Frozen Cottage. Refund rights?
Discussion
Every year we go away for Christmas to a cottage in the Cotswolds. We have stayed at many cottages but this stay has been difficult.
When we arrived the boiler had packed up. It took hours to get hold of the property manager. After five hours we were offered four electric heaters and advised to keep all of them on.
Within an hour the main circuit fuse blew due to the load. The property manager didn’t know where the fuse box was and couldn’t help. After two hours I tracked down the box. Unfortunately, fridge food had to be thrown away.
We were offered more heaters despite making the manager aware of this.
It is a two bedroom property and pretty much every room is cold. With one of the heaters arcing quite badly we were down to three. Keep the kids warm and the bathroom warm. Leaving our room cold. In the day time we had to bring all the heaters downstairs.
We’re three days into our stay and I want a partial refund. I am considering vacating early because it is cold and miserable here. I have spent more than a hundred on logs for the fire to keep the stone cottage warm with long fires in the day.
What are my chances of clawing some of my £900 back?
Has anyone ever managed to receive a full or partial refund?
Any other successful stories when things went wrong?
Frozen,
Super G and family.
When we arrived the boiler had packed up. It took hours to get hold of the property manager. After five hours we were offered four electric heaters and advised to keep all of them on.
Within an hour the main circuit fuse blew due to the load. The property manager didn’t know where the fuse box was and couldn’t help. After two hours I tracked down the box. Unfortunately, fridge food had to be thrown away.
We were offered more heaters despite making the manager aware of this.
It is a two bedroom property and pretty much every room is cold. With one of the heaters arcing quite badly we were down to three. Keep the kids warm and the bathroom warm. Leaving our room cold. In the day time we had to bring all the heaters downstairs.
We’re three days into our stay and I want a partial refund. I am considering vacating early because it is cold and miserable here. I have spent more than a hundred on logs for the fire to keep the stone cottage warm with long fires in the day.
What are my chances of clawing some of my £900 back?
Has anyone ever managed to receive a full or partial refund?
Any other successful stories when things went wrong?
Frozen,
Super G and family.
Being picky two hours shouldn't be long enough to ruin food, but if it really is unbearable (it's quite mild currently) then go home and ask for a full refund. I live in an old stone house so I'm quite used to seeing indoor temperatures in the low teens, but if you live in a modern house I expect it's quite a shock. 
Can't be that cold surely, it's what?, currently 12 degrees Celsius outside, it's not exactly Siberian.
We live in a 200 year old stone cottage and we will light our wood burner at around 5pm, on a slow burn to take the chill off the room, but it will only be on for a few hours Max, until it burns itself out.
If I had it running all day plus electric heaters on, it would be unbearable.
We live in a 200 year old stone cottage and we will light our wood burner at around 5pm, on a slow burn to take the chill off the room, but it will only be on for a few hours Max, until it burns itself out.
If I had it running all day plus electric heaters on, it would be unbearable.
Bill said:
Being picky two hours shouldn't be long enough to ruin food, but if it really is unbearable (it's quite mild currently) then go home and ask for a full refund. I live in an old stone house so I'm quite used to seeing indoor temperatures in the low teens, but if you live in a modern house I expect it's quite a shock.
That's what I thought, food won't go off in that time (particularly in a cold house....). £100 of logs would buy two builders bags full here too, if you are buying from a garage then they are a rip off though. I live in an old house too, if it has been empty for a while then it does take a while to heat up.greygoose said:
Bill said:
Being picky two hours shouldn't be long enough to ruin food, but if it really is unbearable (it's quite mild currently) then go home and ask for a full refund. I live in an old stone house so I'm quite used to seeing indoor temperatures in the low teens, but if you live in a modern house I expect it's quite a shock.
That's what I thought, food won't go off in that time (particularly in a cold house....). £100 of logs would buy two builders bags full here too, if you are buying from a garage then they are a rip off though. I live in an old house too, if it has been empty for a while then it does take a while to heat up.£100 of logs in 3 days would be a hell of a lot of logs and sounds like its a bit over the top being as its only a 2/3 bed.
The thing is the holiday has been spoiled, grumpy wife & children. It's supposed to their Christmas treat.
Not his fault, shouldn't have to "make do and mend"
A decent gesture should be forthcoming.
Earlier this yr we rented place, turned on an extractor, big spark and the power tripped. Phoned the owner (asleep in bed), unknown to us they were abroad in a different time zone. Told us where the main power was, and had an electrician out within the hour (about 8pm) to isolate and make good.
