Suspicious retention of holiday cottage Security Deposit
Discussion
We've recently returned from a short break in a holiday cottage, only to be informed by the lettings agent that the owner of the property has instructed them to deduct £30 from the Security/Damage Deposit because of a broken lock on a cupboard door. No further details have been provided at this point concerning the damage. I have asked for more information to be provided.
Given the people involved in the holiday (elderly, plus wife and very small child) and my knowledge of their characters I think it's very, very unlikely that any damage was done by our party (and they are all adamant that they were unaware of any problem), and it made me start wondering whether routinely retaining small amounts of cash from Deposits is becoming more common as a way of creaming a little extra profit out of each rental.
Has anyone experienced anything similar?
Given the people involved in the holiday (elderly, plus wife and very small child) and my knowledge of their characters I think it's very, very unlikely that any damage was done by our party (and they are all adamant that they were unaware of any problem), and it made me start wondering whether routinely retaining small amounts of cash from Deposits is becoming more common as a way of creaming a little extra profit out of each rental.
Has anyone experienced anything similar?
As the owner of a holiday cottage, I can assure you that the damage caused by customers is at least £30 each. However that's not to tar all customers with the same brush, nor do I agree that owners should just withhold money like that.
You're right to ask for more details and to enquire about why you're being charged. It may well have been a previous customer and you've unfortunately been caught out. Saturday swap over day doesn't give enough time to inspect everything in minute detail.
You're right to ask for more details and to enquire about why you're being charged. It may well have been a previous customer and you've unfortunately been caught out. Saturday swap over day doesn't give enough time to inspect everything in minute detail.
Puggit said:
As the owner of a holiday cottage, I can assure you that the damage caused by customers is at least £30 each.
Can you explain that statement, do you expect some kind of damage from every customer? You would expect any group of 4 people to cause more than £120 of damage?Last time I stayed in a holiday cottage I am sure we didn't cause any damage. Only a very small and incremental amount of wear equivalent to the cottage being lived in for a week, which is what I am sure the owners expect.
I meant for each visiting group. More than half of our customers don't give a s
t about our house, it's very saddening.
Absolutely you should expect wear and tear. Sadly recent examples such as damage to children's furniture clearly caused by an adult sitting on it really grate. Some customers are great and replace items like glasses which they've broken, leading to an eclectic mix of wine glasses.
t about our house, it's very saddening.Absolutely you should expect wear and tear. Sadly recent examples such as damage to children's furniture clearly caused by an adult sitting on it really grate. Some customers are great and replace items like glasses which they've broken, leading to an eclectic mix of wine glasses.
I'm sure that the standards of respect for holiday homes vary enormously and I greatly sympathise with those who suffer from the damage caused by uncaring idiots.
However, I'm not at all happy to have costs attributed to our group when I'm pretty sure that no damage was caused.
At the price we were paying (over £1,300 for a week) I think *minor* and reasonable wear and tear ought to be included, and even then I'm absolutely convinced that the claimed damage was not caused by ourselves.
I remain a little annoyed, to say the least.
However, I'm not at all happy to have costs attributed to our group when I'm pretty sure that no damage was caused.
At the price we were paying (over £1,300 for a week) I think *minor* and reasonable wear and tear ought to be included, and even then I'm absolutely convinced that the claimed damage was not caused by ourselves.
I remain a little annoyed, to say the least.
Rip off Britain. As usual. Even with the poor exchange rate its cheaper to hire a place in Europe than at home and certainly everywhere we have been has never taken any security type deposit for anything. Its just accepted the odd glass might break and accepted that if it is something more serious the guest would own up and an acceptable fee arranged.
Puggit said:
I meant for each visiting group. More than half of our customers don't give a st about our house, it's very saddening.
Absolutely you should expect wear and tear. Sadly recent examples such as damage to children's furniture clearly caused by an adult sitting on it really grate. Some customers are great and replace items like glasses which they've broken, leading to an eclectic mix of wine glasses.
Thanks for the explanation, must indeed be annoying and expensive if people are careless like that.t about our house, it's very saddening.Absolutely you should expect wear and tear. Sadly recent examples such as damage to children's furniture clearly caused by an adult sitting on it really grate. Some customers are great and replace items like glasses which they've broken, leading to an eclectic mix of wine glasses.
I'm disappointed for Puggit that he has such bad experiences from his customers.
We have never had a security deposit retained in whole or part ever which completely goes against the theory that it's a common thing to squeeze a few quid from a rental.
