Dear Global West Travel

We are writing to you with regards to a holiday package we booked through yourselves for a
Hoseasons boating holiday on the Thames.

Booking reference number : 13765005 25/5 - 2/6/2018

Before booking the holiday our tavel agent (Jackie) spent about an hour on the telephone with a
Hoseasons employee checking details for our holiday and based on the Hoseasons brochure, we
booked on the understanding that the boat would :

* be suitable for 2 dogs

* be easy to handle
* have TV

This holiday turned out to be (a) one of our shortest and (b) one of our most disappointing holidays
for the following reasons

~ We chose to leave one of our cars at Chertsey boatyard to enable us to take a one-way journey
along the river without having to turn around.

When we arrived at Chertsey, the girl who was there had no understanding of what we were there
to do, she kept trying to tell us there was no boat available for us. After a LOT of frustrating
explanation, she finally understood that we were just there to leave our car in the car park.

~ Having arrived at Le Boat Benson and seeing our boat for the first time, it was immediately
obvious that the boat was in no way suitable for 2 dogs to board. We had to pick our dogs up and
lift them on to the boat – one of our dogs is a 30kg Labrador. It was a precarious situation to be
in. Then when we were on the boat, the steps down into the galley were so steep that we again had
to carry both dogs downstairs. Something that was highly dangerous to have to do whenever we
wanted the dogs to go downstairs or exit the boat.

~ Whilst we were having our lesson, we asked where the TV could be found only to be told that none
of their fleet of boats have TVs on board – never have done. In fact, the response was “yeah, we get
a LOT of complaints from customers because Hoseasons promise stuff in their brochure that we just
don’t have”.

~ Another piece of information that was promised in the Hoseasons brochure were bow thrusters to
make the boat easier to manoeuvre – again, this particular boat (The Countess) doesn't have this
feature.

We found the boat hugely difficult to steer and after navigating one lock and bridge and failing to
successfully moor anywhere on the river because of the steering issues, added with the stress of
feeling that our dogs weren’t safe, we decided to turn round and come home.

I attach scans of the brochure where the features are advertised.

We wish to make it clear that the service we received from both Global West Travel, Chippenham
and Le Boat yard in Benson are not the issue, our complaint is that the features offered and
promised in the Hoseasons brochure simply do not exist and we feel our holiday was
misrepresented and mis-sold to us.

We await your timely response.

Mr and Mrs Canham

2 Clift Close
Corsham
Wiltshire
SN13 0JS
Good afternoon

Further to your email regarding your recent Hoseasons holiday, this has been forwarded to Hoseasons and
their acknowledgement is shown below.

Under the ABTA Terms of Conduct we do have to allow them 28 days to get back to us with a full response
and we will pass this on to you as soon as it is received.

Kind regards

Claire
Administration
Global West Travel

From: CustomerCare <ccare@hoseasons.co.uk>

Sent: 04 June 2018 12:26
To: globalwesttravel@btconnect.com
Subject: Thank you for your email [<AR322050>]

Thank you for contacting our Customer Support team.

We have received your email and will reply as soon as possible, but would appreciate your patience
in the meantime.

If you are still at your accommodation and have an issue, please call our Customer Services team on
0345 604 3881.

Yours sincerely,

Hoseasons Customer Support.

Wyndham Vacation Rentals (UK) Ltd

Good Morning – further to your recent email we have today received the following up-date from
Hoseasons.

As soon as we receive a further response we will let you know.

Kind regards

Claire
Administration
Global West Travel

From: CustomerCare <ccare@hoseasons.co.uk>

Sent: 06 June 2018 11:02
To: globalwesttravel@btconnect.com
Subject: Hoseasons Booking Reference 13765005

