A copy of my letter to Warner Holidays.

My wife and I booked this holiday at Bodelwyddan Castle while staying at Thoresby Hall.

While taking note of our details your representative noticed the fact that my wife walked with some difficulty using a stick

and added a note that we required a room with shower and lift access.

Upon our arrival we found that we had been allocated a room on the first floor of Llewellyn Hall where the lift was out of order.

It caused my wife considerable pain and distress to get to our room and in order to get her back onto the ground floor

I demanded that the lift engineer operate it by direct control.

Since we could not tolerate that situation for three nights

I asked for the Duty Manager to arrange a different room,

but foolishly allowed him to assure me that it would soon be repaired.

Upon our return it had been repaired but quickly broke down again.

Once more the engineer was called out and once more it was repaired and worked for the rest of the day but

on the next morning while we were at breakfast it broke down again leaving us no alternative

but to use the stars again once more causing my wife great pain and distress.

I called for the Duty Manager and demanded that we be given another room.

We were shown what we were told was the only free room,

but it was wholly inadequate in that the shower was over a bath that my wife

could not possibly get into plus the room was not of Signature standard and was in a very dowdy position.

We were left with option of leaving and trying to get a full refund

or accept the further assurances that not only would the lift be repaired

but some members of staff now had the knowledge to reset the controls.

Since it was the day of our 57th wedding anniversary with short notice to book elsewhere

we opted to stay.

That evening whilst on the way to our celebration dinner the lift broke down with my wife

and me inside and we were forced to await release.

This caused my wife to have a panic attack brought on by claustrophobia and the past experiences.

From then on we avoided the lift and were glad to see Monday morning and leave.

In conversation with another couple who had been staying in Llewellyn Hall for a week

they told us that the lift had broken down on the previous Monday.

It may have broken down even earlier.

Considering the average age of your guests and the prior knowledge that the lift was not fit for purpose

I am amazed that the floor was still being used at all but more to the point that people

with disabilities were not allocated room on the ground floor.

We have had a very long and happy relationship with your Company to date

but on this occasion feel we are the victims of very poor management.

Therefore considering the pain, distress and anxiety suffered by my wife

and the worry for her welfare upon myself I feel that a substantial refund of our money is due.

I am sure that like me you would prefer an amicable settlement without further costs

and if that is the case then I will accept any sum that you would offer by the way

of compensation and goodwill but certainly no less than £152.50

that being one third of our full payment of £457.50.

They declined but did offer a bottle of wine on our next holiday with them!

Any suggestions for further action. Or is it Goliath 1, Mick 0?

The main reason for a lifts 'safety trip' to activate is overweight. Staff shouldn't really be resetting it as there could be another reason the safety trip activated so potentially putting any users in a position of harm.

It sounds like a very stressful time.

I think that you are right to expect more compensation and it maybe that the figure you have suggested is very reasonable.

I would begin by becoming familiar with the disability discrimination rules and also with the procedure for bringing a small claim in the county court.

Then decide whether you are prepared to take further action.

Let us know

Hi mike

Write a Formal Letter of Complaint, mark it as such. Explain what's happened (lift not working / another suitable room wasn't found), how they have let you down (explain that when the booking was made, Warner Holidays were informed of your wife's condition's and that under the Equality Act 2010 (1995), Warner Holidays should have had the necessary arrangements in place to meet your wife's needs, but they didn't which is a breach of the Equality Act 2010. Explain what you want them to do (fully compensate you). Explain that you will take further action if this matter is not resolved to your satisfaction.

Send it to:-

Mr John Dunford

Chief Executive

Bourne Leisure Group

[email protected]

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/EqualityAct/service_providers_business.pdf

Got a letter from them today reiterating 'No compensation' so I have decided to start small claims proceedings.

In the space allowed I made the following claim. Any comments will be appreciated.

I paid the defendant £457.50 to provide a three night holiday.

My wife has difficulty in waking and a request was made for a room with lift access.

We were assigned a room on the first floor.

On our arrival the lift out of order.

It subsequently broke down twice more the same day and again the following morning.

I asked for a room on the ground floor but Nothing suitable was available.

That evening the lift broke down with my wife and I inside causing her great distress till rescue came.

From then on my wife was so afraid to enter the life that she endured the pain and used the stairs.

We were told by other guests that the lift had broken down during the previous week

therefore management did have prior knowledge of its poor condition.

My claim is for the return of one third of the total paid in compensation for the loss of services

promised and the pain and distress caused by their negligent and/or poor maintenance of the lift.

Hello there.

Have you sent off the claim yet please? If you haven't, I'll ask the legal guys if they can have a look at it before you do.

HB

Hi Mike

What does their letter say? Do they give reasons?

Honeybee, I think that would be a good idea.

No. I have not sent the claim in yet.

They say:

I was sorry to read about your disappointment during your break with regards to our lift breaking down

and am truly sorry for any upset caused to both.

