Dream lakes

[Tricky]

Just found this post on another forum what do you make of this After returning from a weeks fishing at Dreamlakes in France,
I have copied below a letter of complaint that i have sent to their head office of all the weeks events.

After what we have experianced please do not go!!!!



'Dear Sirs,

Having just returned from a weeks fishing on Dreamlakes 2 I feel it appropriate to contact you to outline quite a few problems / inappropriate situations we found ourselves in through poor and unprofessional on site management.

We arrived at the complex at 6.30am on Saturday morning whereupon the peg draw etc… took place. We were then informed to report to the lodge at 10am for breakfast. We were expecting to be taken through the Health and Safety procedures but unfortunately this never materialised. I asked a member of staff what the emergency procedures were and he said he did not know!!

On Saturday evening a member of our party fell ill and my father went to contact a member of staff for help. The staff member that my father managed to get hold of was called Matt. Matt organised for a taxi and accompanied my father and uncle to the hospital. After being seen by the doctors, my uncle was given the all clear to return to the lake but was told that if he fell ill again to report back to the hospital immediately. Once my father and uncle returned, they were saying that they were happy with Matt’s quick and positive attitude and fast actions. How wrong could we be!

Unfortunately on the Sunday evening my uncle once again fell quite ill and we had no other option but to go and get help and get him quickly back to the hospital. Once again my father went in search of a member of staff for help. To our relief Matt appeared to be on duty again and stated he would make a few phone calls and come and inform us what the plan of action was. After 30mins had past and my uncle getting worse by the minute, my father went to find Matt to see what was happening. Matt said he was still making phone calls and would come back to us. After approx 2.5hrs Matt came back and said the hospital was closed and that we were miles away from anywhere. Matt said that if my uncle got worse during the night there wasn’t much you could do!! My father went back to see Matt and see if there was anything we could do. After considerable time, a taxi was organised to pick us up and take us to a medical centre. This time around Matt decided not to attend and my father and uncle were sent to a French speaking hospital on their own! Luckily they found an English speaking doctor and everything ended up being ok. But it could have been so much worse and we can not believe that a representative of Dreamlakes did not attend.

Monday came and went and finally we started to enjoy our holiday. We were catching fish and everybody was happy. Not for long though!

On Tuesday evening approximately 7pm music could be heard coming from the bailiffs accommodation. As I was fishing peg 1 (the nearest peg) I could hear the music quite clear but it was just about at an acceptable level. As the night wore on, the music was turned up to an intolerable level and with the combined shouting / antics of what appeared to be all members of staff we felt we had no other choice but to go over and ask if the music could be turned down as now the time was 11.30pm!! We did not ask for the music to be turned off (of which we would have been entitled to!) only for it to be turned down as I could not sleep and had no chance of catching any fish!! When we went over we were confronted by aggressive members of staff who could not believe we were trying to spoil their fun! Matt said it was his birthday and that they were all celebrating. Another member of staff by the name of Neil stated that they work 24/7 and that they are entitled to have fun on their nights off. I’ve not come all this way for them to behave like this. It was quite clear that all members of staff were drinking and therefore the question I would like to ask you is: ‘who was in charge in a sober state incase of an emergency?’ It appeared nobody was!! We have not paid nearly £2000 between us for an outside music festival. Other members of their party started insulting us further by asking questions such as: ‘what time do you go to bed?’ and ‘what music do you like?’ ‘we can put on what you like’. This sort of rude and abusive behaviour is totally unacceptable.

The music was turned down eventually and we made our way back to our bivvies. As we were walking back, an irritated and extremely aggressive Matt shouted that we would be kicked off the site the following morning and that he would be taking us to the station. We were in utter shock and disbelief! We were threatened to be kicked off the site for asking for the music to be turned down to an acceptable level whilst on our holiday! Even now whilst writing this, I still can not believe what happened. Disgraceful is the only work I can use to describe this.

The following morning we went for breakfast as usual. Anglers from lakes 3,4&5 also heard the loud music and even asked us if we had a party!!! Matt was not working this morning. We asked Neil where he was and he replied ‘I don’t know, maybe in bed’. After breakfast we went round to the sleeping accommodation to discuss with Matt what was happening. Unfortunately after several knocks on his door we received no answer and could only assume he was sleeping off the previous nights events. We did not see Matt again until Friday of which would be another memorable holiday moment!

