Most
people we come across are ordinary decent folk who want nothing more than to
enjoy their holidays and to make the most of their time here on the Costa
Tropical.
However,
we have recently had the misfortune to become involved with a couple who are the
complete antithesis of most people….
Feb 3rd
Friday .… Mr & Mrs L, a British
couple, arrived at the Villa in the late afternoon having driven from their
home in France.
Their
journey in France and the north of Spain
had been really bad because of the snow and ice and they had been fearful at
times of being stuck in the snow.
We
settled them in, answered all their questions, and explained that if the pump did stick, as
it had done once in the morning, opening
the tap in the sink just outside the door on the covered patio would remedy the
situation.
We also
advised them as we do everyone, of the
electricity board behind the Monet
print, just in case, and that the towel box was behind the middle bedroom door
because people can never find the towels if we forget to mention this although,
it is written in the villa notes that people never seem to bother to read.
Mr
& Mrs L purchased just one radiator and a gas bottle from us for heating and
said they were going back to Motril to buy firewood for the woodburner stove
and provisions.
Next
morning around 10 am or a bit later, I received a phone call from Mr L saying
that he needed Ian to come up to the villa straight away to ‘discuss things’.
He did not want to speak to me until I
explained that Ian had gone to Malaga Airport and would not be back until much
later. I pressed him to tell me his
problem.
He then said that the hot water had run out
while he was showering. I asked which
bathroom he was using at the time and he said the family bathroom. I said that I expect the gas has run out and
that Ian will bring a new gas bottle up when he gets back.
Note: at
the time, there was a full gas bottle in the en-suite bathroom so he was not without hot water as he later maintained.
Note: He
did not complain however about there being no gas in the kitchen for hot water or the gas stove which is what happens
when the bathroom gas bottle is empty.
He went
on to say that he had been forced to go outside, in the freezing cold, to turn
on the tap to unstick the pump, in his pyjamas.
I explained that Ian would sort out this problem on his return.
He also
complained that the electricity was faulty and how was he going to explain to
his friends when they arrived that they couldn’t make toast and boil a kettle
whilst his wife was using the hair dryer.
I suggested that he could stagger his use of the electrical appliances so
that the supply didn’t trip but no, he said he just wanted to live a normal life
and be able to use all the appliances
in the house at the same time. I
refrained from suggesting that this just might not be a normal expectation but
I did point out that our electricity supply was
perfectly normal and that never had we previously had a complaint about it.
Well,
when you think in the Summer it runs the pool pump and all the ceiling fans and
a couple of floor standing fans, washing machine, dish washer, kettle, showers
and with six people in the house and I can remember only one instance when it
did trip, in the middle of the night some four years ago, I couldn’t help but be puzzled by his accusation.
In fact, later that afternoon I asked him what
kind of people his friends were that he was so concerned that they couldn’t be
happy in the Villa. He answered ‘ just
normal people….like us’, as an
afterthought.
Still
on the phone, he told me that I should
ring Ian straight away and tell him about the problems to which I said that no, I would not ring Ian
as he would only worry and that nothing could be done until Ian returned.
About
2.30pm, I rang Mr L to advise him that
Ian would be up immediately to which he replied, no, give me an hour or an hour
and a half as I am out with friends.
Later,
Mr L rang me back and said he was back at the villa so Ian went up with the gas
bottle.
He was completely
bewildered to find Mr and Mrs L packed up and ready to leave and asking for a
refund. He advised them that he never
dealt with money and said he would go home to fetch me. Mr L then announced that he would follow in
his car but was advised that no, this was not acceptable. Ian came home to get
me and I went back up to the villa with him.
Mrs L
was sitting in the car and there she remained until Mr L drove her away.
I said to
Mr L ‘this is a surprise’ . He said yes and can we come to an amicable
agreement on a refund ……..
At
first, Mr L was charmingly reasonable until he realized that he wasn’t going to
get what he wanted which was when he began to threaten.
He
began saying that he had been to the ‘Tourist Bureau’ in Motril that morning
and that they had advised him to take his complaint
to the ‘Office of Fair Trading’.
This
was quite staggeringly unexpected. How
on earth had we got to this point from a conversation that had begun that
morning with a request for a replacement gas bottle?
After
being threatened I sat down on the wall and told Mr L that I would no longer
discuss the matter. Ian refunded the 50
euros that we had taken for the heating and advised him to contact us by
e-mail. Mr L then changed tactics and
reverted to being charmingly reasonable again but I told him that never would I
hold a discussion with someone after being threatened.
Eventually,
he left the Villa.
We had never
before encountered a similar situation and to say that we were puzzled would be
an understatement. Nothing made any
sense.
Once
home I wrote this e-mail to Mr L.
Hello
P,
We
have just returned home after out unfortunate meeting at the villa.
On
reflection, it appears clear that you had already made up your mind, perhaps as
early as last night even, that you were not going to remain at the villa.
