Apartment descriptions

[fisherfour]

Just returned from 10 fantastic days in the Port! We have privately rented several different apartments over the years. The descriptions and photographs have ranged from very accurate to a little misleading. This year being the most misleading. The description and photographs were the deciding factor for this years choice. A large roof terrace with several sunloungers, chairs and table were shown in the photographs and mentioned in the written description. However when we arrived a solitary useable sunlounger, parasol and a table with no chairs were what we found! The roof terrace was huge and with 5 of us the lack of roof furniture made the terrace not as useable as we thought it would be for Al Fresco dining or a sun downer after a day on the beach. After a phone call to the property management company the owner agreed for her to purchase 4 plastic patio chairs for the roof terrace which were put to good use while we were there. When an apartment is advertised for an occupancy of up to 6 and the photographs showed enough furniture for this many people, should the photographs be revised or the equipment replaced, not just left broken in the storage spaces? What's the point of keeping broken furniture?? Overall we enjoyed staying in the apartment, it was close to the beach, supermarkets and restaurants and we will definately be returning to the Port. Just a little reminder that descriptions and photographs are important to prespective renters!

 

[Sparky]

That is a shame and all i can suggest is that you make a written complaint to the agent or owner if it was a private rental. Of course these things are taken on trust and it really is not in the owners best interest (if they want repeat custom) to mislead their clients.

 

[eleanor]

Something seems a little strange here as most owners go way past what is expected as the minimum for their guests. This is especially the case when booking directly with the owner as there can be no confusion with a middle person involvement.
It seems there was a middle person involved here. I wonder if the owner therefore was aware of the lack of furniture. I would think the answer may be not especially as there was broken furniture left at the apartment. We dealt one year with a company which didn't keep us informed of breakages or replacement needs. Ok as owners it's our responsibility to know but if you pay someone good money to look after the property and deal with whatever necessary it is annoying to find this didn't happen.
The fact that broken furniture was there implies that the owner had purchased. Sometimes management companies won't throw out until the owner has seen. Others just don't 'get round' to telling the owner. Not good I know but if this was a private rental with no middle person involved such as agent or property management company, I would be very surprised.

 

[pansy potter]

Eleanor I completely agree with you, we have our apartment back after 3 years with agents. The first 2 years were good , lots of bookings , efficient service but expensive. We still found that they spent our money without asking buying accessories for apartment that we felt we did not need or were not our taste. Also on our bill we found we had been billed for tipping the cleaners and I am not sure why as it was nt Christmas !
The 3 rd year was appalling with a different agent, these were people we knew and trusted from previous dealings with but the lack of communication and shoddy way they ran their business was terrible, they are withholding some of our money still and I cant see us getting it back as I have heard they are no longer in business.
Alot of agents also market the property as their own so would be renters think they are renting directly with the owner this is very misleading . An owner would be mortified to find broken furniture sub standard equipment etc in their place as they also have holidays there too !
We now have our apartment back in our own hands so would be renters deal directly with us , I would never go with an agent again, we have found a reputable management company and feel relieved and happy ! We advertise via this website and a couple of others. I would love to hear if anyone else is having agent problems and PM me it could be the same ones !

Pansy

 

[eleanor]

Pansy you are so right! Owners Direct website is very much one that seems to encourage agents to advertise properties as their own. I was so surprised to see just how many were in PP too! I think potential renters should ask the question when booking to confirm that the person they are speaking to is the owner and not the agent of the owner. Some agents and property management companies are very good but it's the usual story that the bad show up the good.
Owners have to rely on someone to look after their property whether they rent out or not. Good money is paid in good faith. Years ago we knew of a gardener who used to find out when the owners were arriving before popping around to cut the grass! The problem also with some agents and property management companies is that they give the feeling of control. I have heard owners complain that they can not say something for fear of upsetting the agent and then being left with a replacement problem especially if half way through the season.
It's a hard one to get right. What is sure is that most parties have the same objective - that being to ensure the property is maintained and looked after which therefore allows the renter to enjoy their holiday in a home from home environment.

 

[fisherfour]

We booked through Owners Direct (if we can mention this!!) directly with the owner, on arrival in the apartment there was a welcome envelope from the property management company in the port who clean/maintain the apartment. This company was our point of contact if we had any problems while staying in the apartment. After phoning our contact the problem was dealt with quite quickly.

As mentioned above we did enjoy the apartment but photo's need updating to be more acurate and representitive of what you are paying for.

 

[KIRKY]

Last year we rented direct in Cala Bona and thre description etc was not same as the reality. also there was no key waiting for us, place was a bit dirty, taps did not work, pool was unusable after a couple of days. etc. Complained after return and he eventually agreed to refund £200-00, got £100-00 in the end and it got so painful we left it at that. He reckoned I caused him to nearly have a breakdown! Made me feel really bad but the guy could not run a tap let alone a rental apartment!
The risk of DIY holidays!
tony

 

[eleanor]

I do think that the majority of owners do have the best interests of their renters at heart and when renting directly want everything to go as smoothly as possible. Ok there will always be the odd one that gets through but on the whole based on the thousands of so called 'do it yourself' holidays the vast majority of people are very happy with any problems being resolved very quickly. Again as I said before, I think when there is a major problem it is because there is a third party involved and the booking is not 'direct with owner' as expected.

I also do think it is well worth noting that these properties are peoples homes and mostly they like to make them 'home from home' for their own comforts too. They also take a 'risk' in allowing people to rent their property without actually being very sure just how respected it will be. For every 'horror' story of a property not up to scratch I think it can be matched at least twice over by 'horror' stories of people who have rented.

 

[its cd]

If it makes anyone feel better I am sure if there were any serious cases of misrepresentation amongst the apartments rented on this site they would be brought to pollensas attention and something would be done about it

I am NOT saying the site guarantees accuracy , they can't do that BUT this site is a bit of a community and word gets round so I would say on balance renting a property advertised privately On this site is less risky than renting somewhere you find via google or a large rental site covering multiple countries
Also if you see somewhere post about it asking for people's opinions you will always get a response

 

[pollensa]

If it makes anyone feel better I am sure if there were any serious cases of misrepresentation amongst the apartments rented on this site they would be brought to pollensas attention and something would be done about it

Very, very occasionally, I get contacted by guests regarding properties and if there ever is an issue with the description then I will pass this on the advertiser and request it to be amended. Fortunately the number of times that we are contacted is very rare and I can normally resolve communication issues etc. If the property mentioned in this thread was advertised here then please do Contact US Thanks.

 

[Sparky]

Pollensa, the property was booked through Owners Direct.