Hello,

Never one for complaining usually, I am completely in the dark about how to complain about my recent holiday experience and the accommodation in a UK holiday cottage in Devon.

It was dirty (in particular the bath and cooker), covered in cobwebs and there was mouldy food in the cupboards. The furnishings were tired and dated and the most distressing thing is that one of the bedrooms had a significant amount of damp on the walls and around the windows. We stayed there with a 6 month old baby and found mould on his clothes that we kept in their chest of drawers. As a result, we left the cottage early and ended our holiday.

However, we chose not complain as the owner had given us a discount as the week we requested was unavailable. But we are now regretting this. Upon return, we found out the owner had cashed our security cheque as she said WE left the cottage in an unacceptable condition.

She has not given us any more detail than this at present and has not given us a detailed explanation of how we supposedly left the cottage in a poor condition. She took the money BEFORE letting us know that she was unsatisfied.

We left the cottage in the condition we found it and are angry at her accusation and annoyed that we did not complain before.

Is there anything we can do to escalate the complaint and get the money returned??

Thanks for any help,