“There were 3 problems on arrival at Wainwright Cottage on 12 April:
The boiler was not working and the house was freezing.”
It took well over an hour to get through to the appropriate person on the phone.
The property did not have WiFi.
On the basis of these issues I made a decision to book a different property and am very grateful for the kindness of Leah in Customer Service who assisted me to do this. It seemed to me the only way to ensure a good quality break for my son and I. Clearly this has resulted in an extremely expensive holiday.
I understand that the heating in Wainwright Cottage was repaired later that evening. I still consider that for such a short break, the length of time spent on hold before getting through, and the delay in having any heating would have significantly affected the quality of our stay. The increased customer demand due to change in travel rules, and potential for problems in properties which had previously been empty, should have been anticipated and additional staff made available.
Regarding the lack of WiFi, I understand that this was an error on our part that we did not recognise this on booking. However, in the context of a pandemic, with no public WiFi options (eg local cafe), and for a town property (which was not cheap), where it is clear that an off grid rural retreat is not being sought, I firmly believe that it would have been more reasonable to explicitly mention in the property details that WiFi was not provided. If this is standard practice for the holiday cottage industry in 2021, I feel it is lagging behind modern life, where WiFi has become a virtually essential utility, particularly in a pandemic. I am sure we are not the only customers to have made such an error, and will be interested to seek the views of consumer organisations.
I fully understand that the second property was booked in the knowledge that there would be no refund for the first. However there seemed no other reasonable option after an 8 hr journey. As a busy NHS worker, holiday time is precious, and it was vital to salvage a good holiday experience with my teenage son.
As a loyal Lakelovers customer of many years, who has previously written only positive reviews, I am extremely disappointed with this overall experience and hope it is not representative of the move to Sykes. I would appreciate further consideration of the issues raised.
See also response to COR-205969-CF sent 14/04/21 and review of 2 Rothay Holme Cottages.
