Parkdean Resorts Wemyss Bay Holiday Park, Renfrewshire — Local services in Great Britain

We had booked our holidays for 2 days for 2 nights

From start - When we reached there we collected the keys of the number where we are going to stay from reception. When we reached that caravan, we noticed another family was already there, then we came back to the reception and shared this concern, They started looking into the issue of how this caravan was issued to that couple instead it was assigned against our name and booked for us. We waited about 1-2 hrs at reception while looking into this issue. Then they gave us a very small tiny caravan where only 4 people can hardly sleep, which was in very bad condition , a very small kitchen and dining area, full of flies and mosquitoes , Bathroom lock was broken. We booked for 8 caravan(Hume) for 5 family members (2 adults, 2kids, 1 Senior citizen) but they gave us 4 sleeps caravan because they gave our caravan to other family mistakenly now they had nothing to give us then they ended up and gave us the keys of small caravan which might be they kept it for emergency case like us. How can 5 people fit in such a small caravan, it was very difficult to dine in a small congested caravan , no duet, pillows etc. Kids were crying all night and mum(75 year old) was having health issues and faced so much difficulty to roam around .We only knew how we managed in that caravan and slept late night about 2-3am. Kids were crying because of mosquitos bites. It was the very very worst experience we had. I had reported the issue to the reception the next day about how much difficulty we faced but no action was taken. I just mentioned that they will look into the issue about how this mistake has happened with them. Then 2nd day(check-out) day. I again went to the reception and asked for the status of our complaint and asked to refund the money because we didn't get what we booked. I didn't ask for a full refund and just asked about the difference. Then they said they had raised this in the system and will give us a call,Unfortunately till today, not received any call yet from them and when i tried calling them once they picked then listened my query then drop the call ,when tried calling back again then are not picking up my call and it's going to the voicemail every time. I tried 50 times but no answer. I email to customer relations, got the reply from them after 7 days - seems they haven't investigated anything and just sent me pre-used email template -

Customer Relation team reply - Dear , Without advising a member of the team on park about the problems you have mentioned, the team remains unaware of your concerns and therefore cannot address these issues. This is something that is noted in our terms and conditions and we do advise that our guests make the team aware so any issues that they may have during the stay are rectified

Customer Relations Team

Looking at the above reply , Now my question to the customer service team- Without investigating the issue properly , how could they say that we hadn't reported our issue to the park team. They have cctv's ,they can check and they have added the comments in the system that they can get, without looking at the evidence they just used the pre-populated email template and sent it to us. They don't have a complaint number to speak with on there website just you can write an emailI'm frustrated now. I don't even know writing this long review will have any impact on their service. Very poor customer service and poor service at the park too. Who can repay the hassle that we faced there for 2 days and ruined our holidays. We came from Inverness to Wemyss bay after a long drive, then faced this nuisance. I am looking for a way to raise this complaint further . Pathetic service. One of the worst experiences I had in my life was in this holiday park.zoom the photos and have a deep look on the ceiling about how bad it was.

Update Oct 12- I sent the email to the park directly as advised by Zak in the comment. They haven't taken any action yet. No reply from the park . No refunds , No apology - Nothing has been...

When we arrived to check in we were greeted by a friendly receptionist, we were given 33 Heather Court, the receptionist told us about a rope swing over the river near our caravan, our boys loved it.

We had a Connery caravan which was nice. It could have been cleaner though, it was very dusty and you could see greasy handprints on doors etc. Our TV remote didn’t really work and our fridge didn’t have a door compartment so our milk leaked from being on a shelf and the door didn’t shut properly. I made reception aware and they said they knew and one was on order.

We have been to Parkdean in Southerness before and had a great time which is why we booked with Parkdean again, however, Wemyss Bay was not the best. The site itself was generally well maintained but was very small. The staff were all lovely. The pool was really small, we only ended up using it once, the swim slots were 45 minutes. We actually ended up going to the Waterfront Leisure in Greenock so our boys could use the slides and have a longer swim.

We stayed Monday-Friday and we went to the evening entertainment every night. During that time we only saw one Starland Crew once. The evening entertainment is practically the same every night. They do linked bingo every night at around 7pm, a game that children are not allowed to play, so the adults sit playing bingo whilst the kids have to sit and watch, this should probably be on later in the evening? They do do a kids bingo, with music, after this but it goes on for so long and they use old music that the kids then become bored. There was hardly any disco dancing, you know the usual holiday dances, Macarena, Cha Cha slide etc, the dance floor was empty most of the time. James (?) the manager of the entertainment team was overpowering each night, he sang over most songs and was just a bit full on! Madness & Mayhem was good and the girls leading it were good at interacting with everyone!

