François and his wife live in the Paris region but live part of the year in their second home from the Var coast. The rest of the time, they put it in seasonal rental on a specialized platform. This, “without a shadow of a problem for 8 years»emphasizes François to Capital. However, he is not about to forget the summer of 2025. At the start of the year, an Anglo-Saxon traveler, Alex*, reserves the house for around ten days in July, for four people. The only clarification he asks from François is to “the weather it will be like in July”.
Summer arrives, and with it, Alex and his family. François and his wife, who welcome them, admit to being somewhat taken aback because Alex is accompanied by his wife and his parents, almost centenarians… “However, our house does not have any bedrooms on one level, all of them are upstairs, this is clearly stated in the advert”François is surprised. Alex, for his part, says he is surprised, precisely, by the absence of a room on the ground floor and air conditioning. “There is no air conditioning, this is also clearly indicated in the ad”assures François.
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Harassment to be reimbursed for the rental
Not completely calm, he leaves, leaving the family to settle down. “Two hours later, Alex sends me a message saying that the house may not suit them”remembers François. He asks Alex for details. In vain until midnight, when Alex informs him that he will set sail the next day at 10 a.m. François arrives there at 9:30 a.m. but the family has already left. Start then “a hell» for Francis: “Alex harassed me with messages, demanding that I reimburse him for the 3,600 euros he had paid for the rental and threatening to return to the house otherwise”.
A threat that Alex will carry out. Finding the door closed, he contacted the rental platform to ask for reimbursement for his stay, this time on the grounds that “of an alleged dust problem on the television screen and the “so-called” duration of 2 minutes to reach the beach on foot »relates François.
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A very bad rating on the rental platform
Of the “false pretexts”according to him, because “comments from previous travelers confirm that the house is 2 minutes walk from the sea but, for people aged 97, the path is obviously longer…”. Another reason given by Alex to the platform but not to François directly: the fall of one of his parents on the terrace of the house. “A terrace that we had just redone for 35,000 euros!”exclaims François, incredulous.
However, initially, the rental platform decides to reimburse Alex for the 3,600 euros paid and to debit this sum to François. Who will obtain the erasure of this debt 15 days and a few letters later. Nevertheless, this mishap, which “rotten life for 15 days»leaves him “disgusted”. Especially since Alex did not hesitate to put a very bad rating for the rental of François on the platform. Certainly, “the twenty or so travelers who preceded him gave us the best possible score but this clearly impacts our reputation, it’s extremely annoying”sighs François.
*The first name has been changed
