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Villa Rental - can't get deposit back.. help!
lexuslass
Posts: 2,283 Forumite
I am looking for some advice please.
We booked a villa in France for 10 days at the end of August - paid a £300 deposit.
On arrival we were taken around the villa by the owners who made a point of pointing out lots of different things that we should do (it was actually their home and they were staying with friends while we were staying at the villa - they were very particular...putting paper towels between the pots and pans etc). We respected this in the time we were there!
We have three children (Ages 11, 3 and 2) and we went with some friends who have two children (Ages 3 and 1).
Our friends one year old pulled herself up onto a table which was from a nest of tables and it fell over onto her - the nest of tables had glass tops on which weren't secure and the top of this particular one smashed. We told the owners at the first opportunity (we didn't have to wait long to see them as they were constantly coming round spending 2 to 3 hours during the middle of the day "gardening") and she pointed out that she herself had broken a couple of them whilst she had been cleaning.
We spent the whole of the last day of our holidays cleaning the property (more so than we would normally do when renting a property as it was their home).. We even went out and purchased cleaning goods so we could clean floors, windows etc. We cleaned tops of cupboards (which clearly hadn't been cleaned for a while!).
On our return, we received an email saying that they had asked for the deposit to be refunded (we booked it through an agent on Owners Direct), but there were a few things:
They'd found a bread roll underneath a sofa (we never consumed a bread roll the whole time we were there!)
A frying pan was no longer non-stick and there was a scorched plastic slice and an oven dish had a chip out of it - we cannot say for sure whether we did or didn't do this but don't have a problem with reimbursing them.
Apparently, there were two flower sprays in one of the bedrooms which were no longer there - I cannot remember seeing them. The guy said they belonged to his late mother and wanted them back... they haven't appeared in any of the suitcases - but I can't comprehend why someone would leave something of sentimental value out on show!
They also noticed that there was some crayon on one of the walls - we DID notice this when we were cleaning but on looking closely, it was actually a word written on the wall - none of our children can write!
The deposit wasn't given back to us so I chased this up and the agent said she was holding onto it in view of the above. I wrote a response defending the items we didn't believe were our fault to which I received a reply back stating that they had also found olives underneath the dining room table.
They are also now claiming that there were several pieces of furniture damaged which have had to be sent away for repair! This is the first we have heard of - we were so careful while we were there and our children certainly do not go around bashing furniture!
I am so angry and this is now spoiling a nice holiday we had with friends - we have rented holiday villas for the last 8 or so holidays and have never had a problem getting our deposit back.
I can't help but think that the agent is looking to claw some money back for the 10% reduction we asked for after booking - she had initially booked us into the wrong property and after paying her, the property we stayed in actually cost more.
There was also a note in the property saying the owners could clean the property for a cost of 80 euros - we declined this saying we'd do it ourself.
Sorry for such a long post, thanks for reading. I just don't know where to go from here!
We booked a villa in France for 10 days at the end of August - paid a £300 deposit.
On arrival we were taken around the villa by the owners who made a point of pointing out lots of different things that we should do (it was actually their home and they were staying with friends while we were staying at the villa - they were very particular...putting paper towels between the pots and pans etc). We respected this in the time we were there!
We have three children (Ages 11, 3 and 2) and we went with some friends who have two children (Ages 3 and 1).
Our friends one year old pulled herself up onto a table which was from a nest of tables and it fell over onto her - the nest of tables had glass tops on which weren't secure and the top of this particular one smashed. We told the owners at the first opportunity (we didn't have to wait long to see them as they were constantly coming round spending 2 to 3 hours during the middle of the day "gardening") and she pointed out that she herself had broken a couple of them whilst she had been cleaning.
We spent the whole of the last day of our holidays cleaning the property (more so than we would normally do when renting a property as it was their home).. We even went out and purchased cleaning goods so we could clean floors, windows etc. We cleaned tops of cupboards (which clearly hadn't been cleaned for a while!).
On our return, we received an email saying that they had asked for the deposit to be refunded (we booked it through an agent on Owners Direct), but there were a few things:
They'd found a bread roll underneath a sofa (we never consumed a bread roll the whole time we were there!)
A frying pan was no longer non-stick and there was a scorched plastic slice and an oven dish had a chip out of it - we cannot say for sure whether we did or didn't do this but don't have a problem with reimbursing them.
Apparently, there were two flower sprays in one of the bedrooms which were no longer there - I cannot remember seeing them. The guy said they belonged to his late mother and wanted them back... they haven't appeared in any of the suitcases - but I can't comprehend why someone would leave something of sentimental value out on show!
They also noticed that there was some crayon on one of the walls - we DID notice this when we were cleaning but on looking closely, it was actually a word written on the wall - none of our children can write!
The deposit wasn't given back to us so I chased this up and the agent said she was holding onto it in view of the above. I wrote a response defending the items we didn't believe were our fault to which I received a reply back stating that they had also found olives underneath the dining room table.
They are also now claiming that there were several pieces of furniture damaged which have had to be sent away for repair! This is the first we have heard of - we were so careful while we were there and our children certainly do not go around bashing furniture!
