Grrr! Holiday let oven!

They have already admitted there is a problem by leaving the note about guesswork, so I would contact them and say this is not acceptable, needs attention and you are hopeless at guessing games and wouldn't feel able to recommend them to friends. Mind you Cornwall high season they probably wouldn't be bothered. Hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday.

When one has paid hundreds for a cottage then everything ought to be spot on. It is not good enough to have to guess the temperature of an oven . Do something about it pronto.

We have a holiday caravan in Torbay, which we let out. We have to have a gas safety check and the electric appliances pac checked, we have to display our safety certificates for anyone to see.
I would definitely complain, that is really not up to standard, I would also try and get a partial refund

Whoever is responsible for the letting is at fault here. If they are not prepared to get the oven in proper working order they should give details of the state of the oven in the letting details: a proper working oven will be important to some people but not others. If you put a review mentioning the problem with the oven then it will help others when deciding whether or not to rent it. If they have a guest book mention it in that as well.

You are actually considering upsetting sister and husband and cottage owner because you couldn't cook a pizza? You are on holiday. Pour a large glass of wine and order take out/eat bread and cheese or something else.

Well, if other half doesn't want to complain you'll just have to eat out.

No I don't agree Palliser. Ok maybe they can manage without, but it is not acceptable to have an unusable oven in holiday self catering accommodation. And why would it upset sister? Just say you had a lovely time, cottage great etc but unfortunately oven not up to standard. I have no sympathy for owner. To suggest guesswork is not good enough!!!

Witzend I live in North Cornwall with several lets in my area.Do you know who the agent is as it is preferable to book a holiday let that has an on call agent vital when issues occur such as yours. Feel free to send me a private message if I can be of any help.

Grannyactivist Not always the case. There is a fantastic Cornish let in my area that sleeps eight and a dogand it is not in the thousands.

I would not think twice about complaining about this and requesting either a new cooker pdq or at least a reasonable rebate.

This is a health and safety issue and this should be drawn to the attention of the person letting the property. If the holiday let owner does not do this. Complain to the local council .

There is a legal requirement for all holiday accommodation to meet electrical safety standards and all electrical equipment should be PAC tested every year and there should be an official sticky label on every piece of equipment stating that it has been tested and on what date.
I am pretty sure a cooker without full instructions and where the temperature markings on the oven control have rubbed off would not pass a PAC test.

We have just returned from a holiday let and the sticker was on all the electrical equipment in the house, like microwave, electric cooker etc.

Monica I have an Aga and hot weather can make them go OTT. You had every right to speak to the housekeeper to get an Aga service engineer to regulate it for you D'ont complain now like waiting for the horse to bolt before closing the stable door.

Certainly there's no excuse, especially if the owners are already aware of the problem.

Send them an email right away and as non confrontational as possible (you need their cooperation).

Simply explain that the Microwave oven has a serious defect. In it's current condition it can't be operated safely and presents a potential health hazard. Once you hit the 'send' button you won't have to dwell on this and you can start enjoying your holiday!

Please, be a little careful how you word a complaint on Trip Advisor or similar sites. A friend of mine who was justifiably annoyed with the removal company she hired when moving is now being threatened by them that they will sue her for damages after they read her comments online. She wasn't out of line in the way she expressed herself either.

But certainly complain, perhaps with your sister as she is the one who made the booking.

I am not complaining specifically about the AGA in the holiday home. The AGA was not overheating and was working fine, but AGAs are on all the time and give off heat all the time and in a heatwave, even a little bit of extra heat can be too much. I just dislike AGAs.

Most kitchens with AGAs usually have an electric cooker as well so that the AGA can be turned off in the summer because of the heat it gives out. This kitchen only had an AGA.

As it was we did very little cooking, and were in the kitchen very little, just to get salads out of the fridge.

