Ripped Off by Spotahome

BezBezson

My partner and I tried renting a place through Spotahome.

We signed up with them, with us paying them for their service and the first month's rent (for 29th Sep to 28th Oct).

When we got to the property and handed over the deposit, we were then told that the money we'd given Spotahome only covered the two days until the end of the month. So over 900 euros for two days plus their service fee.

At no point in the process of signing up, or confirming was any mention made that we would be paying a full months rent for anything less than a month.

All the terms and conditions have to say on the matter is "The First Payment will be the monthly rental price, which, and once the Resident has settled in the Accommodation, it will be transferred to the Owner as the payment corresponding to the first month’s rent."
Nothing about part months.

We tried sorting this out with Spotahome, but their reaction was basically 'tough'.

They then pointed us to a section that could be expanded in the original listing that said the first payment was per 'calendar month' so the money was just for the 29th-30th September. No mention was made of this when we booked and the explanation of their contradictory 'part month' rule is very buried on their site under a link comparing different contract types.

So, we wrote with four examples from legal rulings that stated a calendar month is from a date in one month to the day before that date in the next (i.e. 29th Sep to 28th Oct).
They proceeded to ignore this and our 3 emails for four days.

We have finally gotten a response from them that this is all 'tough' and we will not be getting anything back from them, and that we owe the landlady for October too. We are not staying in the place, as we consider the contract to be null and void as we think they have not provided us with the service we signed up to. They think we have broken the contract by not giving them a further months rent for October and have basically cancelled the booking at a late stage, so can't get any money back.

Hope that is all clear! Anyone got any advice as to how we proceed? I should say this is all happening in Spain, we are Brit citizens and they are a UK company, I guess UK law applies.

thanks!
Bez

davidmcn

BezBezson wrote: »

I should say this is all happening in Spain, we are Brit citizens and they are a UK company, I guess UK law applies.

Are they? According to their website they're based in Madrid, and their t's and c's say Spanish jurisdiction applies.

BezBezson

Huh, all their contact details were in the UK.

I'll look into what the Spanish situation is, then.

I'm guessing that EU law is as much against unspecific wording and hidden terms as UK law is, though.

Comms69

BezBezson wrote: »

Huh, all their contact details were in the UK.

I'll look into what the Spanish situation is, then.

I'm guessing that EU law is as much against unspecific wording and hidden terms as UK law is, though.

EU law? Doesn’t really exist.

That said you paid in euros; so presumably used the Spanish company. So yes Spanish law would apply.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi

The company has asked for a right of reply. MSE doesn't endorse anything a company says on the Forum.

"Hi Bez,

This is Melissa, and I represent Spotahome.

In response to your question, Spotahome is a Spanish company. This is detailed in our terms and conditions (specifically, in our Privacy Policy). As such, we operate according to Spanish Consumer law which is in accordance with European Union Law.

The contract type that applies to a property (Daily, Fortnightly or Monthly) is included at the top of each listing, with a link to a landing page explaining in more detail what each of the contract types mean. The contract type is set by the owner of the property. As well as being stated in the listing, a breakdown with the payment schedule is shown at the first step of the booking process. This payment schedule states the first payment amount, the one-time reservation fee and the amount to be paid directly to the landlord for the following months until the end of the rental period.

If you would like us to take another look at your particular situation, please send us an email to hello@spotahome.com and include your booking reference.


Regards,
The Spotahome Team."