cancelled french villa - owner threatening legal action

daveshipway

Dear Bob the Saver.

I take a lot of offence at your suggestion that I am trying to "cheat" this guy or "wriggle out" of the contract. My interpretation of the contract is different from that of the villa renter. When we made the booking my understanding of the contract was that we were paying a non-refundable deposit and with the balance payable on arrival, if we had to cancel we would lose the deposit but not have to pay the balance. If the balance is payable in full regardless, why not require this to be paid at time of booking ? Also if the booking is non-cancellable, why not make this clear to avoid ambiguity? A quick look at the UK-based booking site where the owner advertises his property advises renters to make their booking policy clear and this guy has not done that, hence the ensuing problems. No I didn't send a copy of the contract off to my solicitor before agreeing to the booking - is that what everyone else does then ??

The reason I posted on this site is not to try and cheat the guy out of his money. I posted on here because I am not a legal expert or familiar with the laws for french property rentals. I was hoping that someone who knew about such things could advise me. If I am wrong and the villa owner is right and I have entered into a contract
and need to pay the full balance, then I will do this. But if my interpretation of the contract is correct and he is just trying to bully us into sending him more money, then no I won't be sending anything.

So if you have some relevant facts or experience in this area that you would like to post then great - I am big enough to accept that I may be in the wrong, but please don't start lecturing me about what your opinion is on the right or wrong thing to do. If you would pay him straight away then well done, you are obviously a better person than I am.

Oh, and as for only giving the poor chap 3 and a bit weeks notice of cancellation, I'll try and make sure that next time my mum gets terminal cancer that she gives us a bit more notice.

Poppy9 - you are right this is exactly what we are doing in that we are contacting Virgin Insurance and giving them all the details, and yes this would indeed be the best solution since then no-one would be out of pocket (except Virgin Insurance - any problem with that Bob the Saver ?).

We did actually contact the villa owner and ask that he give us some time to contact our insurers but he isn't having any of it and wants full payment now - even though the booking doesn't start until 12th July - or he will take immediate legal action. So who is trying to cheat who ? The guy isn't giving us a chance to sort things out at this end, so I am still quite unsure as to why I should "do the right thing" by him.

Dave

Bob_the_Saver

I think the French make cars and sell them to Brits because of things like this,
as revenge.

Bob_the_Saver

[QUOTE=daveshipway;62031411 Also if the booking is non-cancellable, why not make this clear to avoid ambiguity?
Dave[/QUOTE]

Does it say it can be cancelled?

Bob_the_Saver

daveshipway wrote: »

Oh, and as for only giving the poor chap 3 and a bit weeks notice of cancellation, I'll try and make sure that next time my mum gets terminal cancer that she gives us a bit more notice.
Dave

Whilst you have my sympathy for that it's not HIS FAULT.

daveshipway

duchy

To answer your question, a couple of years ago we booked a cottage in the Lake District for new year. A few weeks before we were due to go the owner contacted us and apologised but said they were stopping doing rentals so they wouldn't be able to honour our booking. They made a bit effort to find us something else in the area but they couldn't so we spent a lot of time and effort finding somewhere else and ended up staying in the Yorkshire Dales instead. It was nice but not as nice as the original place.

At no point did I think "oh I must take some legal action against the original property". Should I have ?

Oh and sorry but I don't think 720 Euros is a trivial amount.

As I previously said, if the guy had given us a chance to look at the travel insurance situation then a lot of this hassle could be avoided.

Cheers,

Dave

Bob_the_Saver

daveshipway wrote: »

Dear Bob the Saver.


Poppy9 - you are right this is exactly what we are doing in that we are contacting Virgin Insurance and giving them all the details, and yes this would indeed be the best solution since then no-one would be out of pocket (except Virgin Insurance - any problem with that Bob the Saver ?).
Dave

None at all, I trust you informed them about your mothers age and previous medical history as detailed in other posts so they were aware of the 'risk' (word used in an insurance meaning) they were taking on. I hope they do pay out and as you say 'nobody' is out of pocket.

daveshipway

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

Whilst you have my sympathy for that it's not HIS FAULT.

