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?!

Bognor has lifts for the chalets?

Skegness has no hotels, so no lifts.

When I’ve been to Butlins there always seem to be a lot of people (compared to the number I see day to day) in wheelchairs/mobility scooters/disability pushchairs, probably because it’s an accessible type of holiday, so I can well imagine that all of the accessible accommodation was already booked up.

Sorry, but I think you have to make it clear if you have any particular requirements. My friend is registered disabled, but that can cover a lot of things - eg, she can't drive now but could manage stairs (would prefer not to) if she had to. How are Butlins going to know what someone's requirements are if they're not informed and with thousands of bookings every year, you can expect them to go through every booking, other than to look out for specific requirements!

“because of the disability discount my Mum expected them to be aware as she uses the same account to book everytime”

I’m really sorry for your parents but sadly this is on them. If ground floor accommodation was an absolute must, there is no way I would have “assumed” that Butlins would have been aware. She should have at least shared an email or picked up the phone to make sure they had a ground floor room.

Butlins have always been fantastic about my bookings as a wheelchair user but you do need to sort it in advance as once the rooms are gone they are gone.

They will go above and beyond to help you if they can. I once tried to book an accessible 2 bed silver room and since they were fully booked they gave me a 3 bed gold for the same price, and made sure I ended up in the apartment next to other family members who were visiting at the same time.

I've never been anywhere that I didn't need to contact them in advance to make sure they could accommodate me and I'd never leave it up to chance.

The proportion of disabled/guests with physical limitations is usually pretty high when we go on family breaks in the school holidays. I imagine it's even higher in term time. Ground floor accommodation is at a premium and it's well known you have to pay extra to guarantee it. Obviously it's disappointing for your parents but once the accommodation is filled there's not a lot Butlins can do.

My DD’s late dad used to book Butlins as a disabled person all the time. They have specific disabled chalets.
I used to take my DD’s Grandmother regularly, and she was a mobility scooter user. We used to have a disabled chalet. It was all excellent.
I book Butlins every year, and always select a ground floor chalet. It’s very very clear how to do it.
Unfortunately, this is all on whoever booked it. Butlins can’t possibly know what your Parents’ needs are. The resort would have been full, so moving them was probably not an option.

Butlins Skegness is clearly what is meant.

It doesn't sound like butlins are at fault here. Could they not book over the phone from now on?

Sorry but if you have accessibility needs - you need to be looking specifically for that when you are booking. Not assuming that all accommodation would be suitable for you.
I am used to booking wheelchair accessible accommodation (your Mum should be used to it too i guess) and sometimes yes it takes a bit more searching and adds I guess a level of checking on your part - but that's what you need to do.

What did you Mum and Dad expect Butlins to do - move people who were already in the ground floor accommodation that had already paid for it??

That’s so annoying for your parents to go so far and then come back.

But, accessibility information is there on the page and if it’s a necessity they should have checked it was ground floor. I wouldn’t have expected to pay more however.

I think you need to book for them in the future.

It's pretty clear on the website or has been each time I've booked that you need to buy the guaranteed ground floor option to get a ground floor room . It's £15 but well worth it to get a ground floor room - you also used to get this back when showing a blue badge or pip prebook although I think that's changed .But it gives you the option of paying for ground floor if it's available as you book.

The receptionist probably isn't allowed to recommend off site hotels or accommodation
For one, it's encouraging them to use a "competitor" and for two, if there was a problem with that accommodation then Butlins wouldn't want the comeback that they'd suggested this place where they got robbed etc

DP could have called you and asked you to find somewhere for them, save them driving 4 hours home, even if just for one night

Honestly, I think the placement of where it says accessible accommodation is great and is easily visible compared to a lot of sites! It’s your parents mistake and I’m sorry they’ve had a wasted trip - but unfortunately if you desperately need ground floor accommodation, it’s something you need to make sure of at the time of booking!

YABU.

If you have a blue badge you can get the £15 ground floor charge back by showing it at the holiday shop. I think that's very good.

ah what a shame for your parents! I hope they can return another time to a ground floor room.
I forgot to mentioned I needed a GF place once because I had a double buggy and a pram for baby when I took my wee niece away with us but I was very lucky they did have a room available without stairs. (Pontins I think this was) but how unfortunate for DPs that there was no suitable rooms. I hope it’s not put them off returning

Adult partys of 2 can go unless it's a tots break. Then you need a child. The single traveller ban is still in place though.

You're on a highway to nowhere trying to suggest butlins are at fault. That's really unfortunate its happened and given they're regulars I'm surprised it hasn't happened already.

Accessible accommodation always needs to be arranged in advance. Perhaps they've just been lucky previously. If they aren't tech savvy enough to navigate the website, they should book over the phone. The website is really quite clear in my opinion, the ground floor apartments say ground floor multiple times. Adapted apartments need to book over the phone.

If your mum is struggling to navigate websites now, perhaps it's time you stepped in to help with that or your mum finds another way of booking, like phoning. My mother is older than yours and doesn't struggle with websites as well-laid out as that screenshot shows.

It makes sense before you start out on a very long journey to ensure that you have booked exactly what you think you've booked, if you're not confident. It's not a nice thing to happen to your parents and I do feel sorry for them, but I don't agree that it's Butlins' fault.

This really isn’t Butlins’ fault @JellyStarb. The accessibility link doesn’t even matter; when going the booking, your mum has to answer the question about booking a room. She literally has to click, “No, I don’t want to choose the room, the site can choose.”

You don’t have to go hunting for the option; it makes you choose if you want to pick the room or if the site should. Your mum clicked on no. She also didnt read about access needs and didn’t even pick up the phone to check.

What could Butlins actually have done? The place was booked up by the time your parents got there so they had no more rooms with access. What could they do? Your mum had the option pop up on her screen and she said no.

I think they have been very silly not booking the accessible accommodation and then realising their mistake why not find a nearby hotel, bizarre to travel all the way home.

I will say you can book disabled only accomodation but it is very limited to space and what they have is all they have. They have lots of people book each day they don't know how there mobility is. I work in a care home and there is still a 90 year old women walking round without any support and can still do stairs. They allocate places on a first come first serve basis so can never guarantee anything. They charge £20 to guarantee a ground floor room

I think it would be reasonable for you to put something in writing explaining the disappointment and inconvenience. You could also say that you think the website could have the Accessibility information laid out more clearly. Customer service is absolutely pants nowadays but you never know, someone might reach out to apologise or offer a voucher or something.