What are our chances of obtaining a refund from credit card company please?

Valentine5

Hello. I'm new here and am posting because we urgently need some advice on a situation we now find ourselves in.

The situation is:

We booked a holiday caravan in March 2014 by credit card over the phone via an estate agents (letting agents) on behalf of a private rental on a holiday park on the south coast. All went through fine and we were looking forward to our week away.

We turn up to the caravan at the agreed time (9 August) and were quite dismayed at the state of it - it was unhygenic to say the least; the fridge hadn't been cleaned, old food still in it, some of it dripping down the back of the freezer, the fridge had black mould down the side; the curtains/blinds all had black mould on; the carpet and rug hadn't been hoovered (maybe carpet swept); the shower attachment was held together with tape, work surfaces in the kitchen cracked, windows wouldn't secure, etc, etc. After trying to clean some of the kitchen, we eventually gave up. We rang the estate agents, but unfortunately they weren't there so we left a message saying how disgusting the caravan was and that we were going home, which we did.

We then emailed the estate agents on Sunday and receive an email first thing Monday apologising and asking for account number to transfer full refund. Nothing appeared in our account and yesterday (Wednesday) we emailed again - estate agent apologises stating "we were really busy and I forgot" and stating that he has now processed the refund (bank transfer). Nothing has come through as of today (Thursday) so we have now contacted the credit card company (we contacted them yesterday and have been given a reference number) with all correspondence between us and the estate agency.

The question I have is, what do you think the chances are we will get our money back - it was nearly £600 for the week and for that we drove 2 hours each way for nothing. We've quoted that they have breached the Goods and Services Act 1982. Having also done a bit of reading, can we claim under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act?

So sorry this is long winded, but really hope someone can shine some light on it for us please?

Many thanks

halibut2209

Slim to none I'd say. You didn't give them a chance to rectify the situation. I don't believe that there is no "emergency" number to get hold of someone over the weekend.

Pandilex

I'm not entirely sure the rectifying the situation thing would apply when what they're offering is time limited.

Valentine5

We tried phoning the estate agents but by the time we got there it was out of hours and closed on the Sunday which was the next day. We didn't have the number of the actual owner as everything was done through the agents - that was the only contact number we had. We have urged them to go and view the state of it as it's now vacant but not sure if they have. None of us wanted to stay the night in a dirty and mouldy caravan and tried all the avenues we had available at that time. The only other thing we could have done is stay and go to the agents on Monday morning, but we (possibly naively) though that would give us less ammunition by staying and accepting it in the condition that it was offered?

Cyberman60

Phone card company and say you want to dispute the transaction under section 75 Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Valentine5

Thank you - we have written to our credit card company detailing the situation and attaching all correspondence between us and the agents. We have quoted the Goods and Services Act and stated we are disputing the transaction but haven't quoted Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 - do you think we should re-send it quoting this (just to make sure?). I just wondered how easy or difficult it is to prove a case - we took about 20 photos of the caravan as evidence aswell which make for slightly grim holiday photos!


Thank you for your help so far - we are a bit new to this so appreciate your advice.

FourthMoonofJupiter

I am sorry to hear what a bad experience you had, and I hope you get some redress from the credit card company. I am a caravan owner which I am going to be letting out next year myself (at the moment, Haven let it out on my behalf) and I would be absolutely mortified if a family turned up at my van to find it in such a state. I will be relying on cleaners to turn it around each week for me as it is too far for me to do it myself. If for whatever reason that happened to any family in my caravan they would be fully reimbursed without question. I am intrigued though... why did you rent it through an estate agent?

Valentine5

Hi FourthMoon ..


Thank you for your reply - it's good to know some (and probably most) caravan owners would keep a close eye on their vans and employ decent cleaners, unfortunately we picked a bad one!


We initially found it through Holidaylettings.co.uk and then you have to book through the estate agents who act as a lettings agency. They currently have seven holiday lets on their website, including two in France. I'm not sure if this is common practice or not - but I doubt we will ever book this way in the future!

FourthMoonofJupiter

No, I wouldn't if I were you. I belong to a forum for Haven owners, and the ones that rent out privately really seem to go the extra mile- because they want their families to go back with them again. Not only do they ensure the van is clean, they do extras like providing toys and games, a welcome pack with a few goodies in, an information folder with local days out, places to eat etc. I am taking all these ideas on board myself for next year. I think if you make it like a place you would be happy to turn up in yourself you can't go far wrong.

Valentine5

I like to think that most people would be like yourself and would welcome families and return visits. You sound like you have the right idea too - welcome packs, games and added goodies is a lovely idea. I guess we did get a few added extras - prawns in sauce dripping down the back of the freezer, old food, dried milk and mould in the fridge and mould all over the curtains and blinds - to be honest a few sachets of coffee and a packet of biscuits would have won me over if it had been cleaned properly!


We now have the situation where the estate agents have told us numerous times that they have transferred the refund into our account, however nothing has materialised. I hope we are in a strong position due to the fact that they actually promised a full refund (in writing). Even if we had stayed there, we should have got our £100 deposit back, as it is, we have nothing. We will continue to explore all avenues to get our money back, but feel it could be a long fight!


Thank you for replying - and I wish you all the best with your holiday let and I'm sure you will have lots of happy families enjoying their holidays there.

frugal_mike

If you paid by credit card then the credit card provider are jointly and severally liable for the contract under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, as I assume you know based on your OP. At the very least you should be able to get your £100 deposit back if the agent was contractually obligated to give it back at the end of the trip. I'd say that the email correspondence you have with them promising a full refund is good evidence to get the whole lot back.

Put in the Section 75 claim, and if the Credit Card providers refuse then you can complain to the ombudsman.