subservient to commercial operations

I think most people expect to pay for what they receive - in this case, accommodation and use of facilities

And to the poster who seems to think that repeatedly typing " she got everything that she paid for " somehow makes her point more valid; it doesn't.

.... but it does. It does though

Unfortunately, bad customer service is not legally actionable

But a bad customer experience widely shared on social media can be damaging enough that a sensible company will pay the relatively tiny amount it would cost to shut that customer up.

She didn't get 'use of facilities' Isabella - have you not read the thread? One of the 'facilities' was not available to her, despite having sought and received assurance that it would be .

And anyone who thinks a holiday simply consists of 'accommodation and use of the facilities' - who thinks that is all you are paying for - clearly has never had to save up for one for three years.

Wow, this thread appears to have stirred some armchair lawyers from their slumber. In fact, given the direction of travel of the thread, I wonder if Haven have paid (or encouraged) a few employees to do some power posting in their break ?

We'll start with the fact that T&Cs can be challenged - and found unfair - in court. So just because an outfit tries to get you to sign up to "this is what you will get, and you'll damn well like it" doesn't necessarily make it so.

OP is quite entitled to translate their grievances into a sum for consideration - the mileage for the shopping trip for a start - and submit that to Haven for a response. Assuming Haven settle at that, alls well. If not, then it's a figure to take to court. Although the OP had better get their skates on. It seems that courts aren't needed in our Brave New Britain where we can all take MN posters judgements as gospel. I wonder who will tell the judges ?

I'd Google consumer protection legislation and demand a full refund. It was mis sold, completely

She didn't get 'use of facilities' Isabella - have you not read the thread? One of the 'facilities' was not available to her, despite having sought and received assurance that it would be.

That’s inconvenient, but it was always an optional extra. She suffered no financial damage.

Because 'financial damage' is, after all, the only kind for which one is ever compensated? I mean, if my rescue dog gets run over by a careless driver, I don't suffer any financial damage - it cost me nothing to adopt - ooh, and in fact, I pay for food, vets' bills etc... perhaps I should pay the driver for what the dog might have cost me for the rest of its natural life span?

Eating in a holiday resort's restaurants isn't obligatory, it's true. But if one has planned to do exactly that, as part of one's planned holiday - and is told by the company that it will be possible - and then it doesn't happen and one has to do something different, I repeat, one has not got what 'paid for'.

Mileage for shopping trip? That would surely be dependent on whether or not the on site store had nothing suitable to purchase

She suffered no financial damage.

The price of fish is changing, I hear. Meanwhile:

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/legal-system/taking-legal-action/small-claims/deciding-whether-to-make-a-small-claim/

says:

Compensation could be for things like inconvenience, stress, cleaning or extra heating costs. It can be difficult to decide how much compensation to claim.

No wonder Haven holidays are so bad, if all their employees are on forums trying to prevent claims

We could always try an experiment here. Someone could post (again) that the OP isn't entitled to anything, and I'll see if the Citizens Advice webpage changes it's text

@ProfessorSlocombe Can you specify the posters that you claim work for Haven? Most appear to be regulars.

@ProfessorSlocombe Can you specify the posters that you claim work for Haven? Most appear to be regulars.

It was a joke FFS. I was just a little amused by the stream of bad advice here - including repeated insistences that you can only claim if you've suffered financial loss. I could understand if the law were still written in Latin and not online. But when it isn't and it is, it's the work of a moment to check. Hence my - obviously misjudged - attempt at humour .

Won't be trying that again anytime soon. (Or maybe I will )