Hi Charwoo

That sounds dreadful! Please could you give us some more details? Which company/resort, when did you book your holiday, what did the reps say when you arrived etc?

Regards

Musicmaker

Was it a private booking or one of the big Companys like James Villas or Cosmos ?

I went with Cosmos to a villa with pool, two weeks since and we were bumped from our villa, but it all happened 4 weeks prior to travel and we were given the option of cancelling completely with a full refund or an alternative villa from those they had left in our choisen destination.

We took the later and it was as good as the original, well it was the same spec of three bedrooms, pool, etc but obviously I never saw the first one.

I think people must place their villas with quite a few letting agencys to ensure occupancy during the prime months and then communications go wrong as I was told by Cosmos that mine was a double booking, thank goodness they had something similar for me.

It did cross my mind though that why was the original villa showing on their web-site as vacant at the time I booked and why did it take over 5 weeks to tell me it was double booked. (so I couldn't really look for viable alternatives I guess)

I do symathise, it sounds awful.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I don't wish to name and shame as yet as I wouldn't like anything to go against my case however I will say that it is well known uk company that purely deal in villa rentals.

We were supposed to be staying in Cas Concos, were moved up to Cala Mandia for 2 nights into a modern end town house built into the hillside, overlooked by a number of other properties. The infinity pool had a 10 foot drop to one side and was 9 flights of concrete stairs away at the far end of the garden, not what we booked and certainly not suitable for a 2 year old. When I stated to the rep it wasn't child proof she said no but it was all they had and that whatever happened we had to be out of there by 10am Tuesday morning as she had other clients coming in (this was on the Saturday). I was extremely upset by this last comment and ashamed to say crying (I'm a grown woman...) and said didn't we have enough on our plate without her making us feel as though the problem was our fault and advised her that she should leave. She said well I don't know what you want me to do, I'm not your rep anyway at which point I closed the door on her. After spending most of Sunday afternoon on the phone trying to get the problem resolved we we finally offered a 1 bed cute house on Monday morning which we flatly refused. We were then trekked back down the coast to Puerto Petro to a semi detached Mallorcan farmhouse with 6 beds however the house was dark and gloomy with no air conditioning and was split into 2 parts the main house and a slightly less gloomy apartment which we opted for as it was the lesser of 2 evils and at this point I was just exhausted from anger, tears, sleepless nights due to worrying and driving all over Mallorca, I just wanted somewhere to settle for the 4 days we had left. Thankfully the pool area was just outside the apartment area and was suitable for my son. The villa we booked was a bright and airy secluded detached 4 bed villa with air conditioning and pool. I hope this fills in the blanks but again this is the abridged version.
Thanks for listening

Hi Charwoo

I am happy to listen, but am not sure I can offer any constructive advice as such, but I can imagine how disruptive it must have been as if you book a week in a villa to relax the stress of what you have been through must have totally ruined the holiday and as such you must feel that you have wasted 3K, and would have been better off staying at home.

This site has a travel solicitor that works with posters, however she doesn't actually read the board, she is no win no fee and I think that the initial telephone call for advice doesn't commit you to using her. Her details are given by Glynis in the link below. It might be worth giving them a ring tomorrow morning to see if they can give you advice.

I think as it sounds like it was a package holiday she would have more success getting you back in excess of 600 pounds. By offering this they seem to be admitting liability. Keep every piece of documentation that you have concerning the holiday as it may be needed at a later day and notes of any telephone calls to the company. Dates, times, names of who you spoke with. Good luck.

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=57959

Hiya Charwoo,

I agree and would speak to Ros about this one, don't for one minute think that your complaint is trivial because it sounds to be a complete and utter nightmare if it were me I would be wanting most of my money back.

Good luck to you and please keep us posted.

Hi Charwoo

I have also been moved from my chosen villa after double booking - but again I was informed several weeks before travel and given the option of cancelling with full refund. I was lucky, the replacement villa was higher spec than the original one. You said the rep told you she "wasn't your rep". Does that mean she was with a different company? The same company but not her area? Does that company have reps in Mallorca? I would certainly get in touch with Ros and see what she advises, this does not sound like an adequate response from any company.

Please keep in touch.

Regards

Musicmaker