We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
Poor UK Holiday accommodation - advice please!
Atomik1
Posts: 51 Forumite
Hi,
I posted on here a little while ago about problems myself & a friend had with UK holiday accommodation we had booked online in June and the very poor standard that we found upon arrival and how it didn't match a lot of the online description etc. Examples include stating it had a new bathroom (it didn't), stating it was luxurious & modern etc, yet a lot of the furnishings were obviously old & second-hand with stains and some broken. We had a wired up wall socket hanging off the wall with exposed wiring in the lounge, stained ceilings, a sash window being propped up by a block of wood balanced on top of a pot of varnish, cracked kitchen window, loose & stained flooring, front door handle loose, and even a leaking kitchen ceiling! (amongst other things) We pointed things out to the owner but nothing was done despite them having access to our room. We complained twice about the leaking ceiling as we were very concerned as it was running down the walls over kitchen sockets, and we were just told to turn the sockets off and move the fridge... we did not even get so much as an apology. We took photos and when we got home we decided to write to the owner to complain and at the same time contacted their local tourist office to ask their advice.
The Tourist Office said they would send someone to take a look & get back to us. The owner then oddly said to us it was HIS idea to call in an inspector and he would not respond to our complaint until after seeing the Inspectors report.
Anyway, to cut this LONG story short... the Inspector's report was not as expected at all, as it used very emotive language against us stating we were acting in a suspicious manner, that it must have been due to the bad weather than we got disgruntled and not due to the accommodation.. that we were counter-productive in complaining & taking photos! And that the owner was new to the business so could be excused errors and the issues we raised were only small! He referred to the owner by his first name throughout the report as though he were a friend and rather strangely he even addressed an issue that we did not even raise about a noisy pub opposite, stating it was not the owners fault the noise came into the rooms - but we didn't mention that, so that must be another complainant maybe? Altogether it just seemed very unprofessional. But the owner states that as far as he is concerned the Report shows that nothing we complained about could be upheld.
He then offered £100 gesture of goodwill payment, but stipulated he would only pay it as long as we agreed to sign a sheet of paper he attached to his email declaring that we understand he was free from liability and to forego our rights to put any review or post any of our photos of his establishment on the internet or any other medium. If we did we would not only have to pay the money back but add on a interest charge of 3% per DAY, plus fees etc etc.... We told him we were not happy to sign something on plain (unheaded) paper without knowing where it was going to be stored and which quite frankly breaches our freedom of expression. He has said that if we don't sign it within 2 weeks we lose the £100 payment and he may even take action against us!! He also told us he doesn't care about legal acts & regulations we have mentioned in the past, we sign it or lose it.
What a mess... all we wanted was an apology and some form of recompense. We paid good money for that apartment which was dire, and he knows it, or else why would he be so concerned about who see's our photos?
Any advice on whether we should sign this agreement (and how legal it would be in the first place) would be gratefully received. Part of my just wants to sign and get it all over with, but another part thinks that people like that should not get away with renting out such accommodation. We did say we might take him to the small claims court, but as yet we have not followed that up, maybe we should reconsider?
I posted on here a little while ago about problems myself & a friend had with UK holiday accommodation we had booked online in June and the very poor standard that we found upon arrival and how it didn't match a lot of the online description etc. Examples include stating it had a new bathroom (it didn't), stating it was luxurious & modern etc, yet a lot of the furnishings were obviously old & second-hand with stains and some broken. We had a wired up wall socket hanging off the wall with exposed wiring in the lounge, stained ceilings, a sash window being propped up by a block of wood balanced on top of a pot of varnish, cracked kitchen window, loose & stained flooring, front door handle loose, and even a leaking kitchen ceiling! (amongst other things) We pointed things out to the owner but nothing was done despite them having access to our room. We complained twice about the leaking ceiling as we were very concerned as it was running down the walls over kitchen sockets, and we were just told to turn the sockets off and move the fridge... we did not even get so much as an apology. We took photos and when we got home we decided to write to the owner to complain and at the same time contacted their local tourist office to ask their advice.
The Tourist Office said they would send someone to take a look & get back to us. The owner then oddly said to us it was HIS idea to call in an inspector and he would not respond to our complaint until after seeing the Inspectors report.