OMG...losing the plot.... people demanding a new cooker? Going OTT or what? Just how long is this holiday? How much time do you spend inside a holiday home? Surely the OP can work something out? It isn't a lifelong commitment! Might be a wee bit annoying having to fiddle about a bit but surely on holiday not warranting a whole vendetta?

If I was on holiday with OP I would just laugh about it and then go out and enjoy myself.

I’m amazed by some of the responses on here, OP told to chill out, eat cold food, it’s only a pizza, the cottage ‘only’ cost hundreds of pounds, the implication being you get what you pay for. No, a contract has been made to provide a cottage with cooking facilities, this contract was not honoured. It’s not good enough to say there are some unreadable instructions on how to use the oven. I’m afraid too many British put up with substandard service, unfortunately for those of us who prefer good service this attitude means we have to fight all the harder to get the service we’ve paid for.
No, you are not being unreasonable.

It's perspective maddyone. Would you want to waste a weeks holiday arguing the toss about a cooker? Or would you prefer to enjoy the holiday with or without a cooker and put in your comments/complaints after?. No need to ever go there again is there? OR recommend it either for that matter. Why would you spend time worrying about safety? If you can't put it on in first place ....its not a safety issue really is it?

Monica
I appreciate you were not complaining but you could have asked for it to be turned off at no cost to yourself.
They do however tend to be erratic during a long spell of hot weather but I have mine on at its lowest as it heats water as well and having visitors need a supply of hot water .I would not be without my Aga.

shw, I confess, I did use it a couple of times to cook potatoes and rice to make salads and we had caterers in one evening as we were celebrating a big event and we decided to eat in rather than go out.. There was no alternative cooker.

Yes, I think you should complain to the owners. Guesswork is not the answer, and I truly believe that you should not have to put up with less comfort than you have in your own home (unless, of course you are camping or back-packing).

All they had to do was a couple of dabs of Tippex here and there, surely, to indicate how to turn on. These things are sent us to blot out all that's going on at home, so not entirely wasted .

Are you by any chance in St Ives? It is where I live. They charge a fortune for these places and most have letting agents who can come and fix things. Phone them and let them know. If people don’t complain they don’t fix it.

We own a holiday cottage which we let out, and to be honest would be upset if we weren't told that you were struggling with the oven. To tell you that it takes 'guesswork' is unacceptable, so I would suggest a brief email to either the agent or owner (depending on whether you booked direct), and explain that you're struggling with the oven, and ask them to come and rectify it a.s.a.p. I note that you don't state what type of oven it is, gas? electric? If it's gas, then safety could be a problem, so tell them that you are worried for your safety, and then if they don't get it fixed within 24 hours, or give a reasonable explanation as to why they can't get it fixed that quickly, then you should ask for a refund, suggesting an amount which would make you feel adequately compensated. Most holiday cottage owners are only too happy to help, although in this case, it does sound like they don't really care about the property and its contents, in which case I'm afraid the best advice I can give, is to get on and enjoy your holiday, eat out if you can afford to, and if not, try and make the best of it with the facilities that you do have, then upon your return home, write them another email, expressing your displeasure that they haven't rectified the problem during your holiday, and again request an adequate refund, pointing out that you feel sure that they wouldn't want the bad publicity, should the matter not be settled to your satisfaction. However, PLEASE don't let this spoil your holiday. Good luck.

I, almost always, use airbnb for holiday accomodation and have always found them to be faultless, whether here (UK) or abroad.
If there are one or two of us we mostly choose one where the owners live there themselves. If more than two of us then we usually have the whole place to ourselves, however, I have never been able to fault them and believe me, I'm uber fussy.
Had it been me with an unworkable oven, I would have fired off an email tout suite DH or no DH as the owner clearly didn't disclose the state of the oven in the initial booking or on the website.

I'd be annoyed. You really shouldn't have to use guesswork for an oven. If the symbols have worn away they should have put stickers on them - a home made remedy I'd use.
Is there a visitors' book? You never know - a helpful past guest may have put in some information about how to use the oven. As for the owner - they should try harder.