Al_O

I have rented at least a dozen apartments throughout Europe and never had a problem....until now. When I enquire about a property I get one of three responses - not available, not available but there are other properties, or it is available. I had enquired on on apartment after seeing it on www.easylondonaccommodation.com, but the reply didn't say anything other than we have an apartment for (they list the price). They didn't say it was a different one from what I was asking about. It was a 'bait and switch' tactic in my opinion.
So when I arrived in London and went to the apartment I was in shock. It was nothing like what I had seen. If I am in an apartment for a week I have to have an oven. This barely had a stove, just a small microwave and a two burner stove with a warning to use the exhaust fan or it will set off the smoke alarm. I returned to the local office, who claimed they were just the middlemen and couldn't do anything. We tried to call the 'emergency' number but only got voice mail and no call back. The person in the local office said to stay there until after the weekend (it was Friday, Dec 24) when someone can move us to another place (even though he had earlier said there are no other properties available - he was obviously just trying to get us out of there). I agreed and went back, but could not stay. Even if this were the apartment I had expected I could not stay there. You walk in and plaster is peeling from the ceiling; I already mentioned about the stove; it was warmer outside the apartment in the foyer than inside - even though there was a radiator, cold air just blew through the closed windows making the room uncomfortably cold; and finally, the toilet didn't work. I went back to the office and they tried to call (they said) and we should sit and wait for a reply. They were trying to stall us until we had no choice but to take the apartment. After about an hour it was obvious that nothing was going to be done so we left and got a hotel. The people at www.easylondonaccommodation.com never returned my calls or my emails, and of course refuse to return my deposit. They ruined our anniversary, our Christmas, as well as our entire vacation.

lincasanova

i hope you have documented this and paid with a credit card. I hope something can be worked out for you.

Al_O

Update Jan 8, 2011

The morning after I posted this I got an email from the woman with whom I had dealt. She said she had just gotten back and would look into my complaint (in my email to her which was also sent to two other recipients so I don’t know why one of them couldn’t reply). The link in the email from her showed the apartment I had expected, not the one I got. I replied to her with the same complaints in my first post. It is now two days later and still no further word from her. I will keep updating as things develop.
I will admit that I was wrong about one thing. What looked like an oven was actually a microwave. It was built in about half way between the floor and the counter-top so appeared to be a conventional oven. I had never seen a microwave built in that low before.

FoFoBT

As always, the devil is in the details. From their website:

easylondonaccommodation.com does not act as an agent for the landlords/letting agents of the properties on the site and is therefore not responsible for the accuracy of information about properties provided by landlords/letting agent. We have neither inspected these properties, nor make any representation as to the accuracy of any property details provided on the site. We strongly advise you to inspect the property thoroughly to satisfy yourself of the accuracy of the statements put forward by the landlord before entering into any agreements.

Their claim to be just the middleman is correct. Landlords pay about 20 pounds a month to advertise their properties and it's very buyer (or renter) beware.

I would not rent a holiday apartment from this type of place and I'm sorry your trip suffered as a result. You might want to contact Trading Standards. I'm not sure how much help they could be but...and let easy london know that you're filing a complaint with TS.

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/a...mer-advice.cfm

As for the two burners v. oven, it's not that surprising to see a short-term holiday let with just a two-burner cooktop and a microwave in the kitchenette, esp in a budget flat. FWIW, I've spent a month in a short-term apartment with just that and still did quite a bit of cooking (I made lots of risottos).

janisj

You did not rent anything from them. You simply found a flat on their website. No different than using newspaper want ads or craig's list. It is a listing site and nothing else.

You rented from the flat's owner/representative. I have no idea what you expect to get from easylondonaccommodation.

Al_O

Update 1 12-2011

Today I was surprised when I received a partial refund of my deposit. It wasn't as much as I wanted, but is more than I had expected. It came to about 58% of the amount I had given them.