Couldn't have been more helpful.
Not his fault, shouldn't have to "make do and mend"
A decent gesture should be forthcoming.
Earlier this yr we rented place, turned on an extractor, big spark and the power tripped. Phoned the owner (asleep in bed), unknown to us they were abroad in a different time zone. Told us where the main power was, and had an electrician out within the hour (about 8pm) to isolate and make good.
Couldn't have been more helpful.
Edited by PositronicRay on Sunday 24th December 10:11
popeyewhite said:
PositronicRay said:
The thing is the holiday has been spoiled,
It's only a bit cold. If the OP normally resides in the Caribbean I can imagine his distress though. Keep the fire going and view the experience as a family bonding exercise.Part of running a business is delivering what you're selling, and taking responsibility for when things go wrong.
PositronicRay said:
He's booked a Cotswold cottage for crissakes, not a Scottish Bothy.
Yes exactly, it's not that cold.PositronicRay said:
Part of running a business is delivering what you're selling, and taking responsibility for when things go wrong.
No denying that, but let's try and make the best of what time we have left in the cottage over the break and contemplate litigation when we get home, eh?Bit of exaggeration here surely throwing food away because fridge off for 2hrs. £100 on logs in 3 days... seems far fetched - £100 of logs is the back of a pickup truck full and will do most people an entire winter.
I rent out a holiday cottage - have people in it between Christmas and new year. If the boiler broke down I would happily give them some money back. This time of year chance of getting someone out to fix it would be nil. Sounds like they their best to get radiators in. Unlucky they tripped a fuse, but that should be a simple reset then don't plug in as many at once.
I rent out a holiday cottage - have people in it between Christmas and new year. If the boiler broke down I would happily give them some money back. This time of year chance of getting someone out to fix it would be nil. Sounds like they their best to get radiators in. Unlucky they tripped a fuse, but that should be a simple reset then don't plug in as many at once.
We have just returned from a National trust) isolated cottage near Stroud, on the edge of the Cotswolds, a dog friendly one. (We don't have dogs)
On arrival there was a definite "doggy" pongl, the suite was covered in white dog hairs, and the "Henry" hoover attachment was full of them.
We had to fumigate the living room with a full can of neutral air freshener.
Fortunately, the rest of the place was spotless.
We complained and am waiting to here from them.( Not bothered about compo, just an apology)
1) We will never book a dog friendly cottage again......(Been going over 30 years twice a year)
2) PLEASE dog owners, do not allow your doggies on the furniture, with dirty wet paws etc, think of other guests.
Rant over.
On arrival there was a definite "doggy" pongl, the suite was covered in white dog hairs, and the "Henry" hoover attachment was full of them.
We had to fumigate the living room with a full can of neutral air freshener.
Fortunately, the rest of the place was spotless.
We complained and am waiting to here from them.( Not bothered about compo, just an apology)
1) We will never book a dog friendly cottage again......(Been going over 30 years twice a year)
2) PLEASE dog owners, do not allow your doggies on the furniture, with dirty wet paws etc, think of other guests.
Rant over.
Wacky Racer said:
We have just returned from a National trust) isolated cottage near Stroud, on the edge of the Cotswolds, a dog friendly one. (We don't have dogs)
On arrival there was a definite "doggy" pongl, the suite was covered in white dog hairs, and the "Henry" hoover attachment was full of them.
We had to fumigate the living room with a full can of neutral air freshener.
Fortunately, the rest of the place was spotless.
We complained and am waiting to here from them.( Not bothered about compo, just an apology)
1) We will never book a dog friendly cottage again......(Been going over 30 years twice a year)
2) PLEASE dog owners, do not allow your doggies on the furniture, with dirty wet paws etc, think of other guests.
Rant over.
A little while back we had a cottage in the middle of nowhere (south wales) from under the thatch.On arrival there was a definite "doggy" pongl, the suite was covered in white dog hairs, and the "Henry" hoover attachment was full of them.
We had to fumigate the living room with a full can of neutral air freshener.
Fortunately, the rest of the place was spotless.
We complained and am waiting to here from them.( Not bothered about compo, just an apology)
1) We will never book a dog friendly cottage again......(Been going over 30 years twice a year)
2) PLEASE dog owners, do not allow your doggies on the furniture, with dirty wet paws etc, think of other guests.
