Owners Direct, holiday company?

[RosyRat]

We've just returned from a similar experience, having booked a property in France with an agent. We arrived to find the house was an unfinished conversion from an old barn and absolutely filthy. We contacted the agents, who told us they could pass on our concerns to the owners, but that they'd checked the property on change-over and that "it looked all right". The fridge was caked in filth and the freezer had been unplugged for months and was covered in black mould. There were rats which ran through the gaps in the walls at night & which the agents denied, until we showed them the tin of rat poison under the sink.

The shower had a hole in the base which they'd covered with wooden boards that were thick with slime and clotted hairs. The fan in the bedroom was so thick with grease & dirt that you couldn't tell what colour it was. I have never been anywhere so dirty. I spent the first 2 days cleaning the house so that we could actually sleep in it (there were cobwebs in the bed!), as the agents could do nothing but report it to the owners. They in turn told the agents they'd had family in the week before us & that they'd promised to clean it.

Agents do naff all but let the property.

Trip Advisor is fine, but where do you post a comment on a property where the location isn't listed? Ours was deep in rural France and the nearest town listed on Trip Advisor is Albi, 30 kilometres away. How do we warn other people?

[teddie]

Where has the figure of £200 come from? The OP paid a lot more than that.

 

We paid 1000 euros, which at the time of the exchange was 890.78 Pounds, (6 nights) might be different now but that is what went from the credit card. It isn't the money that is the probem, it is the place we paid for wasn't as advertised! Who want's to sleep in a converted garage, the beds were hard, the pillows made of stone, the whole place was mucky, we had to clean it with wet wipes, before we could sit down, it was abominable. We have hired places before with Owners Direct, but never again. It was in Monquiche in the Algarve so if you are going to book there, then don't!

[HeadingNorth]

I can understand your disgust, but refusing to deal with Owners Direct is equivalent to boycotting the Star newspaper, because someone who posted a classified advert in it has misled you.

[warrior8]

Sue the owner for misrepresentation in the small claims court.

[lectrolove]

I can understand your disgust, but refusing to deal with Owners Direct is equivalent to boycotting the Star newspaper, because someone who posted a classified advert in it has misled you.

 

This. It's absolutely nothing to do with Owners Direct, and everything to do with an unscrupulous owner.

[RosyRat]

I've complained in writing to the agents concerning the place I described in an earlier post & have just heard back from them that they've taken the property off their books because of the review I gave. At least that's saved another family from a bad experience.