House Rules & Respect Policy

House Rules and Respect Policy Followed by Review Policy

Wall and Lakes Holiday Cottage, Brampton, Cumbria

Version 1.5: Updated August 2026

Thank you for your support, consideration and understanding, these rules complement our terms and conditions of booking and aim to help us all live in harmony together and for you to enjoy your stay, ensuring it is a place you feel happy, safe, and secure in, loving to come back to time and time again. Remember if you have any concerns at all, we are always happy to help, please just contact us.

Whilst using the Property, please adhere to the following House Rules and the full Booking Terms and conditions, available on our website and copy in cottage information folder.

Lead Guest: You are responsible for the supervision of all members of your party. The lead guest must provide their permanent residential address. In addition, to meet legal requirements, all guests must provide full name & age (if over 16), if non-EU, nationality, and passport/next destination details.
Arrival & Departure Times: Arrival between 5pm and 10pm. Departure by 10am on day of departure.
Please respect local community, keep noise levels to a minimum, especially between 8pm and 8am.
No smoking, e-cigarettes or vapes inside the property.
No visitors allowed to visit or stay at the Property, unless by prior agreement with us. Max occupancy 4.
No pets or other animals are allowed. Except for registered assistance dogs, agreed in advance. Where assistance animals are permitted, you must not leave them unattended in the Property.
Fire risks such as candles, barbeques, firepits, fireworks, lanterns are not permitted at the Property. Please refer to our fire safety risk assessment in the cottage or request a copy, if required.
Drone and unmanned vehicles are not to be used on or from our site without permission.
No EV Charging: You are not permitted to use domestic power sockets to charge an electric or hybrid vehicle, including electric bikes and scooters.
Strictly no events, parties, illegal or anti-social behaviour. In such incidents we reserve the right to request your, and all guests in the group, immediate departure and, when appropriate we will inform police. Note: guests will be liable, charged accordingly, for malicious damage or vandalism.
Parking & approach: Please drive slowly & carefully along Tree Gardens, this lane is an unadopted road and can be uneven and rough at times, we take no responsibility for any vehicle damage. Park vehicles (maximum 2) in the driveway, ensuring the single-track lane is kept clear at all times.
Accessibility: Take care moving around garden and entrance steps to the property. The driveway and gardens are on a gradual slop with steps. Please ensure the property meets your needs and refer to our accessibility guidance, available on our website and a copy in the cottae information folder. Ask if any queries.
Follow the country codee. do not enter the farmers field directly behind Wall & Lakes cottage, being respectful of the farmers land and livestock.
Keys: Please return to the key safe on departure. Guests will be responsible for any replacement costs for new keys and/or new locks if required.
Breakages, faulty or damaged items: Please advise us, as soon as possible, of any items that may need replaced or repaired for your use, safety and enjoyment of the cottage.
Cleaning on departure: Please give the cottage a general clean, removing all rubbish and all your personal possessions. We cannot take responsibility for any personal possessions you leave behind.
No third-party services or hired equipment to be brought into the garden or cottage.
No access to the small side garage or fenced off area/shed behind.
Owner access required every 7 days for long bookings to complete cleaning or required maintenance.
Complaints/concerns, We care and if you have any concerns at all please contact us, during your stay, so that we can try to resolve any issues as quickly as possible.

version 1.5 August 2026

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Consumer Reviews Policy

Wall and Lakes Holiday Cottage, Brampton, Cumbria

Definitions
- 1 The following defined terms apply to this Consumer Reviews Policy:

Agent (we, us, our)	a representative acting on behalf of the owners.
Booking	a consumer’s reservation of the Property.
OTAs	Online Travel Agencies, such as Airbnb
Owner	the Property owner who is deemed a trader under consumer rights legislation. Alan and Shirley Jones
Property	the property, Wall and Lakes holiday cottage, Aysgarth, Brampton, Cumbria provided by the Owners or Agency on behalf of the Owner for the Booking.
Reviewer (you, your)	the consumer leaving, or considering leaving, a review.
Service	the agency service provided by the Agency or Owner
Third Party Review Platform	any third party platform used by the Agent or Owner to obtain, manage or present consumer reviews and review information.
Website	www.wallandlakesholidaycottage.co.uk