During the course of the week, a large carp had been caught from the large stock lake and had been sacked by the bailiffs for photos in the morning. Due to it being sacked, the fish was extremely lively and the bailiff struggled to hold the fish still for the photo. For some unbeknown reason he decided to stand up full height with the fish. The fish struggled once again and in horror was dropped head first onto the gravel. In a blind panic the 2 bailiffs quickly ushered the distressed fish back into the water. We were not sure if it was even still alive at this point! We were told not to sack any fish. So why were the bailiffs able to??

Whilst on the matter of the bailiffs fishing the stock lake, they were also fishing Lake 2 at the same time. Apart from Neil, the other bailiff was always away from his rods and could often been seen running to his rods from anywhere on the site when he had a bite. Once again we find this behaviour inappropriate for fish of such huge sizes.

On a Health and Safety matter, the bailiffs regularly used a rowing boat to deposit their rigs at range when fishing the stock lake. When both bailiffs were in the boat together, only one bailiff ever wore a life jacket. There were plenty of young anglers around this week and this is definitely NOT an example the bailiffs should be setting! They are risking their lives for no reason!

On Thursday we found a very large catfish (approx 80lbs) showing signs of distress in our margin. We made several attempts to help it but without any success. We informed the bailiffs who then came and removed it. It was dragged up the bank to the patch of grass near the lodge whereupon it was hit several times over the head with an inappropriate instrument in full view of people sat at the lodge. As it was still alive after this brutality it was then hooked through its tail and lifted into a large black rubbish bin. It was then driven off somewhere.

Please could you confirm which legal organisation I can make an official complaint about fish cruelty?

At the start of the week the bailiffs asked us that if we caught any small catfish that we keep them out of the water where they could then be disposed of. We were not happy with this.

The following morning whilst having breakfast we were informed by anglers fishing Lake 1 that one angler in particular had caught 13 catfish and each one had been thrown behind his swim where they were killed and set on fire. We were also informed that these so called anglers started experimenting with different ways to kill them. The most chilling and horrific was by pouring petrol down their throats whilst still alive and then were set on fire. A child who was fishing this water was meant to have witnessed this act of evil! Unfortunately we never saw this but if we had we would have tried to stop it. This cruel person was a friend of the bailiffs and by all accounts confirmed the bailiffs knew what he was doing. Either way, this is disgusting behaviour from a supposedly premier carp fishery!

After chatting to other anglers experiencing similar troubles as us, I got chatting to a father and son who said that unfortunately they missed the coach and ferry crossing and therefore had to make their own way to the complex. They arrived on Saturday morning 15mins after breakfast had finished. Due to the fact they were hungry, the father asked the chef if he could quickly make them something. The chef said he would cook them something as he understood that it must have been a long journey. Matt overheard their conversation and ordered the chef NOT to make any food as they were late!!!! Once AGAIN we could not believe what we were listening too. Having witnessed all the above mentioned events over the course of the week, it is clearly evident that you do not have one professional person running the fishing complex and this is indeed the Dreamlakes way.

If you believe all the above is perfectly acceptable then you are clearly not fit to run such an establishment. As you can tell, we have not enjoyed our first fishing trip abroad and feel it is only right to spread the word on what is a shambles of a fishing holiday

[Brent62]

what a story to pay all that money and be treated like that I would not go there after hearing this the killing of the fish is enough and the tretment of paying anglers is well out of order.

after speakign to the head bailiff of our club this weekend whilst on th ebank he got speakign baotu there trip to dreamlakes 2 and said that the service they recieved was disgusting they saw a bailiff on th ebank once in the week thye were there totally unacceptable BEWARNED DO NOT GIVE THEM ****HEADS YOUR HARD EARNED FOR A TRIP TO FRANCE

[Callum91]

i was thinking about going there next year... lac royal it is

[stes]

callum thats just one story mate i bet theres a hell of a lot more happy ones

[Callum91]

Originally Posted by stes

callum thats just one story mate i bet theres a hell of a lot more happy ones

im not risking it.. if they are going to be like that once, they will be like that agen

[carpaddict]

iv been dream lakes twice and both times did very well. must admit that i didnt see the baliffs very much, but that didnt bother me. one thing i will say tho is it can be a noisy place, full of chavs. i fished dl3 and dl4. although i have heard some really bad reports on the place, but then again alot of good ones to.

