Furious holidaymakers have accused a caravan rental agent of failing to tell them their bookings were cancelled or give refunds. Ten people with separate experiences of Alyson Perrett, an agent who offered holidays and lodges at Trecco Bay in Porthcawl, told WalesOnline about their complaints.
Seven of the people we spoke to claim they are owed a total of £8,005 by Mrs Perrett, a 58-year-old from Cefn Fforest. She has deleted the Facebook page she used to message customers and publicise her business. Some customers claim they booked stays months in advance only to learn the day before the planned holiday that no caravan had been reserved. Some were meant to visit Trecco Bay for the August Bank Holiday or this weekend’s Elvis Presley festival, while another customer has allegedly been waiting nine months for a refund.
In some cases customers only found out they had no booking after seeing dozens of others had complained on Facebook about Mrs Perrett. Some claim she has blocked their messages. When WalesOnline called Mrs Perrett on August 28, she told us she had made mistakes with double-bookings. She repeatedly said that she was going to refund everyone and that not all the allegations were genuine.
She said was still “working out” how much she owed and to how many people. “We’ve moved houses, I’ve been in a Travelodge for four and a half months so my bookings haven’t been up to scratch,” she said. “I lost all interest because I was waiting to be rehoused and everything was all upside down. Because my computer’s been in storage I was doing the old-school paperwork and I haven’t been up to it and I lost control.”
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Mrs Perrett, who does not own any caravans, was paid a commission by owners for finding guests and collecting rent. She told us she has been an agent for about a year but does not plan to continue. Mrs Perrett added that her bank had frozen her account after complaints from customers but she would “try to get a loan to pay them all back”. Weeks later, customers have told us they are yet to be refunded. In a message on Wednesday, Mrs Perrett told us: “I got to much going on with alot lieing on facebook im trying to get all refunds paid a lot bn paid [sic].”
‘How can anyone sleep at night holding a 76-year-old disabled lady’s money and leaving her with no holiday?’
Patricia Humphreys
(Image: Humphreys family)
Samantha Humphreys says her mother Patricia and four friends arranged to stay in a Trecco Bay caravan for the Elvis Festival weekend. Patricia, 76, and some of her friends are disabled and not able to travel far. “The highlight of their year is the Elvis Festival which they have attended for over 10 years,” said Samantha.
Patricia, from Rhydyfelin, allegedly paid Mrs Perrett £550 in July for the stay. But a few weeks ago Samantha spotted the barrage of Facebook complaints about Mrs Perrett. “After multiple messages and phone calls she promised to honour my mum her caravan,” said Samantha. “My mum and I had doubts. My mother was not sleeping in the nights and making herself ill, feeling guilty for her friends if they were let down.”
Last week Mrs Perrett deleted her Facebook account and stopped answering her phone, said Samantha. “My mum was left with no caravan and no refund,” she added. “How can anyone sleep at night holding a 76-year-old disabled lady’s money and leaving her with no holiday? A lovely caravan owner let my mum and her friends have a four-bedroom caravan for the same price of £550 instead of £799, as she knew what had gone on.”
Samantha Humphrey’s mum Patricia with her friends
(Image: Humphreys family)
‘I felt embarrassed and ashamed’
Jose Martins had saved for a year to afford the holiday he booked through Mrs Perrett in March. The 39-year-old says he paid her £475 plus a £50 deposit to stay in a Trecco Bay caravan from September 1 to 10 with his wife and daughter. It was meant to be a special holiday that would see the family celebrate Jose’s birthday and ten-year wedding anniversary, and spend time with friends in the area.
The family had paid £116 for seats on a coach from London, where they live, but in late August Jose noticed the Facebook complaints. When he asked if his holiday would go ahead, Ms Perrett replied in a message: “Im tamping loads of s*** blocked all my accounts [sic].” She assured him he would be refunded but he says this is yet to happen.
Jose ended up spending £960 on a hotel as no other Trecco Bay caravans were available. The family were unable to do many of the activities they had planned because they were left so short on funds. “I felt embarrassed and ashamed,” said Jose. “We’re now behind on our bills as well. I’ve been going through depression anyway and this has not helped at all.”
Another customer, 31-year-old Hollie Trewartha, from Markham, says she paid Ms Perrett £350 to stay in a caravan over the August Bank Holiday with her partner and two children. The mum, who is battling a serious illness, said: “I’ve been told by the doctor there is no more they can do for my ill health, only make me feel comfortable, so I was trying to make memories with my two kids before anything can happen to me.”
