Not allowed back to a holiday cottage because we left it "in a state" - what could we have done?!

[Thurlow]

Just tried to book a cottage we've been to before through an agency and have been told we're not allowed back because of the condition we left the property in last time. They've got no explanation yet of what we've done.

I'm at a complete loss - we stripped the beds, out the used towels in the bath, swept up, emptied the bins, put the cushions in place, made sure the fridge and all the cupboards were empty, wiped the sides down, everything we normally do to leave a cottage ready for new linen and cleaning etc. We definitely didn't break anything while we were there either.

Has anyone had this happen before, or is an owner who could say what they hate? I'm doubly pissed off as they haven't immediately returned our deposit and are trying to get us to book another cottage with them. I can't for the life of me think what we've done as we've returned to other cottages before and have never had any complaints. Or have we just come across a bonkers host who wants the whole place steam cleaned before a guest leaves?

The relevant legislation here is the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Act 2008 which states that all conditions (including the small print) MUST be available for consumers to examine prior to the contract being taken out when purchasing a good or service.

When you book a holiday via a brochure or online the company will have covered themselves by supplying pages of "small print" or links to click and you ignore these at your peril. If the consumer subsequently raises an issue that was available in this small print but they failed to read it then they have no recourse in law.

Many of the people who let these places are amateurs and do not understand (or wish to understand) the relevant legislation. By leaving manuals containing "rules" that consumers must comply with which are not available to examine when the contract is completed they are in breach of the Act. These provisions have to be detailed as part of the original contract in order to be valid.

If an owner subsequently witholds the deposit in these situations the consumer has recourse to several remedies.

They can ask their bank or card issuer to initiate a charge back.

They can sue in the small claims court for the deposit.

The posters who have recommended making a video of the state of the accommodation on entry and exit are wise, since the camera does not lie. In particular this should highlight any issues such as damage, dirty conditions, etc.

Finally remember the power of sites such as Trip Adviser and Trust Pilot in naming and shaming unreasonable owners.

I don't think it was the smoking at all. A cig outdoors isn't an issue at all.

I don’t think most smokers realise that they bring the smell in with them which then lingers

Deposit is back which is a relief, so will book something else instead and make sure any smoking is done as far away from the property as possible just in case

I don't think it was the smoking at all. A cig outdoors isn't an issue at all.

Yeah, massive understatement. Its possible to smell where a smoker has been sitting

I’m glad you got your deposit back, but I’m another person who would be able to smell the smoke even if you smoker outside.

I really think you need to book a property that allows smoking, and not book a non-smoking property. When I book a non-smoking property I expect that no smoker will have been using it.

If nothing else, I’ve now learnt a lesson from this and will be asking if smoking is allowed outside the property (for example in the garden) or if it’s not allowed at all.

We had something similar said to us once and I was flabbergasted as I'd spent ages tidying the places before we left. Anyway it turned out the cleaner lied and told the owner it was in a dreadful state and took her 4 hours to clean because she wanted the extra money!

I once had a bad review because the AirBNB owner asked us to strip the sheets off 4 beds, wash then, dry them and replace them 'as we found them' before we left. And the same with all the towels. She asked me this in a text that arrived at 4am the morning we were leaving and we had to leave by 7am to catch a transatlantic flight. I explained that that was an unusual request, it was a days worth of work and our timings and how that wouldn't work. We stripped all the beds, left the place spotless, left a card saying thanks and I put on a sheets wash as we left.

I got a stinking review from her about how we'd left it in a disgusting state....

There's an awful lot of quite irrational smoker-shaming here. The odd cigarette outside, which is what this sounds like, hardly renders the indoor area uninhabitable. As @Thurlow has said, it was "a few in the evening" OUTSIDE with the windows closed, so these are hardly chainsmokers who are somehow permeated with the breath of Satan, imbuing every item of soft furnishing they pass with their vile stench.

I find it difficult to believe that the odd fag on the patio is so unusual among holidaymakers that they are all summarily banned with no explanation. Come off it!

Not many places will allow smoking. Right it is too.

My friend owns a collection of holiday cottages and she’s only ever banned one family. They left the place absolutely filthy. 2 dogs are allowed in the cottage so deposit for pets owners is bigger. They left the place covered in sand and dog hairs. Dogs had been rubbing against the walls, lying on the beds and sofa when the cottage guide book asks you not to allow this. They had even left the dog hairs in the bath. I helped her clean up that day and I advised her not to allow them.

When they asked to book again and were refused, they couldn’t see what they had done wrong. Id hate to see their own home if they left a rental property in that state.

There's an awful lot of quite irrational smoker-shaming here.