The fact that you had been to the Tourist Bureau this morning
and were threatening us with the Office of Fair Trade makes this
abundantly clear.
I
adamantly maintain that our electricity supply is perfectly normal
and adequate.
You
said to me on the phone that ‘ all you wanted was to live like normal people’
and that you’ also wanted to be able to have ALL the electrical appliances in
the villa on at the same time’. I maintain that this is unrealistic
and not at all normal.
The
only reason your hot water in the bathroom ran out was that the gas bottle was
empty and all we had to do was bring you a new gas bottle, which we did.
There
was plenty of hot water in the en-suite bathroom by the way. This is run from a
separate gas supply.
Yes,
I admit that the water pump was sticking but Monday morning would have seen
that rectified. This is a Catholic country and all shops by law are
closed on Sundays as well as Saturday afternoons so not possible to
replace the pump before Monday.
There
were no problems other than the afore mentioned and absolutely no reason for
you not being able to stay in the villa.
I
put it to you that you considered the villa not upmarket enough to impress your
friends. I put it to you that you cannot pay 100 euros per week
rent and expect a modern 5 star villa.
I
also put it to you that you had no valid reason to leave and therefore should
not expect a refund.
The
weather is about to improve, the wind has dropped, the temperature will rise
considerably over the next few days and Tranquila is a wonderful place to relax
and recharge the batteries. Breakfast outside on the terrace in the sun with
that wonderful view is second to nowhere.
I
do hope that you enjoy the rest of your two week holiday and you are always
welcome to return to the villa during this time if you should so decide.
Best
regards,
Mr L has
since proceeded to fabricate a web of lies about our property in order to try
to get us to refund his money, he has even resorted to libel.
When I advised
Mr L that we were going to consult a solicitor about his libelous comments he
wrote this:
‘WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
We have consulted a solicitor and he tells us that it is
not possible to pursue libel when a complaint has been made against
unsatisfactory provision of services or goods.
One is perfectly entitled to register a complaint, just as
one might against a hotel, restaurant or shop in such an event and the listing
of those grounds of complaint does not constitute libel.
Also he says internet libel is extremely complex. Also
actions across international borders are very difficult.
So he says you would probably be better to save your money
rather than pay a solicitor.’
He
obviously did not show the solicitor the e-mails that he had written to us and I
am sorry that I cannot print the whole of Mr L’s libelous e-mails here, I think that might be unwise.
It has
taken a while but I think we have unravelled the puzzle.
Initially
I thought that Mr L perceived the villa to be not ‘upmarket’ enough to impress
his friends but on reflection and after e-mails received and the behaviour of
Mr L at the time, It has become quite clear that Mr L knew, before he arrived
at the Villa, that his friends, for
reasons unknown to us, had cancelled
their one week’s holiday with him.
This
meant that Mr L no longer needed a three bedroomed villa and he definitely did
not want to pay to heat it, the weather
having been quite chilly for the previous week due to the freezing conditions
in the rest of Europe.
Note:
The rent
at 100 euros per week per couple is extremely low as usually not much heating
is necessary and people can decide for themselves what heat, if any, they want.
Mr
& Mrs L did not buy any firewood
that Friday afternoon and neither did they buy any provisions because they had
already decided that they were not going to stay at the villa.
But….
the only way that Mr L could possibly hope for a refund, was to ‘rubbish’ the
villa and maintain that it was not fit for habitation which is exactly what he
has been doing.
Mr L is
now threatening…
‘You shoudn't
be allowed to continue with such a shambolic set-up.
I will do my best to have you stopped. After years in the
industry we have many contacts and all those consulted so far are in no doubt
that your property is a disgrace and should not be allowed to continue in its
present state.’
But…... in the latest e-mail he says……
‘If you decided to send that reasonable refund the
whole matter could be dropped.’
That ‘reasonable refund’ to which he is is referring is the
100 euros that his friends paid for their
week in the villa.
But we were
not advised of their cancelation and a
last minute ‘no show’ is completely unreasonable and absolutely nowhere
would this qualify for a refund.
We
remarked afterwards that it did seem a
little odd that Mr & Mrs L could just walk away from the villa without a
thought as to what was going to happen to their friends who were due to arrive
on the Tuesday.
Yes, perhaps most people would refund the money
just to be rid of the situation but this is how people like Mr L get on in life and never, ever is it a good
idea to let oneself be blackmailed.
Mr L is
threatening to ruin our reputation unless we give him a refund. There is no doubt that this is blackmail.
If Mr L
wants to take the matter further then we will fight him every inch of the way.
Note:
We have been up to the villa and turned on all the appliances including
the hair dryer and radiator and the supply did not trip. This of course we are able to prove to anyone
interested enough to want to test the supply.
Note: The pump did not need replacing after all. It just needed a minor adjustment which Ian would have been able to carry out that same afternoon had Mr & Mrs L stayed at the villa.
