This is the first time I have actually had to request a refund and leave a site, we actually chose the alternative of having to find another place to stay with no notice.
On arrival at the site I was second in the queue at reception to book in, with no one behind me. I asked the female receptionist if she spoke English (in French), which she confirmed but told me to wait, which was fine.
When the family in front of me left, I was then ignored for a time, and then when I said I’d made a reservation through pitchup.com, I was met with a blank stare. I said my name and showed them the booking confirmation email, and then the two people behind the counter started looking through the paperwork. The female receptionist confirmed I had paid but owed city tax of €1.88, which needed to be paid in cash. We didn’t bring any cash with us on this holiday; to be honest since Covid, we’ve found more places than not refuse to accept cash, so we do everything on card. We were able to pay city tax on card upon arrival when we arrived at a hotel in Strasbourg. I explained I only had card and the woman repeated “cash”. Had she perhaps said “there’s a cash point at XYZ” or offered some other solution, rather than just barking the word ‘cash’, I might have been happier. I replied “I’ve only got card, so shall we just sort a refund now?” To which she then said “well you’ll have to pay after”. I replied “OK,” then the receptionist just moved across and started booking in the French family who had walked in behind me. The younger, male receptionist handed me a piece of paper and explained the WiFi charges and gate code, to which I then asked “where do I go?” As I had not received any information about where we were to pitch our camper van. The female receptionist turned away from the French family she had booked in and just said “wait,”.
After standing there waiting for about 2-3 minutes, becoming more and more aware that this was a snub - as why would you start booking in another family when you haven’t finished the booking you were on - I walked out to where my partner was waiting with the van and said let’s just leave.
Aside from the rudeness issue, there is also a clipping of a newspaper article in reception explaining that due to the heavy rainfall recently, there is a parasite in the water, so although it’s fine for showering and swimming, you cannot drink the tap water. This article is dated over a week before we made our booking online, so the site had every opportunity to inform us of the issue. When my partner went in to try and finish sorting the booking, he was presented with a 2L bottle of water; two adults, and a dog, and we’d booked & paid for two nights. When he asked how we were meant to cope without water, he was told “you can buy it in town”.
At this point, having had a walk round the site and been underwhelmed with what it offered (it’s fine, but nothing spectacular either facilities or view wise), we decided to ask for a refund and move on.
NB British travellers - the electric hook up wasn’t standard, so this is another...
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