cessnock Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Hi everyone.....need some advice? Fivestarvillasandcondos in Jomtien, Pattaya through Thaivisa. Robert (owner) offered me a villa rental at View Talay Villas, Jomtien, Pattaya for Dec 2008. Mr Watson sent me the contract which I signed, returned and paid two deposits totaling 36000 baht. Everything was fine,....I thought... as we had been in regular contact via email since April. On the 27th Nov 2008 at the Emirates check in desk in Glasgow, we were told our flights from UK were cancelled due to the PAD protests. My family were so upset especially my three boys who were crying, we had this all planned for so long. I contacted five star villas and condos via email and telephone about the situation but they have ignored my emails and telephone calls. I am concerned that I have been well and truelly ripped off, I do hope I`m wrong. Any advice would be great. Cessnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patklang Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 difficult one that.the guy has a deposit to guarantee your condo so its not his fault that the pad stormed the airport.however if he had some balls he would speak with you and see what the situation is with other bookings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carib Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 I can understand you are upset, but naming and shaming here, because of something neither Emirates nor the villa rental agency had anything to do with, is not the way to solve things. IMHO Read the contract fine print, and take it from there. Give it time, be reasonable. It is not just you who has a problem with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 To be honest, if all businesses which received deposits would have to instantly refund due to this crisis, pretty much all of them would be bankrupt. IMO the best way forward would be to keep the deposit and to try to re-schedule the booking. If that is not possible, a refund should be made but with a proper time schedule... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxxx Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 typically deposits are non refundable no? isn't that the whole point of a deposit? pay a minimal amount to secure something without having to pay for it fully now - and since your not paying 100% up front they are wearing the risk of you not paying in full by taking a small non-refundable deposit - and your seeing the benefit of not risking 100% up front by keeping your cash in your own bank. honestly if i was the condo owner i'd be keeping the deposit since you no-showed on the booking. just like any other hotel or service provider would do. just like you, you didn't start or plan the whole PAD thing, and nor did the condo owners. you're both in a bad position. you lost your deposit, they lost the rest of your booking payment. what you should be doing, is contacting your travel insurance company and see if you can put a claim in since this is one of those things out of your control. if you're lucky you'll get through to the guys and maybe re-schedule the booking. but when I've missed a hotel booking and want to change it it 1 day forward, I've been charged for it. "I am concerned that I have been well and truelly ripped off, I do hope I`m wrong." on the up side, your hopes have come true, you've not been ripped of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boater Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 its a bit bad to name and shame robert, and i have dealt with him in the past.... but as mentioned, a deposit in NON REFUNDABLE and is paid to secure your villa so no one else books !!! if you had paid to a hotel ( and you would of had to pay the full amount ) you would not receive a refund... did you have travel insurance?? ... as this in theory would cover you for your lost. also to note, robert most probably paid the deposit to the villa owner to secure the villa, thus he cannot get this money back either.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowardJohnson Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Most deposits are non-refundable but Robert is a reasonable man so I would hope you can come to some arrangement. Also, they have just recently moved offices so this may account for the lack of response on his part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil B Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Claim on your travel insurance. When you have paid a deposit I assume you have a contractual agreement which probably includes paying the balance if you do not cancel within a specified time, it is not "Roberts" fault PAD disrupted your travel plans. I assume you do have travel insurance??? BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torrenova Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Mentioned above but travel insurance is the name of the game here and if that doesn't apply then who should the OP look to ? Were I the owner (or company renting the property out), I would probably requested full prepayment for a month like December where demand is highest. That said, I would probably look to re rent the property and if I was successful, then I would probably make a repayment of some or all of the deposit. Conversely, if I was not able to re rent the property, I should, had I written the contract, be able to request the outstanding balance. I would do this at my discretion but as I have previously mentioned, I would only accept full prepayment for December. I know it is hard and whilst I do sometimes advocate direct action through the boards, I find that in this instance, some greater leeway should have been given to the lessor before publically defaming him on Thai Visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivestar Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Hi everyone.....need some advice?Fivestarvillasandcondos in Jomtien, Pattaya through Thaivisa. Robert (owner) offered me a villa rental at View Talay Villas, Jomtien, Pattaya for Dec 2008. Mr Watson sent me the contract which I signed, returned and paid two deposits totaling 36000 baht. Everything was fine,....I thought... as we had been in regular contact via email since April. On the 27th Nov 2008 at the Emirates check in desk in Glasgow, we were told our flights from UK were cancelled due to the PAD protests. My family were so upset especially my three boys who were crying, we had this all planned for so long. I contacted five star villas and condos via email and telephone about the situation but they have ignored my emails and telephone calls. I am concerned that I have been well and truelly ripped off, I do hope I`m wrong. Any advice would be great. Cessnock This is Robert at Five Star Villas & Condos. I have replied directly to Cessnock via Private Message. Thank you for your support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ungabunga Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 (edited) Chances are that the guy in question has been made aware of this thread by now and with any luck he'll contact you. If anything I am sure that he'll try and help wherever he can - but it maybe not his call to make regarding refund or anything other. Edited because I didn't realise Robert has already replied. Edited December 3, 2008 by Ungabunga Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbaldwin Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 You say you signed a contract. Under what circumstances did not contract allow for a return of the deposit. Were these conditions met. If not cliam from your travel insurance. Cannot see why you beleive you have been ripped off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundman Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Hi everyone.....need some advice?Fivestarvillasandcondos in Jomtien, Pattaya through Thaivisa. Robert (owner) offered me a villa rental at View Talay Villas, Jomtien, Pattaya for Dec 2008. Mr Watson sent me the contract which I signed, returned and paid two deposits totaling 36000 baht. Everything was fine,....I thought... as we had been in regular contact via email since April. On the 27th Nov 2008 at the Emirates check in desk in Glasgow, we were told our flights from UK were cancelled due to the PAD protests. My family were so upset especially my three boys who were crying, we had this all planned for so long. I contacted five star villas and condos via email and telephone about the situation but they have ignored my emails and telephone calls. I am concerned that I have been well and truelly ripped off, I do hope I`m wrong. Any advice would be great. Cessnock This is Robert at Five Star Villas & Condos. I have replied directly to Cessnock via Private Message. Thank you for your support. And on that note, topic closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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