Apartment was left tidy but 250 euro deposit wasn’t returned
The summer holidays are a distant memory. But, for some people, the memory isn’t very happy.
You never quite know what you are getting in to when you leave these shores for two weeks. You might have the best of holidays, but then you might have a nightmare time. And what looks good in a brochure might not turn out quite how you expect it.
Renting a house or apartment opens up an entirely new set of circumstances and pitfalls to be wary of.
Dr Ken Black, of Edinburgh, took his three children for a holiday in Modica, on the southern coast of Sicily. It was a fantastic holiday in a city so beautiful it is a UNESCO Heritage site.
They stayed in the picturesque 18th Century Palazzo Polara, close to the San Giorgio Cathedral. It is a quite spectacular setting for a holiday and has, it must be said, a slew of favourable reviews online.
But Dr Black didn’t have a good holiday. In contrast to the comments he’d seen on websites, he found it difficult to relax.
Dr Black says that soon after arriving he discovered the housekeeper required access to the property daily to water the plants. While accepting the necessity, he had reservations over the invasion of privacy.
After these visits, he began to get warning emails from the owner commenting on whether the palazzo was tidy, which carried a suggestion that if it wasn’t tidy he might be charged extra. The emails also mentioned that a piece of furniture had been moved.
Dr Black said: “No harm had been done, we had simply moved a piece of furniture.”
Another email invited him to be respectful of the palazzo, which, it said, “has a very important history”. He says he was told the housekeeper “will pass by again tomorrow to ensure all is in good order”.
And this continued throughout the holiday. Dr Black said one email mentioned a moved rug. He said: “There were numerous loose rugs on polished stone floors and the agent threatened that we might be charged because we moved one and hadn’t returned it to its original position.
“No harm or damage was done – we simply moved it a bit.”
There was a shock at the end of the holiday. Dr Black said: “The owner notified us by email that the ‘house was left in an appalling state like we have never seen in the three years since starting rentals’.
“It went on to tell us: ‘The situation has been documented and submitted to HomeAway (the letting agent) earlier this week’.”
But Dr Black argues: “If the evidence was submitted before we left how could it be stated that the flat was in an appalling state
when we left? We had, in fact, ensured the flat was very tidy and asked the agent to inspect it. He commented after doing so that it was tidy but that we’d moved a rug. No items were damaged or broken.”
But Dr Black’s 250 euro deposit (£222.26) wasn’t returned to him. He wrote to Raw Deal. Dr Black says the owner refused to provide evidence of any damage done to the property, meaning his deposit was retained but he wasn’t told why.
Raw Deal got in touch with HomeAway and, in fairness to them, will give their reply: “We looked into this complaint and can confirm that HomeAway does not have any other records of traveller complaints or negative traveller experience on this specific property or owner.
“In fact, we note that the majority of traveller reviews on HomeAway related to the owner and this property since 2016 are very positive. We also note there are no open complaints with our HomeAway customer service team relating to this property or this owner.”
So why was Dr Black’s deposit retained? After correspondence with HomeAway, we still don’t have an answer.
Raw Deal will not stay quiet and just go away when our inquiries aren’t answered.
Be careful when you rent abroad. It often pays to check independent review websites like Trustpilot before booking holidays.