Retention of deposit

[spangles55]

We hired a dog friendly motorhome for a few days and the hirers said they would waive the dog cleaning fee (£75) if we did it ourselves.

 

When we picked the motorhome up the carpet was stained, the door was open and it wasn't until later that we realised it smelt of smoke. Going down the road the windscreen wipers stuck at the edge of the windscreen & we had to pull up 4 times in wind and rain on the hard shoulder of the motorway to release them....fortunately we weren't going too far. The water in the onboard tank tasted bad too. On cleaning the motorhome out one of my granddaughters found a syringe and lighter in a cubbyhole.

 

At the end of our period of hire we cleaned the motorhome to a high standard, it took us 40 minutes and was probably cleaner than when we picked it up, and I called the hirers to arrange to drop it off. I got a call back to say they weren't expecting us that day and to leave it outside their premises. I do have an email that confirms dates & times of collection & drop off.

 

I got an email the next day with a picture that shows hair on the carpet that doesn't even look like our dog's hair and certainly wasn't there when we dropped the motorhome off. They also informed us that they were charging us £75 deep cleaning fee because of that hair.

 

Where do we stand with this, do we chalk it up to experience or threaten to take them to small claims court? I am pretty disgusted really as we are always very conscious of not wanting to mess things up for other dog owners and make sure any place we stay is left immaculate. I have asked them to post the hair to us so we can check it....they have conveniently ignored that.

 

Thanks for any help.

[raydetinu]

Pity you did not take photos of how you left it!

As with any hire vehicle you should get it signed in and checked while you are both there.

Did you inform them of the poor condition of the vehicle and what you found at the time?

Without any evidence it would be difficult to prove either way. So a trip to court would be risky, and don't threaten unless you are going to go with it.

Have they actually taken the £75 yet or was it part of the fee, and they would refund it. If not too late cancel your card before they take it!

[spangles55]

Pity you did not take photos of how you left it!

We took photos of the outside but not the inside.

 

As with any hire vehicle you should get it signed in and checked while you are both there.

We had agreed a time but they phoned back and said they were away that day & to just leave the motorhome.

 

Did you inform them of the poor condition of the vehicle and what you found at the time?

We told them when we spoke to them after dropping the vehicle off.

 

Without any evidence it would be difficult to prove either way. So a trip to court would be risky, and don't threaten unless you are going to go with it.

They have pictures of hair, we know we hadn't left it like that & it wasn't from our dogs.

 

Have they actually taken the £75 yet or was it part of the fee, and they would refund it. If not too late cancel your card before they take it!

They took it before we picked up the motorhome as part of the holding deposit.

 

I have emailed them several times and they have ignored the complaints I've made about the state of the motorhome. I also told them they should have been there to check the motorhome in and they told me we should have had it back earlier and they would have been there. I have a voicemail message from them saying that they didn't know we were bringing it back that day and were away. They have been completely untrustworthy in their dealings with us.

[raydetinu]

Might be an idea to name and shame so others don't use them.

[spangles55]

Sorry for the delay.

 

Hire a Hymer......avoid like the plague!

 

I asked them 4 times to send me a sample of the hair, they wouldn't, they lied about the return date despite me having the emails that confirmed it. They told me they were away that day and weren't expecting us. I have the voicemail that confirms that then when I told them that they said they were there in the morning and we should have brought the van back then despite us having arranged to take it back in the afternoon.

 

They totally ignored the complaints about the windscreen wipers, rank water in the onboard tank, dirty carpets and the smell of smoke and general dirt. In short, in it for the money and not bothered about being devious and underhand and ripping people off!

[labrat]

maybe something along the lines of

 

dear sir or madam

 

as per our previous replys we are unable to accept the non return of our deposit

 

you are already aware of the reasons but i will re-state them as you appear to have a habit of forgetting

 

on collection the state of the motorhome was not to the level that was expected, the water tank had not been emptied and refreshed, the wipers failed to work making the van unsafe for the road, and there was evidence of possible drug use within the van (syringe)

 

desipte this we continued with the holiday as it was impossible to return to yourselves to rectify the faults

 

on our return we cleaned the van to a high standered and went to return it at the agreed time and place only to be informed that we had to leave the van as you were now unavaliable

 

on requesting the return of our deposit you inforned us that the van had required a deep clean due to dog hair found the picture supplied to us showed hair that was clearly not from our dogs as (insert reason here)

 

so far we feel that we have been fully reasonable in rsquesting only the deposit to be returned when realistlicy we could also request a portion of the holliday cost for the inconveniance of the unsafe van and condition it was in

 

we would like conformation of the return of he deposit or we may consider furher action such as the small claims court. this would include a reclaim for a proportion of the holiday costs for the reasons above. as you are aware this would raise he costs to yourselves as any sum would include court costs + he deposit + he proportion of the holiday

 

we would however like to keep this on a civil level so would welcome a reply from yourselves detailing how you intend to resolve these issues

 

yours sincerly

 

 

 

typed on my phone so check carefully

[Surfer01]

BTW is it a registered limited company or a private individual that hired the motor home to yourselves?

[spangles55]

labrat, I have detailed it and requested the return of our deposit on several occasions and been ignored. For the sake of £75 we have decided to leave it and I am in the process of posting honest reviews on Trip advisor and elsewhere......however, can't see the one I sent to their website being posted!

 

Surfer01, it's a company, not sure if it's registered ltd or not.

[raydetinu]

agree probably not worth the stress and hassle ( more important things to worry about, like the next holiday! )