Mum’s fury as daughter is ‘pickled with flea bites’ after stay at Butlin’s
A mum has shared her anger after her little girl's legs were "pickled with flea bites" during their "nightmare" getaway at a Butlin's resort.
Lisa Gray, 40, also claims she found what looked like human faeces on the mattress where her daughter Hannah, 10, slept during their three-night trip at the Minehead resort in Somerset. Hannah missed five days of school due to the bug bites, for which her GP prescribed two antihistamines and cream.
Speaking today, Lisa said: "She was so uncomfortable but she was also so embarrassed and tried to cover them up. It wasn’t nice seeing my daughter like that. We had planned to have a lovely break with friends which turned into a complete nightmare. Imagine if this had happened to another child who had been allergic. It doesn’t bear thinking about."
Hannah was left 'pickled with flea bites' following the stay (Make The Headlines)
A GP prescribed the youngster three different medications to treat the bites (Make The Headlines)Lisa, who works for the NHS, arrived at Butlin’s with two of her daughters on Friday, July 7. When Hannah woke the following morning, she had around seven, angry red bites on her legs. Her mum pulled the sheets off her daughter’s bed and was disgusted to find what looked like human faeces.
She said: "My initial thought was ‘oh my goodness, it’s bed bugs’. So I pulled back the mattress and couldn't see any signs of bed bugs but that was then when I saw what looked like faeces.
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"I was shocked and felt sick that we’d been sleeping on this. It was horrible. Customer relations said they’d change the mattress, which they did. They bought a brand new one and offered to shampoo the carpet which I agreed would be a good idea to be on the safe side. However, I’m sure the carpet was never cleaned as it was bone dry."
The bites flared up quickly and Lisa decided to leave the site (Make The Headlines)
Hannah had to miss five days of school due to the bites (Make The Headlines)Annoyed about her daughter’s sleeping conditions and painful bites, Lisa told staff she wasn’t happy. She was offered a £35 voucher on her Butlin’s app for the inconvenience. She thought that would be the “end of it” and they’d finally get to enjoy their holiday but sadly Hannah was unable to enjoy the swimming pool as the chlorine irritated her bites.
"When she woke up on Sunday, she had more bites all over her. It was really bad and she was much worse. Even the soles of her feet were covered in bites," Lisa, from Somerset, continued.
“It was unbelievable. But I was baffled as she had a brand new mattress. Then my friend mentioned that she had lots of fruit flies in her room and some landed on her too. Then we went into her room and looked at the sofa - that’s when we saw it was infested with fleas. It was absolutely disgusting so we rushed to my room while we waited for the staff."
Lisa claims the fleas were more visible on the light grey sofa in her friend’s room, but once they looked closely at the dark brown leather sofa in Lisa’s room, they claim they could see hundreds of fleas.
She said it became clear that Hannah’s bites - had been from fleas - and she’d had a reaction. Lisa said: “The lady from customer service backed away the moment she saw the state of the room, which was swarming with fleas.
"She said that they would refund the accommodation charge, a £64 refund and 20 per cent off my next stay - but that they have to take off the facilities and entertainment charge. I did point out that we couldn’t use the facilities as my daughter was so uncomfortable and in pain. But she was my priority. So we packed up the car and left. As soon as we got home, we had to smoke bomb our cars and our suitcases because we didn’t want the fleas to spread."
Hannah's older sister Sophie (right) also went on the break in July (Make The Headlines)Lisa claims Butlin’s offered to move them into different accommodation but she declined on the basis that she no longer wanted to stay there. She also thought if she was moved, they could spread fleas to the whole resort.
She took Hannah to see her GP on Monday July 10, the same day Butlin's called her back. During this conversation, Lisa told Butlin's a refund of the accommodation wasn’t good enough. The mum added: "I said I wanted a full refund because of what happened to Hannah and it completely ruined our holiday. They said they’d get back to me but I never had a call back."
Lisa then emailed Butlin’s but received an automated reply asking her to allow 14 days for them to look into it. She waited and received an email stating that the staff had acted “accordingly and she’d only be offered the accommodation charge.”
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The holidaymaker asked to take the matter further but received a reply which stated it was Butlin’s “final offer and all future emails regarding this would be ignored as she was already speaking to the highest point of contact.” Lisa was furious and didn’t know what to do next - she decided to share a post on Facebook warning others of her experience.
"Luckily, Hannah is on the mend and she managed to go back to her school for her last week. But I’ve been left so disappointed with Butlin’s and I’ll never holiday with them again," Lisa added. "They never apologised or showed any compassion towards the situation and I hope they make changes so this stops happening to families hoping to make memories on holiday."
When approached for comment, a Butlin's spokesperson said: “We’re really sorry for the experience that Lisa and her family had on their recent break. This certainly isn’t the high standards we expect our guests to receive when they holiday with us. As soon as we were made aware we changed the mattress, offered alternative accommodation, and can confirm the room has been fully fumigated since the family’s departure. We’ve been in contact with Lisa to apologise and have offered a gesture of goodwill, which she has accepted.”
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