Villa Plus

russell2511

Hi
I have a Booked a Spanish Villa with Villa Plus due to arrive on 26th of June. As Spain are not removing travel restrictions until 1st of July we cannot travel. Would I legally be entitled to a full refund. I ask as I have read horror stories about Villa Plus refusing to issue refunds.
Thanks

Leon_W

As far as I'm aware russell, if you've booked a package then you should be fine, if you booked villa only then you could be in trouble !  

Just search Villa Plus Facebook and Trustpilot for others experience.

We were due to pay a final balance of nearly £6k today on a villa only basis but decided to take the hit on the £600 deposit rather than throw good money after bad.

paulb63

I have a villa booked for a week starting 7th June 2020 in Zante. It is villa only with flights with Jet2.com. The flights were cancelled due to Covid-19 and I have already received a full refund from Jet2.com. There has been no communication whatsoever from Villa Plus as to whether the villa has been cancelled or not.

Villa Plus, however, are not answering the phone and I have seen on the Trustpilot forum that a lot of customers have been told that they are not refunding villa only, even if we cannot get there, not allowed in the country and being advised by the FCO against any i non essential travel.

I paid a deposit of £122.00 and the final balance of £1163.00, both on my Halifax credit card.

Please advise what I can do to get refunded and if I can use chargeback to the bank. We are all insured (party of 8) but we will have excess to pay.

Paul3333

Long story short, finally an email from Villa Plus to say no refund for Villa only booking (14-21 May),  despite their Coronavirus Update (5 May) relevant to our booking advising not to get in touch and refunds were being issued to package AND Villa only bookings in departure date order within 14 days of departure date. I have screen shots showing this. So we waited patiently thinking we were going to get a refund as Villa Plus had advised. Zero personal communication other than automated email replies to emails sent asking about our booking. Now VP have changed the goal posts and say we ourselves must cancel in order to get a document to send to insurers and they’re sorry we can’t access the Villa! Our booking was 14 - 21 May to Lanzarote which was closed borders on lock down, holiday makers having been sent home. Accommodations told to shut. Flights cancelled out of UK as FCO non essential travel. The Villa was not available even if we could have flown there! We got a refund from Jet2 cancelled flights. I have a screen shot of Villa page saying not available for our dates too. How can Villa Plus do this to customers? We have booked quite a few holidays with them in the past and this is how they treat their customers. For them to publish that refunds are being paid and then to get an email telling us to cancel and no refund is wrong!

Lucy9876

I feel that Villa Plus have acted disgracefully with regard to those, like myself, who only booked a villa through them. My issues are as follows:

* earlier the website had told us not to worry and everything would be sorted and don’t contact them in advance of holiday. Therefore we felt assured that a refund was in hand and it was just a case of waiting as they were dealing with everyone in date order which was understandable. They provided reassurance and then have gone back on their word. Is this a breach of contract as was a legally binding offer made to us on their website?
* we have been emailing villa plus daily and not had any response but looking at other people’s posts it would not be a surprise if the response, if and when it does come will be telling us we can not have a refund. If that is the case not sure why it’s taking them so long to reply. Is it also not part of the contract that we have access to customer services.
* I believe that villa plus where in breach of contract when they failed to send us the information on how to access the villa as that is part of their responsibility under their service offered to customers. If we would have been in breach of contract for not paying balance surely it works both ways and they have breached the contract for not providing part of their service. Even if it does not, it does provide evidence, by not sending us the information that the villa was not available. Therefore surely they have breached the contract and in any event it evidences an admission on their part that the villa was not available
* villa plus are trying to claim that the villa was available despite rules in that country that currently prevent property from being rented as holidays. Therefore are villa plus trying to argue that this is incorrect and that people are allowed to rent out villas, are they arguing that the cleaner went into that property and cleaned it ready for us, the pool was heated ready yet they sent us no information on how to get keys etc which can only be classed as an admission on their part that the villa was not able to be used. I don’t have an issue with villa plus saying it’s not their fault that we can not get there what I have an issue with is them saying if we could get there the villa is available for us to use as I do not consider this to be true.
* where is our money currently?. Villa plus have very healthy accounts on companies house the detail of which possibly suggest a business model of not passing the money to the property owner until after the holidaymakers have used the villa. If villa plus still have my money then they are making more profit then normal as normally they would have to transfer the money to the property owner after taking their commission or if they have transferred the money to the property owner now that our holiday would have ended is this allowed as the property owner is then renting out their property. 

i have been a loyal customer of villa plus and I hope that they do the right thing and put things right. If they apologised and said they got it wrong and sorted it I would consider using again but they need to sort themselves out quickly.

caldavid

We had fully paid for a Spanish villa rental starting last week with Villa Plus. No communication from them at all and neither have they responded to our emails, Twitter etc . Phone calls Always disconnect. As far as I’m concerned they are in breach of contract by not sending or supplying access details to the property I have paid for . Their website still informs me that my access documents are not available yet I was supposed to be already there ! Due to covid19 neither UK or Spanish residents have been able to travel . How can they claim the villa ready for occupancy ? I have rented many times in the past with Villa plus but due to their unethical and uncommunicative behaviour over this , I will sing it from the rooftops that others should steer clear of them . They have over £2500 of our money yet have not fulfilled their part of the contract. Disgusted . 

