Holiday disaster

[Citygirl007]

We booked a last minute holiday in UK for £450 a night for three nights. Arranged via agent, owner is abroad, property managed by agent. We had three young kids with us. Property was a victorian house.
We arrived just as cold spell hit a few days ago.
On arrival the temperature was 12 degrees and heating turned to that temperature.
managed to get heating as far as 16 degrees for the first night and it was still that temperature on first morning. To be clear, the radiators were fully working once we turned them on and heating was on non-stop. Problem we think was that property wasn't heated for a while and it took ages to warm.
Spent all first day dealing with the issues (there were few others, loo not flushimg etc).
By evening of second night, the house was at 20.5 degrees so decided to stay.
In the morning, upstairs is lovely warm, downstairs back to freezing. The massive extension has only underfloor heating so back to 16 degrees.
Kids in coats etc.
So we left 24 hrs early after spending most of the time there dealing with issues.
I obviously have documented all this via emails.
Just about to write a complaint.
AIBU -we should have sucked it up?

We have stayed in lots of period properties and never had any issue like this 🙈

I’d expect a full refund for at least two of the nights. The first when it was freezing and the toilet broken. And the 3rd when it got too unbearable to stay. I might even push for the whole holiday because the issues would have ruined the entire thing for me. Who did you book through?

when was this?

Definitely push for a refund.

I would have called the agent out.
At any price i would expect the place to be warm on arrival.
At that price I'd want them warming my slippers for me.
450 a night? Did i read that right?

To be clear, the radiators were fully working once we turned them on and heating was on non-stop.

So…. the radiators hadn’t been turned on before your arrival rather than anything wrong with the boiler?

We try to take a heater with us when we stay in self catering for this very reason! Had to buy one at last property but we also called the agent who sent someone out to sort the heating out when it stopped working.
I would complain and ask for a refund in your circumstances.

16 really isn't cold. The Gro Egg doesn't even turn blue until it hits 15. Are you all getting enough iron? Our heating is perpetually at 16-18 and I'm typing in a t-shirt. We'd get too hot if it was higher.

I'd complain about arriving to find it set at 12 and the toilet not working though. It sounds like they want paying guests to do winter maintenance to their second home!

Exactly the same thing happened at the start of the week to DH and a couple of colleagues, they'd rented a house for a few days near a company they were visiting, turned up and it was filthy, damp and absolutely freezing. They just couldn't get the temperature up.

They look lots of photos and a video and left after fours hours to stay in a premier inn. They did get a full refund.

I would find 16 cold, my thermostat is set at 21 and that's just about right

Got back yesterday

Cottages something.com
The stress was unbelievable, we definitely didn't have any fun time

Yep

Urgh, that sounds really frustrating.

I have been on holiday (air bnb, UK - not using air bnb anymore!) where I have had to deal with house issues (some egs: appliances not working/owner asking us to mow the lawn/estate agent viewings). I'm on holiday! That I paid you for!

In these cases, I always think what is the outcome I want? And I weigh up whether, on the whole my holiday was good in other ways. In the above cases, I decided the outcome I wanted was to forewarn others and make the owners aware that these things are not great for a holiday let, so I left detailed and honest reviews.

In your case, I think the house should have been comfortably habitable (the cold snap was forecast) and the loo should have flushed, and you were only there for a short while so no real time to see if it might have panned out OK

So I would write pointing that out and saying what you want to happen eg: a refund of a third of the holiday (or all of it if it was super grim! Just don't be vague. Tell them what should happen.)

Cilorrect.
we spoke to local housekeeper who said the owner keeps it at that temperature normally. She was in property the morning of the artival and didnt turn the heating on, despite cold weather.

so was it just the case the house had been empty and radiators took some time to heat the property?

ok so your complaint is nothing to do with anything not working

your complaint is that the heating was not turned on before your arrival?

how old are the children?

16 really isn't cold. The Gro Egg doesn't even turn blue until it hits 15. Are you all getting enough iron? Our heating is perpetually at 16-18 and I'm typing in a t-shirt. We'd get too hot if it was higher.

Its not cold if you’re up and about, cleaning and doing household tasks, it’s cold if you’re sitting trying to relax. I’d not be happy and would want a refund.

I’d be really uncomfortable at that temperature even with an extra cardi on. The toilet not working is unacceptable unless they were able to get someone out to fix it straight away. Considering it wasn’t a cheap air bnb, you deserve some of your money back.

a mini break in Jan? Surely you were out most of the day (doesn’t sound like it was a pool / hot tub property!)

😂😂😂

We keep our house at 20.5 degrees. One of kids is ND and always cold. Husband has Reynauds too.

😂😂

That's nice. We're all different.

16 is perhaps weatherable for most...but it's not relaxing. It's certainly not £450 per night relaxing.
I'd be very dischuffed. I'd expect the place to have a toasty welcome for that price.

We have ND kids, so to us minibreak is renting UK house where we can order same food as we have at home with odd sight seeing.
Normally we spend a lot of holiday in the holiday house.