Rant over.
A black cat appeared from nowhere, plonked itself down in the kitchen and stared at the drawer where it turned out the cat treats were stored.
It then slept on the sofa.
And repeated this most days.
I rather suspect it belonged to the cottage owner.
But it was an awesome addition!
popeyewhite said:
PositronicRay said:
He's booked a Cotswold cottage for crissakes, not a Scottish Bothy.
Yes exactly, it's not that cold.PositronicRay said:
Part of running a business is delivering what you're selling, and taking responsibility for when things go wrong.
No denying that, but let's try and make the best of what time we have left in the cottage over the break and contemplate litigation when we get home, eh?dxg said:
Wacky Racer said:
We have just returned from a National trust) isolated cottage near Stroud, on the edge of the Cotswolds, a dog friendly one. (We don't have dogs)
On arrival there was a definite "doggy" pongl, the suite was covered in white dog hairs, and the "Henry" hoover attachment was full of them.
We had to fumigate the living room with a full can of neutral air freshener.
Fortunately, the rest of the place was spotless.
We complained and am waiting to here from them.( Not bothered about compo, just an apology)
1) We will never book a dog friendly cottage again......(Been going over 30 years twice a year)
2) PLEASE dog owners, do not allow your doggies on the furniture, with dirty wet paws etc, think of other guests.
Rant over.
A little while back we had a cottage in the middle of nowhere (south wales) from under the thatch.On arrival there was a definite "doggy" pongl, the suite was covered in white dog hairs, and the "Henry" hoover attachment was full of them.
We had to fumigate the living room with a full can of neutral air freshener.
Fortunately, the rest of the place was spotless.
We complained and am waiting to here from them.( Not bothered about compo, just an apology)
1) We will never book a dog friendly cottage again......(Been going over 30 years twice a year)
2) PLEASE dog owners, do not allow your doggies on the furniture, with dirty wet paws etc, think of other guests.
Rant over.
A black cat appeared from nowhere, plonked itself down in the kitchen and stared at the drawer where it turned out the cat treats were stored.
It then slept on the sofa.
And repeated this most days.
I rather suspect it belonged to the cottage owner.
But it was an awesome addition!
We have a cat that tends to shed hairs...(not her fault) but we don't allow her on our chairs for that reason.
If I pick her up to cuddle her, my jumper is full of hairs.
I think the answer (for us) is just book a cottage which does not allow pets next time, a dog owner might have been a bit more tolerant.
Sorry to hear you are having such a bad time.
We rent out holiday cottages so I'm talking from an owner perspective here.
Sadly, s
t happens but it's your holiday.
If you were staying in one of my properties I'd try the solutions the property manager has done but ultimately I'd be asking you, do you want to persevere and be compensated or just call it a day and give you a 100% refund of you go now and nothing more is said about it.
I'd also knock 10% off a future stay.
If you stayed to the end , putying up with the issues, I'd give you 50% back and 10% off a future stay.
We rent out holiday cottages so I'm talking from an owner perspective here.
Sadly, s
t happens but it's your holiday. If you were staying in one of my properties I'd try the solutions the property manager has done but ultimately I'd be asking you, do you want to persevere and be compensated or just call it a day and give you a 100% refund of you go now and nothing more is said about it.
I'd also knock 10% off a future stay.
If you stayed to the end , putying up with the issues, I'd give you 50% back and 10% off a future stay.
Pistom said:
Sorry to hear you are having such a bad time.
We rent out holiday cottages so I'm talking from an owner perspective here.
Sadly, st happens but it's your holiday.
If you were staying in one of my properties I'd try the solutions the property manager has done but ultimately I'd be asking you, do you want to persevere and be compensated or just call it a day and give you a 100% refund of you go now and nothing more is said about it.
I'd also knock 10% off a future stay.
If you stayed to the end , putying up with the issues, I'd give you 50% back and 10% off a future stay.
That sounds more than reasonable. Everyone knows crap happens, it's how it's dealt with that makes the difference. We rent out holiday cottages so I'm talking from an owner perspective here.
Sadly, s
t happens but it's your holiday. If you were staying in one of my properties I'd try the solutions the property manager has done but ultimately I'd be asking you, do you want to persevere and be compensated or just call it a day and give you a 100% refund of you go now and nothing more is said about it.
I'd also knock 10% off a future stay.
If you stayed to the end , putying up with the issues, I'd give you 50% back and 10% off a future stay.
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