Holiday Lettings Reviews 

Wish I'd read these reviews before booking with Holiday Lettings....
Property was great (a bit under equipped re wine glasses, etc) but nothing we couldn't manage around.
However, Holiday Lettings itself....we realised we'd been charged a "booking fee" of 14.5%. There was no mention of this in the T&C, no transparency in the invoice or in the agreement I had with the owner on the price. Then when I tried to complain, I got the most unhelpful, rude, stubborn individuals in a call centre. Took me an hour to get absolutely nowhere.
In my view there are more honest and helpful booking sites out there. Avoid this lot.

We booked with a member for an apartment in France for a reasonable price. 2 days later we were informed that our dates had been cancelled and we were due a refund. We contacted holidaylettings.com and they told us that the person had double booked our accommodation so they took him off the site. Happy with how they dealt with the situation but did not book with them again as we were cautious the same thing would happen.

As an owner of multiple properties on Holiday Lettings, and multiple other agencies, the quality of service has deteriorated over the years to an unacceptable level. Telephone support is a farce and processes are disjointed since TripAdvisor took them over.

It’s not good for us as owners and not good for our guests.

I booked a holiday condo in Lisbon through Trip Advisor/Holiday Lettings. I ended up needing to change from 5 nights to 3 nights on a non-cancelable/non-refundable rental. I got the owner's approval, but she didn't know how to make the change. I had written to HL via FACEBOOK and they called to help me TWICE. UNHEARD OF....they ended up calling the owner in Lisbon and walking her through how to make the change. Then they called me again because I had 2 days to accept the change and didn't notice an email from TA/HL about this. They offered to put it through again with me on the phone so I could accept immediately. I got my refund immediately also. I will do ALL MY BOOKINGS through this company (Holiday Lettings is part of Trip Advisor...the vacation rental side). No one, in today's world, has this level of customer servicing. They certainly know how to build customer loyalty....this is the best for me EVER and I travel a LOT.

I have outlined the details below but here is a summary of what to expect from Holiday Lettings: emails ignored as standard, hours spent on hold on a premium rate line at your own cost, a fight and a long wait to get your damage deposit back, customer service team reading from a prepared script (they are of course very sympathetic to your problems and understand your frustration but nothing gets done) no escalation to manager if you are unhappy with how your complaint is being handled - there seems to be one supervisor in the call centre but you will never get to speak to anyone more senior. In all, I've never dealt with a company with such appauling customer service. Just in case you need it, the quickest way to get the damages deposit back is to contact your credit card company who will launch an investigation and that seems to do the trick.

We booked a holiday rental in Portugal through Holiday Lettings for the dates 20-29 August 2018. Before our holiday even started, we contacted Holiday Lettings by email on 16 Aug to inform them that the owner was requesting that we paid the £400 damages deposit in cash on arrival. However, we noticed that a previous traveller reviewed the property on 5 Aug to say that their deposit has not been repaid and the owner had ignored all of his emails. This traveller believed that they had been robbed. We did not want to pay the deposit in cash and have the same problem getting it repaid as the reviewer of 5 Aug. We requested urgent advice but there was no response from Holiday Lettings. In the end we had to spend the day phoning their premium rate number at our cost to sort it out the day before we were due to travel which was very stressful and time consuming. In the end we paid €400 as a damages deposit to Holiday Lettings rather than the sum in cash to the owner on arrival.

As soon as we arrived on holiday, we experienced problems and tried to get assistance from the owner but he made no attempt to resolve the problems with our stay. There were no chopping boards - the owner told us to cut up on the stone worktop but not to bang too hard as this will damage the stone. We didn't really want to do this because it might jeopardise our damages deposit. In all other rental properties we have stayed in, chopping boards have been provided.
There was only one wine glass - we were a family of 5 adults who wanted to enjoy a glass of wine with dinner on holiday and this is not acceptable. The owner said that wine glasses had been broken by previous guests and he would not replace them.
There were only 2 sunbeds - as above, we were 5 adults. 3 sunbeds are pictured in the photos of the listing of the property. Again the owner said that sunbeds had been broken by previous guests and are not being replaced.
When we arrived, we found the BBQ dirty and full of ash from the previous guest. The coffee machine was also full of coffee which had gone mouldy. Again, this had not been cleaned. We had to clean both the BBQ and the coffee machine before we could use them.
There was an ants nest behind the couch in the lounge. The owner told us to use ant spray but the ants still kept coming.
There were also faulty items such as a wall socket on the landing, wires hanging from the ceiling in the bedrooms which looked dangerous and a faulty shower screen in the ensuite. The swimming pool also had several tiles missing and sharp cracked stones which was a real worry because we had 4 small children. There was also mould growing in and around the tiles in the pool which was very unpleasant. We contacted Holiday Lettings every day on holiday to ask for assistance. At first, they agreed to not release our funds in payment to the owner until the issues were resolved but after a couple of days, they informed us that they had looked into our case and had decided that Payment Protection did not apply and the funds were released to the owner. After this point, Holiday Lettings stopped communicating with us and proceeded to ignore all of our emails requesting assistance. We feel very let down that we experienced these problems on holiday and were not given any help from the lettings agent.

