Villa booking rant

[paulfoel]

Aarghh! Now does this sound dodgy or what?

Had an email conversation with a florida villa owner about possible rental of a villa. They were offering 13 nights for the price of 7 (because we'd have to spend first night in hotel). Villa was previously advertised as full price but on Aug 14 they posted this special offer.

Anyway, last email came at 9pm at night. At 12pm I emailed back to say I'd have it.

That was 2 days ago and I hadnt heard anything. Strange because this person had usaully emailed me back within hours.

Had an email this morning that someone else who had previously been interested had made a booking before me!!!

What in the 3 hours before I replied? Seems a bit implausible....

I'm wondering whether this other person was actually interested at full price and replied back before she'd had chance to confirm with me. And thus waitied a few days to make sure this was all sorted before letting me down.

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

Oh no How frustrating.

Yours is the second problem I have heard of in the last week about private rental villas - it really puts me off ever trying it again. We hired one for a week once, and I was an absolute nervous wreck leading up to it in case it just didn't exist when we arrived - I'm firmly a travel agent girl (unfortunately as it always costs more!).

I really hope you get something sorted

 

[2Tiggies]

Sounds to me like your gut instinct is right. The villa owner has managed to rent it at full price and has done so.

 

[skelfbsfb]

Just wondering if its from the same website I booked our villa from.

 

[disney_princess_85]

That's really disappointing. Maybe you should name and shame for the benefit of others.

 

[paulfoel]

Oh no How frustrating.

Yours is the second problem I have heard of in the last week about private rental villas - it really puts me off ever trying it again. We hired one for a week once, and I was an absolute nervous wreck leading up to it in case it just didn't exist when we arrived - I'm firmly a travel agent girl (unfortunately as it always costs more!).

I really hope you get something sorted

I have booked villas 7 or 8 times though. Never had a problem once they're all booked!

Unfortunately, looks like someone making the most money then can !

 

[paulfoel]

Just wondering if its from the same website I booked our villa from.

This was a private villa owner advertising on another British Disney forum website....

 

[paulfoel]

That's really disappointing. Maybe you should name and shame for the benefit of others.

Thing is I cant prove that this is what happened. It just looks like this....

Owner made no mention of anyone else interested and was really trying to get me to go for it. Looks like a previous interested party from a while back had jumped in not knowing it was on special offer now.

I guess the villa owner thought sod it, more money...

But then again, I cant prove. Maybe this other person was in contact too and emailed to book sometime between 9pm and 12pm? I dont think so though.

Specifically mentioned that the other booker was someone who was interested and then disappeared, and now has come back to book. Its only been up on special offer for 2 days so its likely they were interested at full price....

 

[T16GEM]

That is very frustrating.
Sorry to hear that this has happened to you.
I think we all know the site, and honestly I do think that a lot of the villas on there are overpriced, there are better deals to be had out there if you look out.

We have booked our last 5 or 6 villas with private owners and not had any trouble, I guess we have been lucky.

Still annoying none the less.

 

[Netty]

Just wondering if its from the same website I booked our villa from.

more than likely is!

we have rented villas from private owners for the last 13 yrs, and havent had any real problems although the last villa we had is another story...

 

[buzz for boys]

Personally I would stay well clear of any villa owner offering 14 ights for the price of 7 !!
Fact is that they have to cover costs when renting a villa out and i very much doubt that they can cover these costs with an offer like this !!

I would also like to put into perspective the 2 complaints that have been reported on here in a matter of days - whilst both are legitamte concerns Im sure the renters are in minority not the majority and anyone who thinks twice about renting privately because of this is being a bit mislead.
Hundreds of people rent privately and most have a positive experience. I have rented villas from said forum and been very happy with the villas.

I am in no way undermining the 2 complaints but the majority of villas are upto standard and I feel that if you start athread like this you should at least be prepared to name the villas location so others that may have booked through that foru do not hav eto stress about the bookings they have made.

Louise x

 

[Head_in_the_clouds]

After reading the other complaint about the villa, I decided to check out the website in question and saw the villa mentioned in this thread advertised. I've never been on the "other" website before but was shocked at how rental focused it was. I read one thread where someone was asking for opinions about a villa rented from a member of the website and there was a load of hoo-ha about whether they could ask or not and it all ended up having to be done via PM at owner's request. Why, if you have nothing to hide and are running a good business? Another thread, someone was asking for accommodation opinions and was clearly inundated with PM's from villa owners. I know we all have to earn a living but it all seemed a bit dog eat dog. I know there will be decent owners too but I will be giving that website a wide berth myself!

 

[ALBA]

We have rented two private villas from the website in question and have never had any problems.