Activities on site are limited, we only ended up doing Water Walkers which our boys enjoyed. The lifeguard was great.

Food on site was quite limited, the Livingstone Bar & Grill was your basic pub grub but for double the price. They ask you to use their app but you can’t make any amendments to the meals, if you go to the bar to order because you need to make amendments you then can’t use the app offers. We did use the evening food option at the entertainment one evening, this was things like loaded fries and pizzas. These were nice and better prices. We found a hidden gem right at the top of the site, a pub called Kellybank Inn, it’s on another campsite, standard pub grub but half the price of Parkdean.

The souvenir shop was tiny and they had next to nothing in stock. Our youngest son likes to buy a Teddy from his holiday spends but they only had Sparkle. They only had tiny sized clothing too. I contacted Parkdean after speaking to reception and their reply was “we are so sorry about this” They had no deliveries whilst there.

When we checked out, we had planned to cash in the boys arcade tickets but it was closed, along with a broken swimming pool.

When booking it’s made out that the beach is close by. It is not. Directly across from the site is a main road, the ferry terminal and train tracks. The “beaches” are all rocky.

We spent the majority of our holiday off site. If you do book here I would recommend getting a ferry to Isle of Cumbrae and hiring bikes, we had a fab day! Kelburn Castle was also really good. Greenock Cut Nature Trail is a nice 1.5mile walk for kids when the weather is good. Vikingar was ok but I wouldn’t recommend it!

All in all, we had a great holiday because it is what you make it, but if we had known what we know now, we wouldn’t have...

I've reviewed this park before with glowing 5☆ reviews... sadly, this year, I cannot be as effusive. And it's not entirely down to this being my first time thinking about accessibility issues...

Our break this time didn't get off to the best of starts. We, along with others arriving at the same time and, presumably, throughout the day, drove up to the main reception... only to be told that we had to go back down the hill as check-in was taking place in the Showbar. Some simple signposting would have avoided that and maybe also cheered up the receptionist a bit, who was clearly fed up with having to tell this to all of us annoying customers interrupting whatever it is receptionists do when they're not actually being a receptionist.

This being our third time at this particular Parkdean site (but first since I've been in a wheelchair), we knew that the Wemyss Bay park wouldn't be ideal... but we weren't prepared for just how unsuitable it was. As well as being on quite the slope, which we did know about to be fair, all of the roads were quite severely potholed. Negotiating my wheelchair to the caravan from the entertainment hub would have been quite impossible, especially after dark.

Another problem, in particular, was that, despite being termtime, there were loads of school-age kids around. Any truant officers would have had a field day if they came onto the park. Put it this way, if they worked on commission, they would have been able to consider retiring. As an aside, if any policymakers are reading this, I wonder if shifting a modicum of responsibility for this onto the accommodation providers would stop us adult holidaymakers, who specifically take their holidays off-season, having their breaks ruined by hordes of screeching brats?

It's beginning to seem like I'm really dissing the Wemyss Bay Parkdean. I'm really not! It's just that our previous experience with the park has been so positive that the few problems this time round have really stood out.

Sorting the potholes and suggesting that their receptionist smiles every so often would go a long way to regaining top marks.

The caravan itself was great... clean, well-equipped and with fantastic views.

Now, admittedly, we weren't in a "Wheelchair Accessible" caravan but I've managed before without a problem.

Ensuring, at least, having a verandah, means that there are double railings on the outside steps, and I can manage with my zimmer within the van. And we also booked accommodation with a private parking space next to the van, so we could get the car right to the door.

We ended up only using the Hub a couple of times, and not for food. It's very accessible with the main bar being on the level and ramps to all other areas. There are accessible toilets but I didn't need to use them.

The local area is fantastic. The beautiful Wemyss Bay station is worth a visit in itself and nearby Largs is a lovely wee town. Ferries to Arran, Great Cumbrae, Bute and the Cowal Peninsula are all close by. The view from the park is worth the visit alone, especially if you catch a sunset.

We will definitely return again, so don't worry Parkdean(!), but I do hope you can address the issues...