Holiday cottage not as described

XX44HAM44XX

Hello, just after some advice on where we stand please

We booked a UK  holiday through holidaycottages.com, the property was described as a detached property with private parking. It's a typical newish build 4 bed house and the holiday listing  showed pictures of the full house/drive and converted garage(outside pictures of converted garage )Upon arriving we discovered that the garage has been converted into a separate  apartment and was occupied by another person (owner's daughter and friends)

The other occupant had to walk across "our" drive to enter the apartment and on 2 occasion had a visitor parked on the drive. When we parked our cars on the drive we were left looking directly into their apartment (towels and washing  hanging out of windows drying, blinds open) which was awkward and certainly offered no  privacy

The apartment was directly below our upstairs master bedroom, ensuite and a second bedroom, noise could be heard through the floor, not excessive like a noise complaint but normal usage you would expect to hear through floor or walls (TV, hoover, washer, talking etc) from what is basically another room in the same house as us. there was even an integral door to the apartment, the original integral door to the garage, though locked was unsettling to think someone may enter.

Just wondering where we stand and what is reasonable to expect to resolve this which has impacted on our privacy, we complained straight away, the property was not as described and the company confirmed that the owner had not told them of the apartment,  The contract is with the owner apparently

 We have been offered what equates to between 2.5 and 3% refund by way of apology. The owner also messaged me apologising and saying "he should have mentioned it"  saying the door was sound proofed (no good when the noise is through the floor/ceiling)  There was no way to resolve at the time, ie we could not be moved anywhere and the other party actually resides there so they could not be asked to leave.

We would have never considered booking this holiday had we known it was "shared" the privacy is even less that a semi detached with the apartment actually being part of the original detached house

We're ensuring the listing is being changed so others are not misled, we think this apartment must have just recently been occupied and other holiday reviews are good with no mention of it.

The whole situation impacted on the enjoyment of the holiday

2 main questions

Do the company have a responsibility to deal with this as I paid them though their T&Cs say the contract is between me and the owner, do I have to deal with the owner?

Secondly what would be a reasonable and fair request to resolve?  We think being  offered not even 3% is derogatory, would requesting 20% or 25% be fair under the circumstances? Not sure if there is a set guide for this

Thanks 

elsien

20 - 25% seems very unrealistic to me. 

People could see you parking on the drive - so what?
The integral door was locked; there was no evidence that anyone would try to come through, and indeed they didn’t.
I’m sure the noise was a pain and I would have been annoyed by the situation, but it wasn’t excessive noise, and you were able to use all the rooms in the property that you were expecting to use with no issues. 

This probably comes down to goodwill, and their goodwill is currently coming in at 3%. 

Have a look at the loss of enjoyment section in this, as a point of comparison. 
https://www.dekachambers.com/2020/06/09/general-damages-in-holiday-claims-a-recap/

How much was the cost of the booking? 

powerful_Rogue

How long was the stay booked for and of that how many nights did you stay?

Did you book alternative accomadation due to this?

Grumpy_chap

XX44HAM44XX said:

Hello, just after some advice on where we stand please

We booked a UK  holiday through holidaycottages.com, the property was described as a detached property with private parking. It's a typical newish build 4 bed house and the holiday listing  showed pictures of the full house/drive and converted garage(outside pictures of converted garage )Upon arriving we discovered that the garage has been converted into a separate  apartment and was occupied by another person (owner's daughter and friends)

The other occupant had to walk across "our" drive to enter the apartment and on 2 occasion had a visitor parked on the drive. When we parked our cars on the drive we were left looking directly into their apartment (towels and washing  hanging out of windows drying, blinds open) which was awkward and certainly offered no  privacy

The apartment was directly below our upstairs master bedroom, ensuite and a second bedroom, noise could be heard through the floor, not excessive like a noise complaint but normal usage you would expect to hear through floor or walls (TV, hoover, washer, talking etc) from what is basically another room in the same house as us. there was even an integral door to the apartment, the original integral door to the garage, though locked was unsettling to think someone may enter.

Just wondering where we stand and what is reasonable to expect to resolve this which has impacted on our privacy, we complained straight away, the property was not as described and the company confirmed that the owner had not told them of the apartment,  The contract is with the owner apparently

 We have been offered what equates to between 2.5 and 3% refund by way of apology. The owner also messaged me apologising and saying "he should have mentioned it"  saying the door was sound proofed (no good when the noise is through the floor/ceiling)  There was no way to resolve at the time, ie we could not be moved anywhere and the other party actually resides there so they could not be asked to leave.