Both times I have posted a request for dates asking who had availability and have received numerous very pleasant replies. On one occassion an owner PM'd me to say they had made a mistake with the price and requoted in our favour, which I felt was very honest and didn't need to be done as I felt the price was reasonable in the first place.

I have rented villas from other websites where communication from the owner has been shockingly bad or the villa when we arrived not quite as describes. So I guess the website in question is like any other villa rental website, some owners as better than others but they all shouldn't be tarred with the same brush.

Alba

 

[skelfbsfb]

Personally I would stay well clear of any villa owner offering 14 ights for the price of 7 !!
Fact is that they have to cover costs when renting a villa out and i very much doubt that they can cover these costs with an offer like this !!

I would also like to put into perspective the 2 complaints that have been reported on here in a matter of days - whilst both are legitamte concerns Im sure the renters are in minority not the majority and anyone who thinks twice about renting privately because of this is being a bit mislead.
Hundreds of people rent privately and most have a positive experience. I have rented villas from said forum and been very happy with the villas.

I am in no way undermining the 2 complaints but the majority of villas are upto standard and I feel that if you start athread like this you should at least be prepared to name the villas location so others that may have booked through that foru do not hav eto stress about the bookings they have made.

Louise x

Hi Louise

I agree that others should not worry about booking villas as my own personal experience has been a bad one I know that there are many who are delighted with theirs. However when a owner takes no responsibility and then threatens with solicitor due to slanderour remarks and loss of earnings then we have to be careful in naming the person or their villa. I would gladly name and shame them on the website if they allowed me to do so but I have been asked to work with the owner to resolve issues. Owner has stated that the case is closed as far as they are concerned. So still awaiting on solicitor's letter so that I can take this forward.

 

[T16GEM]

We have rented two private villas from the website in question and have never had any problems.

Both times I have posted a request for dates asking who had availability and have received numerous very pleasant replies. On one occassion an owner PM'd me to say they had made a mistake with the price and requoted in our favour, which I felt was very honest and didn't need to be done as I felt the price was reasonable in the first place.

I have rented villas from other websites where communication from the owner has been shockingly bad or the villa when we arrived not quite as describes. So I guess the website in question is like any other villa rental website, some owners as better than others but they all shouldn't be tarred with the same brush.

Alba

It's nice that that paticular owner was honest and requoted for you, there are still some nice people in the world!

I think the problem is that it's frowned upon to let people know if there is a problem with a villa rental, you are not allowed to say if something was wrong or not as expected. In a way this does tarr people with the same brush - that all the villa rentals are fantastic. Not true in a few peoples experiences.

If I were going to rent a villa from someone on a website then I would want to guage others experiences of that particular villa and the way that they were treated by both the management company and the owners themselves, it seems that this is not allowed. I would be beyond peeved if my holiday was ruined because sombody knew something about a place I was going to rent but they weren't allowed to publicly say so.

There should be some kind of star scoring system in place so that you don't actually get comments but you can get a general idea of things, or a percentage score like you get in travel brochures. That way the owner could see what the issues were with their property and maybe speak to the MC to get it sorted then remove the review or something?

 

[Pegasus928]

We have also only ever rented villas when holidaying in Florida and have never had a bad experience yet. This has obviously given us a lot of confidence when booking, but I can see 100% why others would be put off thinking about it when you read some of the horror stories that have happened.
I just hope that those who would think twice read some of the positive reports and not just base their decision on the negative.
I used to be a member of another Florida based website that was owned and run by villa owners. Most of the forum members where also owners and this is where we went to to rent our previous villas. As far as a forum is concerened it was very biased towards the rental market, and if anyone dared mention a Disney hotel they were shot down straight away. No-one was ever allowed to post links about cheap tickets, flights or accommodation and I soon realised that there were far better forums out there that gave people the full story - this one being one of them.

 

[UK~STU]

I think the problem is that it's frowned upon to let people know if there is a problem with a villa rental, you are not allowed to say if something was wrong or not as expected. In a way this does tarr people with the same brush - that all the villa rentals are fantastic. Not true in a few peoples experiences.

It's not that it is frowned upon at all.

Lets take this particular thread as an example.
1. The OP saw a special offer for a villa.
2. They then sent a message to the owner saying they would like to book the villa
3. The owner messages back (albeit some time later) to say that they have already taken a booking.

Now, understandably the OP is upset at missing out on the special, however the FACT is, the owner did not at anytime (as far as I'm aware) confirm the booking to the OP.

So the OP did not have a booking
The OP has not had a booking cancelled
The OP didn't even have a confirmation of a booking
The OP isn't out of pocket

The owner actually took the booking from a separate website that they also had the offer advertised on.

