Legal Advice for Holiday Complaints

Questioner

On Saturday 30 June I booked a holiday home abroad at a Dutch holiday park for the period from 24 August to 7 September. I booked a holiday home with a beautiful view and a quiet location. Upon arrival I did not receive the holiday home as promised during the booking. I raised this problem with the holiday park, but the employees were not willing to actively think along with me about a suitable solution. The employees do not speak Dutch and are extremely unfriendly. Eventually, partly because I was tired after an 11-hour drive, I accepted the offered house. It then took another 2 hours, due to defective key cards, before I could enter the offered house. The offered house appears to have been poorly cleaned. Dust and dead flies everywhere. I took photos of this. The offered house is diagonally opposite the swimming pool. In the house, when the windows and doors are closed, the equipment on the swimming pool can clearly be heard. I therefore call the customer service of the holiday park in the Netherlands. They say they will contact the holiday park, but later call me back to say that I am unable to reach the holiday park. I express my surprise about this and also point out that the employees at the holiday park are unfriendly. The customer service employee then says that I should avoid those employees, in order to be able to enjoy my holiday somewhat. Saturday morning, August 25, I call the customer service of the holiday park in the Netherlands again. I raise the issues with the employees again and express my dissatisfaction because I am not in the promised cottage. The customer service promises me that an employee of the holiday park will visit me that day to find a suitable solution. I hear or see nothing from the holiday park that day. No employee seen. Saturday evening, August 25, my second evening at the park, there is a party in the restaurant. To block out the noise, I have to close all the windows and doors, but even then I still hear a lot of noise while I have the TV on. Around 11:15 PM I walk to the restaurant because I am bothered by the noise coming from the party. The hotel manager is not inclined to speak to me. When I tell him to file a complaint, he sprints to the DJ. The DJ happily continues playing, the hotel manager closes the door of the restaurant, but even then I can still hear the noise in my holiday home. Sunday morning, August 26, I contact customer service in the Netherlands again. I complain. The employee says she will come up with a solution for me. Her solution: a holiday home on a holiday park over 1000 kilometers away. In my opinion, based on articles 7,500, 507 and 510 of the Civil Code, she should have arranged a holiday home in the vicinity for me. I am now writing a letter of complaint and am wondering what I can demand from the holiday park; I missed out on holiday enjoyment and am dissatisfied with the way the customer service in the Netherlands operates. They should have helped me better.

Lawyer

You can usually claim 1/3 of the loss of enjoyment of your stay. But there are a number of conditions attached to this. Whether you were aware of the activities that were present at the park. It is also important for what reason you booked, or whether you made it known in advance that you agreed to a 'rustic' holiday. If this is not met, then you have a chance of success.