This sort of thing including somewhat deceptive pictures of vacation rentals is hardly indigenous to Spain..it happens everywhere including in the guilt-free "greatest nation on Earth" US.

As to pandering..it happens a LOT here.

ditto walkinaround's comment

None of the "by owner" sites guarantees their listings. That's the chance you take, that the accommodations are more or less as advertised. But sometimes they're not. Pretty often, the convenience of the location has been exaggerated. Sometimes the apartment or villa doesn't exist or is not available to rent.

Since my vacations are rare and important to me, I alnost always rent from a recommended agency, one where I can charge my deposit to a credit card. The agency must fulfill expectations or they're out of business. And I can dispute the charge on the credit card if I feel I've been cheated.

I agree that the one real problem here is if the apartment was 1/2 the size as stated in the listing advertisement.

Like zeppole, I'm always amused by the finger-wagging that meets posts like this -- ranging from the suspicious to the "you should have known better."

Maybe the OP does have some sort of ax to grind. I dunno. But I have no problem with people posting a detailed warning on how they got ripped off and why they feel that way.

"The Homelidays company displays on the Homelidays.com site information, photos, maps, software and services developed by other parties ... In consequence, it is the users's duty to utilise the information on the site Homelidays.com carefully, and to conduct any verification under his/her own responsibility."

I think this fairly much covers all agencies. I do feel that Homelidays has a duty to get the owner to amend any incorrect details, and to publish any negative reviews.

OK everybody. We have NO evidence that the flat is 21 sq meters. None. Just the OP's statement. The few photos look to me as though it is small but larger than 21 sq meters.

I have to come back! Yes Suze, and everybody who didn't handle this matter as an etymological question (pander:-), sorry, but English is not my mother tongue! The major and only real problem is that the apartment was 1/2 the size as stated in the listing advertisement. OK janisj, you have NO evidence that the flat is 21 sq meters (I must add again: plus the balcony of cca. 2 qm!). So you can beleive me or not. You certainly have no reason to beleive me. I'm trying to find a reson for lying. I don't find any. Perhaps you will.....Let me know pls!

all I'm saying is the photos look do larger than 21 sq meters. What were the actual dimensions?

Honestly speaking I don't remember the exact dimensions, but we measured, which was very easy. And though I'm a human intellectual, my husband is an engineer, great help in a very complicated task like this :-).

if you don't know the dimensions -- how can you so firmly state it was only 21 sq meters? And how can homelidays take your word for your complaint if you don't know the dimensions?

I didn't make detailed notes. The size was 21 qm for sure. I don't think, the dimensions are important. Forget me please. Thanks.

JanisJ, you are by far the most argumentative person on this board. There, I finally said it.

At risk of being attacked as 'argumentative' I'll say it again. The OP registers to slam homelidays about a flat and the main complaint is it was smaller than advertised. Yet the OP <u>does not know how big it is</u>. Is there any wonder homelidays may need to investigate and not take this complaint at face value. Provide evidence and perhaps homelidays response would be different.

(BTW - do I 'challenge' some posts? Sure I do - as do many people. Is that arguing - nope. And perhaps the thousands of folks I've helped on here might "argue" w/ your ad hominem attack. And, unlike one of the other posters in this thread -- I've never been banned for arguing/nasty/snarky posts)

I'm afraid, you're wrong. The OP knows how big it is. Namely 21 qm. Exactly. Stated here several times.(Plus as the OP said before a balcony of 2 qm).

I will simply say, there is no way after looking at the photos, that a conclusion can be made for the size of that spartment. Usually, a renter wants everyone to see the whole room and not just a few selected areas. So, the whole area has not been shown and I think it's time to give the poster, 'the benefit of the doubt'.

It is a Homelidays policy to publish every testimonial that a renter submits on our site, whether it is positive or negative.

If a testimonial has been created but it is not visible online it will be due to one of the following reasons:

• The testimonial is still being validated by the Customer Services team (this can take between 2 - 7 working days)

• The testimonial has been considered as non-justified. A non-valid testimonial may contain an unjustified mark lower than 4/5, a personal message or insulting/degrading comments.

• The testimonial has not been validated following the right to reply from the owner.

• The owner has chosen to not use the Testimonial Service; however renter testimonials will remain in the owner's dossier.

You can view our Testimonial Service guide by visiting: http://www.homelidays.co.uk/EN-Holid...al_Summary.asp

This is almost the same as on TA. Some complaint some response by Homelidays