What NOT to do when things go wrong, by Duchy Holidays

OK - here is my rant. It is not something that I want to specifically use this blog for...but occasionally I feel the need to blow a little steam.

Since my post about Audi (no comment from them yet) - things have been quite quiet. But today is a little different.

This morning I should have had a phone call. A simple phone call. It didn't happen. Here's the problem.

This week, I am on holiday. I am in Cornwall enjoying time with my kids and not having the phone ring every 10 minutes or so. We are here in Perranporth (actually - to be accurate, I am in Bolingey, about a mile out of Perranporth). The weather has been mixed, but whenever we have ventured out - we have been blessed with good weather.

There are two families on this holiday - us and the Rays. Making 4 adults and 4 kids. So we rented a large (expensive) cottage that could sleep us all and keep the kids amused, and it does.

It was a bit disappointing when we first arrived as during a phone conversation with the agent (Duchy Holidays - see www.duchyholidays.co.uk) they mentioned that it was within walking distance to the beach. This maybe true - but it would take 30 minutes to do it - even longer with 4 kids all under 5.

Not a major hassle though - we just drive and park at the beach, but it does cost £3.50 per day.

When we arrive late on Friday - there is no hot water. So the next morning we call the Duchy Holiday people as they kinldy left their local reps number on the table (that was a nice touch by-the-way). Denise is her name. She arranges for the owner of the property to come and turn the water on for us. Great!

Off we go to the beach, and have a great time. The kids are all messed up with a mixture of sand and ice cream - but no problem, throw them in the bath when they get back. Easy.

Wrong! Still no hot water. So I call Denise again (as she hasn't called me with an update). Denise doesn't answer the phone, someone else does and tells me that the boiler has stopped working. They had a plumber out, but he didn't have the right part. She would get Denise to call me.

Sure enough, Denise calls about 10 minutes later. Denise tells me that it will be Monday before they can get the part at the earliest as they can't get it from anyone on a Saturday.

I explain to Denise the predicament that we are in with 4 small kids and no hot water. We did have a working electric shower, but this, in my mind is greatly insufficient for our needs. Denise understands and assures me that she will call first thing Monday morning with an update.

So no hot water on Friday. Nor Saturday. Sunday - nada. Monday - nope!

We leave Monday morning, I take my phone - waiting for my phone call. It never happened. At 6pm, the plumber came and took a picture of the boiler proclaiming that he couldn't get the part and needed to send a picture of it to the supplier to see if they can figure out what part I need.

Now I appreciate that boilers break down. Sure it is bad timing for me. But when things go wrong, we need to make sure that we are making every effort to resolve the problem. We also need to communicate with out customers throughout the whole event, keeping them up-to-speed rather than burying our heads in the sand because the thought makes us a little uncomfortable.

Communication is needed. I want to know that something is being done, but I also want to know that someone is caring about my problem. I paid a lot of money for this cottage. I expect great service.

But I am not getting it. I have no communication (other than lies). Nothing except the plumber. If I don't call them - Duchy Holidays do not call me.

So this is both my rant with Duchy Holidays - not because the boiler isn't working, but because I do not feel that they care enough about my problem which is evidenced by the fact that they are not calling me and especially not calling me when they said that they would (what happened to this old fashioned word integrity?).

It is also a lesson for me - I need to make sure that when things go wrong on behalf of my customers - that we keep them up-to-date and show that we really do care about what is happening. I especially need to make sure that when I say that I will do something - I, in fact, do it. We make a point of not burying our heads in the sand, but rahter meet these things head on.

Lesson learned for me. We will see what Duchy Holidays of Cornwall learn.

I will keep you posted.