Good Morning
Thank you for your correspondence. We are sorry to learn that you were less than satisfied with
certain aspects of your holiday.
At this stage we ask for your patience, and we may need to do this on a few occasions to
ascertain all the facts.
When all the circumstances surrounding the problems are fully understood, we will contact you
as quickly as is practicably possible by email to give you our findings and potential solutions.
As you may be aware Hoseasons does not own the boat yards but this allows us to act on your
behalf to ensure that your concerns are dealt with fairly.
Please be assured that you will have our best efforts in trying to resolve your concerns.
Yours sincerely
Bonny Longmore
Customer Relations
Original Message:
From: globalwesttravel@btconnect.com
Sent: 04 June 2018 12:25:42
To: 'CustomerCare' <ccare@hoseasons.co.uk>
Subject: FW: Booking reference number : 13765005

Dear Sirs
RE: Mr C Canham
DATE OF TRAVEL: 26 MAY 18
BOOKING REF: 13765005
Please see below letter of complaint from our above clients relating to their recent holiday with you.

We would ask you to investigate the matters raised in their letter as a matter of urgency as we are
most concerned and in accordance with the ABTA Code of Conduct would ask for an
acknowledgement within 14 days and a full response within 28 days of receipt of this letter.

Would you please send all correspondence through this office and not direct to our clients.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Janet Daws
Partner
Global West Travel
RECEIVED IN THE POST FROM GLOBAL WEST TRAVEL
Dear Ms Curtis

Booking: BH2220 Countess, 26/05/18 – 02/05/18 Ref 13765005

Further to your correspondence dated 16 June, I would like to express my disappointment

at the amount of refund that has been offered, and I wish to decline the offer.

I don’t think you’ve fully understood the basis of my complaint and I don’t think that I’ve
expressed clearly my expectations from yourselves.

Whilst I appreciate that it’s useful for both Hoseasons and Le Boat Benson, to receive
feedback on the holiday/boat being advertised, and for you to have the brochure errors
pointed out, unfortunately this was not the purpose of my email, and the offer of £377
refund doesn’t equate to anywhere near the amount I wish to claim and certainly doesn’t
compensate me for the immense disappointment and upset the holiday caused my family
and I.

The purpose of booking the holiday through Hoseasons as a reputable and long-standing
holiday company, was so that we could reliably book a holiday that would meet with our
requirements. When making the booking with Global West Travel, I made it very clear to
the agent, who then made it very clear on the telephone to Hoseasons, that we required a
boat that was suitable to take dogs. Whilst on the telephone, Hoseasons recommended
that we choose the Countess, as opposed to a 3/4 berth boat, as it would better
accommodate three people plus two dogs. Upon looking at the details we decided that, as
the boat had bow thrusters, it would make it easier to manoeuvre and would therefore not
present us with too many problems with negotiating the locks and mooring up.

Unfortunately upon boarding the boat, and shortly after starting our cruise, it became
apparent that the Countess was absolutely in no way suitable for dogs. I note that in your
response from Morvern Cameron it’s been stated that “it may be difficult (but not
impossible) to access with dogs” and that the dogs would not have “been in any danger”. I
don’t see how it would be possible for anyone to access the boat with dogs, unless their
dogs are very small and they’re prepared to carry them on and off the boat, (jumping from
the bank) and up and down the steep ladder stairs! One of my dogs is a 30kg labrador! Am
I really expected to carry a dog of that size all week on the boat?

I’ve been on numerous boating holidays in the past and always with dogs, and I’ve never
been on such a non dog-friendly boat. The boat itself is very tall and you have to step up
very high onto the deck to get on from the bank. Neither of my dogs were able to do this,
hence the reason I had to lift them on myself. The dogs obviously need to get on and off the
boat to go for walks and go to the toilet. They also need to be kept under control whilst on
the boat and are used to spending their time with us, so needed to be able to get down
onto the lower living area. After one of our dogs twice tried to negotiate the steep ladder-
like steps and twice fell head first onto her nose, we quickly ascertained that the boat was a
danger to our dogs.

Despite the fact that there were no bow thrusters we did manage to negotiate one
lock. Unfortunately when we then tried to moor up we had so many problems trying to get
the boat in the right position that, after a huge amount of frustration and stress, we
eventually gave up trying. As I said, I’ve had experience with boats in the past, and
understand how important the bow thrusters are in helping to manoeuvre the nose into the
bank. We were sold the holiday on the basis that the boat had them (as clearly shown in
your brochure).