Is it 'smoker-shaming' though @BitOfFun
or just a statement of fact? If someone smokes outside, the smoke still sticks to their hair and clothes so will transfer to furnishings etc. That's not really subjective, it's just a fact. Lots of owners will not want that and although you may not see it as a problem, they might, hence most holiday let's now being non smoking on any part of the property including the garden. It's always on the details so if someone is a smoker, they have the choice to either book somewhere else, or not smoke while at the property (which I would have found impossible when I was a smoker tbh).

The owners can decide if their property is smoking or not/pets or not and we can decide if we want to stay there.

@SallyWD

We had something similar said to us once and I was flabbergasted as I'd spent ages tidying the places before we left. Anyway it turned out the cleaner lied and told the owner it was in a dreadful state and took her 4 hours to clean because she wanted the extra money!

I hadn't thought of that!

@WhatamessIgotinto

There's an awful lot of quite irrational smoker-shaming here.

Is it 'smoker-shaming' though @BitOfFun
or just a statement of fact? If someone smokes outside, the smoke still sticks to their hair and clothes so will transfer to furnishings etc. That's not really subjective, it's just a fact. Lots of owners will not want that and although you may not see it as a problem, they might, hence most holiday let's now being non smoking on any part of the property including the garden. It's always on the details so if someone is a smoker, they have the choice to either book somewhere else, or not smoke while at the property (which I would have found impossible when I was a smoker tbh).

The owners can decide if their property is smoking or not/pets or not and we can decide if we want to stay there.

I get what people are saying and we're happy to make sure that the odd evening cigarette happens well away from the property in case there's any chance of smoke floating back on through open windows, butts disposed off in outside bins etc. However cottage owners can't exactly expect that people who rent their non-smoking property won't smoke outside of the property. It's like pet friendly properties, if you don't have dogs yourself you can generally tell if a dog has stayed the week before because no amount of airing or hoovering is going to completely remove the smell of dog or dog hairs that might have got on the furniture. Or even if someone's rented the property and cooked curry every single evening!

To me, there’s a difference between smoking in the garden of a property and smoking off the property. I’d assumed, my bad, that no smokers at all. Like no pets means no pets.

I’ll check in future though.

I just find it very difficult to believe that the odd cigarette OUTSIDE would sufficiently pollute the smoker's clothes so that the indoors of the cottage would be contaminated to the point of being uninhabitable after a bit of Pledge and the mopping of floors etc. that happens routinely between rentals.

@Mydogisthebestest

To me, there’s a difference between smoking in the garden of a property and smoking off the property. I’d assumed, my bad, that no smokers at all. Like no pets means no pets.

I’ll check in future though.

Genuine and non-snarky question, but how would you find that out? No cottage owner would be able to know if any of their guests smoked off the property, and they certainly wouldn't be able to police it either

I’d smell it in the soft furnishings.

We had this once in a house swap was really upsetting. Dh and I cleaned the house as we have done many times before and always been fine or people actually said how clean we left it. Thought no more of it. Then ranting emails from the lunatic whose house it was. It was weird like gaslighting as we had cleaned it! I think she was mentally ill tbh but marred the memories of the holiday.

If somebody smokes outside the property, including the garden, do they contaminate the entire holiday let to the point of being blacklisted?

@BitOfFun

If somebody smokes outside the property, including the garden, do they contaminate the entire holiday let to the point of being blacklisted?

I’m not saying they would necessarily be blacklisted, all I’m saying is that

1. I’d smell the smoke in the soft furnishings eg the couch and the curtains

And

1. I’d wrongly assumed that non smoking properties meant no smokers. It hadn’t occurred to me that someone might see that and think it would be ok to smoke in the garden. That is totally on me and I’ll check in future.

Given the amount that is paid for holiday lets in the UK (very expensive), unless you've left the place in a tip or broken furniture, I don't really see that a miscoloured towel is reason for a ban. They are making a massive profit on the property to start with which presumably could easily 'absorb' a replacement set of towels.

We had this on a previous holiday (and we are super cleaners pre leaving). One towel got accidentally transferred from one holiday let to another (several families involved). It was worth about £10 (and I think was from Sainsbury's). The fuss that was made. They did eventually get it back but it left a sour taste with us.

I would also think that a non smoking property would mean no smoking at all on the grounds or in the house. I bet they could smell it or they saw ash or butts and felt you broke their rules. If you smoked a few then you would definitely smell of smoke and transfer that inside. I’m sure you can’t smell it yourself but non smokers would.

No-smoking hotel rooms/self-catered properties are generally understood to mean than smoking should not take place within that space. Not that they ban people who sometimes smoke.

Saying no smoking anywhere inside or outside in the property is very different from saying no smokers allowed to rent the property, and you'd never be able to find that out or police it.

I'd say that holiday homes, particularly during the summer, are going to end up with more people smoking than who'd actually consider themselves smokers - pretty common for people who aren't generally smokers to have a few on a hot summers evening while drinking in the garden, for example