12/06/23 09:34

hello

sorry it’s taken me a while to get back to you.

i am going to tell you in detail what happened when i got to the homestay, so be aware that some of the language might be offensive .

FIRSTLY, you should know that there is a review by member of public on this property’s page, and the title is ‘Scam’ – this review more or less follows exactly what happened to me, though i would say my experience was worse.

I arrived at the property around 5pm. i had driven down from Heathrow airport, having flown in from isle of Man. I was very tired, it was a friday and the traffic was bad.

when i got to the house it looked vaguely empty on the outside, and it took a long time for someone to get to the front door. eventually a man opened the door. he looked and talked like he’d just got out of bed. he was the landlord ‘Zoom’, who also calls himself Victor Samuel. as soon as i told him i had a room booked his response was surprise, and he kept saying he had someone else booked in.

he led me up to his ‘office’ which was his bedroom. i only had to glance around to see this house is a fleapit, a hovel, very horrible in terms of cleanliness. It looked disgusting, and not fit to stay over in.

Anyway, he took his smart phone from his pocket and proceeded to scroll, trying to find my booking. he couldn’t find it. and again he kept saying that i wouldn’t be able to stay as someone else is booked in.

i started asking him about getting my money back.

While we were talking a door opened behind me, outside on the landing. a second man came through and starting talking to Zoom, asking him effectively ‘was this guy causing problems?’

He seemed to suggest that my chat with the landlord had woken him up, This second man called my attention and began to talk to me in a very uncivil way…he used the word fuck several times. again he accused me causing trouble and talking too loud. I was incredulous that this was happening to me.

as i was still trying to sort out the problem with Zoom i turned to the second man and told him not to interfere. His tone was definitely aggressive, and threatening. In fact i knew immediately that i had to get out of there, – this place felt more like a prison common room than a homestay.

While this second man was verbally abusing me the landlord stayed sat on bed, very nonchalant, he didn’t seem bothered in any way, and did not tell his friend to stay out of it.

I had to tell the second man to be quiet, and he then got even nastier and called me a cunt.

after a few minutes second man went back in to his room

Coincidentally, at the time Zoom received a call on his phone, which was on speaker, and i heard a male voice saying he was coming around soon to stay over that night. the word ‘prison’ was mentioned. Zoom said yes he’d see him later.

I then proceeded to to get Zoom to organise a refund for me. He had by now found my booking on his phone. but there was no 4 digit pin number on it for some reason, neither was there a 4 digit pin on the email i had (though there was a res. number).

He now had found a tel no for Booking.com and phoned it – or claimed he did – and we both heard the BC voice message on his phone ask for a pin number, which of course we didn’t have to hand. So that was a pointless excercise, as no one answered the phone

Please remember EVERYTHING i’m telling you here is truth and i would be happy to stand up in court to say it.

I told Zoom i couldn t wait, as i was tired and would have to find somewhere else to stay, He mentioned that he knew some people in the area who might b able to put me up – but of course there was no way i was going to have anything to do with him or his friends after this encounter.

I left his house and drove into town to the nearest hotel i could find, First i tried the Ibis Budget hotel but it was sold out. then i got a room at the regular Ibis , which cost me a £100. I have the receipt for that.

The situation i found myself in at this property was scary, and i felt like i could have come to some harm had i said the wrong thing. the second man – who could have been a lodger- at one point challenged me to look at him, saying ‘Oi mate. Oi mate’ repeatedly. I refused to look at him to which his response was ‘i thought so’. in other words he was right in thinking i was a coward. (truth is i didn t want a physical confrontation).

I am amazed that this place is on your website, especially considering previous reviews like the one i reference above.

This is what happened to me the day i went to stay at Southsea, a booking i had made aprox 2 weeks before arriving there. So far i have not received a refund from you of the money i paid. So can you remedy this please ?

I would also like the money i spent on Ibis hotel refunded as well. I didn t want to stay there, but had to in the circumstances.

Please acknowledge receipt of this email, and let me know what you intend to do now.

Regards

Noel James