Rupert_Baehr Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 From the original post: "Owners Direct ... do not want to know as they just advertise the properties and do not take bookings." From what the poster has said, (s)he doesn't have a copy of the rental agreement. (Caveat emptor?) Without details of the agreement, how can anybody know the liabilities and rights of either side? The terms for holiday home rentals probably vary markedly from place to place. What might seem acceptable (indeed quite obvious) in one place may seem very strange in another. For instance: If you rent a holiday home around here, then when you move in, you can expect to (and will) find it in a spotlessly clean condition. You will be provided with 1 set of bed linens and towels per person per week and in most cases, those will be laundered free of charge. (Some places charge for laundry ... after all, if you rent your home in the UK, the landlord doesn'tdo your laundry for you and it's an apartment, not an hotel.) When you took possession of the holiday home, it was very clean. You will be expected to hand it back in the same state. if it needs cleaning when you leave, it will be cleaned - and you will get the bill. You rented the apartment, you are responsible for it. Who is repsonsible for keeping your own house clean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lectrolove Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 How does owners direct work? The answer to that determines who your contract is actually with. It's a listing site, the villa owner pays an annual fee for their property to be advertised on the site. Customers contact the owners directly so the contract is between the holidaymaker and the owner. All the listing sites work the same way and they won't get involved in disputes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 StannD said that - Not lectrolove Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lectrolove Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Ok was asking because you said earlier that "It was a private booking through Owners Direct" which would have indicated some contact between you and the site The only contact with the site would've been if the OP sent an email enquiry through it to the owner. Agencies are different, they take the bookings and payments which they pass on to the owner having taken their cut, so if you book through an agency you can expect some support from them if you have a problem. The agency's cut can be anything up to 25% so booking directly with owners is usually a better deal, we spent our first year of letting with an agency and when we went independent we were able to drop our prices considerably because we weren't paying a commission any more. The downside is that if you're unfortunate enough to book with an unscrupulous owner you have very little recourse, and sorry to say it sounds like this is what's happened to the OP. It's a shame because most owners are genuine but you only hear about the problem ones, giving the rest a bad name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traceyoneill Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 we had a similar problem with a villa just out side marbella, we paid through paypal but the breakage deposit was paid in cash when we arrived, after various requests for the deposit back(nothing broken and place left cleaner than we found it), we put in a request for a payment from the renters paypal account for the deposit amount and the money was transferred into our bank account, this was not a claim through paypal just a request for payment, this was also booked through owners direct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smack Jack Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Yeah, I was going to ask the same question. Maybe if it was by card, you are insured against this type of thing. I think even transfers are protected by some sort of insurance these days, you could try getting in touch with your bank. Exactly, I mean if it was any card or paypal then just do a chargeback. Hell chargeback the whole amount. Trust me I work for a place hit with these cons each day, there aint a deal a business or person can do to defend themselves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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