Yet here in this thread the owners reputation has probably been damaged, I know the owner or site hasn't been named, but it's not exactly hard to work out

What is important to one person isn't important to another. Should the reputation of a villa owner be allowed to be damaged by one unsubstantiated bad comment?

Forums are very powerful things and can easily sway the thoughts of it's readers and they have to be managed responsibly. A fourm owner can not allow unsubstantiated, un proven facts to be tossed around in public.

From what I can see, the OP has no proof of what they are accusing the owner of, they aren't out of pocket and they were not promised anything!

On the site in question, it is stated that all transactions are explicitly between the renter and the owner. The site is just the advertising medium in the same way as advertising on TV, Radio or Newspapers.

If I came on here and said I've heard that "xyz Holiday Company" are going bust, how many people that read that would still book with that company? I think most wouldn't take the risk and would think twice, even though there is nothing to back up the claim! I would also expect the moderators to ask me for my source or remove my post.

If I were going to rent a villa from someone on a website then I would want to guage others experiences of that particular villa and the way that they were treated by both the management company and the owners themselves, it seems that this is not allowed. I would be beyond peeved if my holiday was ruined because sombody knew something about a place I was going to rent but they weren't allowed to publicly say so.

This would be great in theory, however how can you trust the reviews?

As with this thread the OP may have left a bad review for the villa owner, yet the villa owner hasn't done anything wrong.

I have seen many really bad reviews for hotels that I have stayed in and found the hotels to be fantastic.

Think of a hotel you have stayed in and had a great time, now go and look at the reviews for that hotel on the review sites. In a lot of cases you will find bad reviews! You will see glowing reports and scathing reports for the same hotel.

People have different standards, some people book a 2 star cheap hotel and expect 5 star luxury.

There are ALWAYS two sides and unfortunately Forums very often only present ONE side and people get sucked into believing that one side!

 

[paulfoel]

It's not that it is frowned upon at all.

Lets take this particular thread as an example.
1. The OP saw a special offer for a villa.
2. They then sent a message to the owner saying they would like to book the villa
3. The owner messages back (albeit some time later) to say that they have already taken a booking.

Now, understandably the OP is upset at missing out on the special, however the FACT is, the owner did not at anytime (as far as I'm aware) confirm the booking to the OP.

So the OP did not have a booking
The OP has not had a booking cancelled
The OP didn't even have a confirmation of a booking
The OP isn't out of pocket

The owner actually took the booking from a separate website that they also had the offer advertised on.

Yet here in this thread the owners reputation has probably been damaged, I know the owner or site hasn't been named, but it's not exactly hard to work out

What is important to one person isn't important to another. Should the reputation of a villa owner be allowed to be damaged by one unsubstantiated bad comment?

Forums are very powerful things and can easily sway the thoughts of it's readers and they have to be managed responsibly. A fourm owner can not allow unsubstantiated, un proven facts to be tossed around in public.

From what I can see, the OP has no proof of what they are accusing the owner of, they aren't out of pocket and they were not promised anything!

On the site in question, it is stated that all transactions are explicitly between the renter and the owner. The site is just the advertising medium in the same way as advertising on TV, Radio or Newspapers.

If I came on here and said I've heard that "xyz Holiday Company" are going bust, how many people that read that would still book with that company? I think most wouldn't take the risk and would think twice, even though there is nothing to back up the claim! I would also expect the moderators to ask me for my source or remove my post.



This would be great in theory, however how can you trust the reviews?

As with this thread the OP may have left a bad review for the villa owner, yet the villa owner hasn't done anything wrong.

I have seen many really bad reviews for hotels that I have stayed in and found the hotels to be fantastic.

Think of a hotel you have stayed in and had a great time, now go and look at the reviews for that hotel on the review sites. In a lot of cases you will find bad reviews! You will see glowing reports and scathing reports for the same hotel.

People have different standards, some people book a 2 star cheap hotel and expect 5 star luxury.

There are ALWAYS two sides and unfortunately Forums very often only present ONE side and people get sucked into believing that one side!

I'm assuming you are Stu the moderator of DIBB ???

 

[paulfoel]

But I mention in my post the facts as they happened.

Its up to the reader to determine whether the villa owner deserves the benefit of the doubt or not...

 

[UK~STU]

Yes Paul,
I am the owner of the DIBB, I was actually trying to avoid saying that mainly because I didn't want to be seen as promoting my own site here on the DIS!

I'm Not having a go at you Paul, I just needed to explain, using this as an example, how going public with something that really should be sorted out in private just causes more problems than it resolves.