Problemswith "Virgin" villa

[pamela1960]

I have to agree totally with the above postings but take issue on a small point Susan has made where she says "Unfortnately not enough paid to villa owners to keep standrds up"
The first point is in support of owners and what they get from the likes of Virgin and the likes. Very poor rates indeed. But where I take issue is that if an owner signs up for being a supplier of a villa to say Virgin they should make certain it is of a good standard at the very least. If they were not renting it through Virgin they would be getting their own bookings and those poor people would have all the same problems. Villa owners need to give a service and product they would expect. Perhaps some have lower standards than those owners who advertise on the DIBB such as Susan Coleman and ourselves. Renters should do their homework and check out the villa. You can't do this through Virgin !

I wonder how many the villa in question is permitted for by the county ?

[florida mad]

Sounds like nothings changed then :angry: we had similar problems to what you have had to go through and its just not right that its still happening.
We had a right stoppy madam from imagine who just wouldn"t admit to us that the villa was not up to scratch, even the virgin lady came out to inspect it and agreed it was not up to standard ( we had paid for a superior villa )
To cut a long story short they refused to change us to a different villa, to say we were mad is an understatment. We got on with our holidays as we didn"t want to let it spoil our holiday ( which it did put a dampers on )we took piccies of everything including disgusting towels a three legged table that was leaning against a wall to name but a few. We sent off the piccies to Virgin which we had a small refund and appology from them, sorry but its too late for that
We all save and work damn hard for our holidays and a shame we don"t get what we pay for. Never again will we rent a villa from Virgin, we have learnt our lesson and going DIY for the 1st time and the villa we have chosen is lovely
I really do hope that you get it sorted, but dealing with Imagine is a total nightmare

[Orlandomad]

Dosnt help i'm afraid but we had similar issues a few years back with a Virgin Villa...always go DIY now and can recommend some great villas for anyone thinking of DIYing it. Best thing you can do is complain, complain and then complain some more until you get satisfaction. Doubt if many of the natives would stand for it!

[ncmurray]

Do you know, it is totally sickening that this can happen. Your hard earned money should be safe in hands when you deal with a large company like Virgin. They pride themselves on their customer service, but just shrug their corporate shoulders when they get complaints! That is just not good enough!

Complain, complain, complain! It is just not right that they have made your holiday a disappointment.

[EssexSue]

Actually I think you are incredibly tolerant, I would have started complaining at the airport when I didn't get my phones!

I have no sympathy when we read these sort of complaints from people who have paid peanuts for a DIY home but you have paid a lot of money and have the right to expect absolute luxury!

I really hope you are having a lovely time and everything else is perfect for you.

Sue

[NearToDisney]

I agree with Sue...you have been so patient and tolerant, I would have lost the plot completely by now ! When I consider the amount of money you have paid (although any amount should get you at least get you a clean, well equipped home) and worked so hard to save, it makes my blood boil when I read about all the issues you have experienced, it's simply not acceptable and Virgin should have been running around like headless chickens to get you moved at the beginning of your hols. Well done on managing to make the best of things and still enjoy your holiday... you're certainly a better person than me !

[Carlmelia]

Gosh your amazingly tolerant. If you're not happy I'd make Virgin take some action in resort, your contract is with them not Imagine ( there job is to make as much money for the least effort).

I was once given a great tip by a guy who used to spend weeks flying around the world staying in hotels (he said it wasn't as glam as it sounded!) complain in the nicest possible way and put the other person in your place e.g. Would they be happy to spend £14k for a 'special' once in a lifetime holiday and be treated in this way. Sympathize that the villa owners are not having the best of times by why should your party suffer you've paid money in goodfaith to Virgin who have contracted Imagine to provide, via an agreement you are not party to, a villa for you. It is for Virgin to remedy the problem for you.

Take photos and video in any case (do a commentary of the issues as you film it) and regardless of Virgins remedy inresort make sure you put in formal complaint form whilst in Florida and get a copy of it to bring back to the UK.

Above all please try to not let it spoil your holiday too much. Just keep thinking of everything else that's so great away from your villa.

[Guest]

Very sorry to hear about your plight. I'm afraid as others have said this is probably a consequence of the poor rates paid by tour operators.

Sadly they will probably now move on from Imagine and continue the saga with a new management company and villa owners.

I firmly believe that visitors have a much better choice available to them by using the 'DIY' approach.

There are thousands of good quality homes available in the market and the cost is not high when compared to a package. Customer service will almost certainly be better and the end result a holiday to remember for the right reasons.

Regards

Jim

PS The BBQ may well have been used by someone other than the owner - and left in a poor state.

[armo102]

So sorry to hear of your problems, we had a 'lucky' escape from a Virgin Villa when 28 days before we were due to fly they wrote to us to inform us that our chosen Villa at Windsor Hills was no longer available. It was only after they cancelled did we begin to hear the horror stories about Virgin Villas. Funnily one of the 'alternative' Villa's we were offered was Emerald Island which we refused as we didn't think that it was of the same quality as Windsor Hills.

You need to keep complaining and document everything, do not accept their 1st or 2nd offers, they are just standard gimicks to pacify customers!

Try not to let all the problems spoil your holiday, after all you are just going to use it as a place to get your head down after a busy day. If you are still unhappy insist that you be relocated to a equal or better quality Villa. We found DIBB and excellent source for sounding out area's and locations for Villa's. Unfortuantely all the Dibbers private Villa's were fully booked with 21 days before our flight. But it has invaluable information on how to 'check out' private Villa owners details to see if they have outstanding taxes ect which could indicate that they are about to foreclose!

Good Luck with the rest of your hols, we returned to the UK this morning after a fabulous 3wks at Formosa Gardens and the weather has been great, which I hope you get too

[Gary&Wendy]

We had huge problems with a Virgin Holidays Villa on Highlands Reserve about three years ago. For those that dont know, it is a great villa community but we were unlucky with the so called 'superior' villa we were given. We also paid a lot of money.

Your story about broken furniture and general dirtiness coupled with indifference from staff was exactly what we experienced. After I got home and the anger with the treatment we had received throughout the holiday continued to simmer inside me, we (very reluctantly) took legal action. I am a solicitor by profession so I guess it was easier for me but it was only when we took an 'official' approach that we saw any proper response from Virgin Holidays. We eventually settled for a four figure sum but that didn't fully compensate for the loss of what should have been a great family holiday. I can bore you all with the details of what was wrong with our villa but I learnt that you are better to book direct and avid the big companies.

I am not a villa owner so I have no gain in saying that I would rent out a Dibb Villa any time before going again with a big company. Virgin as a company can be very good and I would certainly fly with them but I wouldn't use their villas again.

I reiterate that Highlands Reserve is a great villa community, it was the villa that was the problem. I hate the compensation culture but if Virgin do not respond to genuine complaints then you should take action against them.

Most important though is dont be put off of an Orlando holiday, we have been back since and we are going this year. It is still, in my opinion, the best holidiay you can have