[mt-ed]

I went to Dream lakes last year and enjoyed the experience, the only ones who did have a gripe where the ones who blanked!
I too only saw the bailiff 3 times, once when we first got there and the other two times collecting the rubbish and asking how it was going.
Anyway, why would you want to see the bailiff all the time?
What do you want him to do? Cast out for you, tell you where the spots to cast to, tie your rigs up for you?
Jeez, you have a week to sort yourself out.
Now I did not read the above post but if it is the same as the one on the other site then what do you propose they do with the excess catfish?
They can't transfer them anywhere and he will not be able to sell them.
I know it is wrong to " pour petrol down there throats" but then again, if I was asked to, I would knock any on the head and throw them up the bank for collection later without a minutes thought.
I am now putting myself up for flak here but I had to do the same at the Murrey River in Australia. Too many Carp and some of them would have been UK PBs for a few of my friends here!.
I felt no guilt about doing it, why should I ? It was at the request of the Rangers and other anglers there.
I now have my hard hat on and hiding behind a wall
Keith

[ringo]

after reading the post and subsequent replies, i have to say that it is indicative of todays so called carp anglers, cheap argos gear, and cheap flights/ferries .as for the ballif situation i have to agree that when you run a foreign "profit" making business that you "MUST" have at all times a responsible and sober representative on site at all times, what if someone got burned or fell in and needed cpr . and so onto the fish killing if i was in that position my personal stance would be that "if you want them dead kill them yourself" dont ask normally responsible carefull anglers to do your dirty work for you.im gonna stop now because i feel strongly about badly run business"s letting people down after they have spent what is to some including me a small fortune.

[Tricky]

This is the letter he got back what do you think of this Dear Sir,

We always wish for our anglers who travel to DreamLakes; that they catch loads of really nice fish, enjoy their trip and return home satisfied with their holiday.

It is regrettable that you were unhappy with your holiday on this occasion, however, we have received many comments from other anglers, fishing at DreamLakes at that time, who were very pleased with their holiday and enjoyed their experience. This does not negate your cause for complaint, of course, but the fact that you found your holiday to be unsatisfactory does not, in itself, indicate that we have failed to deliver the holiday that we were contractually obliged to provide.

Yours Sincerely,

Graham Green


Commercial Manager
Gone Fishing
81 Villa Road
Colchester
CO3 0RN
UK

[kevw]

Agree with Mt-Ed, personally wouldn't want to see a bailiff too often as I would go to get away from hassle. Admittedly there should at least be contact no.s for emergencies, but who honestly expects to go through Health and Safety procedures Does the guy expect to be wearing a hard hat and hi-vis, it's a weeks fishing not contract work for ICI

The catfish should have been disposed of out of view, last place I went to the small ones were kept in a net and appeared on the menu the following day, cooked to order. Good job there wasn't a problem with tufties on the water during his trip


Are some things that don't make pleasant reading though, but some people can be very petty and often don't help themselves.

[stes]

[quote=kevw;64215] but who honestly expects to go through Health and Safety procedures

lol thats what i thought

[daveabbott]

As for the small cat fish I agree with the removal, last time I went to France I was asked to kill all Bream and small cat fish as they stop the carp from growing bigger so I did! Not a problem as if it helps the carp get bigger all the better.

As for the 80lb cat geting hit over the head that takes the p**s and so does bayliffs standing up with fish for pictures! That is fish cruelty and I was cringing whilst reading about that large catfish.

Not Acceptable by any means for big fish to be treated like that

[FURNI]

Health and safety is something i have never thought of when fishing abroad but is something that needs looking at. I fished in france and ended up with a blood clot in my leg and all we could was drive home and for me be to be treated at home, but if its a life threat and you need to be treated asap then you need a bailiff who knows what to do. Agree with tricky if something had happened to his uncle then the fishery would be liable surely???

[TEZZA]

Originally Posted by daveabbott

last time I went to France I was asked to kill all Bream and small cat fish as they stop the carp from growing bigger so I did! Not a problem as if it helps the carp get bigger all the better.