Who can submit a review
- 1 We welcome reviews about your experience with us and your stay at the Property, directly and via Third Party Review Platforms.
- 2 We send all our customers who have made a direct Booking with us an invitation to submit a review. For more information about leaving reviews, please see the How to leave a review section.
- 3 We also welcome reviews about your experience by submitting a review via Third Party Review Platforms.
- 4 You can leave a review about a recent experience with us even if you haven’t made a Booking. You can review the Service provided by us (for example, you can review how we handled your enquiry).
- 5 You must be over 18 to leave a review.
We do not incentivise reviews
- 1 We do not offer any incentives for reviews (whether positive or negative).
How to leave a review
- 1 To leave a review (for direct bookings) with us directly about your stay at the Property, you need to respond to the feedback request provided via email at the end of your stay at the Property or leave a review in our guest book in the cottage or add a review direct to our website/Reviews. If a review is not left, a reminder email may be sent. If you have any questions, please contact us via the contact details on the Website. Of course, if you prefer not to leave a review then this is also fine.
- 2 We also use Third Party Review Platforms to collect reviews about the Service. Information about the Third Party Review Platforms we use, including links to guidance produced by the Third Party Review Platforms on submitting reviews can be found at the end of this policy.
- 3 Links to our Third Party Review Platforms are either:
  - 3.1 sent automatically via email to consumers who make a Booking;
  - 3.2 accessible via the Website; and/or
  - 3.3 provided directly by the Third Party Review Platform.
- 4 If you booked your stay via an OTA, the OTA may request your feedback directly. The OTA’s review collection process and policies will apply. Links to guidance produced by the OTAs we use on submitting reviews can be found at the end of this policy.
- 5 You can also leave feedback via publicly available websites such as social media channels, i.e. Facebook, and Google public review function.
Review Standards
- 1 Your review must:
  - 1.1 Reflect your genuine experience either staying in the property or enquiring about the service/property (both positives and negatives).
  - 1.2 Not be incentivised in any way.
  - 1.3 Not relate to a product or service you are connected with (for example, because you (or someone in your family) has a financial interest in or works for the business that provides it).
  - 1.4 Not manipulate ratings, for example, you cannot submit multiple reviews for the same product or service, across the same or multiple platforms.

Where and how we display reviews
- 1 We publish all reviews that comply with our Review Standards (whether positive or negative). Sometimes we may remove old reviews and make clear the time period of review information being displayed. We also reserve the right to respond to any reviews left.
- 2 Reviews for our Service or Properties made via Third Party Review Platforms or directly with OTAs may appear on the Third Party Review Platforms/OTAs website. Our Website also links to reviews made on some Third Party Review Platforms and OTA sites.
- 3 We may display review information such as an overall rating by averaging the ratings received.
- 4 We reserve the right to hide all reviews (whether genuine or fake) and cease taking reviews at any time.
We may use your review in our marketing
- 1 We may include all (or a representative part) of your review in our marketing material in any media (for example, on our website, in a brochure or in advertising). Your full identity will not be revealed.
Please report suspicious reviews
- 1 All reviews must comply with clause 5: Review Standards.
- 2 If you think any review is fake or otherwise does not comply with clause 5, please report to us via the contact details on our Website.
- 3 If you think any review submitted to a Third Party Review Platform is fake or otherwise does not comply with clause 5, please report to the Third Party Review Platform via the Third Party Review Platform website. Please see the end of this policy for useful links. Please also advise us via the contact details on our Website.
How we investigate and deal with suspicious reviews
- 1 If our own monitoring or a report from you or someone else suggests that a direct review does not comply with the Review Standards, we will promptly investigate.
- 2 Our investigation shall commence on notification (clause 9.1) and we will use reasonable endeavours to complete the investigation within one month. Investigations shall be conducted by the owners, with appropriate legal/professional advice sort, if required.
- 3 We may:
  - 3.1 immediately remove it (or not publish it, where it has been detected before publication). We will do this where we are certain it is non-compliant.
  - 3.2 investigate it further (which may involve contacting the reviewer for evidence that it is compliant) and flag it as a possibly fake review until our investigation is complete or remove the possibly fake review until our investigation is complete. If we then determine the review is non-compliant we will permanently remove it.
- 4 If we identify one review as non-compliant we may remove all reviews submitted by the same reviewer and refuse to publish any further reviews from the same reviewer.
- 5 If we remove a review or are investigating it, we will not include that review in any aggregated review score.
- 6 If you disagree with our decision as to whether a review is compliant, you can contact us via the contact details on our Website.
- 7 If you have any complaints or concern during your stay, please contact the Owners who will try and resolve any concerns you may have. Please ensure you raise any issues promptly with the Owners during your stay providing them with an opportunity to try and resolve the issue as quickly as possible. After your stay if the matter was not resolved please submit your complaint in writing within 7 days of departure. The Owners will investigate any complaints and provide feedback as quickly as possible.
- 8 Where we host reviews regarding the products or services of other traders (e.g., reviews about the Owner and/or the Owner’s Property) and, on assessment, deem the trader responsible for the banned reviews, we may take the following additional steps if we deem necessary on an assessment of the facts:
  - 8.1 notify consumers that the trader has benefited from banned reviews by putting a clear notice on the website;
  - 8.2 terminate the commercial relationship with the trader; and/or
  - 8.3 notify the CMA of the trader's breaches of the banned practices.
- 9 For information on how the Third Party Review Platforms sanctions people who submit fake reviews, please see the Third Party Review Platform’s website.
- If a review is removed from a Third Party Review Platform or otherwise does not comply with our Review Standards, we will remove it from our website/social media.