We feel that the property was described as 'luxury', 'new' and 'well equipped' and we paid a lot of money to stay there but it was not as described. Therefore, we feel that a refund and an apology is required because we did not go on holiday for problems and complaints. When we returned from holiday, we lodged a complaint including supporting photographic evidence with Holiday Lettings. However, the owner immediately lodged a complaint against us on 31 August claiming that we had stained the couch and €200 of our damages deposit would not be refunded as a result. We absolutely refuted this fake claim and had to wait 48 hours for the owner to provide evidence before our damages deposit was returned to us. After this time expired, I had to constantly chase Holiday Lettings for our deposit to be returned with hours spent writing emails (all of which were ignored) and on the phone again at a substantial cost to me. After a week of chasing, I contacted my credit card company to investigate the matter and the deposit was finally returned to us on 11 September.

Holiday Lettings still have not responded to my complaint about the property being substandard and I feel that as the lettings agent, they bear some responsibility to ensure that complaints are investigated and customers are reimbursed if a property is not as advertised.

I would like others to be made aware of this awful customer service so that they do not have to suffer such treatment when booking a holiday. I will never use them again - I have booked several holiday rentals through Owners Direct and never had a problem. I will now pursue my claim through the credit card company because I have had no response from Holiday Lettings. And for Tripadvisor to own this company, they should be ashamed of themselves as they are taking complete advantage of people's trust in the reviews and recommendations which come from this site.

Recently returned from a lovely two week holiday booked through Holiday lettings who are the lettings department of Trip Advisor.
The rental property was exactly as shown on the trip advisor site and I have no qualms in recommending it but that is not the same for the Holiday Lettings company. The main problem is that it is extremely difficult to communicate with them when there is a problem. They held our damage deposit of £500.00 and I had to really chase to get it back at the end of the holiday.We had also had a problem with the initial booking and that too was very difficult to resolve again because of how hard it is to speak to someone who knows what they are talking about.
The owner has ten days in which to make a claim against the deposit which is obviously reasonable but then the deposit which is held by Holiday Lettings is promised to be returned immediately although you have to allow a further ten days. All of which I went along with but then when no deposit appears the fun starts.
I wouldn't say don't use them but be prepared to do battle and stick to your guns. I did get my £500 back eventually but it soured the whole experience for me.

a shocking company. Do not use them!! They do not publish any contact details by phone or email and it is impossible to get in touch. This, I am sure, is against the Law and I will be looking into this. I speak as an owner. Holidaylettings used to be a very good reliable company but since being taken over by Trip Advisor it is now terrible. They charge different amounts of commission and do not have a set percentage which is also bad practice. I will be reporting them to Watchdog!!!

HOLIDAY LETTINGS IS REALLY BAD
see my previous post and a nonsensical reply from Tripadvisor

They say see Terms & Conditions. these are UNFAIR T & C's and would be illegal in the UK

They took many from me before confirming/denying the request. the money was taken from my Bank Account immediately I sent in the Request to Book. the bank sent me an SMS notifying the debit

The Request to Book was denied and they now say 7 TO 10 WORKING DAYS to return the money. Whose working days and why - bank transfers are immediate. this can be well into the NEW YEAR

If they can take money immediately, they can give it back immediately. They are simply sitting on it!!! Not acceptable these days

They then invite me to let them know if I need anything else with no clear reply button - the email I received was a "No-reply"

Contrast this with AirBnB who did nt take the money until the accommodation was confirmed. Whe it was shown that the accommodation was a misrepresentation, they returned the money IMMEDIATELY. I subsequently received a personal note from Customer Service with a discount voucher for future bookings

WHUCH COMANY D YOU TRUST TO BOOK WITH!!!

Worst customer service I have ever encountered. Don't listen, don't look at your notes, don't deal with any issues!!!

All started with holiday villa being double booked. Called to say I was homeless with 6 children, to be advised they cant help and was on my own.

They called me next day asking to release money to villa owner as put on hold. Asked why when I was still homeless...couldn't answer!

They called me again the following day again asking to release money to villa owner...you seeing a pattern as well?

Advised they would sort things out and get back to me ASAP. One week later got back from holiday and no attempt from them to contact me.

I chased them to see why they had not contacted me and what has happened to my money. Their reply...can we release the money to the villa owner....LISTEN< LISTEN< LISTEN!

I was then advised that I would be receiving a full refund.

I was then contacted the next day asking if I would release funds to the villa owner. The person had no notes regarding the conversation of full refund the previous evening.

In the end I was forced to agree a part payment against my better judgment just to get some money back, piece of mind and my life back!

2 weeks later and 3 emails and a phone call and they can't find my records due to technical error. Found my complaint but cant advise when I'm getting paid.

Waiting for a call back from V***s a manager. Lets see if that ever appears.

Obvious they only want your money and the owners are the only customers that matter. I've now spent close to 4 hours on the phone and over an hour writing emails. Who's paying me???

First time to use Holiday Lettings to booked an apartment in France (BR22666724) and paid the total amount of 572 euros. I have been desperately trying to contact the owner of the apartment to no avail. I have reached out to Holiday Lettings for assistance on numerous occasion and what did I get - nothing, no response!

At this point I simply want to cancel my booking if not for Holiday Lettings' unfair refund policy wherein I will only get a portion of my payment back (250 euros out the 572 euros I paid). Frustrating refund policy given the fault was caused by the owner of the apartment.

This is my first and last time to book through Holiday Lettings. Avoid this company!!!