can i claim back my deposit?..please help

kdc2008

hi

i recently booked a holiday, which ive been on, i decided to rent a private villa for the week. i payed £300 for it plus a £100 deposit which was supposed to be refundable, for damage and breakages!!!!

a week after returning from my holiday i emailed the owner asking when the deposit would be put back in my bank, she told me she couldnt refund me as she had to use it to play her cleaning management for laundry and rubbish disposal.... she said we used too much linen and towels and left a weeks rubbish that we were to dispose off???????... as for too much linen/towels...we are a family of 5.. myself and husband, 13yr old daughter and 1yr old twins....
she said that i could of saved myself the hassle if i'd of read the manual on where to dispose of the rubbish!!! i must admit i didnt read the manual...im on holiday and running around after twins...!!! no time to read !
have i got any hope in getting the deposit back?...after all there was no damage or breakages!!!

kareen

Warrington-Mike

Tell the women if she wants anyone else to wash sheets and towells, and put the rubish out - for £100 a throw, I am always available!!!

TomsMom

Did you have any terms and conditions sent to you when you made your booking? This is usual and normally spells out what the deposit is for. If purely for breakages and damage then the owner shouldn't be using the deposit for paying the laundry bill.

Yes, you probably should have read the manual which told you where to dispose of the rubbish. The manual usually tells you a lot of other necessary information as well so I can't understand why neither of you read it. If there was a washing machine in the villa it might have said that you could use as much linen as you like as long as you washed it

How much linen did you use? I would have thought that for a week the beds would probably be made up and a spare set left in the accommodation. If there was more than this perhaps the owner is giving out the wrong signal by leaving it in the villa for people to assume it's there for them to use.

Check your ts and cs of booking.

debs66_2

i agree with TomsMom. i rent out my boss's apartment for him, and we request a security bond and give out a manual. in our rental contact, we stipulate that the bond is for the return of the keys, and any breakages/damage etc. we always ask for rubbish to be taken to the street, as that is how it is done over there. it is annoying to clear up a weeks worth of rubbish, but the cleaners tend to gripe and not much else. no charges certainly.

we only ever leave the correct amount of linen/towels for the amount of people staying, so i figure it's not your fault if they gave you free rein with the airing cupboard. laundery should be included in the price, and they should factor it in if a large group are staying.

i think you should check your paperwork again, and if it says the bond is for breakages only, then she should return it. i think she should also have another look at her contract and tighten it up.

you should also perhaps read the manuals on any other future visits, so that you don't get this hassle now, and the seller doesn't get it either.

ttoli

Tosh, My neighbour lets his Villa out here, and absorbs the cleaning bill from his profit.

kdc2008

hi

when i booked the villa i was never sent any terms and conditions... i payed for it over the phone and got reciepts sent via the post... apart from that the only other correcpondence was directions which were emailed to me...

as for the bedding, the double bed was made up when we arrived... i made the single bed for my daughter and 2 travel cots for the twins... no other bedding was used... a washing machine was not installed in the villa ... in total we used about 5 bath towels and 3 hand towels..
under one of the beds was a big laundry bag full of bedding which was never touched...
the villa was the way i found it, the night before we left i mopped and cleaned..... no damage was caused...nothing was broken...

can anyone tell me where i can go from here?..

TomsMom

kdc2008 wrote: »

when i booked the villa i was never sent any terms and conditions... i payed for it over the phone and got reciepts sent via the post... apart from that the only other correcpondence was directions which were emailed to me...

How did you find the villa? Was it through some kind of letting agency?

as for the bedding, the double bed was made up when we arrived... i made the single bed for my daughter and 2 travel cots for the twins... no other bedding was used... a washing machine was not installed in the villa ... in total we used about 5 bath towels and 3 hand towels..
under one of the beds was a big laundry bag full of bedding which was never touched...

There should have been enough beds made up and ready for your party if the owner knew how many were coming and I don't think that's an excessive amount of towels for five of you.

the villa was the way i found it, the night before we left i mopped and cleaned..... no damage was caused...nothing was broken...

Gosh - were you told you had to clean it yourself? Most rentals include a cleaning fee in the rent.

can anyone tell me where i can go from here?..

If it was through a holiday letting agency then check their ts and cs. If just a private arrangement then I would be indicating to the owner that she should have made it very clear at the time of booking that there was a cleaning fee involved and that you think one set of sheets per bed and one bath towel per person was reasonable, and three hand towels for a week reasonable also. That just leaves the issue of the rubbish and tell her that you think £100 for rubbish disposal is ridiculous and you would like your deposit back.

debs66_2

personally, i would be firm in requesting the deposit back, and ask her for proof in writing that you were informed that laundery/cleaning would be taken out of the bond.

of course, she won't have anything, because she's making up her rental rules as she goes along.

i presume she wasn't in a position to take your payments by credit card, as if she was you could discuss this matter with them for a chargeback of the £100. i'm no authority on this, so the only other option i can see is small claims court. would you be prepared to make the effort...?

if you did, i can't see her winning, and she may just cave and refund without the hassle, especially seeing as you would claim in your town, and she would have to attend there for the hearing if she let it go that far.

TriciaE

This makes me so mad ! We rent our apt out & I have never yet deducted anything from the damage deposit even for minor breakages. I belong to a forum of rental owners so can tell you that although not everyone uses T&C's, most will still have details in the owners manual and yes, you should have read through it.

It seems quite common that deductions are made for not disposing of rubbish at the end of your stay and for additional cleaning if the property was left 'unacceptable' but these are minor amounts and never warrant £100.

As for the linen, that is outrageous. Yes, guests can sometimes use far too much linen which I learned to my cost, the answer is simple, lock it away !! If it is there then it is the owners fault for making it available. Anyway, I get charged 35 euros to wash bed linen for 6 people and 2 towels pp, 55 euros for a full clean of a 3 bed 3 bath 3 balcony apt, so to charge you THAT much is taking HUGE liberties.

Where did you find the property ? If it was on Holday Rentals they do have a feedback system. Stand your ground and tell her that as you did not sign anything agreeing to these charges i.e there were no T&C's then she has no right to charge you such exhorbitant fees. Also ask for proof of excessive linen use. Tell her you have been in touch with the citizens advice bureau & are giving her 7 days to either refund the deposit or provide evidence of her accusations.

Btw, just had a cancellation for 9th August for our apt if anyone wants a good discount on a last minute break.....and I use T&C's