WayToStay

You may have been entitled to a full refund if you had to refused to stay in the apartment offered to you. If you're already in it, I'm not sure of your recourse. This from their website:

"Before your stay: In the rare case that an apartment that you booked becomes unavailable, due to damage from a water leak for example or anything else that can happen to an apartment, Waytostay will try to find a similar apartment for you or even give you an upgrade. Of course, if you don't like any of the alternatives, or we don´t have any alternatives to offer, we will immediately refund the full online payment."

It seems to indicate that a refund is only forthcoming if you do not accept a WTS alternative property to the apartment you booked. If you prepaid by credit card, you could take it up with with your CC company but it's likely that the only refund you might receive would be any difference between the price of the original apartment and the substitute. The problem here is that you accepted and are using the accommodation offered. Just a guess...

We want to leave but everything for a family of 4 is booked or out of our price range. 😞😥

They told us they would sort it the next day then called at 7:25pm saying they wouldn't sort it and we would have to talk Monday....leaving us here for the weekend.😕

Dear Michelle,

We are very sorry for what had happened.
As we explained to you over the phone and confirmed later on by email, it was a genuine mistake from our side, which we only came to realize when you informed us about it, right after your check-in.
From that moment on, we wanted to find the best possible solution for your stay, but right after your first call it was evident that we were not going to find an apartment of that quality available with such a last minute request in that area.

So the best solution at that critical moment was to offer you to stay in the apartment you checked-in, and although the location was not the desired one, we thought it had the quality and comfort to make your family’s stay a pleasant one, after a bumpy start.
We of course understood how upset you were, as you had chosen an apartment with an specific location which you didn't get as a result of our error. But also we wanted to make sure that you knew that this wasn't, isn’t and will never be the way we actually work. Waytostay prides itself for being one of the leaders in the self-catering apartments industry and that is a reputation won on trust and loyalty.

In fact, this is the first time that we have seen a situation like this happening and we will make sure that it never happens again.

In the end, we offered a substantial discount as compensation for what had happened, which you agreed. All in all we know your stay was pleasant, the apartment was comfortable and we managed to get the right price to cover for what happened.
We hope to see you booking with us again in the near future.

Kind Regards

Molly - Waytostay

Hi Michelle,

Excuse me intruding but I believe this is a fair response by WayToStay. I've never used them -living here myself I have no need for that- but I know "of" them thru some friends which stayed in one of their apartments some time ago and they were very pleased with the service. In any case, even if just because the response this Molly has given to you I think it's fair to give them a chance. To me, it sounds a quite honest response, not a 'canned' one. And let me say it is not that common on these shores -albeit it should be!- that a service provider drafts a letter like this when they've cooked up. That should say something.

As per a refund goes, that obviously is determined by the contract, you should read it carefully. But even without knowing the particulars, if you stayed in "an apartment" of theirs during your holidays -even if it wasn't the one you booked- you can't expect a full refund, you weren't left out in the street, right? Furthermore, if it's true that they have accepted it's their fault and have made a substantial discount to compensate that shows good faith on their side so asking for a refund is pushing it. Well, that's my humble view anyway.

In any case, consumers are protected by law in Catalonia and you don't need to sue anyone to get some sort of compensation should WaytoStay not agree to a refund. So if you feel you are entitled you can contact the Agència Catalana de Consum (sort of our ombudsman) and place a complaint there: http://consum.gencat.cat/ In the website there's all the information you need to file a complaint, there's a downloadable form as well as instructions on what information you need to add to it. Matters can be handled over the Internet. The process has no cost for you. But honestly, given what we know thru the answer of WaytoStay in the forum -and assuming everything they say is true- I doubt they'll rule in your favour. Let me say I would tend to agree as your claim for refund (full?, you don't say!) seems 'unbalanced' to me. In any case, know that this is a long process that takes several months and also know that while you'll find bits and pieces in English, not everything is necessarily offered in this language, after all, it's not an official language in Catalonia, Catalan and Spanish are.

I'd like to point out, and those in the forum that have followed me for a while know, I don't work in the tourism industry nor am I related to it, thus my views are simply my own.

