Coldstream Holiday Park (not recommended)
I am posting this to warn people of the horrendous experience we had at the Coldstream Holiday Park. Basically this site is new, and has the appearance of having the absolute minimum amount of money spent on it to be operational. It's not fit for purpose and I would like to warn people about our experience at this site. If you have a large touring caravan, don't go here.
On arrival we found that the adjacent pitch had been allowed by site manager to erect their awning on our grass. This meant that our caravan needed to back in. As the pitch had a sharp slope, this would make it impossible to level the van, as you can't use the rear steadies to do this.
We were moved to a flatter pitch, but the grass and hard standing were not on the same level, our step was not stable. This resulted in my wife having a bad fall while stepping down, requiring an ambulance visit, and a 5 hour overnight wait in A&E.
The state of the site in general is poor. Coarse (and sharp) flint stone covers all roads and hard pitches. It's not even comfortable to walk on and I was concerned about punctures. The pitches assigned to touring caravans are really not fit for purpose. Our drain was actually on the wrong side of the van, and was missing the cover grille, creating a dangerous hole. Obvious trip hazard, and a dog could break a leg.
There are other health and safety issues, such as badly fitted and loose flag stones around the toilet block.
And most disappointingly, after my wife's injury, a call was made to the site emergency number, to which there was no initial response. The duty manager then returned the call, to express her unhappiness about being disturbed in the shower! I kid you not, this is the staggering attitude of management, in response to a serious accident happening on their site.
So in summary, this site needs a lot more money spent on it, and management need some training in customer care. People need to be aware of how bad our experience was. And to Coldstream management I would say that customers are not an inconvenience. They are literally your business.
Comments
-
Have you made a complaint to the owners of the site, and the environmental dept of the relevant local council, left reviews on the likes of UK Campsite, Trip Advisor and everywhere else you can think of?
0 -
Talking to the site owners was our first course of action. Unfortunately nobody in authority was present during our stay, only the shellshocked receptionist, who had no idea about the incident. And nobody from management came round to even inquire about my wife's health. That would have gone a long way to mitigate things. And I think most people would consider that to be common courtesy.
So in the absence of any kind of site owner engagement, I'm now looking at other avenues to report the deficiencies of this site. HSE don't investigate this type of problem, so I've been referred to the Scottish Borders Council. I've also made the organisation awarding them 4 star quality rating aware of the situation.
I'm also looking at every possible review site to leave negative reviews. And they will get multiple, as every member of our family will leave one.
Appalling way to run a business!
0 -
Sounds like the sort of site I would drive in, look round, drive out, and go elsewhere. Did you actually stay?
0 -
Seems you’re doing all you can to bring the matter to attention, Andy.
Thanks for the heads up and I hope your wife is OK now.
0 -
Terrible to hear and about your wife's fall, hope she is OK. Also to what has been suggested above was the accident reported in the accident log? At work any accident involving a call or visit to A&E had to be reported and/or recorded and even if details are not sent to somewhere probably to H&S. I know this is not much consolation to you and your wife but it may cause something to happen and maybe it won't happen to anyone else.
But yes very poor all round.
0 -
Thanks. I think people should be aware more than anything else, about the nature of the pitches on this site. Normally there's no height difference between grass and hard standing, to avoid precisely this type of accident. Especially as most people put down a carpet, which obscures any holes or dips in the ground. My wife's foot literally rolled under the caravan as she stepped down on to the ground. We heard a very audible crack, and I feared a very bad injury had happened. In the end it was a severe foot sprain, but it meant waiting 5 hours in A&E, and of course none of us had any sleep, so we were wrecked the next day, and wife was on crutches for the next few days. In fact we cut short our holiday and came home early.
The construction of the pitch had been just to dig out the hard standing and cover with gravel. No attempt made to create a level surface over the whole pitch. Poor beyond belief, and dangerous.
Yes, with hindsight we should have demanded our money back and left, but there was nowhere else to go as this was a planned stop in a tour of Scotland. Lesson learned, if the site is that new, then beware. But honestly you wouldn't expect something to be built this badly.