I didn't say it was his fault. It's just that you seemed to be picking me up for saying that it was several weeks notice with your several in bold and all that. I thought several meant more than 2 or 3 anyway ?

Apologies if this is getting trivial ! Sorry I'm not trying to be difficult, I just want to know where I stand and then I can make a decision.

Dave

Bob_the_Saver

daveshipway wrote: »

Dear Bob the Saver. If I am wrong and the villa owner is right and I have entered into a contract and need to pay the full balance, then I will do this.

If it's not a contract I wonder why it says 'THIS CONTRACT'

LEASE VACANCY
Act No. 89-462 of 6 July 1989
Amended by the Act of 21 July 1994, 13 December 2000
BETWEEN THE UNDERSIGNED
LANDLORD:
<landlords details>
CI REFERRED TO AS
AND TENANT
<our details>
agreed as follows, the landlord renting premises and equipment following
designated, the tenant agrees to the following conditions:
PRODUCT: VILLA HOLIDAY
Furnished and equipped:
<details of villa>

This contract is extended for a period of 8 days beginning on Friday 12
July 2013 A 00 18H and ending Saturday, July 20 At 4:00 p.m..
SPECIAL CONDITIONS
Rents and charges:
The rent is payable before entering the premises to the lessor or his home agent.
The amount of the initial rent is fixed at € 1.200 € (TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND EUROS)
A deposit of 480 euros or 40% of the initial rent was paid by PAYPAL May 10, 2013;
It remains to set the day of arrival the sum of € 720 (SEVEN HUNDRED TWENTY EUROS)
Done at <location of villa> 10 MAI 2013
In two originals, one for each signatory
LANDLORD TENANT

Bob_the_Saver

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

LEASE VACANCY
Act No. 89-462 of 6 July 1989
Amended by the Act of 21 July 1994, 13 December 2000
BETWEEN THE UNDERSIGNED
LANDLORD:
<landlords details>
CI REFERRED TO AS
AND TENANT
<our details>
agreed as follows, the landlord renting premises and equipment following
designated, the tenant agrees to the following conditions:
PRODUCT: VILLA HOLIDAY
Furnished and equipped:
<details of villa>

This contract is extended for a period of 8 days beginning on Friday 12
July 2013 A 00 18H and ending Saturday, July 20 At 4:00 p.m..
SPECIAL CONDITIONS
Rents and charges:
The rent is payable before entering the premises to the lessor or his home agent.
The amount of the initial rent is fixed at € 1.200 € (TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND EUROS)
A deposit of 480 euros or 40% of the initial rent was paid by PAYPAL May 10, 2013;
It remains to set the day of arrival the sum of € 720 (SEVEN HUNDRED TWENTY EUROS)
Done at <location of villa> 10 MAI 2013
In two originals, one for each signatory
LANDLORD TENANT

Personally as an honorable person I would pay-up (claiming it back off the insurers if appropriate) and look after my Mum.

Poppy9

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

None at all, I trust you informed them about your mothers age and previous medical history as detailed in other posts so they were aware of the 'risk' (word used in an insurance meaning) they were taking on. I hope they do pay out and as you say 'nobody' is out of pocket.

For goodness sake give the OP a break! He has enough on his plate at the moment without you trying to make him out to be dishonest.

As per the contract at the moment the Villa owner has lost nothing as he wasn't due to get his money until the day of arrival.

The OP has already stated he will hand the issue over to his insurers. They have more experience of holiday contracts and will know if the OP has to pay up and if he does then it will be done etc.

I really don't understand if the Villa owner has no cancellation policy in place why he only accepts a deposit and asks for balance on arrival. Surely he must realise there is a risk of non arrival so he should demand full amount up front. If he is doing a DIY job of lettig and drafting a contract for the price he is charging he's a fool leaving himself exposed.