Advice - Caravan Deposit

[Callum Shepherd 0]

My family stayed in a caravan early May, it was in Ingoldmells, Skegness but the caravan owner lives in Sheffield. 

The owner has multiple caravans across ingoldmells and seems to run it as a business. Im sure plenty of people

from Sheffield already have stayed in her caravan or people will do so in the future.

 

The caravan we stayed in wasn't the caravan we originally booked, just before our holiday, the owner told us she had double booked the caravan we wanted and that we would have to stay in another caravan she had

or we could receive a refund. It was close to the holiday we planned so i decided to just go along with whatever caravan she would give us as it would have been difficult to find another caravan in time and it would be less stress.

We showed up at our caravan and the cleaners were still there, which i thought was very unprofessional. As we was made to pay an extra £10 to be able to get into the caravan for 10AM and not 4pm.

The caravan we stayed in wasn't as modern or clean as the one i originally asked to stay in. It smelt fusty and old, looked like it was poorly maintained, there were problems with the pluming system and food wrappers still under the sofa and down the side of chairs.

There was also a used mattress under the caravan which i felt was very unsanitary. Although i tried to not allow any of that ruin any part of our holiday.

We left the caravan we stayed in very clean, took pictures of the caravan to ensure the return of the deposit.

 

The owner visited her caravan and text me saying she was amazed with how clean the caravan was and that she would return our deposit. 

I contacted her to let her know we had left something in her property, it would fit in an envelope to return it. The caravan owner said she was also ok returning the item if we paid for postage.

I sent back her caravan keys through the post and my communication with the caravan owner ended there. 

It has now been an ENTIRE month since she told me she would return my deposit and belongings. 

 

I followed up asking where my deposit was through text or to when i would receive it, no reply after a week. 

I then called the two numbers the company operate under and what i had already been communicating with, no response. 

 

After 2 weeks i emailed the email listed on the caravan owners site, again still with no response.

It was then i started to think the caravan owner had simply decided to just keep the deposit for themselves. 

I called again after my email, to find that my phone number had been blocked by them.

 

I have sent the caravan owner an email accusing them of being misleading and fraudulent. 

I have spoken to them in a formal way the entire time throughout the process of this holiday experience, i have never threatened them or been manic in any way.  

I can only assume at this point that they are trying to pull a fast one over me.

 

Someone i know put a booking  inquiry through their site and received a reply. SO they are perfectly capable of responding to customers.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

 

Its been an entire month. I am not sure what i can do to get my deposit back or to ensure other holiday 'goers' don't book with this awful, unprofessional holiday maker.

I wanted to ask to what i can do about this situation? all payments were sent through the bank. I am hoping someone has already been through this situation or that there 

are other caravan owners that can help me out here. Its become a very stressful situation i am in.

 

I have already contacted the website i booked through which was UKcaravan4hire, they cant actually do anything about this person advertising through their website.

I am not sure if this is the correct section of the forum but im running out of ideas and starting to think the caravan owner is untouchable. 

[bassett one 450]

PUT A claim in the small claims court,or 1st send them a letter that they must sign for stating your intentions,giving them 14 days to return your goods and deposit,also inform the owners of the site about your concerns and if they are a decent site owner they wont want a bad name

[francypants 441]

Yes .......    like bassett one said.

 

Small Claims Court.

[Callum Shepherd 0]

4 hours ago, bassett one said:

PUT A claim in the small claims court,or 1st send them a letter that they must sign for stating your intentions,giving them 14 days to return your goods and deposit,also inform the owners of the site about your concerns and if they are a decent site owner they wont want a bad name

I have complained to Kingfisher Caravan Site and the council who regulate the site as its regulated by East Lindsey District Council but had no response from them either.

 

The only thing that puts me off about small claims court is the cost, the cost is half as much as the deposit we are asking for. Although i feel like its the only alternative?

I have written to her via email about my intentions but with no response. i think it would be a good idea to do it via recorded delivery as you said.

[Pettytom 1]

You’ll get the Small Claims Court fee added to your deposit if you win, which it sounds like you should. So, in theory, you shouldn’t be out of pocket.

 

Of course, even if you win, you still have to get the caravan owner to pay up. 

[Cyclone 10]

5 hours ago, bassett one said:

PUT A claim in the small claims court,or 1st send them a letter that they must sign for stating your intentions,giving them 14 days to return your goods and deposit,also inform the owners of the site about your concerns and if they are a decent site owner they wont want a bad name

This.

 

A letter of intent with a deadline for a response, then file a small claim against them.

[Chez2 10]

13 hours ago, Pettytom said:

You’ll get the Small Claims Court fee added to your deposit if you win, which it sounds like you should. So, in theory, you shouldn’t be out of pocket.

 

Of course, even if you win, you still have to get the caravan owner to pay up. 

The small claims court deal with it for you. Its extremely unlikely they won't pay. We had a really nasty customer withhold paying an invoice for no valid reason.  He said he would see us in court. It was silly really as it was only something like £200. Within about a fortnight of filing the claim we received a cheque and letter asking to acknowledge payment. I have no idea what was sent to him but it worked.

[lovelace 23]

Hi Callum.              Don't know if you're  allowed to do it,    but could you put some sort of identifying description  of this caravan,   so that we can all avoid them.         My family often hire caravans in Skeggy & we've had some nasty surprises,   but I wouldn't want them to get involved with this owner.        Hope you get your money back.

[carosio 186]

Some people won't accept a recorded delivery (they might have an inkling what its about!), however the court deems it delivered if sent by first class post with delivery confirmation. This applies to communicating with the court as well.

[tlangdon12 13]

1 hour ago, carosio said:

Some people won't accept a recorded delivery (they might have an inkling what its about!), however the court deems it delivered if sent by first class post with delivery confirmation. This applies to communicating with the court as well.

The Post Office will give you a proof of posting. That's all you need. 

[geared 307]

On 15/06/2019 at 11:11, Chez2 said:

The small claims court deal with it for you. Its extremely unlikely they won't pay. We had a really nasty customer withhold paying an invoice for no valid reason.  He said he would see us in court. It was silly really as it was only something like £200. Within about a fortnight of filing the claim we received a cheque and letter asking to acknowledge payment. I have no idea what was sent to him but it worked.

Probably official court summons landing on thier doormat, enough to put the scare up most people.

[Chez2 10]

5 hours ago, geared said:

Probably official court summons landing on thier doormat, enough to put the scare up most people.

It was a decent sized SME so the business owners would not be too keen. Does it leave some sort of ' visable mark' such as affecting credit score?