As I am sure you understand when circumstances like this happen this is totally out of our control;

however we always act immediately in order to resolve the problem.

Again I apologise for any inconvenience caused.

…. I can assure you that appropriate action will be taken and necessary improvements will be made.

We really do understand how disappointed you felt at the time.

….. We did everything we could do to compensate.

We are of the opinion that the matter has been dealt with professionally and correctly.

Therefore we would confirm we cannot consider your request for compensation.

They then go on to say they will be pleased to assist me with further bookings.

They have more front than Blackpool!

Hi Mick

Were there not problems with the lifts prior to your stay, sounds like a on going issue that they were well aware of, so they are using the 'oh well, they break down, we can't do anything about it because we don't know when they will break down'.

Did you get the name of the person that told you they weren't working the week before you arrived? Also look at hotel review sites for that particular hotel to see if there are any mentions of lifts breaking down.

No. I have not sent the claim in yet.

They say:

I was sorry to read about your disappointment during your break with regardsto our lift breaking down and am truly sorry for any upset caused to both.As I am sure you understand when circumstances like this happen this is totally out of our control; however we always act immediately in order to resolve the problem.

Again I apologise for any inconvenience caused. …. I can assure you that appropriate action will be taken and necessary improvements will be made.

We really do understand how disappointed you felt at the time. ….. We did everything we could do to compensate. We are of the opinion that the matter has been dealt with professionally and correctly.

Therefore we would confirm we cannot consider your request for compensation.

They then go on to say they will be pleased to assist me with further bookings. They have more front than Blackpool!

Whilst on holiday it seams I left my brains at home and think that everyone is nice and honest and upright,

so like if someone bumps me at home I'm on then like a ton of bricks. Name, rank, serial number D.o.B. the whole thing,

but in this case I just thought.

'I am sure they will be reasonable about it when I tell them how awful it was',

so did not get witnesses. There were plenty to be had.

BTW I am adding the following because after I had typed out my last posting (with one finger)

I decided that an OCR program would be a useful thing for user of this forum.

I found a site that I am not allowed to post a link of.

If you are interested it is called 'Onlineocr' It is very fast and accurate.

Maybe someone with more 'site knowledge' than me could put it in a help page

Hello there.

 

Have you sent off the claim yet please? If you haven't, I'll ask the legal guys if they can have a look at it before you do.

 

HB

I do not want to sound pushy but not knowing how the system works I do not know what to do now. Do I wait to hear from them (the legal guys) or yourself or whatever?

The claim form is all filled out and ready to go so at the moment I am doing (what my Dearly Beloved says I'm good at) nothing.

Hope I am not offending. None intended.

Mick

Hi Mike

I've moved the thread to the General Legal Issues forum.

No comments so I'll send it off today.

I will report the progress and settlement (if any!)

Hi mick

What's ready to go off? Claim form? Were a bit thin on the 'legal guys at the moment'

Here's some useful info:-

http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/JCO%2FDocuments%2FCJC%2FPublications%2FOther+papers%2FSmall+Claims+Guide+for+web+FINAL.pdf

The Fees mentioned are for 2013.

No comments so I'll send it off today.

I will report the progress and settlement (if any!)

as a side note

how did you pay for the holiday?

dx

Hi Mick, happy to help with the claim form if you still need help. Have you decided to sue them in small claims track and, if so, have you already worked out what is the legal basis for your claim?

I have sent off (online) the MCOL. See my 25 April above. I paid for the holiday by VISA credit card.

Have you made Visa, jointly responsible?

No. Didn't know I could or how. Is it too late?

No. Didn't know I could or how. Is it too late?

Have you submitted the claim?

under section 75 they are if its a credit card

dx

Did you send a letter titled 'Letter before Action'?

Have you submitted the claim?

Yes

First I would like to thank everyone at/on CAG for their input and help. The case can be found in General - Legal

Having gone through the procedure of:

Writing to the Company telling them of our experience and pointing out that compensation would be the right thing.

Writing again to reject their offer of a bottle of wine (retail by the £16, Tesco about £5) and telling them what I believed to be a fair sum

Writing again after they had turned down my request. This time I demanded the compensation I thought fair and telling them that ‘If I did not get a satisfactory reply within 14 days I would take further action.’

After waiting 14 days plus some I sent off an online NCOL claim.

Twelve days after they were served the notice they agreed to pay in full.

I am happy with the outcome but what does this all say about customer relations?

Hi and well done for persevering with this issue.

Many big companies get lots of complaints and threats of 'further action' where the complainee doesn't really mean it. It is only when the court papers hit their mat that they sit up and take notice.

As you have found out, serving by MCOL is quite easy and should be a lesson to others who may be wavering.

Have you filed a discontinuance yet?

If they haven't paid up then don't. wait till the cheque has cleared.