Reclaiming deposit on Portugal Villa

margaretd

I just wondered if anyone has had a similar experience to us this summer. We booked a villa for £3000 for a fortnight plus a £200 security deposit. The villa was lovely but the owners were very strange to say the least, visited us 4 times and seemed to resent us being in their villa. I think they had fallen on hard times as they moved out to a nearby village so they could rent the villa out over the summer. There were some problems, very inadequate air con and a plague of ants but we decided it wasn't worth complaining as overall we enjoyed ourselves very much. Before we came home we thoroughly cleaned the villa and left it better than before! We had been home three weeks and still not heard about the return of the £200 so I emailed. After 4 days they replied saying that the villa had been left in such a mess that we owed them money including £130 for towels that were now unusable!! These were the oldest and hardest towels ever, in fact we went out and bought some others as they nearly removed our skin! This is obviously a ploy to keep our deposit and its not worth spending any money trying to get it back from Portugal, but I'm just so annoyed by this pack of lies. We've rented properties for the past 10 years and never had a single problem. Has anyone any ideas what we can do?

HXDave

if you booked direct through the villa owner, then i guess nothing much. taking legal action will far far outweigh the money you are seeking back. so with this, i would just forget it and put it down to experience, and maybe name & shame to warn other users.

if, on the other hand, the booking was made through a 3rd party, depending on if this company is uk based, you might have a better chance

brodev

I would suggest that you threaten to report them to the local town council as they will need to have registration to let out their villa. If they are ripping you off then the probability is that they are ripping off the Portuguese authorities regarding registration and taxation etc.

mchale

Have a look over on "lay my hat" someone might be able to give you advice

lagoslife

Sorry to hear about your experience.

Towels often get ruined, it's one of the hazards of letting. What does your booking contract say about damage deposit refunds and deductions?

Ideally the owner should have contacted you immediately about the towels with supporting evidence of the damage (photos). Not leave it 3 weeks.

Where did you book the villa, agency, online ad?

Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do other than try to reason with the owner. The small claims court is one option (in the UK), but the owner is in Portugal.

I hope this experience doesn't put you off.

ailuro2

Write back telling them to provide proof, tell them you will be contacting the website you found them on to let them know they are scamming renters out of their deposits.

Next time, take pictures when you arrive and when you leave, that way you'll have a bit more evidence.

which website did you find the property on?

margaretd

Thanks for all your replies. I know towels can be spoiled easily, but these were beyond redemption when we got them! I booked the villa through Home Away and I have lodged a formal complaint with them, though I don't know what they can do. I shall also post a review; I have given up hope of my deposit though, next time I'll book with an English owner, I know it dosen't guarantee your deposit back but at least you can take some action. I'm also looking into reporting them to the town council. Thanks again for your help

martindow

It seems to me that the owner sees the deposit as an additional revenue stream although £3k every two weeks sounds good to me!

I would pursue Home Away. Did you pay money through them or directly to the villa owner?

margaretd

No, Home Away is just an advertising website, so all booking and payment is direct through the owner. However, since looking into the necessity to have a licence, I don't think that he can have one as a lot of the requirements are not present in the villa. I'm now asking him for details of his licence, so I'll see where that gets me. He obviously thinks that because he's in Portugal there's nothing we can do to him but we'll see!!

littlereddevil

did you pay by credit card? I would definately tell him you are going to report him to the council and do it!

lagoslife

I would be surprised if Homeaway pursue this, they are just a rental portal. However, at least you can post a review of your experience on the site.

next time I'll book with an English owner

I hope this hasn't put you off private rentals, there are a lot of caring owners out there.