WWYD - Butlins - no accommodation for disabled parents so they had to come home

[JellyStarb]

I've just discovered that my parents have arrived home after setting off at 12pm to go to Butlins for the week.

On arrival, they were given keys to a third floor apartment. My Mum uses a mobility scooter and absolutely cannot do stairs. She was told if she wanted ground floor she needed to have paid for it. No ground floor apartments were available and so my parents returned home, a very long 9 hour round trip in the car in total.

They have said they would refund but were very blasè.

I dont agree that they should have paid more for ground floor accommodation as thats discrimination as its a need so yhe person who said that is likely ill-informed.

I've looked online to go through the booking process as my Mum and Dad have gone for years without issue and never had this. The website has a small link for accessibility accommodation but at 73 my Mum wouldn't have seen that when booking amongst such a busy page and trying to navigate the tech. My Dad is in his eighties.

AIBU to think they could have done more? But what? I don't want to be unrealistic but how can they just allow people who have travelled so far to have to leave?!

Is this tiny link on such a visually busy page really sufficient?! Its not at all inclusive or user friendly for older generations trying to live in a modern world, surely a page as part of the booking process to register any needs would make more sense and be a catch-all?!

It’s obvious what they clicked! They didnt choose a ground floor room. Which means they clicked “no.” Thats literally their two options; either click no or choose a room. They didnt choose a room. It’s their own fault.

Their issue came before the option to select their own specific room.

When they've picked their accommodation type it'll have listed the options by room size - Comfort Plus 2 bed, Comfort Plus 3 bed, then Comfort plus 2 bed Ground floor, Comfort plus 3 bed ground floor so on and so forth.

That's where their error has been. Not with not individually selecting a room.

Once you select your size and type you get the option to choose your own or let butlins pick. We always have Ground floor, but let butlins choose (as it doesn't really matter).

Their booking went wrong the step before the specific room choice. If they'd picked ground there they'd have got ground.

I'd put money on the ground floor rooms being sold out before they booked. Hence them not picking ground floor on this occasion.

There's unavailable options just don't show up so it doesn't specifically highlight that their usual option was missing.

There's no way gold members - so they've been a minimum of 7 times in 3 years - have fluked it every single time without selecting ground.

It’s not even a proper reception at Butlins where you check in, there are drive through kiosks that have the welcome packs that contain key cards, wrist bands etc, it’s highly unlikely they even have a printer in there

If they're capable of using the computer, driving all that way and driving back again, I'm sure between the two of them they can make a phone call or ask OP to!

You launched into an aggressive and irrelevant attack on someone 11 pages in without reading the full thread. You are the one needing to take a breather and calm down a bit. The site - should you be bothered to look at it - is very, very clear about access and about booking ground floor rooms. The OP's parents made a mistake by not reading the site, but that isn't Butlins fault.

And just so you are aware, I am a disabled person pointing out that it actually really is obvious what they clicked because like others I have gone on the site and checked. You have the choice of choosing your own room, which includes which floor it is on, or letting Butlins choose for you. There are also numerous signpostings to a phone number to talk through access requirements. Maybe the OP's parents missed all this, but I fail to see how that is Butlins fault - being disabled doesn't mean stupid or incapable, and Butlins presumably assume that people with disabilities who are booking are capable adults.

@JellyStarb the link for accessibility accommodation is very clear, and as your parents NEED this they should have been looking for this link and phoned Butlins prior to booking. This is entirely their fault.

Butlins cannot magic up a room if they don't have any more available. The person was incorrect about them being more expensive. I think they probably meant they were more in demand so need to be specifically booked.

Why didn't they stay in a hotel over night before driving home, or see if a room was available later in the week so they could have a short holiday?

We won't see OP again - she's busy practising her compo face 😁

@HuffleMyPuffle and @Stepfordian I take your points. It's a pity that the way complaints are made and dealt with nowadays means staff feel they can't go outside the rules to help people. The station master who in the 1930s rustled up a train to help my relative and her family wouldn't have had to worry about Trip Advisor reviews or complaints targets!

