Will Devon & Cornwall be ok to go to in July?

[EinsteinaGogo]

We are in a real dilemma.. We have to pay the balance on our holiday in the next couple of weeks which is about another £800 on top of the £400 deposit already paid.

We've gone for a self catering holiday flat on the Devon / Cornwall border for last week of June /
first week in July.

Don't really want to go if the touristy places we'd usually go to aren't open but our holiday company are only offering a reschedule so will lose our money if we cancel. We have a family wedding next year (hopefully) so we don't want to rebook.

We were pretty sure we'd still be in lockdown and be able to get a refund but now that the new rules are in place, I don't know if we are or aren't allowed to go.

AIBU to think we should be able to get our deposit back?

People have shown their true colours recently. It’s a shame.

Not Devon or Cornwall, but my hubby & I have 2 weeks booked for 4th July in a self catering holiday cottage at Ambleside in the Lake District through Lakelovers. We had paid £400 deposit and the balance £900 was due Monday which we had to pay or lose deposit. We want to move it to next year but we are not currently allowed to. The cottage owner is waiting for the Government, and now BoJo has said retail and restaurants could reopen 1st July to an extent, Lakelovers is still not letting us move it without an extra fee. I want to go to the Lake District but not during a pandemic which I think is shortly going to go through a second peak. And also not where local people are not wanting visitors to go. I fully appreciate and understand that. Something needs to be done with these holiday cottage owners and companies to get to allow people to move their holidays to next year. That's where pressure from local communities need to go. My hubby and I feel quite trapped into this holiday.

I live in Devon, have a holiday cottage, and work for the NHS. Everyone who has booked with me has been refunded fully, including the best booking I’ve ever had for 4 weeks May-June.

I am gutted but our hospitals will not cope with an influx of tourists.

We had paid £400 deposit and the balance £900 was due Monday which we had to pay or lose deposit. We want to move it to next year but we are not currently allowed to

It’s currently almost an industry standard to offer credits for next year, and they should have let you defer the final payment. It’s not good business to put the thumbscrews on in this kind of situation.

@Clemmieandareallybigbunfight last year less than 1500 people died from suicide, so far nearly 34,000 have died in 6 months from Covid.

Stop justifying unnecessary travel and stop making things up.

We have spent £4500 on our family in August, we're not going: are we happy? No. Is it a necessary evil? Yes

You all need to get a grip. A holiday is a luxury. Period.

Not likely - I have a holiday cottage in St Ives (I'm cornish!). I have decided that I will refund the cost of the holiday minus the deposit, or a re-schedule for next year. Covid will have an enormous impact on tourism this year. I also think it will take a long time to financially recover from it. One season without tourism will cripple Devon and Cornwall (personally I'm worried sick). However I don't think it's fair that property owners won't refund some or all of the cost of the holiday. These are exceptional times that nobody could have predicted, and although I will lose thousands, so too will the people who have booked their holidays. You have to balance things out - do you want people to stay with you again or do you want to push people away? I think all seaside resorts are struggling with this as they obviously want to prevent influxes of people due to the pressure it could place on hospitals. However, we also need to look after our tourists as they are the people who keep Devon and Cornwall thriving. I think if the company won't back down you'll have to reschedule for next year. Also, tbh I don't personally think that there will be anything fully operational, and it will be more of a hassle than an enjoyable experience. A holiday is all about relaxing and making memories. This will be quite difficult to do given the current climate. I don't think people who live in Cornwall would intentionally unwelcome you, they just want to air on the side of caution. I know you have a wedding booked, but could you fit in your Cornish holiday too. Alternatively you could try and sell your holiday. You may lose a bit of the cost, but it's better than losing everything.

Im a healthcare worker in the community and havent had a holiday for 3 years. I can't afford to not get that money refunded. Please pressure holiday cottage owners and companies to refund or move holidays till next year. I'm current spending alot of money on ppe myself and have been essentially 2 weeks prior to lockdown to keep my vulnerable patients safe in their homes. I need my holiday money back or rebooked till next year. And there is definitely a second CV wave coming.

@TatianaBis we have a holiday booked for August and checking the T&Cs we are liable for the full cost unless they re-let under ordinary times it's so popular that wouldn't be a problem. Looks like we are stuck unless travel advice changes

It’s not ordinary times though and if you check online the big agencies and Homeaway and AirBnB are offering credits for next year or at least a partial refund.

It’s fair enough that the agency/owner should keep something because they have to cover costs and pay staff, however no flexibility in this situation is not good business.

We have spent £4500 on our family in August, we're not going: are we happy? No. Is it a necessary evil? Yes

Eh?! How do you know what the situation will be in August? Who are you to tell people they can or can’t go on holiday in July and August?

• @Clemmieandareallybigbunfight last year less than 1500 people died from suicide, so far nearly 34,000 have died in 6 months from Covid.

Stop justifying unnecessary travel and stop making things up.*

Actually that poster is not making things up. Have a read of this:

www.theweek.co.uk/106338/why-economic-crash-could-cost-more-lives-than-coronavirus

Philip Thomas, a professor of risk management at Bristol University, says that a fall in GDP of more than 6.4% could lead to a devastating recession in which “more years of life will be lost... than will be saved through beating the virus”, reports The Times.

