“I would strongly advise anyone who is thinking of booking a holiday as and when the pandemic subsides to avoid Solmar Villas at all costs. We have paid Solmar £3,500 for a holiday we are enable to fulfil as the government will not allow non-essential travel. Similarly, EasyJet has cancelled the flights so we simply can't get to Cyprus. As has been well documented reputable companies like Airbnb are giving their customers full refunds whilst these sharks are refusing to give refunds and are using restrictive and frankly unreasonable t&c's to screw the customer they plead they want to serve.
I would love to test their restrictive t&c's in a court of law however I have recently been laid off due to the Coronavirus. I hope that someone in a similar situation will be able to test their sharp practises through legal remedies. The only option I have is to write to my local MP and Trading Standards to canvass their support and I implore similar members of this forum who too have been ripped off by these scammers to do likewise.
What should have been a holiday of lifetime before our children go off to University has turned into a total nightmare. Can you please remind friends and colleagues in your circle about the appalling manner in which Solmar treats it's customers and remind them that their are some reputable
travel companies like Airbnb who deeds are comparable to their words.”
“I'm assuming that this review will be taken down, just as all the others I have posted have. However I will continue to post on every site I can until people get the message not to give up fighting for their right to a refund!
Solmar argued that as the Villa I had booked was still available. (April 2020) I would not be entitled to a refund. (Despite the entire planet grinding to a halt due to Covid) There was also a Force Majeure written into their contract.
I attempted to claim a chargeback from my credit card company, which was rejected. A further Section 75 was also rejected. It was only when I researched the Unfair Terms Act (which ultimately means neither side can uphold the contract,) and the fact that the Force Majeure made no mention of a pandemic that the Credit Card Company reversed the decision in my favour.
Unfortunately whilst this seems like good news, I am still awaiting payment. I am currently in the process of taking this to the Financial Ombudsman. I count myself lucky that I was not owed thousands of pounds like many others were.
The fact that Solmar Villas have a shiny new, all singing and dancing Website does not tell me they are in Financial Difficulty, they would no doubt have insurances in place for protection too.
There should only ever have been two questions. "Would you like to rebook your holiday?, or would you like a refund" Instead these parasites have kept the money of the Customer going nowhere!”
“We booked with solimar villas and initially great to deal with until it comes to getting a refund due to a global pandemic that your country state not to travel and the country you are going to states they don’t want travellers (Spain) at the moment we are due to travel Saturday 30th of May and clearly we can’t for weeks now we have tried for a refund only to be told claim travel insurance we owe you nothing as villa is available on contacting visa, ombudsman, CAB, and my travel insurance all say that solimar are being unlawful in not offering a refund which under government health act and advise we are entitled too. This to me is a company who are trying and hoping people give up the fight and they keep the customers money!!! The ombudsman has advised should I not get the outcome I’m looking for to contact them to raise a formal complaint to solmar regarding there dealings with this during what is a testing time for everyone. The cheek of them to ask us to claim through holiday insurer when they should be insured themselves for this type of thing and also When I asked where my money I paid them was the reply was people have mortgages to pay!! Yes we do!!!! DO NOT BOOK THROUGH THIS COMPANY!!!!!!”
“Similar situation with other reviews, just a terrible company that won't give credit/ return deposit and try to bully you into full payment when travel advisory says not to travel. I tried to reinstate our villa as the advisory is lifting but they apparently rented our villa to someone else but still feel no requirement to refund our deposit. We are in our 30s and they've lost us as customers for life. I hope others remember how some firms act in these times (another holiday company was very flexible and allowed us at least use your lost deposit as credit for a future trip.”