We would have never considered booking this holiday had we known it was "shared" the privacy is even less that a semi detached with the apartment actually being part of the original detached house

We're ensuring the listing is being changed so others are not misled, we think this apartment must have just recently been occupied and other holiday reviews are good with no mention of it.

The whole situation impacted on the enjoyment of the holiday

2 main questions

Do the company have a responsibility to deal with this as I paid them though their T&Cs say the contract is between me and the owner, do I have to deal with the owner?

Secondly what would be a reasonable and fair request to resolve?  We think being  offered not even 3% is derogatory, would requesting 20% or 25% be fair under the circumstances? Not sure if there is a set guide for this

Thanks 

What does the amount you have been offered (2.5% to 3%) equate to in £££?  
I think asking for 20% or 25% is unrealistically optimistic.

Did the space you had access to have all the rooms you were expecting?

Could the photo showing the property realistically have been taken to show the whole property and not show the converted annex / garage?

The privacy issue of looking into the apartment when parking on the drive is really a privacy issue for the occupants of the apartment, not you.

It sounds like the noise did not cause you great inconvenience / affect sleep etc., so limited grounds there.

The locked door is possibly fully locked so neither side has keys and / or might be blocked off on the other side.

Ultimately you did stay there and remain there for the whole duration (how long) of the originally booked stay, so limited loss.
What financial loss did you suffer?
In the absence of a quantifiable financial loss, you are left with loss of enjoyment which tends to be harder to substantiate and, based on what has been shared, would probably be a small / token offering.

TELLIT01

Descriptions which don't tell the whole story would seem not to be uncommon.  We booked an apartment which stated 1 bedroom sleeps 4.  As it's only 2 of us that's what we normally book and there is no problem with space.  At the time I booked there were only about half a dozen photos, plus the description.  About a month before we were due to travel my wife asked to have another look at the photos.  She said there were loads more photos, about 50, plus a floor plan.  The floor plan was the first concern as about 25% of the entire property was taken up by a corridor.  The bedroom turned out to be so small there was no room for bedside cabinets, and the wardrobe was literally about 12" wide.  The kitchen diner had a greater square footage than the living area, and the living area was effectively a conservatory.  Final straw was reading the description of the living area which stated the bed settee was suitable for children.  If there had been any plans for 4 people to stay there, those in the living area had nowhere to store clothes.  Neither the booking company nor the owner would accept any responsibility for the misleading description or offer and compensation.  We cancelled as it simply wasn't suitable for our requirements but lost half the booking fee.

pinkshoes

@XX44HAM44XX so were you expecting use of the converted garage?

If the house was advertised as detached and wasn't then I'd be really annoyed. I go on holiday to relax, not to feel like someone else is listening to my family noise or having some stranger right under my nose!

I assume there wasn't anywhere else that you could move to?

I'd look at the price of a non-private dwelling for that week that was similar in size then request the difference. 20% would be quite reasonable, as you do pay a premium for having a detached property.

Grumpy_chap

TELLIT01 said:

Descriptions which don't tell the whole story would seem not to be uncommon.  

Indeed, the descriptions are often "optimistic".

We once got caught out booking a "one bedroom apartment with sofabed in the lounge".  Based upon that text and the photos (which were cleverly done), we expected to find kitchen/dinette, lounge, bathroom, bedroom.
We considered inviting Mum to join us.

Lucky that Mum did not join us as the "one bedroom" was the "sofabed in the lounge".  There was not a separate bedroom also.  We still enjoyed our trip and have returned with the same company - we now know better how to interpret their descriptions.

XX44HAM44XX

Grumpy_chap said:

XX44HAM44XX said:

Hello, just after some advice on where we stand please

We booked a UK  holiday through holidaycottages.com, the property was described as a detached property with private parking. It's a typical newish build 4 bed house and the holiday listing  showed pictures of the full house/drive and converted garage(outside pictures of converted garage )Upon arriving we discovered that the garage has been converted into a separate  apartment and was occupied by another person (owner's daughter and friends)

The other occupant had to walk across "our" drive to enter the apartment and on 2 occasion had a visitor parked on the drive. When we parked our cars on the drive we were left looking directly into their apartment (towels and washing  hanging out of windows drying, blinds open) which was awkward and certainly offered no  privacy

The apartment was directly below our upstairs master bedroom, ensuite and a second bedroom, noise could be heard through the floor, not excessive like a noise complaint but normal usage you would expect to hear through floor or walls (TV, hoover, washer, talking etc) from what is basically another room in the same house as us. there was even an integral door to the apartment, the original integral door to the garage, though locked was unsettling to think someone may enter.