Sorry if this has already been posted but this may be helpful to anyone seeking a refund from a holiday cottage company for a holiday booked during lockdown. In short the CMA has said that it expects consumers to be offered refunds and that it will take action against companies that fail to do so. You can report companies that are refusing to the CMA (I’m doing this with a company we booked through).

www.gov.uk/government/publications/cma-to-investigate-concerns-about-cancellation-policies-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic/the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-consumer-contracts-cancellation-and-refunds

To the original op.

You'd be better paying the balance and waiting for them to cancel. In that case you are entitled to a full refund. See link above. Martin Lewis covered it too.

Hoseasons were being dreadful but since many have complained to CMA they have done a turnaround and are now offering refunds.

We are due to Cornwall at the end of August and then at new year, we will be guided by recommendations at the time as to whether we come.

The shit attitudes of some have put us off booking again tbh and we will be trying elsewhere.

@AnnieCartwright I promise I’m not the only local who isn’t lashing out in fear!

And I should also say there have been times when I too have lashed out in fear.

I think that’s what’s behind 90% of posts that people are saying have put them off visiting the south west again - fear.

People are at their best or their worst quite often, in crisis.

Although anyone barking about emmets or grockles in a hostile way (not the gentle humour with which it is often meant) is probably one of the small minority of twats who will do anything to goad and here at tourist and incomers. There aren’t many of them, but their message is amplified online.

Thank you for your post @OrangeSamphire

I remember early on in the pandemic, posters on different threads noting how convenient it is for the government to distract us from their failings - via us all turning on each other. It's the government who failed to protect the UK from being so badly hit by Covid.

I get why people don't want to suffer the same misfortune other places have suffered. But the hospital thing is getting ridiculous. It's also rather insensitive.

If they're unable to cope with widespread Covid infection, that just means they'rere no different than hospitals anywhere else.

So far it's been London's hospitals (and perhaps also the West Midlands) that couldn't cope. Not anywhere else. It's Londoners that have lost more people than died in the blitz. Perhaps partly because London has the largest elderly population in the UK.

Absolutely @ToffeeYoghurt, and the fact the entire country was put into lockdown to protect the NHS shows that there isn’t capacity in the system anywhere in the country to hope with a pandemic like covid.

The argument about hospitals is based on the fact that in Cornwall there are fewer critical care beds per head of the permanent population than anywhere else in the U.K.

Treliske and Derriford have historically spent a great deal of the calendar year on ‘black alert’ or red, not often lower, because the health system never seems to have the capacity to deescalate here.

The concern about covid influx on top of that fragile state was genuine on the weekend before lockdown. residents could see second homes filling up and these people are not accounted for in what is already the lowest ICU capacity per head of permanent resident population than anywhere else.

But yes, forgetting that in urban conurbations the numbers have been high and hospitals have felt this acutely. As have the relatives of people who have died.

The whole situation is hideous. And I would forgive pretty much anyone for having fired out harsh words on the Internet right now, whether that’s because they’ve lost a huge deposit on a holiday, or are worried about getting the virus.

Please we love you in Devon and Cornwall but please don't come here until next year or until they have test,track and trace. We will be here next year.
We don't have a lot of hospital places as big cities do so our county would be overwhelmed.
All our tourist boards are saying STAY AWAY until next year please.
Much will be closed ,we will be here next year,love to see you all then.

Rules are changing as time goes on. I would think your be fine by then but obviously cant guarantee it. Social distance will still be in place, but you can buy food and have have picnics and lovely walks.

I’m glad lots of people are saying they won’t come to Cornwall or Devon again, the last three years has seen the amount of tourists in these areas swell to ridiculous numbers causing untold inconvenience and misery to people who live there just trying to go about their lives and work. Even if half of those who say they are not going to come any more, there will still be more than enough tourists here.The whole “they need our money more than we need them attitude” is so patronising and rude, and we managed just fine before we had enormous swathes of tourists descending on us, and will do so again.

Nice @Twattersphere

the last three years has seen the amount of tourists in these areas swell to ridiculous numbers causing untold inconvenience and misery to people who live there just trying to go about their lives and work

I agree with this part of your post, the traffic and disruption to public transport in the recent summers have been ridiculous. Last year it took me an hour to travel less than three miles to get to the chemist for my daughter.

However it's not all the tourists fault but more the infrastructure in the county, roads not designed for the population let alone tourist traffic and one major hospital. Plus there's all the homes which keep being built with no new schools, doctors etc.

Sadly we do need the tourists though, unless large business start opening branches/offices down here.

What a very apt username @Twattersphere

And here come the insults from people who have no idea what it is like to live in a tourist hotspot. I don’t really care to be honest, my opinion is as valid as anyone else’s, perhaps more so as I actually have the lived experience.

@Kravarza

Why will you not return the deposit? Will you still allow people to come if they have paid the deposit and want to?

If not it's very dishonest to not return the deposit, surely.

@understandmenow
Thank you - the Twittersphere is full of twats isn’t it. Are you on there?