To leave holiday apartment after one night & only pay for that one night?

[boomchikawahwah]

My mum and her partner have gone to Devon for the week, arriving there yesterday. As it was booked last minute, the owner of the apartments waived the deposit and after a phonecall the dates were agreed and that was that. My mum then called the lady back and asked if she could be sent some kind of confirmation via either e-mail or post that the apartment was booked. They don't have a computer?! and so a couple of days later a handwritten letter arrived confirming the date as 2nd june 2008?! and asking for a deposit.....After yet another phonecall it was cleared up as a misunderstanding and no deposit was to be paid.

On arrival they were showed to their room, dropped off their cases and left to go and pick up some bits from the shop. When they returned they were unable to get back into the apartment so the lady's son came and was also unable to open it so had to wd40 it....That night they tried to put the tv on but to no avail, they asked the woman and she said the cleaner must have knocked out the plug but there was no socket nearby so again the son had to come and he plugged in an extension lead. Then when my mums partner tried to have a shower he noticed hairs all over the floor, swept them up with a baby wipe which subsequently after doing so was filthy....then there was no hot water so the woman came up, fiddled around for about 5 minutes and said she 'wasn't familiar with this room'. Eventually it came on. When asked about the cleanliness of the room, she said she'd cleaned it yesterday.

On top of all this, the lady then wrote a 3 page letter complaining about their complaining and demanding that the full amount for the week be paid today rather than at the end of the week.

Could they leave today after staying onenight and just pay for one nights stay?

[Longdistance]

Yes, leave today, and pay for the one nite. As long as they don't have any credit card numbers they'll be safe.
It sounds like a horrid place, so they'll do well to leave, and should inform them at the poor service they have received. Sounds Yuck!

[Viewofthehills]

I would. How yucky. They should take photos. I might be inclined to write a fairly formal letter explaining the ways in which the room was not up to standard and enclosing the cheque for one night as "full and final settlement".

(I'm not a lawyer)

[alphabite]

Absolutely not unreasonable. It sounds like a rubbish place. Make sure they don't have their credit card number though and make sure they tell them why they are going.

[GnomeDePlume]

Yup, leave.

The apartment owner sounds like a total amateur.

[Dprince]

If its how your mum and her dh describe then yes they should leave.

[LittleJennyRobyn]

What viewofthehills says!

[boomchikawahwah]

So it's fine that the woman has their address?

[TheHouseOnTheCorner]

My Mum and Aunt had similar! They left early....filthy and no help either. YANBU. Sorry your Mum and her DP had this happen.

Of course it's fne that the woman has their address...she could try to take them to the small claims court...so maybe they need to photograph evidence?

[QuintessentialShadows]

Review on Trip Advisor methinks....

[alphabite]

Photograph evidence definitely.

[mummymeister]

OP they need to take photo's lots of them. if the property is star rated then they need to tell Visit England who carry out the inspections what they have found and attach the photos. you can find out if they are star rated by looking on the visitengland website. they need to tell the local tourist information centre who might send other people here. always put the complaint in writing in great detail with photos. when you "make a booking" with someone you enter into a contract. the lady should have sent terms and conditions. if she has look at these and see what redress there is. if she hasnt then it is easier. stand your ground though - filthy places are just horrible.

[ErikNorseman]

Leave immediately! If they are anywhere near ilfracombe my parents have a lovely holiday apartment - it's on owners direct stanmore house. They would take a last minute booking if they are free :)