What do you think of this holiday rental situation through acquaintance

[holidaysituation]

I was talking to one of my son's friends mums a few months back about our holiday. Long story short, it turns out the mum's cousin owns a flat which she rents for holidays. The mum told me she'd ask her if it was available on our dates.

It was available. Friend sent some pics of the flat and we told her we'd take it. I did ask to put me in touch with the cousin directly but the mum never did and all communication went through the mum.

We never paid any deposit. I asked the friend and she said not to worry about it. So it was all done on good will really, which is why even before we left, we sort of thought that it will be difficult if we aren't happy about something there and we would probably just need to suck it up for the sake of the friendship.

Anyway, the flat wasn't ideal and most importantly really, it didn't have WiFi and one of the beds was so uncomfortable and lob-sided, we had to fit into one bed / put a mattress on the floor.

I think the WiFi thing was the worst thing really. After a few days I informed friend we would be leaving the flat. Friend didn't ask why or if all was ok. Just said OK can you switch for the boiler ? I said I would be switching off the boiler when we give back the flat. We left the flat but didn't officially leave it with the keys etc until the day we were supposed to leave.

We were very gracious about it all but I feel like the friend could have been gracious as well and asked if all was ok. We paid everything up front on arrival. We weren't going to start arguing for money back but she could have asked if all was ok and why we were leaving early in my opinion.

She sort of managed the whole process for us with her relative, which we do appreciate but I think that no WiFi is just unacceptable.

I'm not going to say anything, it's done and dusted but I do feel a bit miffed about the whole thing.

AIBU ?

Personally I don't care about WiFi as so many phone contracts have so much data included it's barely an issue for a few days.
The bed is odd but you didn't actually say anything to them either. So they may have assumed you wanted to visit another place or whatever. It's all very informal.
I think renting from or via friends is always tricky unfortunately

Unless the host is told the beds broken how would they know.

Not hard so tell them. “Hey we are going to have to leave early the beds broke so cannot sleep there”

Did you see the property photos, ask for reviews, what amenities available including wifi, TV, swimming pools etc? Why would you choose that over an actual holiday apartment? Was it really cheap? Did you give a reason for leaving early, if you didn't give reason then how can they know what was the problem. You aren't that close so maybe the person didn't want to intrude and ask.

I don't think you guys get it. We always knew there's no way we would complain about anything . The relationship with these friends is important to us and we don't want to cause a fuss or problem for them or their relatives.

They could have just been courteous back in asking why we were leaving and if there's any problem. I think it's weird not to ask why.

Exactly @Dotto

Thats why I said uncomfortable isn't a reason and how was it broken
If the next people to rent it report the bed broken then the OP is very likely to be blamed for it.

Maybe your friend thought that as a grown up you'd just open your mouth and tell them there was an issue. Why play games and wait for them to read your mind?

Yes it's a bit odd but also probably not worth thinking about too much.

Just one of those things, really, nothing much you can do about it now except chalk it up to experience.

Really, it had the potential to go wrong from the start, when you weren't in direct communication with the owner of the flat and it was all done via your friend.

If you cannot complain why would you do anything different if they asked how it had been. Would still be a complaint.

And you also know by not raising it you've left the problem for the next person, like the last person did for you.

Glad the owner was there, at least you weren’t trespassing! 🤣 Your friend obviously thought she was doing you a favour - did she arrange a price deduction or something of that nature?

TBH probably didn’t ask reason for early departure in case it opened dialogue about partial refund.

As this wasn’t a proper business arrangement I would maybe tell them about the bed and wifi being a problem for you and move on. That way they can sort it out for next occupant.

I think your friend sub let - I wonder if the owner knew.

There's not much you can do about a refund after the event - you have to ask for it, she's not going to offer, but you should definitely give feedback about the awful bed, and anything else you were told to expect that wasn't provided.

I met the owner as well. There's nothing I am going to do about it. I never was going to do anything.

The words " due dilligence" came to my mind immediately too. I'd never go anywhere I'd not seen reviews for unless it was a friend and I knew them. Completely on you op. It's like when people selling things come to the door and use the "your neighbours bought it/signed up for it" why would that help me decide, I don't know the bloke that lives across the road.

If the bed was literally broken you should have told them, how will they rectify this for the next rental if nobody actually tells them!? If you didn’t give any indication something was wrong she might have assumed you were leaving due to a family emergency or weather/ illness etc, she may not have asked why if your not close friends so as not to be intrusive.

I also don’t see why moving the mattress to the floor wasn’t a good enough workaround, a mattress on the floor doesn’t suddenly become more uncomfortable than when it’s on the bed (unless I suppose you have mobility issues which make getting in/ out difficult).

I wouldn’t have expected Wi-Fi, surely most people have mobile data on their phones anyway. Some rentals do have it but certainly not all.

It does seem fishy that the friend didn’t ever put you in touch with the cousin, my guess would be friend told the cousin she was going to stay there for free and then has sub-let it you so that she can take the cash.

I get it.

They sound cheap and opportunistic. I wonder how many other friends have stayed there and been miserable.

Where was it? Some locations are worth putting up with a bit of inconvenience for; some are not.

We don't get it - because it's a thing that's peculiar to you, this way of organising a holiday! So there could have been anything wrong with the accommodation and you'd not have complained. What do these friends have over you???

@BettyBardMacDonald thank you. At least there's one who gets it.

I don't want to give away any more details as I don't want this to be outing.

Oh and the friend did know we moved to a different accommodation, they knew we stayed elsewhere and would be returning the key as normal and not before. As she asked me to switch the boiler off and I said I will be switching it off when we were actually supposed to leave and not before.

@TorroFerney they don't have anything over us. We just have a lot of contact through school and don't want to ruin the friendship and make it awkward. Our kids may be at school together for a long time. We chose to go there and have a loose arrangement, we knew we weren't going to complain but when they heard we were leaving they could have just asked if we were ok. That's all. As a courtesy. As they'd been the ones to arrange it all.

If you care so much what your friend thinks of you, why wouldn't you be honest about the bed? They will surely not feel happy about you not reporting it, or could even think you've done it and slunk off guiltily, as you gave no reason for abruptly leaving. They could well think you were the rude one.

If a holiday let has a broken bed you call the owner and say "the bed's broken" They say "I am so sorry, I'll replace it this afternoon"

Have you ever stayed in a holiday let before?

Why do you feel they owe you courtesy, but you don't owe them any?

How was I not courteous sorry ?

I think its a bit strange you havent sent a message saying "btw not sure if you are aware but the bed was broken when we got here. We made do by putting mattress on the floor but just wanted to let you know before next people rent the place. Thanks..."

Anyway, you are overthinking their reply. I dont think they did anything wrong. Let it go and enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Because you didn't report damage?