I am so angry and this is now spoiling a nice holiday we had with friends - we have rented holiday villas for the last 8 or so holidays and have never had a problem getting our deposit back.
I can't help but think that the agent is looking to claw some money back for the 10% reduction we asked for after booking - she had initially booked us into the wrong property and after paying her, the property we stayed in actually cost more.
There was also a note in the property saying the owners could clean the property for a cost of 80 euros - we declined this saying we'd do it ourself.
Sorry for such a long post, thanks for reading. I just don't know where to go from here!
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Comments
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Not in St Maxine is it ?!0
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nope, but the cleaning bit u mentioned sounded just like what i endured!! Cant offer any advice sorry, by the sounds of it, you stand to lose your deposit as its not uncommon for private renters to do this.... Holidayer's rely on reading feedback on places where you went so know to avoid in the future....0
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Can't help you either I'm afraid, but we have recently returned from Florida and had a very similar experience. $500 deposit withheld due to unfounded allegations against us.
We had a wonderful time there but heard nothing about getting our deposit back, or anything about the 'problems' until I made an enquiry 10 days later.
Put us all off renting anywhere ever again.
Have rented in Brittany and Wales before without problem, but I'm now wondering just how widespread this type of dishonest practise is among people renting holiday properties out.0 -
it was actually their home and they were staying with friends while we were staying at the villa
Does the property have other bookings? Sounds like they are new to letting and weren't prepared for things that 'come with the teritory' when letting.
Charging for breakages is fair enough.
The cleaning charges sound excessive though.
Ask for photos to support their claims.0 -
Does the property have other bookings? Sounds like they are new to letting and weren't prepared for things that 'come with the teritory' when letting.
Charging for breakages is fair enough.
The cleaning charges sound excessive though.
Ask for photos to support their claims.
Thanks for your replies... I emailed (the agent) over 2 weeks ago asking them to give more details on the broken furniture... haven't had a reply and have since resent my email.. still nothing back from them!!!
I think the couple who own the house may be new to letting - the agents who we booked with certainly aren't!
http://www.dordogneservices.co.uk/
They still have our £300 deposit!!0 -
If you use https://www.villarenters.com they use a third party for payment, and there is an option to pay "insurance" rather than a higher deposit.
We chose to do this when we travelled to Orlando, iirc it was £25 rather than risking £500 deposit.Member of the first Mortgage Free in 3 challenge, no.19
Balance 19th April '07 = minus £27,640
Balance 1st November '09 = mortgage paid off with £1903 left over. Title deeds are now ours.0 -
I feel sorry for you it does seem ridiculous to keep your deposit for the reasons stated- even if they did find a bread roll is it really that difficult to pick it up:eek:
I think villa renting is a bit up and and down as unless its a well established rental with positive feedback you are taking a gamble.
i rented a villa last year for 5 weeks over xmas-when i arrived the oven was broke an the only option to cook with was a dodgy bbq (no gas) which i found a cat in:eek:
also my bedroom had its own indoor pool a few nights wih water leaking through the aircon and plug sockets-which broke-no wonder!
although sky was advertised we couldnt get many channels at all-mostly welsh or african for an odd reason and a man did keep trying cards for us but still never got nothing else.
the jacuzzi (big reason for renting-broke down just before xmas day and didnt work for the whole time till we left-15 jan.:(
the good news was after having a latin argument with the argentinian bloke(me in my dominican spanish shouting about xmas and the poor children with no xmas dinner:rotfl:) who was sopposed to be doing repairs, we then had a breakthrough as the rental womans father came to visit and took me to ikea to pick out my own cooker bless him. his nice attitude made it all seem better i think. we did get our deposit back after the holiday and despite all that i would go back:p
The claims put before you sound petty and stupid- you would think in todays climate they would want to keep an established base of returning customers. Im not sure if you will have much joy in getting it back but good luck and remembe as another poster said to make sure others know about your experience as they may rethink after they start losing bookings!***MSE...My.Special.Escape***0 -
Thanks for your replies... I emailed (the agent) over 2 weeks ago asking them to give more details on the broken furniture... haven't had a reply and have since resent my email.. still nothing back from them!!!
I think the couple who own the house may be new to letting - the agents who we booked with certainly aren't!
http://www.dordogneservices.co.uk/
They still have our £300 deposit!!
They are registered in the UK by the looks of the website (or at least use a UK number) so I would take them to small claims court if you are not happy. I had a problem with a rental in Spain a few years ago and decided to try and reclaim some of the money. The agent had offices in Spain and the UK and tried to claim they weren't liable as they were based in Spain as was the property I rented. However, I had paid the rental in sterling to their UK address and judgement went my way (in part because the agent clearly throught the court wouldn't accept my claim so did not bother to represent themselves or provide any further evidence against my claim).
Since then I have never bothered with agents and have always booked directly with owners via Owners Direct or Holiday Rentals.0 -
I'd take cclarke12's advice and also use the experience to put a very negative review on the website or on tripadvisor
If you paid by credit card you can also try to get your money back via the credit card company.I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!0
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