Also in the brochure, we were told that all the boats at Le Boat Benson come with a TV. This
was an important consideration for our teenage son and one of the reasons we were able to
persuade him to come on a boating holiday with us. Again, this proved to be untrue as there
was no TV on board.

After only a few hours on the boat we decided that we had no choice but to turn around
and take the boat back to the boatyard as it was utterly unsuitable for our purposes.

I feel incredibly disappointed and frustrated with the whole situation. My wife and I work
very hard all year and put a lot of thought into planning our annual holiday. I cannot
express how very upset we both are that we were clearly mis-sold the holiday and that
we’ve wasted our time, money and holiday allowance on it.

On the basis that we would not have booked the holiday if we had known the boat was
unsuitable for dogs and didn’t have the features advertised in the brochure, I feel very
strongly that we should receive a full refund on the cost of our holiday. In addition to this I
believe we are entitled to claim compensation for the distress and time wasting the holiday
caused, not to mention the fact that my family will not have had a holiday this year.

Therefore the amount I'm seeking is £2500 which includes the cost of the holiday
(£1915.75), plus compensation for distress.

I await your response.

Yours sincerely
Mr Canham

Copy sent to : Global West Travel / Hoseasons Customer Service

From: CustomerCare <ccare@hoseasons.co.uk>
Sent: 14 July 2018 16:49
To: globalwesttravel@btconnect.com
Subject: Hoseasons booking ref. 13765005

14 July 2018

Dear Mr and Mrs Canham

Booking: 13765005

Thank you for your additional correspondence regarding your holiday with Le Boat. I was sorry
to read of your disappointment with our response to your complaint and would like to thank you
for your patience while we reviewed the file.

I am sorry that you feel your Travel Agent was advised incorrectly regarding the suitability of the
Countess for dogs when making your booking. All our sales agents work closely with the
information provided in our brochures and on our website and use these sources to answer any
questions from our customers. The description of the boat states that pets are accepted and
would therefore appear to have met your requirements. I can only sincerely apologise that you
felt the boat was unsuitable for your dogs on your arrival.

When we received your second email, we contacted the boatyard and requested that they review
their response to the issues that you originally raised. We have now received the following reply
from Morvern Cameron on behalf of the Le Boat Benson.

“Thank you for forwarding Mr. Canham’s email.

I appreciate that the bow thrusters help with maneuvering, but they are not essential, they are an accessory that give
comfort of steering. The boat is easy to handle without them. However, we are of course taking responsibility for
the brochure mistake and we feel that our offer reflects that as it amounts to 25% of the cruiser cost. We feel that
this offer is fair, therefore I am afraid we are not in a position to further increase the compensation offered in this
case.

I replied previously to the issue with the TV and again, I understand that this was disappointing and apologise for
the inconvenience caused.

Please note that as ABTA members we are required to follow their Code of Conduct, and that the following
mention is obligatory if the case were to be brought to them but it is in no way us trying to avoid dealing with the
matter.

If you feel that you would like to pursue your complaint with us further, then you do have the option of applying
for the case to be decided via the ABTA Arbitration Scheme. This is a comparatively low-cost scheme where the
case is decided by an independent arbitrator, based on the documents submitted by each party. Should you wish to
contact ABTA direct, their address is: ABTA, 30 Park Street, London SE 9EQ. Tel: 020 3117
0500 www.abta.com. Our ABTA member number is V6650.

I remain at your disposal should you require any further information or if you have any further queries.”
Having reviewed all correspondence relating to this matter from both yourself and Le Boat, I
feel that there is little further that we can add other than to thank you once again for bringing
these matters to our attention and to offer our sincere apologies for any disappointment and
upset experienced.

Yours sincerely

Karen Curtis
Customer Relations
Dear Ms Curtis
Further to your response to all of our complaint emails, we are hugely disappointed that Hoseasons
do not appear to want to accept any responsibility for our holiday being mis-sold and mis-
represented in their printed brochure, and seem to want to lay the blame entirely with the boatyard.