20^th August 2026, Version 1

Schedule 1 – Third Party Review Platforms – as of August 2026

Platform	Use of the Platform	Link to guidance provided by the Platform
Third Party Review Platform
Simply Owners	Reviews of the Service	Simply Owners Review Policy
Independent Cottages	We may post a copy of a Review you made on our Independent Cottages advertisement page.	https://www.independentcottages.co.uk They do not currently appear to have a specific Review Policy, although, you can check their general terms and conditions.
Google Business	Reviews of the Service	https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/7422880?hl=en-GB&utm_source=chatgpt.com
Facebook	Reviews/ Recommendations of the service	https://www.facebook.com/help/153159431903167?locale=en_GB&utm_source=chatgpt.com Often referred to as “Recommendations” by Facebook.
OTA
AirBnB	Reviews of the Property where the Booking was made via Airbnb	Reviews - Airbnb Help Centre
Vrbro	Reviews of the property where the booking was made via Vrbro	https://www.vrbo.com/en-gb/help/articles/What-are-the-review-guidelines

Internal Risk Assessment

Governance
Who in the business will take ownership of the internal review process (and this risk assessment and policy)?	The Owners
How frequently will you conduct a risk assessment?	Annually or as and when required
Detection
Who will conduct the detection process e.g., checking the website for fake reviews?	The Owners
How frequently will the detection process happen.	A minimum of twice a year and more frequently during busy periods.
Do you have, or plan to use, any software to assist with detection? Note, software alone is unlikely to be sufficient.	No, although we may use appropriate software, as advised by an IT consultant/professional, in order to assist with the detection.
Will you involve a third party in the detection process? E.g., if you outsource your marketing.	We may, if we feel it is necessary, involve a third party for advice and guidance in the detection process.
What indicators will you use to identify fake reviews?	Indicators of a fake review may include: a review that purports to be, but is not, based on a person’s genuine experience. Multiple reviews, across the same or different platforms. A retaliatory or clearly misleading review. They can be positive or negative, in any form.
Investigation and escalation
Who will conduct the investigation if a suspected fake review is found?	The owners
What would be a reasonable time frame deadlines with investigations?	One month, or as soon as possible after that.
What steps will be followed during an investigation?	Confidentiality and respect. When possible and appropriate the owners will always first try and address any genuine complaints they are made aware of in a timely and reasonable manner. Try to ascertain whether the review is fake, this may include contacting the person who has apparently left the review, if possible and considered appropriate to do so. If the review is considered fake, then every effort will be made to have it removed. The Owners may contact the OTA for advice/support where appropriate and may provide them with evidence if required.
Removal and remedial action
What criteria will be used to decide whether a review should be removed or amended?	Checked against the standards as set out in the review policy.
How will you ensure reviews are removed from all displays? E.g., website, social media, aggregate totals.	Fake Reviews in our in-cottage guest book and on our direct website may be removed pending investigation. Or a response from the Owners may be published explaining that this review is being investigated as potentially misleading or fake. When on other platforms/websites/social media/google/OTA’s their procedures will be followed in requesting the fake review is removed and any appropriate evidence will be forwarded to them. Pending the outcome of investigation the Owners may respond to the review and may flag that it is being investigated as potentially misleading or fake. If it proves difficult to remove a fake review the Owners reserve their right to seek further advice and guidance.
Incentivised reviews
Do you offer (or plan to offer) incentives for reviews? If so, in what form?	No
How will the incentivised nature of reviews be clearly disclosed?	n/a
What controls ensure incentivised reviews reflect genuine experiences?	n/a
Publishing processes
How do you publish reviews? What is the display process?	We leave our in-cottage guest book inside the holiday home for all guests to see. We publish guest book reviews (where consent has been given, by ticking yes/sure share in the guest book) on the Review page of our website, www.wallandlakesholidaycottage.co.uk Guests can also leave reviews direct onto our website if they wish to do so. We may also share these reviews on Simply Owners, Independent Cottages, Google business or Social Media (we do not provide full names, only first names, or use the description provided, such as “The Jones family”). Guests who directly leave reviews on OTA’s, such as Airbnb, will appreciate that the OTA will publish the review on their website.
How are aggregated ratings, review counts or rankings calculated?	Reviews on Airbnb are aggregated by them. Owners do not aggregate ratings for other reviews and do not sort/rank reviews, other than in date order they are submitted.
Complaint management
How can consumers raise concerns about reviews?	By contacting owners direct via our website: www.wallandlakesholidaycottage.co.uk Under the Find/Contact Us section, or via our email on wallandlakesholidaycottage@outlook.com Owners encourage guests to advise them of any complaints or concerns as soon as possible during their stay, so they can address any issues and try to resolve them as quickly as possible.
How will complaints be handled?	We will always handle any complaints respectfully and encourage our guests to let us know of any concerns they may have during their stay. We aim to resolve any issues or concerns as quickly and efficiently as possible.