A family visiting Cornwall for the first time say their holiday was 'ruined' by an ant infestation, a dirty caravan and an unresolved theft, adding that they are yet to receive an apology from the caravan park for their experience. Kayleah Michaelson and her fiancé Daniel Jarvis took their two children - Teddy, two, and seven-month-old Poppy - on a week long stay at Perran Sands Holiday Park in Perranporth with other members of Kayleah's family.
Kayleah told Cornwall Live that she and her siblings had holidayed at Haven-owned caravan parks around the UK when they were young, an experience she wanted to share with her own children. This time the family chose Cornwall as a surprise for her grandparents who had always wanted to visit the country but had never managed to.
Twelve family members packed into three cars, travelled from Stoke-on-Trent and rented two caravans for their week's stay earlier this month. And, while it rained pretty much every day, Kayleah said it was other circumstances that accumulated in their negative experience at the park.
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Kayleah said: "We love Haven holiday parks. We've been going there since we were kids and we always loved the atmosphere.
"We've wanted to come to Cornwall for a long time. My nan and grandad always loved the idea so this was their Christmas present from all of us. We got there and chucked our bags in the caravans and went out again to look around the park. But when we came back we noticed the broken banister.
"One of the vertical wooden bars was on the floor with the nails up and the gap was big enough for me to fit through, let alone a seven-month-old who's still crawling around. We also noticed all the ants everywhere."
Kayleah said that there was no vacuum cleaner provided in the caravans, so she swept up the ants using a dust pan and brush, however they kept coming back. The next day, she said, they lifted the cushion off of the seating areas to find even more ants and "lots of food bits".
She added: "It looked like it hadn't been cleaned for quite some time. When we complained at the reception they said there was nothing they could do and we should put some Fairy Liquid down as apparently ants don't like it.
"They didn't give us the Fairy Liquid, mind, so we had to buy it from their overpriced shop on site. It didn't work, so it wasn't that pleasant an experience sleeping there knowing you'd be crawled over by ants."
Kayleah, a 25-year-old hospitality worker, and Daniel, a 31-year-old manager of Stoke-on-Trent's Primark store, said that when they asked for the banister to the outside area to be fixed so it would not be a danger to their children, the only thing the staff did was prop the broken banister up, for it to fall again in the wind.
In the end the couple say it took park staff several days to properly repair the caravan but the issue of the ants was never resolved. To make matters worse, the family fell victim to theft - something they say Haven has not dealt with very well.
"We'll never go there again"
Kayleah said: "We were at a petrol station half way up the M5 when I started receiving notifications for eBay purchases. We have a joint account so Dan was asking me what I was spending money on when we'd just had a holiday. But I didn't.
"That's when we realised someone else was using our bank card which was in my purse and we'd left it behind in a bag." In total, whoever had access to her bag and purse had made two £108 purchases on eBay and another for £78.
Kayleah's Air Pods had also been stolen and the family house keys had also been in the bag. "I couldn't even pay for a flapjack at the petrol station, which was a bit awkward," she added.
The angry mum said she cancelled her bank card and called Perran Sands Holiday Park who confirmed her bag had been handed in to reception and also checked her bag and told her that the Air Pods and bank card were gone. When they got home, the family contacted their local police force who told them to contact Devon and Cornwall Police, as the theft had taken place in this region.
Their bank also refunded the money stole from their account, but the family were left reeling from the way Haven had dealt with their experience - especially the theft. Kayleah went on to say: "They told us they investigated by speaking to whoever may have had access to the caravan after we left and handed back the keys, but when these people said it was not them and they hadn't taken anything, that was that.
"They said they could send our bag to our house but we'd have to pay for it." Kayleah said that the holiday park did eventually agree to pay to send out their bag but the family "thought the service was really poor and no-one said sorry for anything".
She added: "We had another holiday booked with Haven later this year in Wales but we've cancelled it now. We'll never go there again and that's that.
"But we'll come back to Cornwall because it was really nice and the people we met were really friendly. Just not at a Haven holiday park."
Response from Haven
In a letter to Kayleah, Nikki Thomas, from the owner and guest experience team at Perran Sands Holiday Park, said the park had identified the members of its contractor cleaning team who had serviced Kayleah's caravan but when asked if they had taken her bank card and other items, they said no. The letter, seen by CornwallLive, read: "Upon being given this information, our head of facilities informed the company that this was now a police matter and further action may ensue.
"We will be 100% cooperative and transparent with any police investigation."
A spokesperson for Haven holidays has now apologised to Kayleah and her family, adding: "We would like to apologise to Kayleah and Daniel for their experience. We have conducted an investigation with our external cleaning company and will assist the local authorities with any additional support if required. As the accommodation fell short of our usual high cleanliness standards, we are liaising directly with the guests to arrange a full refund."
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