Ms Forster, November 2019
October 2019
Many thanks for your response.. However, I sense that some things have been lost in translation, so I thought it best to respond with our particular issues in writing for absolute clarity. These points haven’t really been addressed in the response from the owner.
The outside lights are on throughout all hours of darkness, despite Snowdonia being an International Night Sky Reserve. Not only did this mean we couldn't actually see the night sky from the cottage surroundings (one of the main reasons for selecting such a remote location), it is my understanding that as a general rule, with a night sky reserve outside lighting should be switched off when not needed, and property owners are requested to use proximity sensors and avoid these dusk-till-dawn sensors.
The permanent outside floodlighting also meant that all bedrooms were affected by the outside lights, preventing true darkness inside as well as out. One blind on the master bedroom was broken and couldn't remain shut (there is no way a cleaner could have missed this, so we presumed the owner must be aware), and another could not close fully due to the physical window mechanism – again something the owner must be aware of. The smaller bedrooms were also affected by light seeping around the odd system of rectangles of fabric on shutter arms for curtains: they were not broken, there was nothing to report, it is simply an inefficient method of shutting out the light when there is a floodlight outside.
there were no instructions... for anything. Not where to put the rubbish (we decided the large bin halfway down the track was probably okay to use, but there was no indication on recycling at all), nor how to work the heating, the washing machine... most of it we figured out for ourselves, but we never knew how to turn the underfloor heating on or off, or to put the upstairs radiators on a timer, meaning we had to run the heating all night and be overhot by morning, or turn it off before bed and be chilly when we woke. It was a small irritation which a sheet of instructions could easily have fixed.
The AGA was not in use; we were led to envision a warm kitchen with a warm AGA (not just for cooking, but always useful for drying wet walking gear)and this was not the case. We didn't complain about this as we presumed we must have missed some information the listing regarding this, and that it was only switched on during colder months; it was only upon our return home and going through the details again that we realised we were indeed correct, and the impression they give is that the AGA will be on. If the previous renters had switched it off, then shouldn’t it be the cleaner’s job to check it is on and ready for the next visitors? I in fact took away with me frozen meals for the first week as I was so sure that I would have an AGA to leave them in all day, meaning simple hot dinners upon our return of a day's hiking. This obviously became impossible with just a small electric oven, and certainly changed the nature of my carefully planned relaxed catering.
How long it takes to turn on is immaterial – if you do not own an AGA, you will be unsure as to the proprieties of doing so without any instruction; no one wishes to face a bill for damaging an AGA by ignorant useage!
“When contacted Mrs Davenport did offer to send maintenance round” – we at no point contacted Mrs Davenport regarding the AGA, or requested the AGA to be switched on – as already stated were under the impression it wasn’t available to us. Mrs Davenport’s unprompted message states that she would ‘like to have the electrician to call at some point to turn the AGA on’ – leading to the inevitable conclusion that not only could we NOT turn it on ourselves as it requires an electrician to do so, but also that Mrs Davenport was well aware it was not currently working. We were asked to leave the key in the lockbox to allow an electrician to enter the property in our absence, but having an amount of valuable tech and photography equipment in the cottage, we were not in the least happy to do this; nor were we prepared to lose a day of our holiday to sit and wait for an electrician, so we refused as it was only a further couple of days.
there were CCTV cameras watching the property entrances at all times. Whilst I understand the need for security (though a security-conscience owner would surely change the key lockbox code to something other than '0000'), the feeling of constantly being under scrutiny by strangers was disconcerting. It is my understanding that holiday property owners have the right to use surveillance devices to protect their property, provided they are used in common areas (they were outside the property, aimed at the doors) and are clearly disclosed in their listing; which they are not. Whether the footage is ever looked at is rather immaterial.
A couple of smaller notes - the kitchen was poorly provisioned - there is simply no storage facility for food (despite the remote location, and the need for ensuring you are fully stocked for at least a few days), no pantry or empty cupboard to place anything into. There was also a lack of kitchen implements, which suggested that the owner has never actually stayed in the property for a length of time and tried to feed a family from the kitchen. The minimal basics are there, but the little extras which most kitchens come to possess were missing.
We were fortunate that there were only five of us: had there been more we could not all have relaxed together in the same room, as neither sitting room seated more than five, in a cottage that sleeps 7. You can all dine together, but two pews are not conducive to long meals relaxing around a dinner table!
I appreciate that some of these points, particularly the AGA, should have been raised at the time, but as I have explained it is only upon our return home that we realised we should in fact have had full use of the AGA. However, if it required an electrician’s visit, I’m not sure that would have made any difference. We did ask Mrs Davenport how to turn off the outside lights, and were firmly told that we couldn’t.
I’m not sure why a welcome pack has been mentioned – there was indeed one waiting for us, and it was very welcome. My husband certainly didn’t expect coffee filters – though we were surprised at the lack of any coffee-making facility, presuming a cafetière is just basic kitchen equipment for every holiday property we’ve stayed in previously (and as a travel writer, that’s a lot!). And we presumed the broken blind in the master bedroom was already known about as the cleaner couldn’t have missed it, the window fitting has obviously always been that way, and the curtain ‘doors’ on the windows are not in any way broken. Perhaps others do not expect their stay to be as dark as we do – in the summer I’m guessing we wouldn’t have noticed so much.
I hope that explains things further, and in a more reasonable light. I do feel these issues needed to be raised with the owner to help future guests – I can see on the Sykes listing that others have previously mentioned the lack of instructions, rubbish & recycling facilities and lack of food storage space.
Thank you
Laura
The Above is our response to the below sent to us after our initial complaint.
Dear Mrs Laura H
Booking PBN : ##############
Further to our conversation today I have since spoken to the owner of Tyn Llwyn in relation to your complaints, Customer feedback is very important to help us continually improve our standards. I will try to answer each point you have mentioned and in the order they have been raised, as follows:
1. No welcome Pack, - A welcome pack does not need to be provided although we always encourage our owners to provide one, it is solely down to the owners discretion. 2. Lack of kitchen equipment and cottage was uncomfortable - unfortunately we did not receive great amount of detail in relation to this, the only thing noted is that there was no coffee filters in the property. All of our cottages are sold on a self-catering basis, any extras including coffee filters may not be guaranteed. 3. CCTV and Security lights - when speaking to the owner she said the security camera is for peace of mind and insurance purposes as the property is situated in a very rural location and the cameras faces the lane leading up to the property at the rear of the property, the interior of the property cannot be seen - this is not viewed live and only viewed if an incident arises, if you have informed the ower about thw gaping in the curtains she would of come round to fix this. 4. AGA was not turned on - The Oil AGA when switched on takes roughly about 20-30 minutes to heat up. This turned on along with the other heating facilities the property does tent to get very hot so may have been switched off by the previous guests, this easily could have been amended if you contacted either Sykes Cottages or the Owner, Mrs Davenport may have assumed you did not need this feature as no contact was made in regards to this this issue. When contacted Mrs Davenport did offer to send maintenance round on Wednesday 16/10/19 to turn it on, but you did not feel comfortable with maintenance coming round without supervision.
We are sorry that you felt these issues were a downside to your stay but it would have been beneficial to us all if you had made Sykes or Mrs Davenport aware of your concerns at the time they came to your attention. If you had done so all of the above could have been either addressed or explained further.