M1ke123

It may be worth keeping an eye on the VP website over the next few days. It hasn't been updated yet, but this is a reply they posted to someone's Trustpilot review from yesterday :

Thank you for your review.

We are sorry that we haven't been able to answer calls or e-mails at our usual pace, this has been due to the high volumes of calls and e-mails we have been receiving since the start of the pandemic.

We have been updating our travel advice based on the latest developments with COVID-19 on our social media pages and the Travel News section of our website. When all destinations were in lockdown and all customers were unable to occupy their villas, customers were receiving refunds. As destinations started to open up once more, customers that had booked accommodation only for resorts or destinations that had lifted certain restrictions were no longer due a refund and our travel advice was adapted to reflect this.

We appreciate that this information has led to disappointment with those customers, therefore we will be offering a voucher for Villa Only customers where a villa, due to local regulations, is allowed to be opened up, but customers were unable to travel due to UK government restrictions for holidays in April, May and June.

Customers that have booked ATOL Protected Flight Inclusive package holidays with ourselves and where flights have not been able to operate, are receiving cash refunds, and continue to do so.

We will be posting a new update on our social media platforms and our Travel News section in the coming days,

Thank you for your continued patience.

caldavid

Still no update on official website- so I’m afraid I think that Villa Plus’s response on here is merely to try to deflect from the issue as they don’t want potential new customers knowing how they are currently treating paid-up customers. 

M1ke123

They've updated their website.

04 June 2020

N.B. Information below is correct at time of writing.

The impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) is changing as many countries ease restrictions around movement and travel, in different phases and at different speeds.

As a small to medium sized company, despite having not furloughed any UK employees, we have not been able to respond to customers as quickly and efficiently as we have done for the past 33 years. The volume of work has been challenging and we are working through it as best as we can.  We thank you for your continued patience.

If you have a booking on a departure date that has now passed and are waiting to hear from us

Please do not telephone or email us, we are sorry that it is simply not possible for us to respond to everyone.

ATOL Protected Flight Inclusive Package Holidays ( Villas with flights) and non-ATOL Package Holidays ( Villa with Car Hire or a Transfer worth 25% or more of the total holiday cost )

Villa Plus continues to pay cash refunds in departure date order to these customers. We are currently processing these refunds up to 10 days after scheduled departure dates. We will email you at this time to confirm when the cash refund has been made by Villa Plus. Cash refund payments can take another 14 days to reach customer accounts after being processed by card companies due to their high volumes. If, on occasion, we are a little late in processing any refunds, then please accept our apologies in advance.

Non-Flight Inclusive Holidays ( Villa Only ) with Travel Insurance

If you have booked and paid in full for a villa only holiday ( e.g. a holiday comprising of just a villa or a villa and a transfer worth less than 25% of the total holiday cost ) then we will contact you separately in departure date order. Where a villa is allowed to be opened up due to the easing of local restrictions, then it’s possible that you are not due a refund and we will recommend that you claim against your Travel Insurance. For customers with villas booked for holidays in April and May and June  ( if affected ), should this claim be unsuccessful then we will provide you with a voucher for use against a future villa only holiday for 100% of your money, valid for 3 years. Affected customers will receive an email with full details.

Non-Flight Inclusive Holidays ( Villa Only ) without Travel Insurance

As above for Non-Flight Inclusive Holidays ( Villa Only ) With Travel Insurance, but in the unlikely event customers that have booked villa only holidays in April, May and June ( if affected ), do not have Travel Insurance, then we will provide you with a voucher for use against a future villa only holiday for 100% of your money, valid for 3 years. Affected customers will receive an email with full details.

We regret that it’s not possible to contact all customers by telephone

slipdisc

I have a villa only booked to Crete for 26th June I have been told I can’t get a credit for next year. Yesterday and today I have been pressured into rebooking for later this year and paying an administration fee to do this! I’m so glad on this site the latest post about now giving credits for up to 3 years has been highlighted. 

M1ke123

@slipdisc - it may be worth getting written confirmation from VP about your personal situation / qualification for vouchers etc before you do anything. They've changed their stance on this a number of times already so they could move the goalposts again tomorrow.