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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think 3 hours a day isn't long enough?

152 replies

Holiday21woes · 29/06/2021 17:45

To heat a pool, that is.

I'm currently on holiday in the UK.
Place cost the best part of £1500 for the week (expensive considering its outside school hols - hence I was expecting a premium experience).

The main reason for booking this particular place was that we have a pool to ourselves, no shared use etc. On the website pool is clearly stated as being heated from May onwards.

It is freezing. Weather has been pleasant here today, low 20s, pool still super cold. We have braved it twice but it's painful. Even my DC (over 16) who are pretty hardy and love swimming and being in water could only manage an hour tops.

Contacted the owner on the first day we used it (not our first day here as weather was poor and we didn't go in) and her response was to say it's on for 3 hours a day and she would move the timer to the time we're using it. However that's made no difference, if anything it's colder!

Our previous experience of renting a house and pool was that we had access to the controls ourselves and when it was too cold we turned it up - just like central heating! Not this controlling it remotely and allocating 3 hours a day which seems ridiculous given what I'm paying for the week.

I could have rented somewhere nice anywhere else for virtually half the cost, I've paid well over £500 extra simply in order to have a pool which we can't use.

AIBU to expect it actually to be heated for more than 3 hours?!

OP posts:

TellMeDinosaurFacts · 29/06/2021 18:46

Our local outdoor pool is heated to 28 degrees. A quick google suggests 25 is probably about minimum acceptable, and most aim for around 27. Our 5 year old still ends up shivering in a wetsuit at the 28 degree mark though.

kindaclassy · 29/06/2021 18:47

If it's too cold to use, then it doesn't qualify as "heated", the owner is taking the piss.

If she is letting her place, it needs to be of an acceptable and reasonable standards for her paying customers.

Matilda1981 · 29/06/2021 18:51

Does she know what temperature it actually is? We have a pool and after the initial heat up period (which takes about two weeks), if the weathers nice then 3 hours a day is enough to keep the temperature ticking over BUT we haven’t had particularly warm weather so the pool may be losing more heat than the owner is expecting?

Happy36 · 29/06/2021 18:51

YANBU, OP. Perhaps the owner has had trouble with previous guests and pool heating, but the current situation is U.

As someone who loves the environment and hates waste, I'd, in the OPs shoes, give the owner 2 timeslots per day in which you'd definitely like the pool to be properly heated.

Does the pool have a cover ?

FanOnCurtainsClosed · 29/06/2021 18:53

I've just been open water swimming - lake in the UK and the temperature is 21 degrees. I'd be furious if that was a pool temperature that I'd paid a premium for. Lots of other swimmers were in wetsuits today and are powering round.

Original poster

Holiday21woes · 29/06/2021 18:57

It has a loose thermal type cover you roll on and off but it doesn't quite cover the pool (a couple of inches short).

I don't know if the owner can see the temperature, unless they have a sensor on the out pump they can see remotely I don't think there's any other way they would know.

I'm quite sad about this, I pushed the boat out to give my family a nice holiday as we couldn't go abroad and I just now feel pretty deflated about it all like I've let them all down.

OP posts:

PartTimeLegend · 29/06/2021 18:59

Speaking as someone who used to work for a swimming pool maintenance firm, it will be costing her more to heat it for three hours a day than if it was on permanently. Every time it switches on, it will be on full blast for 3 hours and having to heat the water from stone cold all over again. If you keep it warm on constant, it just needs to be on for a few minutes now and again.

custardbear · 29/06/2021 19:03

@PartTimeLegend

I wondered this actually - whatever though she's giving you a poor service for a premium property I'd Complain and tell her it's ruining your holiday as you all want the pool but it's too cold

GameSetMatch · 29/06/2021 19:06

Buy cheap wetsuits Sainsbury’s have some for £22, you shouldn’t have to but I doubt you’ll get anything more from the owner.

Treehaus · 29/06/2021 19:09

You haven't let them down OP, how were you to know that the owner would be a cheapskate falsely advertising a heated pool when they had no intention of actually heating it to a reasonable level. It is outrageous when you have paid a sizable premium to have it. I would try and find somewhere to leave a review so hopefully others won't book expecting a pool they can use!

merrymouse · 29/06/2021 19:17

The point of heating a pool is to heat it to a particular temperature - not just to randomly heat it.

thevassal · 29/06/2021 19:19

I think you need to talk to the owner again asap and point out you are paying extra specifically to use this pool, to at least give her a chance to complain before you do a bad review. Otherwise she will just say 'they didn't raise this to me until day 2 and then didn't come back so I thought the timer fixed the issue. Then by the time they came back to me again it was day 5 and I didn't have chance to do anything.'

