Complaint letter -is it OK?

[NappyShedSal]

Do you think the following letter that I have written is reasonable or not. Or does anyone have suggestions how to word it better or finish it better? Please help,I don't normally do complaint letters,but I just can't justify the cost of a new tent.

We have just been camping with you - Tuesday until today,for the first time. Unfortunately we had to abandon our trip yesterday as the stones under our tent had caused numerous small holes which meant that the whole of the inside of our tent was awash with muddy water.When I handed in the key I was told that I should have been told to bring an extra groundsheet.I certainly wasn't told that, and have extra groundsheets that I could have brought had I known. I have looked on your website and the only mention of an extra groundsheet is the following : "We recommend that you bring toughened tent pegs and an extra ground sheet for tents that are being pitched on electric pitches that support tents". As we had booked a non-electric grass pitch I did not consider that this applied to us. If you would liketo visit Pitch 60 you will see what a huge muddy puddle the area is, with numerous stones. (It was also rather dirty,with toilet paper,sweet wrappers etc left behind). No way could this be described as a grassy pitch. I now have a £360 tent which is now rendered unusable as the groundsheet is built in. Unfortuntately I believe that Wellington Country Park should be compensating me in some way towards this cost. I look forward to hearing from you very soon.

Agree with what Beertricks says, I'd clarify the but about the rubbish

"It was also rather dirty,with toilet paper,sweet wrappers etc left behind by the previous occupants"

The first time I read it I thought you'd left
the rubbish.

Oh flip, we're booked in at Wellington next week.

I'll definitely pack an extra couple of ground sheets. Was it just pitch 60 do you think, or was it bad in general?

[hastily scoots off to dig out pitch confirmation]

Good letter by the way.

Bugger. Just checked and we're 64/65.

Any tips, apart from de-stoning the area before pitching?

Nobody has mentioned an extra ground sheet to us either, btw.

Hi Mrs Mellowdrummer,
Pitch 64 and 65 will be in the same little clearing as our pitch. not all the pitches were as wet as ours I don't think. But I think they will all have stones and tree roots.
There are some new pitches with temporary signs just behind this clearing,which are definitely on grass.I would ask if any of these new pitches are available - numbers 72 to 85 I think - the ground will be better drained, and much softer. (And we saw deer and a big stag right by the fence behind these pitches on 2 occasions) I have checked my booking and it defininitely says a grass non-electric pitch - there wasn't a blade of grass to be seen where the tent had to go.

On the plus side - the toilets were nice, and the park is good fun (although not such fun in the pouring rain!)

We were at Wellington Country Park earlier this summer. The wardens were so completely officious and the facilities so poor that we will never go back, despite it being so near to home and in a lovely location. We were lucky with the weather but I thought at the time that we would be on a mud bath if it rained. We had no grass, only mud which fortunately was dry - pitch 58.

One of our number had 60 it wasn't stoney (first weekend in June) but again would have been very muddy if wet so I assume the stones came up with the mud. We weren't told to bring an extra groundsheet and had numerous contacts with them before our weekend because their booking system was so utterly useless.

Fwiw the toilets were the worst I have ever had whilst camping - simply not cleaned enough - and the showers were the equivalent of someone spitting at you, not enough water to actually get wet.

Good luck with your complaint letter. One of our party wrote to complain but got pretty short shrift in reply. All it means is I have ensured that everyone I know who goes camping knows not to go there.

It looks very expensive. We paid £22.50/night for a campervan and a ditzy caravan containing 2 adults, 2 children and 3 dogs. I hope you get a result.

I'd change the order of how you explain things:

First paragraph:

• You stayed at WCP [dates] and want to make a complaint

Second paragraph:

• Their website says [bit about extra groundsheets for electric pitches]
• You had booked a non-electric grassy pitch
• No mention was made of extra groundsheets when you booked

Third paragraph:

• When you arrived, the pitch (number 60) was [condition]
• [Did you complain at the time? If so, what did they say? If not, why not?]

Fourth paragraph:

• The damage done to your tent
• What was said to you when you complained on handing in the key

Fifth paragraph:

• What you now want to happen

We stayed at Wellington Park had a lovely time we took an extra ground sheet some pitches were stoney ours was fine although we checked for any sharp stones before pitching. Our pitch number was 68 we would definitely request this pitch number again. Our only problem was tics not the campsites fault.

Some electric pitches looked so unsuitable for tents.

Thanks NappyShedSal, that's really helpful info.

We're off tomorrow, and fingers crossed there's not going to be any rain this week. What a shame that so many of you have had bad experiences though. We live nearby too, and we go to the park fairly often - the children love it, and it's great for a day trip. I had high hopes of the camping being good too, but we'll see... Have packed extra ground sheets anyway!

Well, they have offered me £100 ( £72 refund of camping fees and £28 for inconvenience) without admitting liability. So a bit of a result. I cannot get the whole groundsheet replaced and each hole will cost £20 if I get it repaired properly. So I've bought some tape and patched the ones that I could find,but won't know til next time we camp somehere wet whether or not I've found them all. What an absolute pain.

Mrs Mellowdrummer- you're having good weather so hope you have a good time.

Well it could be a worst result I suppose. What you do need to do is put a review of the site on MN so we don't go there. I wonder if UKcampsite will edit a review if you do a negative one?