Cottage owner withholding security deposit

mogwai

Posted this in the UK holidays forum but didn't really get a response there, thought might have more luck here!

Hi - wondering if anyone can help or has experience in this situation.. we stayed in a self catering house for the weekend. We paid a £500 deposit which the owner is now saying she will keep £200 of as the house was not left in a satisfactory condition, and that we overstayed by 1 hr for which she is charging £100. We asked what part of the house and she said the whole house!

We took some pictures of the front entrance and sitting room and also the kitchen showing all to be spotless and in order when we left however don't have pics of the rest of the house. We spent a good 3 hours cleaning and tidying before we left and the house was certainly in reasonable condition when we left.

We also vacated the house by the specified time but used the toilets in the communal area after having asked a member of staff and been told that it was ok to do so.

She says she has 4 witnesses (her staff) but if its her word against ours we have 23 witnesses (our group) who all pitched in and helped clean the morning we left! Can she keep £200 of the deposit without any proof?

bod1467

She can try. If she does you can sue her for the remainder.

Morglin

You paid to rent a holiday cottage, and then paid another £500 before you could use it? :eek:

I have never come across an arrangement like this before - who did you rent it from, a company or an individual?

I would say, at a guess, that unless she can prove damage, she hasn't got a leg to stand on.

A letter informing her to return this £500, or you will be going to the small claims court will probably work.

If the company/person are members of any trade/tourist body, you could also contact them, if you have problems.

And, of course, there is always Trip Advisor to give a review on lol

Lin

mogwai

Morglin wrote: »

You paid to rent a holiday cottage, and then paid another £500 before you could use it? :eek:

I have never come across an arrangement like this before - who did you rent it from, a company or an individual?

It was a damage deposit - I haven't used cottages much, I assumed it was standard practice to cover damage/loss by the hirers?

I am definitely planning on leaving reviews of this cottage/cottage owner as we had a few other issues with her, and everyone of the 23 others (whose joint money she is claiming) are entitled to leave reviews as well so she can expect to receive a LOT of bad reviews shortly

Ive emailed her and asked for proof in the form of pictures and Ive informed her she cannot keep the remainder of the deposit that is not disputed and to refund that asap. We'll see what she says.

I think the last resort if we can't sort this amicably will be the small claims court, as I booked directly with the cottage owners company.

I was just wondering if it does go to court if the burden of proof will be on her or us? - we have some pictures to show we left the place clean and tidy. Ive asked her to be clear on where we left the house unclean or untidy so we can produce our pictures.

Country_Cousin

We have stayed in a lot of holiday cottages -have occasionally been asked for a £100 damage deposit which we are happy to leave. Have always had it returned. I consider that deposit is to cover breakages caused by our negligence, not general wear and tear and any deep cleaning caused by say for example spilling red wine or something on a carpet or soft furnishing that required specialist cleaning - in which case I would expect to see an invoice for the work done. I always leave a house clean and tidy, but do not do a spring clean before I leave because I consider that is part of the holiday package. IE I do not hoover, dust and do a full bathroom clean - I leave it clean and tidy because houses are always cleaned before the next occupant in any event.
I would say she can't just "keep" £200 because she fancies it. She must be able to prove any losses incurred (and it does not sound like there are any)

arcon5

I'd say the courts would be looking for her to prove the case.

I say this because the deposit is your money, has always been and has always intended to be. So when she claims you breached the contract she is basically taking money from you which you dispute - so she should rightly have to prove she has a case to transfer some of your money she is merely holding to her possession for her ownership.

hollydays

What did the contract say- was the house not inspected before you left- why not? 25 people in one house, was it a same sex group?
You say the house was reasonable, but what do you mean by that?
Were you told it had be left a certain way- ie immaculate?
I'd be inclined to name this premesis.

mogwai

Thank you, we did Hoover and wipe down all kitchen surfaces etc so we did as much as could be expected.

I don't believe she has any proof she says she had to get an extra member of staff to help with the cleaning for an extra 2 hours for which she is charging £100 (£50ph - nice work if you can get it!)

I will ask for pictures of the house in the unsatisfactory condition she claims it was in and an invoice for extra cleaning work undertaken. If she cannot produce these I will give her the choice of refunding the whole deposit or settling through the small claims court. Thanks again!

arcon5

also the point of damages is to cover actual losses not profiteering. And £50ph for a cleaner LOL

hollydays

I'm sorry to push you, but what do you mean- as much as could be expected. You are expected, I assume ,to leave a place the way you found it- that's the general rule.

mogwai

hollydays wrote: »

What did the contract say- was the house not inspected before you left- why not? 25 people in one house, was it a same sex group?
You say the house was reasonable, but what do you mean by that?
Were you told it had be left a certain way- ie immaculate?
I'd be inclined to name this premesis.

The house was not inspected - I was expecting for the owner to refund us the deposit without issue as we had taken every care to make sure the house was in order. When I say reasonable I mean what is reasonable to expect occupants to do ie Hoover, wipe down surfaces, do all washing up and leave sink clean etc, but not a deep clean which they would/should arrange before every let I would have thought..

It wasn't a same sex group it was a extended family gathering.

In retrospect I should have waited til the owner turned up and made the inspection with her but with 10 people in the minibus waiting to go home it wasn't really an option at the time!

In the contract all it says is the house should be left in the condition in which it was found, and in another clause it says 'clean and tidy'. This is despite no cleaning products apart from the Hoover being left and a filthy rag with which to clean! (We bought our own cleaning things in the end)

Once this is resolved I will be posting reviews everywhere and will encourage other members of the group to do so too as we had other issues as well during our stay - that's a hell of a lot of negative reviews!