Ideally I would get a cheap thermometer (do you have prime? could get one delivered by tomorrow?) so you can prove how cold it is. Agree with others, outdoor lidos run between 24-30 degrees to be classed as heated - and not just in one (warmest!) part!

I'm surprised that nobody else has mentioned the issue in reviews though - if the owner is charging significantly more for the pool than other properties without one you'd think everyone else would have said the same to her. Which could suggest that perhaps 3 hours is enough usually (although it does seem low?) and the heating system is broken?

SarahAndQuack · 29/06/2021 19:20

That's absolutely taking the piss. I think I'm basically a fish, as I will quite happily swim in rivers/lakes/the sea any time when it's not frozen over/actually snowing. I might not want more than three hours heating, personally - but that wouldn't mean it'd be ok for me to dictate to others paying for the space! It's weird of her to think if it's warm enough for her, it must be warm enough for you. You should have the use of controls. If she wanted something different she needed to say that clearly in the advert.

cakewench · 29/06/2021 19:21

Email the owner again and ask about extending the heating period. Tell her how disappointed you are that you've paid xyz money especially so you could use a heated pool and the pool is too cold for anyone to enjoy.

If she doubles down and refuses, I would take it up with the (I assume) third party website you made the booking through. at the very least in the form of a negative review.

ElephantOfRisk · 29/06/2021 19:21

I don't think that's premium to be honest. School holidays have started in Scotland and NI and I was away in a "lodge" aka nicely pimped up caravan a couple of weeks ago, before the schools broke up and i was over £1k for a week, no pool, no hot tub, gym etc still closed, so basically take away available a couple of nights and restaurant open for a few hours with a limited menu at the weekend only.

I enjoyed the break don't get me wrong but that was actually quite reasonable compared to some stuff we looked at.

Fact is that it takes a lot of power to heat a pool, even in Turkey the pool takes hours to get warm (heated by sun only but 30-40 degree heat) and it feels cold when you get in.

cakewench · 29/06/2021 19:22

But definitely respond sooner rather than later. As others have mentioned, you should give her some time to rectify the situation if she's going to at all.

EveryoneIsThere · 29/06/2021 19:24

I’d be annoyed too. You might need to get a thermometer though.

Unsure33 · 29/06/2021 19:28

That’s madness it will be costing them more to heat it up again each time from cold .

It should be warm enough for you to swim in otherwise it’s not usable .

motogogo · 29/06/2021 19:30

At 24 degrees the outdoor pool here still feels quite cold, we are swimming in the lake that's currently 19 degrees and it's cold, hurting cold.

Alwaystheplusone · 29/06/2021 19:31

Get on this now OP and threaten her with a shitty review unless she ups the time the heating is on. Don’t sit there stewing, send her a stinking message.

Original poster

Holiday21woes · 29/06/2021 19:31

On the basis I could rent somewhere else basic for 600-700 at this time of year, and even nice places are under 1k, having paid a lot more than that I do feel I've paid for more than I've got in a sense.

I've checked the reviews on the website and I think these are vetted by the owner as all are positive, there are only about 10 over the last 2 years. It's probably notable that the only ones to mention the pool and how lovely/ heated it is are from August each year. Those from other months make no mention of the pool.

I'm going to send another message and say it's still rather cold. And await a reply.

We're very much off the beaten track here btw so no chance of next day Amazon deliveries etc (which I can't always get at home despite living inside the M25), we're about 5 miles from even the nearest corner shop!

OP posts:

Viviennemary · 29/06/2021 19:32

I agree that a complaint would be difficult. I've hardly ever been in an outdoor pool in the UK. They are always freezing. But if you have paid a lot you deserve better. She sounds really stingy. Ask for a refund and if you don't get one give a really bad review.

Mumtofourandnomore · 29/06/2021 19:34

We have a pool and three hours would be enough - but to be honest that’s irrelevant because temperature is a better measure of whether it’s heated rather than the length of time the heating has been on !! At the moment it’s not very hot during the day, or overnight and so it will be losing heat quickly. I would say that asking for it to be heated to 28 degrees would be reasonable - the cost is her risk to be honest. Is it definitely working ? How big is the pool ? Maybe it’s the first time it’s been used this season and it needs a bit of pre-heating (but it will obviously still lose heating overnight). YANBU.

queennotififi · 29/06/2021 19:36

Don't say "rather cold".

You need to say what you've said here:

The pool is too cold to comfortably use. I paid more for somewhere with a heated pool and I'm really disappointed we can't use it. Please turn the pool heating on for longer so that we can use the pool.

Sleepyquest · 29/06/2021 19:40

I agree with @queennotififi you need to say it's really cold and not useable and you are deeply disappointed.

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