Villa Cleanliness

[T16GEM]

Did you take photo evidence? And are the management definitely not taking any responsibilty for it? Would your travel insurance cover it as a last resort?

TBH, if that is her attitude you should name and shame her. Post a warning on the Orlando hotels and attractions board, write a letter of complaint to the Sentinel highlighting the fact that tourists can be taken advantage, anything to make her realise that you can't do this to people. She should give you a refund, unfortunately there are alot of dishonest people out there. Hope you get it resolved soon.

I totally agree with this post, as many of us rent villas from people, and you say that she is fully booked for the rest of the year, I would want to know if I had booked this villa and it's as bad as you say, to give me a chance to make alternative arrangements. TBH her attitude is really bad, she is taking advantage of people of their (very expensive) holidays.
Is it a dibb villa by any chance?

 

[skelfbsfb]

Received this email today


As you have now put a complaint onto XXXX which may cause us loss of earnings and by what we have read we believe to be slander, we will now be taking this up with our solicitor and holding on to your deposit until the matter is sorted


Any further definition of character we will take this matter further.


Now looking forward to the letter from solicitor.


Anyone got any advise.

 

[london75]

Have you named them anywhere or given enough information to identify them?

If not, there is absolutely no case to answer to.

If you have then remove it now and apologise to them stating what you have removed and where from but that the complaint still stands and they will struggle to prove any "loss of earnings" claim. In writing and email might be better. If they are booked up for the next year, I think loss of earnings is a bit far fetched!

Stand fast for a full refund as well, they are obviously being a bully. If they have issues with their management company then that's their business. I understand that could be very frustrating for them and I'd imagine they get numerous claims for refund a year that they have to contend or they'd be bankrupt but if yours is valid and has photo evidence then stick to it.

I would remove everything you've said that can identify them though. It's not worth the risk of damaging your case against them.

 

[Head_in_the_clouds]

I agree that if you have photo evidence then there is no "slander" case to be proven. I suppose it depends on the context of what you have written, however, I think this woman is just being ridiculous (and I'm assuming she means defamation and not definition ). If you reply to this e-mail you should stick to your guns that, her villa was unsatisfactory and she should have offered you a full refund and that if she isn't prepared to do the reasonable thing then she will give you no other option but to post your experience of staying at her villa to serve as a warning to other holidaymakers and give them the option of booking elsewhere. It was not your fault her villa was a disgrace. What she has done, amounts to daylight robbery and if that is how she runs a business then that business should not be in operation. The solicitor thing could well be a threat but I would remind her that she probably doesn't have a leg to stand on because you have evidence that this happened.

 

[joolz1910]

They're trying to scare you. If everyone went to a solicitor because someone had said something about them on the internet, there would be a lot of busy solicitors. How would sites like tripadvisor operate? Besides, I think it would be libel and not slander. Did they mean to write definition of character? I would not back down over this - you have less to lose than they do.

 

[T16GEM]

I take it that you are home now? Or are you still there?
If you are home I would contact citizens advice and just see what they have to say. Have you actually named the woman anywhere? I can't believe that people can carry on like this and get away with it by scaring people, stick to your guns there is no way that this bully should be allowed to get away with treating people like this.

 

[Head_in_the_clouds]

I take it that you are home now? Or are you still there?
If you are home I would contact citizens advice and just see what they have to say. Have you actually named the woman anywhere? I can't believe that people can carry on like this and get away with it by scaring people, stick to your guns there is no way that this bully should be allowed to get away with treating people like this.

Great advice . I was thinking to myself, where are you supposed to go to ask for advice on matters like this?! I do think there should be a way of safeguarding tourists who rent villas etc though, if it was a hotel they wouldn't get away with what has happened to OP.

 

[dbriggsq]

We have a house on the Gulf coast and have seen both sides of the story.

It's incredibly difficult to get a good management company to look after your house. Like a previous poster we have been taken advantage of by at least 2 of our previous management companies - one putting their own guests in without telling us or paying us and another charging for all sorts of things which we eventually found out had not been done. You also feel very guilty when people contact you to complain that things weren't right - because it's so difficult to monitor the management company's work.

The company we have at the moment is really great and makes such a big difference and we're now getting compliments instead of complaints.

We have recently had problems with guests though - a party of (supposedly)5 who left the house in a terrible state, never put any rubbish out to be collected which meant that we had to pay a contractor to take away 5 large bags of trash and left 8 loads of laundry to be done - which led us to believe they had way more than 5 people there. We were obviously charged extra by the management company for rubbish removal, extra cleaning and laundry and yet the guest refused to pay any extra despite leaving a security deposit.

 

[joolz1910]

I've found this website really helpful in the past:

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/

Not sure whether it will be much help on international consumer rights.

 

[Netty]

The thing is she doesnt want to take responsibility as in her words I never reported all issues to her, but i did to the chap who came from the m,anagement team to fix the first problems we encountered. Now she says the matters closed as far as shes concerned and if i go to the CC company she will with hold my deposit as she may lose money.

This situation is rediculous- you did the right thing you reported the problems to the management company- which is your first port of call- now she is saying you should not of contacted the management company but should of reported all problems to her instead
so what is she paying the management company for??!!
she is just trying to pull a fast one- stick to your guns she has more to lose than you

 

[arielrocks]

In your rental agreement did it tell you who to report any problems too? Also, DO NOT NAME AND SHAME HER. It's not the right way to go about things in the long run. Have been on both sides of this fence when we owned our home in davenport, guests trashed house but didn't report to mc, then the next guests got the blame for it. Things always resolve themselves in the end, but this is really the mcs fault and the owner needs to take it up with them, IF you can prove that you reported it in a timely manner.

