What recourse do we have against eBay Seller

fluffymovie

So, in Feb this year, we were looking for a holiday to Cyprus for myself, Hubby and 2 step kiddies. We never usually take them away in the Summer Holidays due to cost but we felt it was time.

Anyway, i found a bargain villa which said, if you win, you can choose your week which we did, 17-24 August 2013!

So, less than 2 weeks to go and my husband gets an e-mail from the owner saying that they need to refund us as there is a health and safety scare on the complex and they can't accommodate us.

With less than 2 weeks to go, flights booked, car hire arranged, I am beside myself.

I appreciate that the villa may not be useable for whatever reason (seller isn't answering her phone so can't find out more) but does she have any obligation as we had a contract with her?

All the villa's we are looking at now are £350 more expensive per week and whilst I wouldn't expect her to foot that bill, something towards it would be really helpful but I just don't know if we are entitled to ask for anything so any advice would be most gratefully received.

Taadaa

I think you need to get in touch with Citizens Advice regarding her obligations.

E bay/Paypal won't help you, you are out of time.

clumsy_cupcake

I'm really sorry you've got everything booked and at the last minute to seller pulled out of the deal but to be honest I don't think there's much you can do. I doubt very much they will be giving you any money towards another villa.

Have you looked on all the travel websites like alpha rooms for a cheap hotel? It may not be as nice as the villa you booked. It at least you will still get away and won't lose money on the flights

RFW

A couple of ifs: If it is a genuine health and safety problem and if you have insurance you may be covered.

If the seller is in the UK it may be worth taking legal action but it isn't a great amount of money (obviously is to you though) and there's no saying you'll get anything back.

Citizens' Advice is a good idea, Trading Standards may also be of use.

I can't tell if you are getting money back or not, if that is an issue you may have to take further steps.

If it is genuine is there an opportunity to take another date in the future and try and get a refund on flights? Not ideal but could be workable for you.

Obviously_the_best

Unfortunately as far as I know their obligation is to offer either a full refund or alternative accommodation, the rest should be covered by your travel insurance.

dauphin

Sounds like a clear breach of contract to me. However, if there is a detailed contract you should have a close look at the terms to see what it says about the owner's right to cancel.

I would be highly dubious about the health & safety explanation; surely you can check this out for yourself then you'll know if it is for real or whether they have just managed to rent it out at a higher price! Is it likely that the entire complex has been closed down?? Maybe you can find out if there is a managing agent or an admin office for the complex and contact them direct.

If there is a breach of contract, then in principle the owner has to put you in the position you would have been in if the contract had been performed. You'd be quite entitled to rent a similar alternative property and claim the additional cost. I say "in principle" though, as you might have to bring a small claims action and even if you win it may not be easy to enforce the judgment. If the other party is overseas the difficulties would be magnified.

fluffymovie

Thanks everyone. We have spoken to the vendor and it seems that one of the air conditioning units in a neighbouring apartment exploded and set the property alight!!! Naturally, the villa owner is worried about letting my family stay in another property until she has seen the situation for herself and she can't get out until September.

What she has agreed to is to refund us the amount we paid, and allow us to stay in the villa 1 week for free next year so we have found some resolution.

Biggest issue now is finding someone who has a villa spare in one of the busiest weeks of the year!!

Thank you all for taking the time to reply though.