What can we do now legally?

[shack69]

do you have legal cover with any of your insurance policies ? or if you are employed does your employer have staff legal help line you can call for advice.

[ManCity]

Have you told the MC which refund payment methods you will accept? There's mailing a check (will take a week or so), paying via PayPal, or international money transfer, etc. If the latter, I presume you gave them your own bank details, otherwise they can't.

I have a US bank account, and they make paying money to someone really difficult - not like the free online bank transfer in the UK which is a couple of mouse clicks. My bank offers BillPay to pay US companies, and I could sign up to Zelle to pay individuals, but only in the US and payments are limited I think to $250. It can also involve being physically present in the bank branch. So the MC could be having hassle with an uncooperative non-user-friendly bank, taking time to resolve and work around.

With a bank transfer, the bank correctly complied with your instructions to transfer to the MC, so they just did as you told them. Your example serves as a warning to others who make payments direct to an owner or MC, as it illustrates what can go wrong. I note the Dibb villa advertisers who normally jump in to these threads, saying book direct, are quiet in this case and not offering advice on what to do when it does go wrong. There was another thread last week, with a different issue, but they booked through AirBnb who gave a prompt refund. I too would go through the third party agents that offer good protection. I wouldn't have booked for 2021 yet either. The deposit amount you had to pay seems very high too. I am not familiar with US legal matters, but I think you just need to keep on at the MC, but be flexible in payment methods you will accept.

[Ridersmom]

I don't know of any US jurisdiction that doesn't have small claims court-usually in the lowest and most local court and filing fees are pretty low. Google small claims and the town the villa is located in, You probably could also file in the town where the MC company is.

I would also google deposit refunds in Florida and see if there are any laws in that regard. My neighbor state, Massachusetts requires a deposit refund within thirty days and has pretty hefty penalties for those who do not.

[Floridatilly]

Little update.
We emailed VR360homes which is where the villa was advertised. They replied promptly and are going to get in touch with the MC owner and insist that the refund is issued immediately. If we have not received it by Friday we need to let them know.
So fingers crossed we will get our money back soon.
My husband has been pestering the MC company daily with emails & phone calls. We received a nasty email yesterday to say that the owner is not ignoring our emails but is busy with a refit

[bighal]

Here is a website explaining how to make small claims of under $5000 in Florida
flcourts/Resources-S...n/Small-Claims

[Floridatilly]

Originally Posted by bighal

Here is a website explaining how to make small claims of under $5000 in Florida
flcourts/Resources-S...n/Small-Claims

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Thank you x
I am really hoping that VR360 can give him a push into paying. We will give him until Friday so fingers crossed

[macadoo]

Not sure if I remember correctly but didn’t you say in another post about this that you can still book the same villa but just with a different mc? If so, if it’s the villa you really want, wouldn’t it be easier to just keep the booking rather than trying to find another villa? Might explain why the owner is so reluctant to refund the deposit.

Apologies if I’m remembering incorrectly.

[Floridatilly]

Originally Posted by macadoo

Not sure if I remember correctly but didn’t you say in another post about this that you can still book the same villa but just with a different mc? If so, if it’s the villa you really want, wouldn’t it be easier to just keep the booking rather than trying to find another villa? Might explain why the owner is so reluctant to refund the deposit.

Apologies if I’m remembering incorrectly.

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It’s the old MC that has our deposits. The villa owner is keeping our slots until November. As we are now in November he has promised to continue to hold them but we can’t expect him to hold them without a deposit much longer.
The MC that has our deposits no longer manage this villa so they have our money but we don’t officially have a villa booked.
I hope I am making sense lol

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Floridatilly

It’s the old MC that has our deposits. The villa owner is keeping our slots until November. As we are now in November he has promised to continue to hold them but we can’t expect him to hold them without a deposit much longer.
The MC that has our deposits no longer manage this villa so they have our money but we don’t officially have a villa booked.
I hope I am making sense lol

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I had misunderstood too and I thought it was a poor situation before - now I think it is outrageous! That is downright robbery.

[Tetrarch]

Hi,

In my estimation, the time to play nice and reasonable is past. This is now a legal issue. Before you go down a legal route, you have to be very sure of your footing.

Can you tell us what the contract says about your cancellation rights and the obligations of the MC regarding the provision of the villa?

Your contract was to rent this particular villa from the MC. They are no longer in a position to do this, but what they are obligated to do will be have to be inferred from the contract that that you have entered into.

Once you are sure if your position then you can approach the MC with an ultimatum, a hard date in the diary for the refund and then a promise of legal action to recover your money.

Regards

Gary