A woman and her husband say there were 'electrocuted' shortly after they arrived for a holiday at Butlins. Katarzyna Baldock says they also discovered 'blood on the walls' during their stay, prompting an apology from the holiday firm.
Katarzyna and David Baldock had booked a July trip to the holiday camp with their daughter and her friend. According to the family the problems began as soon as they arrived, with their accommodation left in a poor state by cleaners.
She said it was at around 9.30pm on the first night that she went to switch off a bedroom light and was "pulled in" by the worst electric shock she had ever felt. She said she "could not believe" what came next, saying staff were unsympathetic and left the family "outside for hours" waiting to move to safer accommodation, according to Hull Live.
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Butlins has disputed this claim, saying that an electrician was on the scene within the hour and the family was moved to alternative accommodation. CornwallLive now understands that no electrical faults were found with the accommodation.
"I couldn't believe guests get treated that way," Katarzyna said. "And they wouldn't move us for hours. It was absolutely disgusting. They finally actually told us they had nowhere else for us to go."
The family, from Camelford in Cornwall, described the holiday in Minehead, Somerset, as "horrific", saying they left a day early and believed Butlins had failed to take the incident seriously. They say they have had no apology and have to go through insurance to claim compensation back.
Katarzyna added: "I went to turn the light off and I got a massive electric shock. It was a proper one. One of those that pull you in. The light was still going after and wouldn’t stop flickering and stuff. That was scary and there was no caregiving.
“I’m also a cleaner and you’d have to be a blind cleaner not to see the blood on the walls. It was smudged and I thought it was dirt, but it was actually like raw blood - it was fresh and you could see that. I can take any dirt, but blood is one of those that I’m like 'no'. I told them they had to reclean the place and I think they just painted over it instead.
“My husband, who is in a wheelchair, said I had to go and get hold of someone after the electric shock and he popped to the toilet and he got the same from the toilet switch. It was not a little one.
“It was nearly 10pm by that point and to get hold of anyone I could only call or chat online. I thought they were joking. They must have a decent amount of guests on the grounds, but they had no staff around. I remember I just thought if anything serious happened they have no one here."
She described the circumstances and the way it was dealt with as "a joke", saying when someone was finally sent to them he was rude. The family said they were waiting to return to their chalet as it approached midnight. Butlins however said the electrician was there within the hour.
“I told Butlins they had to move us somewhere else for our safety, even if it’s a B&B for the night until they can fix it. They told us to wait for an electrician and said he could be 45 minutes or three hours. They just didn't care. They also told us they had nowhere for us to move."
She added: "After the electrician finally came he told us we could not stay there and we were moved. My daughter couldn’t sleep all night. She didn’t want to go to the toilet or anything and she was scared because she's autistic and struggles with things. It takes her a long time to understand and no matter what we told her all night it was hours and hours before she would accept that she was going to be fine.
"She was so excited when we got there and then she was so stressed and she had to pack up everything and we were like a homeless family sitting out on the grass. I told [Butlins] if they had nowhere else to put me I would pack up and go home and they gave us two teddy bears for compensation.
“It’s just so stressful and I can not believe people could be treated like that. When we left I asked to see the electrical certificates and I still want to see them. The staff said they would send it through email and I haven't received anything yet."
A spokesperson for Butlins said: "We’re sorry for the Baldock family’s experience with us on resort recently. Safety is our top priority and, where an issue does arise, our team work hard to ensure that it is dealt with as quickly as possible.
"Once reported, our on-resort electrician was inspecting their accommodation within the hour. In order for a full electrical inspection to be conducted, we moved the family to different accommodation for the remainder of their break and apologised for any inconvenience caused. We have been in contact with the Baldock family directly to discuss the issues raised in more detail."
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