Late cancellation by owner ?

[Scorpio]

Hi,
Is it usual for an owner to cancel a customers villa booking at short notice? We booked via a major travel agent in UK in January and had a specific villa confirmed. We paid the full balance in April, but 8 days before our holiday, we were told that the owner had decided to use the villa, so we were cancelled. The agent tried to get an alternative villa, but at this late stage, there is not much choice - all the best ones seem to be booked. I am sure that if we had decided not to use the villa at short notice, the owner would keep the money, but there seems to be no protection for the customer.
I thought there should be some contract with the agents to prevent this problem.

[Jo]

I am sorry to hear that you have been let down with you villa.

To answer your question, it would be very unusual for a private owner ( such as those who advertise on this site) to cancel like this , as we pride ourselves in our customer service and would not want to let customers down.

However, bookng through an agent is more difficult as regards specific villa as often they are bad at letting owners know about bookings, (and ofen only pay the owners a very small part of the fee you pay to rent.). Many owners don't take agents bookings as they can be very hard to manage.

With regard to your point about the villa owner keeping the money if you cancelled, it is most likely that the agent would keep the money and the villa owner would get none if their villa wasn't used.

As regards finding a new villa, do you have the option to switch to a fly drive and find your own villa? I am sure that if you put an enquiry out on the above three sites you would find somewhere very nice to stay where the owner would take good care of you.

[mfairhurst]

You have no way to find out if the owner has truly canceled ,Seem a bit late to do this from the owner unless he may have other reasons for not being able to rent to you .
Can you not cancel your booking and go else were and do your own thing it is worth asking as they the agent have canceled the arrangement not you .
MAUREEN
www.onlinefloridavillas.com/villas/1683.aspx

[Peppermint]

Jo, just to clarify for others I think you mean unusual in line 2.

[Snapper]

Doug, first and foremost can I wish you the very best for finding a replacement villa. If it's any consolation you are in the right place, and I would be hugely surprised if you didn't find anything.

Your question has many angles. I will try to give you the best knowledge and advice I can. Hopefully it will all make sense.

First to answer your question; no, it is very unusual for an owner to cancel a booking. At least if you book via a reputable site such as the ones linked to these forums. Our own method of booking out the villa is probably the same, in principle at least, to most if not all private rentals. Once we've confirmed your booking the villa is yours for those dates. We don't cancel. We don't try to replace you with a different booking. If friends want the villa for those days it's tough - it's booked to you. If family want the villa for thhose days that's tough too - it's booked to you. If we want to be in Florida we'll find somewhere else - the villa is booked to you. You know exactly which villa you are getting, and you should not need to worry about it.

As you booked through a travel agent things become a whole bunch more murky.

The first observation I can offer is that it is unlikely, although not impossible, for a travel agent to confirm a specific villa. The larger the agents the less likely this is. Travel agents tend to deal via tour operators, who deal with consolidators, who deal with management companies in Florida who manage the villas themselves. The travel agent cannot usually guarantee a specific villa as the management companies at the end of the chain do not have this level of control. They can usually give you a range, and in some cases they can give you a type of villa and a location. But a specific villa is not usual.

That said, there may be individual travel agents who have a direct relationship with someone who owns a villa, which they (the travel agents) might re-sell on a commission basis. In this case it would be possible to confirm a specific villa; but that confirmation is only as good as the contracts between the travel agent and villa owner. If this is a casual and unwritten agreement between the travel agent and villa owner it is a problem waiting to happen.

This is why all the owners here will insist on a signed booking confirmation. This defines the rental contract between you and the owner and is as much for your protection and benefit as it is for the villa owner.

Please do follow-up with any comments, questions or observations and we'll do our best to try to help.

All that said, if you want to find a replacement villa try the three sites linked above (and here). If you send out an enquiry via each one you should find something that suits.

www.orlandovillas.com
www.villasflorida.com
www.onlinefloridavillas.com

[ellie]

Doug, I am sorry that you have had this experience. As Steve has so rightly said, if you book directly with a villa owner then it would be most unusual for your booking to be cancelled. Like Steve, if we book out our home to guests then it is theirs, no matter what happens.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case with a tour operator villa. Tour operators pay villa owners absolute peanuts, and often don't pay them until weeks after the villa has been occupied. Because owners are paid such a small amount it may be that some will accept such a booking, but look for a better booking and then cancel the one offered to them by the tour operator, should they be able to rent out their home for more. Now I do not condone this sort of behaviour, but because tour operators squeeze owners so much it may be the only way such owners can survive.

I think that sometimes people believe that Tour Operators actually own the villas they offer, and that they are 'hand picked' by them for their guests. The reality is far from that, as a tour operator will take a booking before they know if they will have a villa available. They must acquire villas from many sources, and have no way of guaranteeing what will be available. A villa that rents out well privately will not be offered to a tour operator. They must take what they can get. The tour operator may not even know what is available until days before the rental begins.

Hopefully, if they have broken your contract to provide a specific villa then you will be able to cancel if you wish, and that would give you the chance to look for a villa from one of the three sites above.

Good luck, and hope you have a great holiday.

[Scorpio]

Hi,
Thanks for the responses. Just to clarify, the travel agent offered a list of specific villa to choose from. We chose the most suitable for us, in a preferred location. We booked flights and car hire through the same agent. After the agent confirmed our booking, the villa website indicated that our dates were booked. This was in January. Yesterday, we were informed by the agent that the owner was using the villa on our dates, and the website showed "not booked" for our dates (another customer was also cancelled). Today, the website shows our dates are unavailable. The travel agent uses a provider in the US, who rents out the villas for the owners. We were offered two alternative villas, but they did not match the specification of the original choice. We are still in negotiation with the agent, but we have been told that if we wish to cancel and find a villa ourselves, they will not impose a cancellation fee - that is good of them !
We have been to Orlando many times and never had this type of situation. We have booked via agents and also direct from owners in the past. Unfortunately, time is against us, but we will see what happens.

[LiesaAnna]

sorry to hear Doug, sorry cant offer any helpful advice but am sure next time you will use a brill site like this [grouphug]

[Scorpio]

Thanks again,
I will use this site next time - I only found it today. I will also recommend it to friends.
I am hoping that the agents will find a suitable villa (on Monday), because I don't know how much refund I will be able to claim if I need to find one myself.

[ShirleyD]

Hi Doug, sorry to hear about your situation. Maybe it would be wise to put a general enquiry out to the sites above with your requirements to see how we compare to what the agent can get you and you will know what sort of costs you are talking about. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the choice and quality

When we first bought our home, we used a management company who took bookings from travel agents, but quickly moved on because they took bookings away from us with no notice or deposit and paid us at least a month after the guest had stayed. We now deal with our guests direct because we can give a great service this way. We like it and so do our guests.

If your agent has messed you about and they can't blame their supplier, they were the ones who offered you that villa, your contract is with them after all, they should be able to change your deal to fly drive only or do a quick search for flights and get you car hire from the above site too!