I really don't expect the site to do anything about this situation, judging by their lack of response, and I don't believe they understand that it's actually dangerous. Not just our view, the people on the adjacent pitch also had concerns. They were wonderful people, and came immediately to our assistance when they heard my wife screaming.
On the plus side, Coldstream itself is a lovely place.
0 -
Yup, exactly what I would do, had I seen the state of the place before booking.
You've got to laugh at the incompetence of how they run the place. Normally there's a pattern to pitches i.e. caravan goes in one way, and all adjacent vans are in the same orientation. But they'd allowed one campervan further along to back in. Meaning we'd have to back in too next to them. Downhill. Hmm isn't it obvious how this would never work for levelling the van? Anyone with a slight bit of experience with caravans would know this.
Then the people in the camervan started getting pissed off because they were being told to move, after they'd pitched their awning, and initially requested to set up in the adjacent flat field used for tents, but were denied.
Total and utter incompetence.
0 -
Interesting🤔 We stayed in a holiday cottage nearby last year, and watched this place under construction. We said at the time what a fantastic location it was, lovely views, and quite close to Coldstream. Looks like the prime provision is glamping pods and statics. Doesn’t sound like they have given as much thought to the touring area though. Will keep an eye on reviews for next few months, see if a pattern emerges.
Not a good experience for you though AJF, I hope your OH has no lasting injury problems.👍
Link to PitchUp for anyone interested. Have to say, it does look nice. Most of negative points raised are about there only being three loos and showers for those without facilities. https://www.pitchup.com/campsites/Scotland/Scotland/Scottish_Borders/coldstream/coldstream-holiday-park/
0 -
Yes I didn't even mention the limited shower facilities, which for the size of site are inadequate. Low pressure showers are also criticised.
You are absolutely right, this is a prime location for a caravan site. They do have a variety of things there, such as static caravans and the pods. These are likely very nice. However I really don't think they've got the touring side of things at all right.
Thanks for the link.
0 -
I see what you mean about the horrible shale ground covering.
0 -
Looking at the photos of the touring area, I am surprised they allow folks to put an awning up. As a proper touring park, (shorter stays where folks don’t park up and erect a proper awning), then it looks ok.
As for the loos and showers, if the caravan and MH owners staying are also using them, then there clearly won’t be enough provision. We have experienced this when camping in the past. Campers without any loo or showers, have to cross their legs while vanners take their time in the loo blocks. Hey ho. But three of each doesn’t look enough for the tent campers in truth.Worst hardstandings we have ever used we’re at Rowntree Park, ankle breaking lumps of whatever. We bought some mats just to step out safely, and to stop dogs hurting their paws.
It’s new, let’s hope they choose to build positively on some of the things that aren’t yet right.
0 -
I don't quite know what's happened to customer care these days. It's really annoyed us, particularly as this caused our holiday to be cut short.
Considering the total lack of engagement from the site, we are considering a personal injury claim.
0 -
Workplaces in the UK have a legal requirement to have an accident reporting system in place. Speaking from past experience of running Local Authority swimming pools and sports centres, each facility I managed had an Accident Report Book, and apart from always recording any accidents/injuries to staff, we always made a record of any accidents and injuries to customers as well. We did this to keep an eye on any patterns, any new, unforeseen risks, to review risk assessments, and it has to be said, because invariably we got lots of personal injury claims. Some accidents/incidents had to be reported to HSE, but most didn’t. We were backed up by our own Safety Officers, and teams of specialists who dealt with the claims from a legal point of view, ie trained solicitors. Not sure what private companies will have in terms of records for visitors. Scotland might be different to England possibly.
0 -
As I said every accident involving a trip to A&E involving anyone on our premises had to be logged, quick search from H&S executive site:
When do I need to report an incident?
For most types of incident, including:accidents resulting in the death of any person
accidents resulting in specified injuries to workers
non-fatal accidents requiring hospital treatment to non-workers1