In any case, other than this, did you have a good time in my hometown? :)))

When I called Way To Stay the day we arrived telling them of the wrong address they told me it was my fault and said all I could do was send an e-mail. Our family had saved for this apartment and had talked to our daughters about our beach holiday for months. I was crushed but more than anything the customer service made it so much worst. Not until the apartment manager arrived at our apartment and worked out it was Way To Stays mistake and called for us, did they even listen to us. We arrived Thursday, was told they would work it our Friday, Friday was told they would work it out Monday, Monday they said they would work it out Tuesday. Finally on Tuesday, 6 days into our trip they said they would give us a little less than 10% back. Which was partly paid by the owner of the apartment though it was not his fault. Though my husband was in a conference during our week he had to find time to keep calling as the internet at our apartment only worked if we sat by the door. So though I think gaudi is amazing our holiday was horriable. A good holiday requires one to be flexable but we had paid so much (still paying for!:) and then were treated so rudely by Way To Stay when we first called and then later had to keep calling trying to get more money. In the end we got less than 20% which might be fair but we had to fight so hard to get it. They didn't agree to that amount till Friday (8 days after we arrived). It was such a stressful time. My husband and I are just not the type to fight about money it just made the holiday really unpleasant for us. Though we also really enjoyed the weather! And the apartment manager who really saved us.

Sorry to hear that. In any case, as I said, l'Agència Catalana de Consum is an option you have, should you decide to pursue it. This page provides quite a lot of information -but you'll have to use Google Translate as it's in Catalan, the local language: http://consum.gencat.cat/temes_de_consum/reclamacions/

Btw, I certainly hope you don't reduce Barcelona to a few works of Gaudí, for God sake, Barcelona is much more than that! :))

Thanks! ☺️

Dear Michelle,

Our intention with our comment wasn't directed to disregard your opinion on what happened but to clarify certain points that may be perceived as somehow unclear.

We understand that you are still upset about the incident that affected your stay, but our responsibility to all our clients, including you, is to answer in the most professional and clear way questions that may seem unanswered. That means of course taking into account the emotional side of things, which in this case was a direct consequence of what we created, but also to pinpoint every aspect of the actions taken by us, so that we can complement your remarks. In that sense your feedback is very positive for everyone in this forum as it share things that can go very wrong, and at the same time allow readers to know how your case was handled by us and make their own judgements.

As we had said before, we had never had the intention of suggesting that this incident was your fault or the owners fault, so if we gave you that impression at the beginning, we apologise once again. We were taken by surprised by this issue happening, just as we explained later on when we called you back the same day you checked-in, and so we started to work on possible solutions. We focused so much behind the scenes on searching for apartments for your stay and try to keep you as posted as possible of the progress but we understand that perhaps we should have been more in contact with you to reassure you that we were working on possible solutions and that no matter what happened, we were going to take care of the case. Nevertheless on Friday afternoon, that is 2 days after your check-in, we suggested to you that it will be best to stay in the apartment at least until Monday as we were unable to find another unit for your stay. As you may imagine, there is very little we could have done throughout the weekend as most owners are not available to discuss possible solutions during weekends.

In fact, your husband was informed that we were going to be in contact with him first thing Monday morning, which we did. My colleague Armando had extensive calls with your husband on Monday when it had become clear that we could not find you another apartment and proposed that your family stay in that unit with the intention of coming to a financial agreement in the way of compensation. My colleague was very honest to your husband about what the best solution would be. He even assisted your husband over the phone in other possible solutions that he was considering, but that in practicality were not better that what we could offer you because of the reasons they discussed: nothing available in that area in terms of apartment, hotels hugely expensive and lastly became we thought that the apartment you were staying had everything to make your stay a comfortable one. In short, we believed that we could offer you the best solution under the circumstances, and with a reasonable price that will make up for the pain that we had caused.

My colleague Armando and your husband continue to have long talks over the next 2-3 days in order to come to a final financial agreement, which of course wasn't easy. From that moment on we were in contact with both of you by email and phone every day to ensure that, first of all, the apartment was great and comfortable for your stay; and then of course to see how we could answer positively to your compensation proposal. If you look at the correspondence with us, you will see that my colleague Armando sent the first proposal on Tuesday the 2nd, in which Waytostay offers compensation above 15% of the total price. We received your personal answer on the same day to let us know that you didn't agree with the offer and demanded 20% off the total price. On Wednesday the 3rd my colleague Armando sent you another email confirming that we had agreed to the compensation requested and asked kindly to get the confirmation about the method of wiring you the money.

That amount was mainly paid by Waytostay but we asked kindly to our owner to collaborate with us, which he did although with a symbolic amount. Nevertheless that is a reflect of how our collaborators perceive us and work with us, a relationship that is based on trust and loyalty, and that ensure that our clients not only get great apartment but also the best service.

Of course you are most entitled to express your opinion and we certainly respect that. For us, our comment here is a way to reflect positively on the service we provide, a factor that has even a higher value when things go terribly wrong but are positively dealt with it, as it was with this case.
Finally, we appreciate the fact that you have taken time to express your pain about your experience and all the patience showed, certainly that has no price. We hope in time you will see things differently and give us again the chance to offer you what we offer to all our clients: excellent service, great apartments and unique experiences. We really care for what we stand for.

Kind Regards

Molly - Waytostay