I would assume someone who needed more than just a ground floor flat and who couldn't use the phone themselves wouldn't be going away alone and therefore would have someone who could book it for them

Well, you know what they say about people who assume.

It’s an assumption any reasonable person would make.

Do you have difficulty making phone calls, @SquashedSquid ?
Is that where this absurd argument is coming from - because you’ve taken it personally?

So are many people who need extra room in their accommodation and who can't ring up going away alone?

Because that definitely sounds like a high level of need and someone who'd have help

Wow this escalated!

First off, I said they were Gold members or something like that, they go maybe every year or two.

I think the nail on the head may be a few posts back - no ground floor options available to book so the option didn't come but as its been over a year since they last used the system, they probably didn't realise when they've booked their room that their would be ground floor options sometimes too.

They didn't stay in a hotel as they were worried about leaving all their luggage in the vehicle and didn't want to fully unpack for just one night stay.

They are both absolutely shattered still and have rebooked for a few months time, in a ground floor apartment.

They can do stuff online but they are not quick and process things slowly. It's a mix of mental decline but also wanting to remain independent I guess.

They booked on a laptop and the booking process is different on a laptop to a phone page- the page is big and busy (more so than this desktop view on my phone). Your eye is drawn straight to those options.

This is throwing up no ground floor options on every date I have tried. Maybe because its for 2 adults?? If you opt to 'choose your room', you pick a zone and have to check each room manually to see if its ground floor, theres no filter.

If you 'let them choose', there is no prompt to select or pay for ground floor, then we're into dining plans!

If you miss the one small Accesibility link, there are no prompts whatsoever in the process.

I am baffled how this has never happened before unless something has changed.

If it's not bringing up options then it's because there's no ground floor left on those dates.

For example in a non-school holiday week in October if you pick a Comfort Room you have the choice of Sleeps 3 Ground Floor, Sleeps 4 or Sleeps 4 Ground Floor.
On each of those choices you have Pick your own or let butlins choose.

This is what comes up when you click More Details for Comfort Rooms on October 6th

Once you're selecting to pick your room or let them choose you're selecting the category of room on the left. If it doesn't say Ground Floor then it's not a ground floor option you're choosing

I'm in my 70's and quite capable of doing a similar trip thank you.

Are they working full time or are they able to rest and chill until they regain their energy?

Can you give some example? Because if you can't use the phone then wouldn't you email your request? I know deaf people and blind people who can use the phone and email, and voice recognition is also now very good if you're physically disabled so I'm genuinely curious what the disability would be.

Try it for 2 adults, no kids...

As I linked above, there is a whole easy to find page about disabled access....

I've just done a fake booking for October for 2 adults at Skegness

It shows ground floor as an option...

I even put my phone on to desktop mode and it was MORE obvious then

Really? You can't think of one disability where you wouldn't be able to use the phone? OK.

My point is, that it's just another extra step. Try booking gig tickets with wheelchair access. The only way you can book is over the phone. Same with theatre tickets, most cinemas, festivals, attractions. Most of them have little to no accessibility information online.

We shouldn't have to go through extra steps in order to book simple things. Some people can't use the phone. When we do, we're often sat in queues for hours only to be told at the end that everything has sold out. It's ridiculous.

Instead of arguing with me about how simple and easy it is to book something as a disabled person, when you're not one, perhaps listen and understand.

I think people do reach an age when them booking stuff online without help if they have specific needs isn’t sensible. My father booked a totally inappropriate cruise last year. He hadn’t read the small print and is more impulsive than he used to be. To get the most out of the cruise he also needed to use an app that was beyond him. If I needed a ground floor flat I would phone up before booking if there were different stories and I wasn’t sure I had requested a ground floor flat.