We were on holiday last week in a house in North West Scotland. It wasn't cheap...£1000 for the week and the agency took a £150 security deposit they said would be returned within 5 days if everything in the house was ok.
The house was nice enough but it was a health and safety disaster zone. All the floors were highly polished with rugs dotted about randomly. There was an open staircase to the upper level with slatted steps and NO banisters. There was an open fire in the middle of the room (which we never used as the weather was warm) and we were told by the caretaker if we used the fire NOT to use the fire guard as it caused issues with the flume. A steep, moss covered path down the front gate also caused slipping hazards.
The upstairs of the house was a converted attic. The windows were locked shut with the keys in the lock but they were stuck fast so we left them despite stifling heat, it did concern me that there was no fire escape on the upper level though.
Anyway, the reason I'm giving this background information is that during the holiday my DH went to wake my DS up in the attic room, he was sleeping in a pine slatted single bed. There was a rug (on highly polished floor) next to the bed, my DH skidded on it and landed heavily on the side of the bed which cracked (it was at a knot in the pine). My DH was badly bruised on his upper thigh and hip and a bit shaken by it all.
We immediately phoned the lady who did the caretaking of the property and she came round the next day to look at the bed. She was very nice, told us we had "nothing to worry about" and was very concerned about my DH's bruising.
So, we left on Saturday morning after having cleaned the place thoroughly and came home.
Yesterday I get a phone call from the agency telling me the owner is withholding our £150 deposit for the replacement of the broken bed and he also claims we bent a key in the window lock (this did NOT happen on our time there) and do we "agree to this". I told them we categorically did NOT agree to it and subsequently e mailed them photos of DH's huge bruise and the rugs on the floor which caused him to slip.
The whole house was a health and safety nightmare which I have catalogued to the agency and I'm currently waiting to hear what happens next.
Even if I did accept liability (which I don't) he's having a giraffe if he thinks a cheap pine bed and a bent key add up to anything approaching £150!!
Anyone else got experience of this?