On the other hand we always treat the place as if it's our own. The one glass which was once cracked in a washing up clash was replaced.
Furthermore always having a toolkit there has been more than one place that's been in better nick at the end of a week than at the start.
We have never had a security deposit retained in whole or part ever which completely goes against the theory that it's a common thing to squeeze a few quid from a rental.
On the other hand we always treat the place as if it's our own. The one glass which was once cracked in a washing up clash was replaced.
Furthermore always having a toolkit there has been more than one place that's been in better nick at the end of a week than at the start.
Sevenman said:
Puggit said:
As the owner of a holiday cottage, I can assure you that the damage caused by customers is at least £30 each.
Can you explain that statement, do you expect some kind of damage from every customer? You would expect any group of 4 people to cause more than £120 of damage?Last time I stayed in a holiday cottage I am sure we didn't cause any damage. Only a very small and incremental amount of wear equivalent to the cottage being lived in for a week, which is what I am sure the owners expect.
We stay in a nice holiday cottage most years and leave it better than we found it each time.
911ked said:
Rip off Britain. As usual. Even with the poor exchange rate its cheaper to hire a place in Europe than at home and certainly everywhere we have been has never taken any security type deposit for anything. Its just accepted the odd glass might break and accepted that if it is something more serious the guest would own up and an acceptable fee arranged.
In 4 years of holiday letting I have had two guests own up to breaking the odd wine glass. I have had other guests who have broken: the timer on the central heating boiler (new timer system required); the door frame on a microwave oven broken (new microwave oven required); a television fallen/dropped and no longer working (new television required - fortunately this was still in warranty period); the front edge of a swivel/rocking chair broken and various other items broken. None of the guests owned up to these - indeed they tend to hide the fact the damage is done. The microwave door frame was glued back so it couldn't be spotted : in the case of the chair they stood in my way so I couldn't actually get to the chair and check it. The television looked good but did not work when switched on and on close inspection had slight marks on it indicating it had fallen in some way.If they have done serious damage they will attempt to hide it and have never owned up - I wish they would as, in some of the examples above, it could have been a health an safety issue and resulted in me being sued by the next customer.
There is always an issue with deposits from my perspective in that - I cant check everything thoroughly while the customer is there. The customer wants their money back before they leave and wants to leave as soon as you get there - even before you have had time to check the property. Keeping the deposit until a later date has been tried but issues arise around this as the OP has discovered (e.g. The customer does not believe they did the damage (they may not have): the damage may have been done by a previous customer and only spotted later after other customers have stayed.
Pabl0 said:
911ked said:
Rip off Britain. As usual. Even with the poor exchange rate its cheaper to hire a place in Europe than at home and certainly everywhere we have been has never taken any security type deposit for anything. Its just accepted the odd glass might break and accepted that if it is something more serious the guest would own up and an acceptable fee arranged.
In 4 years of holiday letting I have had two guests own up to breaking the odd wine glass. I have had other guests who have broken: the timer on the central heating boiler (new timer system required); the door frame on a microwave oven broken (new microwave oven required); a television fallen/dropped and no longer working (new television required - fortunately this was still in warranty period); the front edge of a swivel/rocking chair broken and various other items broken. None of the guests owned up to these - indeed they tend to hide the fact the damage is done. The microwave door frame was glued back so it couldn't be spotted : in the case of the chair they stood in my way so I couldn't actually get to the chair and check it. The television looked good but did not work when switched on and on close inspection had slight marks on it indicating it had fallen in some way.If they have done serious damage they will attempt to hide it and have never owned up - I wish they would as, in some of the examples above, it could have been a health an safety issue and resulted in me being sued by the next customer.
There is always an issue with deposits from my perspective in that - I cant check everything thoroughly while the customer is there. The customer wants their money back before they leave and wants to leave as soon as you get there - even before you have had time to check the property. Keeping the deposit until a later date has been tried but issues arise around this as the OP has discovered (e.g. The customer does not believe they did the damage (they may not have): the damage may have been done by a previous customer and only spotted later after other customers have stayed.
I've only had an issue with my deposits being retained once. This was where clumsy step-lad had broken a light on the last night. My daughter who was then a toddler, also had a nosebleed from hell that night. Cot mattress covered in the stuff - luckily he had seen her the next day so did not call the police at the sight!
We fessed up as you should and said we were happy to pay for replacements. We were charged for the light (a little more than I had expected if I was really honest, but not ott), but not the mattress. Was fair and I was perfectly happy.
