Pays to get holiday cover
A COUPLE were all set to soak up the luxury of a break in a splendid English country house hotel, but a nasty fall just before leaving put paid to that.
Jim Selwood and his partner Margaret were to stay at Cricket St Thomas in Somerset where much of TV comedy To The Manor Born was filmed. The pair booked the £782 treat in March for later that month.
But hours after Margaret made the online reservation for the Regency mansion – part of the Warner Hotels Leisure group – Jim slipped and fractured his hip.
“Immediately after the accident I contacted them to change the date to as soon as it was possible for us – we definitely wanted to go,” Margaret told Crusader.
Because of that and the fact they had been happy customers before, she had expected a seamless transfer.
But when making the booking Margaret had missed clicking on a vital link to an insurance option.
For £10 each she and Jim would have been covered for alterations but without it they stood to lose the £782.
Margaret’s slip added to the pain of Jim’s.
As they were still keen to visit, we asked Warner if it could look again at what might be possible.
The tour operator did so, and very fairly. Looking over a previous booking the couple had made, Warner confirmed that time they had taken out the protection plan.
So as a gesture of goodwill it offered to hold the holiday balance for a year while taking a £35 per person admin charge, plus the cost of the insurance.
That meant Jim and Margaret could use the £692 balance by March 2023, said a spokesperson.
It was an outcome that benefited everyone, so the couple accepted and told Crusader: “We are delighted, thank you.” l The couple’s names have been changed.