Holiday Cottage Dirt photos ...

[KarmaStar]

Close friend had to go to another part of UK to visit very ill relative and booked a cottage via a large holiday rental company for seven nights.there were no reviews at time of booking.
On arrival one of the couple went to put the milk and chilled food in the fridge and found all the white plastic shelving covered in yellow sticky substance and lots of black hairs embedded in said substance.
Searching for cleaning products,a drawer was opened and it turned out to be filled with dirt,crumbs and filthy cutlery.
The rental company contacted who could not be fully updated as no signal in the area.th st were contacted several times over the week but failed to accept the property was not for to be in use.
Found pubic hair in shower .one bedroom out of use as insect infestation.
It goes on....
So back home after a very uncomfortable unpleasant holiday cleaning the areas they needed to use.I asked why they stayed,said because they needed to visit very ill relative and no money left to pay for anywhere else.
Holiday rental have dismissed request for half the price back,offered a very small,just over £20.,compensation and closed the case.
Here is the aibu,they are unhappy as rental company said if they posted photos on social media they would sue them.would they be unreasonable to post photo's to advise future visitors?
Both of them are very upset and have come home more worn out than when they set off.

Gads, I would definitely be posting the pics! What kind of rental company are they? They're out of their minds if they think they can sue anyone for this! Tell them to post the pictures!

What grounds do they think they have for suing them? The pictures aren't fake

Tell the company it will be put on their FB, Twitter etc, with photos unless they can offer a suitable resolution. I don't think there is a law against people posting photos of holiday cottages ....

That's gross!

I'm no legal expert but surely for them to sue they would have to demonstrate losses AND it would have to be untrue. If it's a fair photo then surely they have no grounds?

I would avoid threats, keep it very formal - they know there's photos so they know that this a possibility. I would thank them for the offer of £20 compensation but say that they do not feel this is sufficient compensation and repeat what they want. Is this a national agency? Most of them only take a percentage of the booking fee so if they're a decent agency they should be pursuing this with the cottage owner. They're probably hoping your friend will just go away so it sounds like she needs to be firm and persistent.

Wow. That’s grim. I’d definitely be posting those photos!

They can and should review both the cottage and the rental company, and post photos, on social media/trip advisor/ the rental company’s feefo or wherever they can.

In these days of internet reviews and easily shared information, it’s really stupid to give such crap service or sell goods or services that are way under par.

I would go back and say I have the evidence of when I tried to contact you, the evidence of the photos, and the evidence of your response to my complaints. It’s all legitimate evidence I am free to post wherever I wish. I asked for decent compensation for sub standard accommodation. Yo u have refused. I am happy to give you 24 hours to come back to me with a much revised offer, otherwise I will publish my reviews accordingly.

That is revolting. I help a friend clean her holiday cottages and they are sparkling, as you’d want to see if you were staying there yourself. Their cleaner is shit. Or lazy. Or they do it themselves and can’t be arsed to do a good job. 🤢

Friend is perfectly entitled to post the photographs on social media. It's not someone's own home or property it's listed and available as a rental / lease with bookings arranged via a large, otherwise reputable company.

Friend gave them the opportunity to apologise and compensate them for the condition and the £20 offer adds insult to injury.

I would post the photographs alongside a full, fair and honest review so the owners can publicly respond if they think it's unfair.

Given their response already I'd guess they will respond like a petulant little bitch whose nose has been put out of joint but that in itself speaks volumes.