# Hillhead bar & Restaurant ONLY open Fri/Sat eves



## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

The bar and restaurant at Hillhead are now (low season) only open on Friday and Saturday EVENINGS.

Below is my email to the CC in respect of the above, they have promised to reply to me within TWENTY working days, that will be the end of the month. I will update this thread with their reply !!! (names removed for obvious reasons)

Andy

_Dear Sir

Last weekend a group of three couples attended Hillhead site to celebrate a 70th birthday. We chose Hillhead specifically because of the on-site restaurant and bar facilities which we have enjoyed in the past. A careful check on your website gave no reason at all to suspect that the bar and restaurant complex would be anything other than open and available to us. Please see the below three quotes from your webpage in respect of the Hillhead site.

1.
Important Information
The bar is open from Friday 20 March to Wednesday 31 December 2016.

2.
There is plenty of entertainment for both the young and old with an outdoor heated swimming pool and children's pool (Jun - Sept), playground, play area and an indoor complex housing a games room, shop, bar, restaurant and takeaway service for all the conveniences you could want.

Below is a quote from "Special Site Features" in the "Site Information" PDF

3.
•Restaurant and Bar Complex The complex includes Nico's Restaurant, a bar and evening entertainment area, and a family games room. Nico's offers a variety of freshly cooked meals including evening meals, a children's menu, light bites as well as a take-away service and a delicious carvery on Sundays (please check with staff early or late season). As a member of the 'Local Produce First' group, Nico's is committed to sourcing top quality local produce

Nowhere is there any suggestion that any of the facilities are closed, in fact the OPENING period is clearly defined (see No.1 above) .

I would ask you to now consider the following scenario.

The six of us all had a few celebratory G&T's in our caravan early in the evening of Sunday 30th October, before going to the restaurant for an evening meal at around 7:30 pm. On arrival we found the entire restaurant, bar, games room etc complex was closed off!! On looking at the notice board there was a small notice advising that Nico's would, from that date, only be open on Friday and Saturday evenings from 6 - 9pm only

So there we were, unable obtain an evening meal, or a drink, on site, not having any food with us to cook, and unable to drive to anywhere due to our previous alcohol consumption. I am sure you can appreciate that at that point we were six VERY unhappy campers indeed!

My wife and I had arrived on the Saturday (29th) and NO such notice was in existence then, just details of a pumpkin carving competition of a few days previously, and various other pre Halloween events.

There was no indication in reception when we arrived on Saturday 29th of the bar and restaurant being closed from that night, the other two couples who arrived on Sunday 30th were likewise not advised of the closure, and neither was there any mention of the closure in the confirmation email sent out by yourselves shortly before our visit.

Sunday 30th October clearly was not considered by The Caravan Club to be in either "Early or Late season" as it was in a higher cost bracket

I am sure you can understand my parties dissatisfaction at the situation we found ourselves in, and would be grateful for a detailed explanation as to why it was left to ourselves to discover that the facilities, so eloquently explained (twice) together with the opening period, on the clubs own website, and we all considered we had paid for, so would be able to enjoy, were closed without ANY prior notification to ourselves.

Whilst there I also spotted a notice explaining that the facilities would be unavailable to people staying on the site "Due to a private function" for one Friday and one Saturday night in November !!!!! Have any of the prospective campers for those dates been informed, or will they also be left to find out the hard way as we were? Are these facilities not paid for, and for the use of, club members???

I am personally of the view that the information displayed on your website is clearly, in advertising terms, "A false and misleading representation", as defined by the Advertising Standards Authority.

Important Information
The bar is open from Friday 20 March to Wednesday 31 December 2016.

I await your response.
_

Sorry for the HiHillhead, cant edit it out !!!


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## Harrers (Dec 21, 2011)

Andy

Thanks for informing us about this situation at Hillhead. It was a most unsatisfactory tale but I am sure that you can tell us while we wait for CC's reply how you managed to celebrate the 70th birthday in spite of the obvious problems.

I am a member of CC but usually only use CL's. I have noticed, however, that since I became a single camper during the winter full sites can be just as cheap as CL's. Although they may not have full facilities, their heated toilet blocks are a bonus.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Harrers

Well as far as the evening "meal" it was a pretty sad affair of beans on toast (that's all we had between us and it was meant for breakfast the next day, the other couples dined in similar manners) 

However........... The onboard Gin and Whiskey stocks had a substantial hammering which sort of eased the disappointment for us all. Breakfast the next morning was taken in the Bistro at the end of the breakwater in Brixham, and very nice it was too, ESPECIALLY as they had a "BogOff" deal running. 

The rest of the stay was no problem as by then we KNEW about the facilities being closed.

My main beef with the CC was the fact that although we were charged top whack for the Sunday NOTHING was open, despite the fact that on their website it clearly stated that the bar was open March-Sept AND they had not bothered to even put a notice up in reception (let alone email us) advising that it would, from that Sunday, only be open Friday and Saturday evenings. 

To my mind they have taken my money under false pretences ( I know it's only a couple of quid, but there is a principle here)

It's still a very nice site though.