FiF said:
I'm disappointed for Puggit that he has such bad experiences from his customers.
Conversely, I'm a bit irritated by his comments. Particularly the one where the respectful renter gets "caught-out" and somehow, through bad luck becomes responsible for damage caused by others, because the owner is too lazy to do a proper inventory between lettings. Matt Harper said:
Conversely, I'm a bit irritated by his comments. Particularly the one where the respectful renter gets "caught-out" and somehow, through bad luck becomes responsible for damage caused by others, because the owner is too lazy to do a proper inventory between lettings.
Seriously? We rely on paid staff in France to manage our house - they have a few hours to say goodbye to people who have a boat/plane/train to catch and don't want to wait for the inspection, clean and tidy the house, strip and remake beds and tke care of the garden. There simply isn't time to do things properly. Is the answer to make everyone lose a day's holiday and arrive on Sunday instead? We have never withheld any part of a deposit as a result.
I'm a bit irrated by your irratation to be honest, I've only tried to play devil's advocate!
FiF said:
In typical PH fashion. How much do you trust your local reps/ cleaners?
For us it's a retired British couple - we pay a heavy premium for that, but as a result the trust level is a lot higher.Sadly they neglected to she the house down properly last Autumn and instead of France for half term we headed to Crete. We had a 2nd leak in 2 years as a result, so will be doing it ourselves this year!
Matt Harper said:
Conversely, I'm a bit irritated by his comments. Particularly the one where the respectful renter gets "caught-out" and somehow, through bad luck becomes responsible for damage caused by others, because the owner is too lazy to do a proper inventory between lettings.
You do not get time to check everything before the next customer is due - things come to light later and as I already said above most customers who have damaged things hide the fact.We let a holiday property for 6 years. I used to request a security deposit but in more recent years stopped demanding it as we never had any issues.
I think over the whole time had one broken glass, a spill stain on the coffee table (almost cleaned) and a couple of heat rings on the dining table (removed using the steam iron). There was, of course, wear and tear as you would expect
One family who rented it, looked almost unsavoury but left it cleaner than before they arrived!
I think over the whole time had one broken glass, a spill stain on the coffee table (almost cleaned) and a couple of heat rings on the dining table (removed using the steam iron). There was, of course, wear and tear as you would expect
One family who rented it, looked almost unsavoury but left it cleaner than before they arrived!
I can't help cleaning while I rent villas.
Mostly, I end up gardening all the weeds from the garden - one place in Lanzarote yielded 2 foot pile of weeds from the overgrown garden. Another in Calpe had collapsed and neglected rockeries that I artistically rebuilt. Gives me something to do.
If we break anything, we would 'fess up though we don't with odd glasses because they do break, they are clearly very cheap and I think one glass is fair wear and tear.
We also tend to leave behind washing up detergent, washing machine detergent, conditioner, bin bags etc so doubtless that saves on provisions.
Mostly, I end up gardening all the weeds from the garden - one place in Lanzarote yielded 2 foot pile of weeds from the overgrown garden. Another in Calpe had collapsed and neglected rockeries that I artistically rebuilt. Gives me something to do.
If we break anything, we would 'fess up though we don't with odd glasses because they do break, they are clearly very cheap and I think one glass is fair wear and tear.
We also tend to leave behind washing up detergent, washing machine detergent, conditioner, bin bags etc so doubtless that saves on provisions.
LuS1fer said:
I can't help cleaning while I rent villas.
Mostly, I end up gardening all the weeds from the garden - one place in Lanzarote yielded 2 foot pile of weeds from the overgrown garden. Another in Calpe had collapsed and neglected rockeries that I artistically rebuilt. Gives me something to do.
If we break anything, we would 'fess up though we don't with odd glasses because they do break, they are clearly very cheap and I think one glass is fair wear and tear.
We also tend to leave behind washing up detergent, washing machine detergent, conditioner, bin bags etc so doubtless that saves on provisions.
You're welcome to come and rent our pad in the Loire Mostly, I end up gardening all the weeds from the garden - one place in Lanzarote yielded 2 foot pile of weeds from the overgrown garden. Another in Calpe had collapsed and neglected rockeries that I artistically rebuilt. Gives me something to do.
If we break anything, we would 'fess up though we don't with odd glasses because they do break, they are clearly very cheap and I think one glass is fair wear and tear.
We also tend to leave behind washing up detergent, washing machine detergent, conditioner, bin bags etc so doubtless that saves on provisions.
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