I am very sorry that I have to post this review but I felt it is necessary to warn other travelers about our experience.
Our family travelled to Paris and rented an apartment through Vacations In Paris #163. While usable, the apartment had a number of maintenance issues - peeling paint, rotted subflooring - a non working toaster, In general the apartment had not been maintained and although disappointing none of these issues prevented our use of the apartment. During our stay my husband accidently broke one of the lamps. Upon our return we notified Vacations in Paris and they told us that our security deposit would be returned once the lamp had been replaced.
Three weeks have now passed and so I contacted them to find out what the status of our security deposit was .According to the website, my deposit SHOULD have been returned within 10 business days of return of the keys (which Vacations in Paris confirmed on 8/25/08). The woman at Vacations in Paris informed me that they were having some trouble with the owner of the apartment regarding the lamps and that the replacement lamp was 125 Euros and that the owner was insisting that we replace two lamps since they should match!! She continued to inform me that I wouldn%26#39;t be charged for both lamps (The lamp that was broken was not part of a set) and that the damage waiver would cover some of the cost of the new lamp and that I would only need to pay the $100 deductible!!!
To say that I was speechless is an understatement. The furnishings in this apartment were about the level of the Salvation Army! I informed Vacations in Paris that I would like a full explanation of the charges including documentation.
I fully understand that we should have to replace the lamp but a charge of over 100 Euros for this is absolutely outrageous. Vacations in Paris has not honored the terms of their own agreement and it does call into question their reliability as an agency. I know many people have used this agency and been very pleased with their experience but I would advise anyone using Vacations in Paris to bear this in mind and to avoid renting #163!!!
Needless to say, I WILL NOT be using Vacations In Paris again.
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I%26#39;m sorry to hear about your experience (I%26#39;m one of the people who has had good results with VIP).
One thing I can tell you from personal knowledge is that Paris (in fact, France in general) does not seem to have anything remotely like Lamps Plus and other inexpensive lighting stores you would see in the US. That%26#39;s not to say that the amounts you have been told are usual/reasonable (can%26#39;t say about that) but I have shopped for lamps there and have been very surprised at the general prices (actually, seems to be true of many household type items that we would expect to find for cheap here at any number of stores).
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The charge does seem excessive to me especially if you are talking about those little lamps pictured on the website in the living room. It is true that the closest thing to a Target or K-mart would be Monoprix and I don%26#39;t know if they sell lamps. You could have taken a trek out ot IKEA I guess, but it hardly seems worth the time IMO. While the charge for the lamp is high it is not unreasonable to expect to pay that much for a lamp in Paris. Lamps are not all that cheap here for that matter.
I have broken my share of wine glasses in VIP apartments and have been able to find replacements prior to leaving at reasonable prices. Thank goodness we have not broken anything else.
Sorry you had a problem. I just booked my 4th apartment from them a few days ago. We were actually considering number 163 at one point but went for one in the 7th instead. Knock on wood.
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I%26#39;m sorry to hear of your experience. We%26#39;ve rented a studio apartment with VIP for our visit next month. 100 Euro does seem steep, although I%26#39;m not familiar with the local costs or options. Included in the cost may be a service fee for the owners time and gas to have to find and buy the lamps?
We experienced something similar while in Ireland a couple of years ago. A large tree branch on the side of the road broke a small turn light cover that was located at the bottom of the side view mirror. The rental company charged us more than the cost of the 4 day rental to replace this.. saying that they had to charge us for the entire side view mirror encasement. We couldn%26#39;t believe it, but there wasn%26#39;t really much we could do about it at the time.
I have to say that our experience with VIP (so far) has been very good. The customer reps have been professional and helpful, and our queries have all been responded to within one business day.
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Thank you all for your posts!!
No, the hundred and TWENTY FIVE Euros (which I just found out was the actual charge) didn%26#39;t include a 52.50 Euro charge to obtain the lamps!
Update: My husband called VIP and explained that the charges were outrageous, the apartment was not exactly as advertised and that we were not going to pay such an exorbitant sum for a lamp. VIP finally relented and agreed to return $100.00 of our security deposit - my husband can be very persuasive when necessary.
So, the moral of the story is that you may need to have a good negotiator available in the event your security deposit is withheld.
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Good for you, Kinkora. Someone was trying to gouge you. No way would someone with a basic rental property put such an expensive lamp there. The VIP apartment we rented was very simply furnished, and the lamps, well, they had a base, bulb and shade, and that%26#39;s about all a lamp needs!
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kinkora, Newport Beach, CA
Thank you for your report. How much did the apartment rent for and how many people in the family?
I just can%26#39;t see a big cost difference from a hotel, and your story seems to radify why I choose a centrally located hotel over an apartment.
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Salvation Army you say? Boy, and the pictures look so nice...
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It%26#39;s more than a bit curious that you reported, %26quot;The apt. was perfect for our needs and looked exactly like it was pictured - not fancy but had just about everything we needed.%26quot; with no mention of any problems.
The furnishings do not look %26quot;Salvation Army%26quot; to me, either.
We visited the Vacations in Paris apartment some friends were staying in last year and it was exactly as pictured and described.
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Hello DK,
Nothing curious about my post at all. The location of the apartment was perfect for our needs and as I stated, none of the things I noted interfered with our ability to USE the apartment. Now, would I have preferred that the maintenance I cited had been done and that the toaster worked? Absolutely. Did I feel that it was significant enough to argue about? No. I realized that I was getting an apartment with rather low quality furniture which was fine. I also realize that some people would take one look at the apartment and demand a refund - it all depends upon how picky you are. What I do object to though is being billed an amount which is far in excess of the value of the item which was broken.
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Hello David,
The apartment (at the time) rented for $235/night and there are 4 of us. Please don%26#39;t let my post dissuade you from renting an apartment! Yes, there can be issues with them but the same is true with hotels.
I have rented apartments in other countries and it really is a wonderful way to go. Just keep in mind all of the advice on these forums and although you might not be able to avoid problems you will hopefully be able to minimize them.
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