Andy


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## Harrers (Dec 21, 2011)

I knew you would still have managed to enjoy yourselves and I wasn't expecting to hear that you had broken into the bar! :wink2:

Breakfast sounded good too! We now wait for a response from CC - I don't think we are talking about compensation but a decent apology would be a start.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Well seeing as how I took the trouble to check about the opening hours and the website was very clear it was March to December,
AND there was no advance warning at all, 
AND we had chosen that site specifically because it DOES have a bar and restaurant that SHOULD have been open I will certainly be looking for compensation AND a decent apology.

Trust me I will update this thread when I get a response and they will have exactly 20 working days from my original complaint which was made on the 4th so I make the deadline for their response (being kind) Monday 5th December, so a calendar month from my complaint. No really good enough is it seeing as how there is nothing they have to research. They advertise the facilities as being open and they were not, nothing to argue about as I see it.

Time will tell but I expect their response will be other than acceptance of any wrong doing.

Andy


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Well I have had a response from the Area Manager.

Could have written it myself, total failure to answer my complaints, told me that they issue a programme/leaflet with opening times, when you check in, wrong! Only a credit card size laminated card with pitch number and barrier code to all three parties. It's pretty unlikely that SIX people would all miss any reference to something that was vital to our stay isn't it?
Told me there are notices in the Information room, reception and toilets, well there were notices detailing opening times, but they were put up AFTER the date they changed the times, but not before. 

Thats not a lot of use if you are a hundred miles away and the website says the bar is open from March to the end of December.

Told me opening times are listed on the CC website (and provided me with the webpage address, it's a long 'un) sure the details are there, but no click through link to provide such information from the Hillhead web-page and no indication further information is available. How do you look for a web page you don't know exists! There IS a click through link for "Important Information" and THAT page says the bar is open from March to December with no mention of Friday and Saturday evenings only :frown2:

Even my amended booking form dated 14 Nov has "Important Information" Yep that's right, The bar is open March through December!!!

All in all a totally worthless response, SO I have now escalated my complaint to the Head of Site Operations at the CC.

Watch this space for HIS response, hopefully a bit quicker than the area mangers one! 

Andy


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

This reminds me of our visit to that campsite, Similar happenings, but this was due to the site only being partially open, but we were informed before hand so we at least knew what to expect. Nice site and a bus stop right outside the Gate as well.

cabby


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Cabby

If would have had no issue at all IF I had been advised of the very limited opening times prior to booking. But having checked the website and found "The bar is open March 1st to December 31st" I do feel I have a reasonable complaint.

It is a very nice site in a lovely location (even better if you have a car rather than relying on a bus, not all of us have bus passes) 

Andy


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

What did the site staff say when you complained to them?

Graham :serious:


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

What all staff say or do I expect. Yes Andy it was their opening week we stayed, buses are not that dear, but you have no choice who sits next to you.

cabby


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

I didn't bother to even mention it to the on site staff as I knew they would obfuscate.

Andy


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

I feel for you Andy. I'd be gutted too.

I always check that the facilities are open at the time of booking if we are going to a site with bar/restaurant due to Mrs GMJ lack of mobility. Like you we wouldn't book if if we knew what we wanted wasn't there to be had! (or make sure we had it covered meal-wise).

Graham :serious:


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## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

Why don' you post on th CC forum?

Malcolm


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

emjaiuk said:


> Why don' you post on th CC forum?
> 
> Malcolm


Now THAT would be worth seeing >

If you do Andy let us know when it happens so we can have a good kneb:grin2:

Graham :smile2:


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

I have now had an acknowledgment from the Site Operations Manager, so things are moving along slowly.

Watch this space!!

Andy


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## Jamsieboy (Jan 14, 2011)

Andy
The reply will be a lot of toffee.
You can chew on it for hours but ultimately it's more likely to pull your teeth out than satisfy


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

You are probably right, but unless people such as me continue to raise concerns and cause them to look at their various practices then things will just get worse and worse.

Trust me I can be VERY tenacious, and this subject is one that I will continue to pester the CC with. 

I have also placed a similar thread on Caravan Chat and I would be fairly confident that sites such as this and Caravan Chat are be monitored by the likes of the CC, so they will already be aware that yours truely has "advertised" the whole matter to a much wider audience than just moaning to a neighbour! AND I am determined to get an acceptable response to what I consider a serious matter. In fact I am wondering if the ASA would consider their website information to be "False and misleading" as it is clearly incorrect even though the error has been reported to them (by me at the beginning of November) 

I will of course update this thread as soon as I have a further response from "Them"

Andy


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Well........

I had a phone call from the site operations manager the other day. Very informative, he accepted that the situation we found ourselves in was unacceptable and also that the information on the CC website was incorrect and that some of it was buried and difficult to find. 

He also accepted that it was not acceptable for the bar etc to be closed for a "private" function (it was actually for a rally event they were going to use as a dress rehearsal for their Xmas and New Year event) so would be looking at how a small part could be kept "open" for the "non rally" visitors.

All in all I felt that he had taken onboard my concerns and complaint and that things would change. 

End result being a credit for the inconvenience experienced so it would APPEAR that my complaint has been taken seriously and hopefully won't happen to anyone else, fingers crossed!!

Andy


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