Cosma's Life: Matthews Holidays

The story so far....

We wanted to go on holiday to France. We had done it before and always had a great time. A good google around found a really nice looking camp site called "Domaine des Ormes" in Dol de Bretagne.

We had left it a bit late, and did not want to loose the spot, so we booked with the company we had found (Matthews Holidays). Had we thought, we would have looked for other companies that booked the same place; that we had heard of (note to self for future!).

Off we go. One positive note to start.

Last time we were stressed on the way home as we got stuck in traffic and thought we would miss the train. So we thought we would avoid the stress and pay the extra for a FlexiPlus ticket from EuroStar. Basically it means that you can arrive at any time and just jump on the next train. There was some mention of a lounge, but as we usually blast on through, I did not take much notice.

So we arrived at Folkstone and followed the Flexi+ signs, thinking that we would just go straight to the train. But what's this?? A special lane and (through some coded barriers, hmmm...) a Hut. What's this all about?

We had some time so we thought we would investigate...

In the hut we find.... a very nice lounge with some very nice serving staff (one of which speaks Greek (ok a coincidence, but it made my mum happy)) who ply us with ... Sandwiches, Fruit, drinks, yogurts, enough coffee to sink a battleship, papers All for the grand price of... Nothing, it's part of the deal! Having missed breakfast in the rush to get going, it was most welcome. But it gets better!

"What time do we have to leave to catch our train?", I asked. "Any time you like", they replied. "Err... OK", said I. So we ate drank and made merry and then decided we had better make tracks. Back in the car, we exit the special lane and guess what?? Someone stops the traffic for us and we went to the start of the line and were boarded immediately!

There actually was not really that much traffic, but on the way back there was loads and the special lane etc.. must have saved us at least an hour of sitting around waiting and we would have missed our train.

FlexiPlus, worth every penny!!!

Anyway, moving on....

We arrived at the campsite. The letter below takes up the story.

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Sent: 19 August 2015 19:29
To: information@matthewsholidays.ltd.uk

Dear Matthews Holidays,

We have just returned from our trip to France and I would like to bring a number of items to your attention.

1. We were told that the accommodation had 4 beds but the front room would sleep 2. This left us with the impression that the couches would pull out and become, if not full sized, at least reasonably sized beds. You can imagine our surprise when we arrived and the poor lady on site a, did not know there was 6 of us and b, did not know that the vans could hold 6! My Mother and Mother-In-Law had to attempt to sleep on the hard couches, which resulted in both of them falling out of the bed, at least once during the week. They are both in the 70’s and not exactly sturdy! Also there were not enough quilts for all of us, but fortunately Christine managed to find some extra ones for us.

2. We were charged a premium because we had extra people!

Site : DOMAINE DES ORMES 7 Nights

35120 Dol de Bretagne Accom Supp 7 14.00 98.00

Dates : 08 AUG 15 for 7 nights

Accom : Lodge (25ft x 12ft)

2 Bedrooms+Shower+WC 1dbl/2sgls+bunk/1sgl

3. None of the gas equipment in the Van had any certificate or indication that they had been serviced at some point (or ever!). We had no choice but to use the cooker and the hot water, but chose not to risk our lives by using the heater (which had no instructions as to how to use it anyway).
4.       I note there were no C02 detectors in the van.
5.       The Grill did not have a handle, so we could not use it and the van did not have a toaster.
6.       You can see in the attached pictures that the furniture, outside, was disgusting and mouldy. We did try to clean it, but, as I was on holiday, I really did not want to spend my time up to my arms in bleach.
7.       The Sun shade was broken and poorly repaired. As you can see it drooped in just the right way to poke someone (such as an OAP) as they walked past. I attempted to make a small repair, in order to avoid accidents, but with the limited tools to hand there was not much I could do.
8.       The Van was generally in poor condition and very poorly equipped.

We raised these points to the “Area Manager” John. His response was somewhat noncommittal. There was nothing he could do about anything, but he found us a grill handle.

We did note that the 4 vans closest to us also ALL complained. One family were threatening to cut the holiday short and leave (and in fact I do believe they did leave early).

This was our first family holiday in 2 years (and will probably be the only one for the next 2 years) and we are greatly disappointed by the standards that you provide (or not as the case may be). This may have been ok 20 years ago, but we expect better nowadays.

Firstly you really should not have accepted our booking. When we said that there were 6 of us you should have done the decent thing and pointed us to one of the other operators on the site that had accommodation that was suitable for 6!

Secondly you should not have had the temerity to charge us £98 accommodation supplement!

Lastly I note that your paperwork, attached, refers to “1dbl/2sgls+bunk/1sgl” Where is this mysterious 2^nd single? You can’t be referring to the couches in the front room I hope.

Now as a starting point I think that you should refund the £98. I do not see what that is for.

Plus whatever else you think is appropriate to rectify the awful situation you put us in.

________________________________

Cosma

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So lets see what they say. I will attached the pictures below....