Anyway, to cut this LONG story short... the Inspector's report was not as expected at all, as it used very emotive language against us stating we were acting in a suspicious manner, that it must have been due to the bad weather than we got disgruntled and not due to the accommodation.. that we were counter-productive in complaining & taking photos! And that the owner was new to the business so could be excused errors and the issues we raised were only small! He referred to the owner by his first name throughout the report as though he were a friend and rather strangely he even addressed an issue that we did not even raise about a noisy pub opposite, stating it was not the owners fault the noise came into the rooms - but we didn't mention that, so that must be another complainant maybe? Altogether it just seemed very unprofessional. But the owner states that as far as he is concerned the Report shows that nothing we complained about could be upheld.
He then offered £100 gesture of goodwill payment, but stipulated he would only pay it as long as we agreed to sign a sheet of paper he attached to his email declaring that we understand he was free from liability and to forego our rights to put any review or post any of our photos of his establishment on the internet or any other medium. If we did we would not only have to pay the money back but add on a interest charge of 3% per DAY, plus fees etc etc.... We told him we were not happy to sign something on plain (unheaded) paper without knowing where it was going to be stored and which quite frankly breaches our freedom of expression. He has said that if we don't sign it within 2 weeks we lose the £100 payment and he may even take action against us!! He also told us he doesn't care about legal acts & regulations we have mentioned in the past, we sign it or lose it.
What a mess... all we wanted was an apology and some form of recompense. We paid good money for that apartment which was dire, and he knows it, or else why would he be so concerned about who see's our photos?
Any advice on whether we should sign this agreement (and how legal it would be in the first place) would be gratefully received. Part of my just wants to sign and get it all over with, but another part thinks that people like that should not get away with renting out such accommodation. We did say we might take him to the small claims court, but as yet we have not followed that up, maybe we should reconsider?
0
Comments
-
I am not sure what you can do. If you booked the hotel through a hotel advertising agency then maybe you could get him done for false advertising?
If I were you I'd reject his £100 and post bad reviews on the site with pictures. He will lose more than £100 that way.
You could probably take it to small claims court for false advertising.
Also his 'contract' seems a bit seedy, don't sign that.0 -
If it were me and you have the photo's of the various issues i'd tell him its unacceptable, give him the opportunity to rethink and if no change i would issue for an amount in small claims (if its as bad as you say i'd probably want 50% back
)....
But then i'm very, very grumpy sometimes It is an option though :beer:
Was the inspectors report on headed notepaper? I'd be calling to check its legit...0 -
Hi,
Thanks for the very quick responses.
I have just been on the phone to the CAB and he says to speak to Trading Standards about potential misrepresentation etc, but I did contact them and they just told me to contact Consumer Direct who told me to keep trying to get a response from the owner and the other matter of misrepresentation is a criminal matter so no concern of mine, if TS want to take the matter up at their end they will... not sure what to do about that.
The report wasnt on headed paper it was attached to an email from the local Tourist Association, so I presume it was legit. It just sounds like he is defended him a little too strongly. The CAB advisor was very surprised when I told him what the Inspector had written and said we could question its independence, he also said that the Inspector should never have made an excuse for the owner being new to the industry as a defence. In fact this establishment has been open over 18 months, and I know we are not the only ones to complain.
I am very tempted to take this to Small Claims, but I am just worried we could end up losing much more in the long run if we lose the case.0 -
I am very tempted to take this to Small Claims, but I am just worried we could end up losing much more in the long run if we lose the case.
I don't see how you could lose more TBH... Small claims generally means even if you lose you aren't liable for the costs of the other side. Your only real loss would be the £35ish to issue the proceedings
Good CAB linky to some info on small claims here0 -
Have you sent a copy of the report and your photographs etc. to the Tourist Board? Are you absolutely sure that this is a genuine report?0
-
Hi Foggster,
The report came attached to an email from the local Tourist Office, so I am pretty sure it is genuine, despite it being very unprofessional. The owner is now saying that he classes the report to have come out in his favour so we have no grounds for complaint, and he will not answer any of the issues we raised as he says the inspector's report and the local tourist office have dealt with it. It all just seems a bit of an odd set-up, but appears genuine.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 354K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.3K Spending & Discounts
- 247K Work, Benefits & Business
- 603.6K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.3K Life & Family
- 261.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards