Holiday Disaster

flicks

Hello all,

Firstly I apologise for the length of this post. I am attempting to provide all the facts in the hope that somebody can point me in the right direction.

Back in May my Wife went on a weekend away with our 2 daughters. Sadly I couldn't get the time off due to work commitments. They had a fantastic time and she said she would like to take me there so I could see the place they stayed and the surrounding countryside.

I won't give the name of the place at this stage but it was a chalet in Cheshire. She attempted to book our break through the agent she used back in May but they were no longer dealing with the property.

As luck would have it, (at the time at least), she had the contact number of the person who owned the chalet as she had been given it by the agent at the time so she could chase up her damage deposit which the owner duly authorised on request.

She messaged him asking how we could book the property again and he said we could go through him directly. This man owns several lodges on one site and we have 2 crazy Beagles who need an enclosed garden. He said that was fine and he asked if we wanted a hot tub as well which she agreed to. The whole lot was done for £500 for Saturday to Tuesday. The payment was made and he confirmed receipt immediately. The payment was made by bank transfer.

advance to the Wednesday before our visit and we still hadn't received a code for the lock to access our lodge so my wife phoned him. He said he would message us the code. At this point my wife once again asked him to conform we had an enclosed garden and he said we did. It wouldn't be the original chalet he offered us as he had a large group of Americans who were overstaying due to one of their party falling ill but the one he would give us, (the Ash), would have an enclosed garden and a hot tub as promised.


We arrived on the Saturday afternoon and we still didn't have a code for the door. We parked next to the Ash chalet and I looked around the back and sure enough a lovely enclosed garden with a hot tub as promised. I reached over the fence and lifted the cover of the tub to check it had been switched on only to discover it was bone dry. We went to try the door on the chalet in case it had been left unlocked for us and we were immediately approached by one of the Americans asking what we were doing. We explained that this was our chalet. He told us that it was already occupied by one of his party. He asked if we were staying until Tuesday and when we said we were he informed us that he had been asked to move out of his chalet as we needed it for the hot tub which he agreed to do. He told us that the chalet he vacated was ours and as he had the code to the door and we didn't, (my wife had tried three times to phone the owner and got a voicemail), he would let us in. There was no enclosed garden.


Anybody need a tea break? Sorry, told you it was long.

After we'd been in the chalet a while we got a message from the owner telling us the chalet we had and the code for the door. We told him we were already in as the American gentleman had told us what was going on and let us in. My wife also said we were very disappointed that we didn't get an enclosed garden as we were promised twice and we now wouldn't be able to use the hot tub as we had nowhere to leave the dogs. They would have gone bananas if we'd left them indoors. She suggested that he should refund the money for the hot tub and we would turn it off.

He messaged back extremely angry asking how we dared to approach the Americans and disturb their holiday by discussing his business with them. She told him that they approached us initially and we weren't actually discussing his business we were just trying to establish what was going on. He then offered to bring a small playpen round for the dogs which we declined. 2 Beagles in a 6 foot playpen would not be acceptable.

He then said he appreciated our displeasure but he didn't want us discussing his business with other guests as it would make them feel uncomfortable. We decided at this point to nip out to the supermarket and take the dogs for a walk.

During the walk he sent another message out of the blue saying he'd changed his mind and wanted us out. He was terrified we would damage his property and cause trouble for his other guests. He said he would be round in an hour to change the door code. She messaged back to say that if he would be over in an hour we would be more than happy to discuss the issues we were having with things and try and sort a remedy.

When we arrived back we were again greeted by the American gentleman asking how we were getting on. I explained what was happening and he couldn't believe it. I also discovered that both him and the other members of his group had never been better and had booked in until the following Tuesday several months ago.

Instead of the owner turning up as promised he sent another text saying before he takes the next steps were we refusing to leave? He said we were aggressive and causing problems and discomfort to the other guests. He did say that if we provide our bank details he would give us a refund, (how much he didn't say). We decided we couldn't continue our holiday under these ridiculous circumstances and decided to pack the car and head for home.

Just as we were leaving my wife received another message from the owner saying that he would put my wife's aggressiveness down to her being tired after a long drive and if we turned the hot tub off he would refund the cost of this. We took some pictures of the chalet before we left to prove it was tidy and undamaged and told him we'd done this and were heading home.

So it probably goes without saying we still have no refund and he is ignoring all messages. Where do we go from here? Small claims court perhaps?

If anybody has any advice it would be hugely accepted.

Thanks for sticking with me on this very drawn out post.

elsien

Can you prove that the booking included the enclosed garden etc?
Any witness contact details for the other guests, to avoid a "he said, she said" scenario?

flicks

Hi elsien,

Thanks for your reply. We still have the message on my wife's phone confirming that we would get an enclosed garden from the original booking. The statement made by the owner on the Wednesday before we travelled was only verbal.

With regards to witnesses we don't have any details and I'm guessing they are now back in the USA. Didn't really want to get them involved as they were just caught up in the mess.

DoaM

If the text is from the owner and it confirm what you you booked (and should have received) then that's sufficient evidence (IMHO) to justify a small claims court claim.

First send an LBA to the owner to request a full refund, and make it clear that you'll proceed without further notice to SCC within (7 or 14) days if the refund is not forthcoming, whereupon costs for the claim will be added. (You could potentially add consequential costs - e.g. fuel there and back - due to his breach of contract ... if you don't you could make it clear that at this time you simply want a full refund of the booking; if you proceed to SCC then you may add these costs).

Alfrescodave

Are these chalets on TripAdviser? if so, you might want to consider detailing SOME of the above info as a warning to other possible users.

flicks

Thanks DoaM,

I have just looked at a template for a LBA and one of the things it says I need to include is copies of the key documents we tend to use in our case.

How would we do this when it is basically a series of text messages?

Would simply putting text message conversation suffice?

Alfrescodave, I'm not sure if they are on tripadvisor but I don't want to do anything at this stage with regards to this. Word will certainly get out though if and when he settles up.

DoaM

There'll be a way to extract the text messages and print them. Google will help you.

mattyprice4004

Screenshot the messages, then print them out.

flicks

Thanks to everybody who has taken the time to assist with this. I am today posting a final letter by recorded delivery requesting the money back again.

I have given him 14 days to respond and then I will issue a letter before action.

Does anybody know if I need to offer alternative dispute resolution? I've only seen about this when researching letter before action templates online.

Need to make sure I cover all options before starting small claims action if required.

Thanks again.

DoaM

No, ADR is for companies to offer.

Don't send a letter THEN a LBA ... send the LBA now.

flicks

OK DoaM, thank you. Will get it in the post today. Will obviously let you know the eventual outcome.

Thanks again.