We did not book our holiday with the boatyard, nor did we pay any money to the boatyard, and in
much the same way I would expect Marks and Spencers to take responsibility for a faulty product,
rather than relying on the manufacturer’s response or shifting the blame to who they import their
stock from, I would expect Hoseasons to accept that they are at fault for not checking the
information printed in their holiday brochure.
The boat – recommended to us by Hoseasons via Global West Travel – based on our family
requirements of 2 adults, 1 teenager and 2 dogs, was The Countess.

Since receiving your email response from LeBoat and having researched more information about
them, we have discovered on their website that they don’t in fact recommend The Countess as a
boat suitable for dogs.

The boats recommended on Le Boat’s website as being suitable for dogs to feel safe and
comfortable are
https://www.leboat.co.uk/holidays/destinations/england/the-thames/cruises/the-royal-
cruise/boats-and-prices#lb-content-tabs

Their website also states

(Link : https://www.leboat.co.uk/holidays/vacations-with-dogs)
“you might prefer to have the salon and cabin on the same level, without any stairs” – a statement
that suggests that Le Boat realise this is the preferred option when taking dogs on a boat!
However, the ONLY access to the cabin on the boat - recommended to us by Hoseasons - were steps
that can only be described as being like a ladder – which neither of our dogs could safely negotiate
given that they have not had any agility training.
Taken from the top step down into the cabin
You will also see that their website also recommends that larger dogs should be able to easily jump
on and off a boat on its own.

This is NOT something we were advised of in any way by Hoseasons, and had we been made aware
of this, we would have opted not to finalise our booking.
Neither of these safety factors were taken into consideration by the Hoseasons representative who
made the recommendation of The Countess.

At no point has anybody addressed our complaint in our initial email that when we had our boat
training, the boatyard employee responded to our disappointment at there being neither a TV or
bow thrusters by stating “yeah, we get a lot of complaints from Hoseasons’ customers because they
promise things in their brochure that only exist on the boats in France” This comment suggests that
the boatyard were aware of the brochure errors, having received complaints previously, and nothing
had been done to rectify them, or make customers aware of the oversights during the booking
process.

With regard to the comment by the boatyard

I appreciate that the bow thrusters help with maneuvering, but they are not essential, they are an accessory that give comfort of
steering.
That is irrelevant – bow thrusters and TV were both advertised as being present on the boat in the
Hoseasons brochure, even when the boatyard knew they weren’t an option on this boat. Therefore,
the amenities advertised in the Hoseasons brochure were missing from our holiday.
As previously stated we are claiming a full refund of the cost of our holiday, plus adequate
compensation for the upset caused.
Further to our solicitor’s advice, if we are not satisfied with your response we will be pursuing the
matter further through the ABTA arbitration scheme.
Please respond within seven days.

Mr and Mrs Canham

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Jannett

I've not had any kind of response to this - just checking if you have??

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Emma

We haven’t heard anything back from them yet – but we do have to give them time again to review the
situation.

Last email was forwarded on 18th July so we have to give them another 14 days from that date to
acknowledge. I will make a diary note to chase for the acknowledgement next week if we haven’t heard by
then.

Regards

Claire
I gave them 7 days to respond before saying I was going to contact ABTA
I will chase today then!
Dear Mr and Mrs Canham

Booking: 13765005

Thank you for your email. I am sorry that you remain dissatisfied with our response to your
complaint.

Whilst I do appreciate your comments, Hoseasons acts purely as a booking agent on behalf of
the boatyard owners, as stated in our booking conditions and your contract of hire is with Le
Boat Benson.

We feel that we have taken a very fair and reasonable approach to resolving this matter but,
unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we haven't been able to settle your complaint. Our
membership of ABTA means that you have access to ABTA's dispute resolution process, which
has been approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. This is designed to try to
resolve your complaint. You can go to www.abta.com for information and to register your
complaint. There is a very helpful drop down box on ABTA’s website entitled “Holiday Help
and Complaints”. We recommend you read this section before you proceed.

Please be prepared to provide ABTA with copies of our emails to you in this matter, including
this email.

Yours sincerely

Karen Curtis
Customer Relations