The day before the holiday was due to begin, Hollie learned Mrs Perrett had allegedly booked the wrong date. When she posted a Facebook complaint about her experience, Mrs Perrett told her in a message: “Ill get u sorted if you remove it [sic].” Hollie has now received a refund.
‘What she’s done to families is disgusting’
David Morgan, who owns three caravans at Trecco Bay with his wife Karen, says he met Mrs Perrett in March last year. “The deal we had was she would rent out the caravans on our behalf,” said David, 71, from Magor. “We would pay her £50 commission and £50 for her [associate] to clean, and we were meant to be paid the rent. At first things worked quite well, then the money stopped. People were staying, but we weren’t getting the money.”
The couple stopped using Mrs Perrett’s services in August last year, by which point they were allegedly owed £6,840. David says Mrs Perrett agreed to pay the debt off at £500 per month but he alleges the repayments have been “way off” and that the couple are still owed £3,580. Mrs Perrett told WalesOnline she “no way [owes] him that”. When we asked how much she owes him, she did not reply.
“It’s been a total nightmare,” said David. “I just want the woman stopped. What she’s done to families is disgusting. One woman came from County Durham only to find she had no actual booking, and had to go home. There’s no thought.”
‘Way out of her depth’
One 33-year-old mum from the Rhymney Valley says she paid Mrs Perrett £2,900 for a four-bed lodge holiday for the last Christmas and New Year period. “I was sent photos and videos of the lodge and it was perfect for our family of six,” she said. “But as the holiday was approaching, we were told the owner had passed away and the family sold the lodge.”
Mrs Perrett told the mum in a message that she would be refunded by the end of January. But nine months on there is allegedly still £1,900 to be paid. The mum claims Mrs Perrett blocked her messages after stopping repayments.
She added: “My bank account was blocked last weekend because Alyson tried to claim one of the £100 refund payments back from her bank. After spending the morning in my bank I explained the story and my account was unblocked.” The alleged attempt to claim back £100 was unsuccessful, said the mum, but she added that the saga has “caused so much stress and depleted my savings”.
Sian Carter, from Caerphilly, claims Mrs Perrett blocked her messages after she paid £200 to go on a caravan holiday with her daughter. Mrs Perrett sent the 43-year-old a message last month saying she would be refunded “soon as the bank sort it”. Sian said: “I think she’s way out of her depth.”
Stephen Sandercock, a 61-year-old construction worker from Tredegar, says he paid Mrs Perrett £600 to stay in a caravan with his sister, brother and three friends during the Elvis Festival. But after seeing Facebook complaints about Mrs Perrett last month, he contacted the owner of the caravan he thought he had booked. “She said there was no booking,” said Stephen. “We’d have had to pay £800 to book it and we didn’t want to pay again. Alyson told me she didn’t have the money to refund us as her account was frozen.”
Stephen’s friend Violet Schwarz, a lifelong Elvis Presley fan, had been hugely looking forward to attending the festival for the first time until she learned there was no caravan booking. “It’s disgusting to treat people like this,” said the 56-year-old.
Angelina Horton Sutton, 52, from Pontypridd, claims she paid Mrs Perrett £198 last December for her and seven friends to stay in two caravans during this year’s August Bank Holiday. Angelina, who had booked the holiday to celebrate two friends’ birthdays, said: “The day before we were due to go, Alyson told me she hadn’t got a caravan. How embarrassing for me to tell my friends the day before.” Angelina was later refunded.
‘We were devastated’
Julie Pye Gould said her family were due to go on holiday with another family in Trecco Bay during the August Bank Holiday, but just before setting off they learned Mrs Perrett had allegedly double-booked the caravan. The group had paid £650, said Julie, who added: “As for a refund, we were told we’d get one ASAP but then we were told we would get it back on the 12th or 13th of September. There is still no refund. She has now blocked us on social media.”
One 50-year-old woman from Newport says she sent Mrs Perrett a £100 deposit ahead of a family caravan stay planned for last New Year, adding: “A week before I was due to go, I was trying to contact Alyson.” She claims her messages were then blocked. The woman, whose bank returned the payment after she complained, said: “We hadn’t been out for New Year’s Eve for years and we’d been really excited. We were devastated. We couldn’t book a replacement holiday at that short notice.”
When WalesOnline spoke to Mrs Perrett in August she said she had been in poor health and that the “scam” allegations on Facebook had taken a toll on her. She said: “A scammer doesn’t talk to anybody, I’ve been talking to them, I’ve been up at two people’s houses and all.” She has not specifically addressed our enquiries about complaints from individual customers.
If you would like to speak with a reporter at WalesOnline, email us at conor.gogarty@walesonline.co.uk
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