 

[skelfbsfb]

This is the only place I have posted anything regarding the villa. The owners have actually read this thread and this is where they say I have made slanderous remarks about them. I have not named them and I have not said where their villa is. The original website where they advertised their villa has asked if we can sort it out ourselfs.

 

[Head_in_the_clouds]

This is the only place I have posted anything regarding the villa. The owners have actually read this thread and this is where they say I have made slanderous remarks about them. I have not named them and I have not said where their villa is. The original website where they advertised their villa has asked if we can sort it out ourselfs.

You haven't even named them . They are being ridiculous and clearly know nothing about law, as another poster says haven't they heard of Trip Advisor? Hope you get it sorted soon and also hope that people visiting the villa at the moment are not having their holidays ruined like you did.

 

[london75]

Everyone be careful with the advice that it's not illegal because other sites do it. If what you post on the internet for others to see can be used to identify a person or business and you can't prove what was said then it can be libel.

Took me seconds to find this http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&so...lj--lyaoTnXhxCshw&sig2=5pu5sjjQguGMDuMu4kGU7Q

Villa owner is still in the wrong and has no leg to stand on but the "Trip Advisor" defense would not work. Many reviews are illegal on there but there is so much volume on the internet, it's nearly impossible to police.

 

[skelfbsfb]

I have given all of this thread an emails to my friends sister who is a lawyer for the local council, she has reviewed all and she has said that I have not made any slanderous remarks and no soliciter would take the case on with this evience that they have given them.

I believe that they are in the wrong and are pointing their anger at the wrong person. If I never maded them aware of these issues then they would be throwing bad money after bad to a management team who are not doing the job they are being paid.

The argument that they are given is that after the first complaint I never went to them to sort out the others, but as I have explained on numerous occassions I informed the person who came the first time and he said not to worry as he would get all fixed in the next couple of days. Now as far as im concerned this is reporting a fault to the management company as I was informed that they would be fixed.

 

[gaylie]

I have read this thread thoroughly, and I am so sorry that you have had all of this trouble on your hols......and I hope that you get some satisfaction either from the owners or from the law.....I agree with Netty that taking photographic evidence is the best thing to do.....I for one will learn from your experience, and if I ever have problems with villa (fingers crossed I have been okay for the past 13 trips) then I would ring the MC and the Owners immediately, obviously just to cover myself.....Im awaiting the outcome of your situation...Good Luck!

 

[skelfbsfb]

The owners have stated that as far as they are now concerned the matter is closed. Last week they were taking me to court for slanderous remarks made againts them and also incase they lost earnings due to may comments made about the villa. Im still awaiting on the letter from their solicitor, so that I can take this forward. I made a comment about the villa on the forum which I rented from, this was removed and I was asked to sort out with owner. If people are not allowed to make comments about a place then how will others know. They are happy when things are going well however do not want to take responsibility when all goes wrong.

 

[T16GEM]

The owners have stated that as far as they are now concerned the matter is closed. Last week they were taking me to court for slanderous remarks made againts them and also incase they lost earnings due to may comments made about the villa. Im still awaiting on the letter from their solicitor, so that I can take this forward. I made a comment about the villa on the forum which I rented from, this was removed and I was asked to sort out with owner. If people are not allowed to make comments about a place then how will others know. They are happy when things are going well however do not want to take responsibility when all goes wrong.

I'm glad that you aren't going to let them get away with this.

I am totally with you when you say if you can't comment then how are people to know, but unfortunatly I think money talks and the mods on the other forum want the advertising revenue so it's not in their interests to let you post a negative comment. There is a lot more I could say about that but I will refrain!

 

[originalkk]

I think it is very unlikely that you will ever hear anything from their solicitor (if they actually have one). There is no slander (or more accurately libel), if you have accurately reported your experiences and have evidence of the deficiencies. They are trying to bully you into going away.

In fact, if you are getting nowhere with the owner, and your contract was with an owner in the UK, as well as pursuing the credit card route, I would formally write to the owner, with clear photo evidence of the problems experienced, stating what you want them to do to put things right (presumably a refund of some sort - at the very least they have no right to hold your deposit), and inform them that you will initiate small claims proceedings against them for the value requested, plus interest and costs, if they do not respond within a certain time. It may be that this threat encourages them to be more reasonable.

Be aware that if you do then choose to go down the legal route, it can be drawn out and is likely to be time consuming and have not inconsiderable costs (though you can claim these back from the defendant if you win the case). However, there is a risk of them avoiding payment even if you win the case (particularly if they can show they have no assets or income).

 

[skelfbsfb]

I think it is very unlikely that you will ever hear anything from their solicitor (if they actually have one). There is no slander (or more accurately libel), if you have accurately reported your experiences and have evidence of the deficiencies. They are trying to bully you into going away.

In fact, if you are getting nowhere with the owner, and your contract was with an owner in the UK, as well as pursuing the credit card route, I would formally write to the owner, with clear photo evidence of the problems experienced, stating what you want them to do to put things right (presumably a refund of some sort - at the very least they have no right to hold your deposit), and inform them that you will initiate small claims proceedings against them for the value requested, plus interest and costs, if they do not respond within a certain time. It may be that this threat encourages them to be more reasonable.

Be aware that if you do then choose to go down the legal route, it can be drawn out and is likely to be time consuming and have not inconsiderable costs (though you can claim these back from the defendant if you win the case). However, there is a risk of them avoiding payment even if you win the case (particularly if they can show they have no assets or income).

Thanks for the advice. I hope that I dont have to go down these roads but will do so if the owners continue to not accept any responsibility. This could have been resolved with an apology and here £xxx for any inconvienence cause to you. If we really liked the villa then we would have returned to the same villa each year maybe for a week as we also love staying onsite at DVC, so they have lost rental each year from a returning client.