Just wondering where we stand and what is reasonable to expect to resolve this which has impacted on our privacy, we complained straight away, the property was not as described and the company confirmed that the owner had not told them of the apartment,  The contract is with the owner apparently

 We have been offered what equates to between 2.5 and 3% refund by way of apology. The owner also messaged me apologising and saying "he should have mentioned it"  saying the door was sound proofed (no good when the noise is through the floor/ceiling)  There was no way to resolve at the time, ie we could not be moved anywhere and the other party actually resides there so they could not be asked to leave.

We would have never considered booking this holiday had we known it was "shared" the privacy is even less that a semi detached with the apartment actually being part of the original detached house

We're ensuring the listing is being changed so others are not misled, we think this apartment must have just recently been occupied and other holiday reviews are good with no mention of it.

The whole situation impacted on the enjoyment of the holiday

2 main questions

Do the company have a responsibility to deal with this as I paid them though their T&Cs say the contract is between me and the owner, do I have to deal with the owner?

Secondly what would be a reasonable and fair request to resolve?  We think being  offered not even 3% is derogatory, would requesting 20% or 25% be fair under the circumstances? Not sure if there is a set guide for this

Thanks 

What does the amount you have been offered (2.5% to 3%) equate to in £££?  
I think asking for 20% or 25% is unrealistically optimistic.

Did the space you had access to have all the rooms you were expecting?

Could the photo showing the property realistically have been taken to show the whole property and not show the converted annex / garage?

The privacy issue of looking into the apartment when parking on the drive is really a privacy issue for the occupants of the apartment, not you.

It sounds like the noise did not cause you great inconvenience / affect sleep etc., so limited grounds there.

The locked door is possibly fully locked so neither side has keys and / or might be blocked off on the other side.

Ultimately you did stay there and remain there for the whole duration (how long) of the originally booked stay, so limited loss.
What financial loss did you suffer?
In the absence of a quantifiable financial loss, you are left with loss of enjoyment which tends to be harder to substantiate and, based on what has been shared, would probably be a small / token offering.

We paid nearly £2k for a week and have been offered £50

We got all the rooms as advertised

The photo showed the apartment which we expected was ours as part of the detached house, no mention that it was separate

I don't understand your comment about about privacy issue being for the other occupants, it was supposed to be our private drive, not shared, we were put in that position through mis information, don't allude to this in any way being our fault for inconveniencing the privacy of an apartment we were not told about 

We stayed for the full duration due to lack of options as stated

No financial loss so to speak

We're left with not as described and lack of privacy , thanks for your advice on this 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

I wonder if they having permission to turn the garage into a living area. Not sure how you fit an apartment in a garage but if the daughter is living there I wonder if they pay council tax...... 

In terms of consumer rights contract will likely be with the holiday home owner (the booking companies usually act as an agent, T&Cs will confirm, I'm too lazy to look ) 

Hard to quantify such things, loss of enjoyment bears no relation to price paid and case law offers a guidance on what to expect based upon the type of holiday. 

In terms of consumer rights if a service doesn't conform to the contract (which includes anything the trader says or writes) then you are entitled to a price reduction. That is typically the difference between what is paid and what is given but that doesn't necessarily help in this kind of situation (as I doubt you'll find another exact home with family living in the garage to compare the price difference!). 

Ultimately it's two sides coming to an agreement or go to court via small claims. Letter before action as a bluff is an option but they might pull the current offer. 

Take the offer, leave a (factual) review, tip off the council? 

XX44HAM44XX

powerful_Rogue said:

How long was the stay booked for and of that how many nights did you stay?

Did you book alternative accomadation due to this?

It was 7 nights and was about £1850 ish, we didn't book anywhere else 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

XX44HAM44XX said: was about £1850 ish

So they've offered you 50 quid?

Seems a bit tight to me but what can you expect from someone renting out their home whilst their kid lives in the garage!