We stayed at Villa Cometa 20G in the Urbanisation Cometa in Calpe, Spain from the 9th May to the 17th May 2017 having booked it with Solmar Villas. The entry gates to the villa were left unlocked and the handle to open one of the gates fell off when I used it onto the floor. It is a very very steep driveway (which Solmar fail to mention on the website !) but we managed to get up it after a few go`s in the Nissan Micra Hire Car with a lot of revs in first gear, went to the entry door on the second storey (pool level) and after a few go`s got the door open (it`s a lock you put the key in and rotate once to unlock the deadlock/ multi point locking system and then once again to open the door latch but it needed a bit of an effort as it stuck so it was either worn or needed lubrication to it ) I noticed at this point that there was evidence of someone previously trying to break in before we arrived and have a picture of this. We went inside and there was a bit of light inside we put the lights on to see where we were going, WOW absolutely fabulous, massive, nicely decorated, not at all disappointed, we opened the window shutters on a few of the windows to let light in and went onto the pool terrace, could not have asked for better, great views, massive pool, this is the business ! Had a look around the property, as we were 2 people we didn`t need 9 bedrooms so had a good look around and the first storey (felt like underground to me) was not used at all, we had a look around and noticed that it had a BOLT on the inside of the outside entry door which was unbolted, this door opens on the side of the driveway, which I thought was very isolated so we put the BOLT up so nobody could enter the Villa from this door, the window blinds on this floor were also dropped right down by US as they had been left about 6” open (when they are fully lowered you are in complete darkness and need the lights on ) Second Storey a few blinds had been left 6” open, having looked around I decided that we would lock the entry door and use the BOLT when we were in the pool and leave the patio door on the pool terrace ajar a little as we had perfect view of this entrance to the Villa when we were in the pool area. Third Storey a few blinds had been left open 6” so the rooms not being used we fully lowered the shutters on all but one for the whole of the holiday, the stairs to the roof where the A/C units are has a door that had been LEFT OPEN but we LOCKED that on the 9th May and it stayed LOCKED during the whole holiday. Door/Window Central Locks The doors and windows when there were a pair of them together had a “Patio Door Lock” so that you depressed a locking bolt which could only be released by a KEY, throughout the property not all of these were depressed when we arrived so we went around locking them, it`s a bit of a pain securing a property but we have never experienced any losses in over 20 years of holidays so I have a regime to make things safe ! Lots of notices about making sure you left the property secure with windows locked and shutters dropped fully before going out and to use the safe ! NOTED, the safe was key operated and OVERNIGHT I put my Bumbag containing Passports, Money, Driving Licences, E111, Car Hire Key, Credit and Debit Cards every time, during the day I kept my Bumbag with me if we left the villa, there was no room for anything else in the small safe so we had a few Gadgets like iPhone 6s Plus, Iphone 4s, IpadProPlus, Droidbox T95Z Plus, Bluetooth MPOW media speaker and an iPod 4 to supply it with music source. I left these items in the Villa as they would not physically fit in the safe as it was too small and made sure every single time we left the Villa to go shopping or sight seeing that all patio doors/windows were locked and if a patio door or window central lock was fitted it was depressed and all shutters were dropped fully, the bathrooms only had a manual (non lockable window handle) but the shutters were dropped as well. In over 20 years of holidaying I haver never suffered a loss due to burglary as we are very safety conscious. The Holiday Really enjoyed the first 6 days, we had an English (ExPat) neighbour called Jeff in 21G on the RHS of the property who we got to know, on the LHS its an Archery Training Camp unused. Weather was OK, we would give the experience 9/10 easily. The Bad Bit Sometime on 16/05/2017 between approx. 13:00 and 13:45 We were burgled with no visible Forced Entry when we went shopping for our last time TAKEN iPadPro Plus in a Blue Case Watch with White Strap/Silver Dial Gold Chain with Cross with departed mother`s engagement ring on chain. 4 Pairs of Gold Earrings Total of about £1,100 NOT TAKEN but left in LOCKED VILLA Iphone 6S Plus, Iphone 4s, Droidbox T95Z Plus, Bluetooth MPOW media speaker and an iPod 4 to supply it with music source. No Money stolen as when we left Villa it was in my bum bag. Summary of our return from 13:45 on the 16th May 2017 Entered the Villa, no bad vibes the door lock opened as before in that it was sticking a bit after one rotation of the key and then try again and it passed the resistance felt so it was double locked still, went into the villa it was as we left it in total darkness as all the blinds were still down, put lights on and opened shutters nothing different. Over the next hour or so discovered a few things missing but nothing out of place except I had pre packed a Bluetooth Speaker and iPod in a carrier bag to go home with and the carrier bag was missing and the Bluetooth Speaker and iPod left on the Sofa, then my wife noticed a watch missing and asked me where the iPad Pro was, I said it was on charge in the kitchen but it was gone ! Later she checked her room an and as there was no room in the safe she kept her jewellery in a draw in her room, a gold 9ct chain with cross and her deceased mother`s engagement ring on the chain and 4 pairs of gold earrings. Eventually it dawned on me that we had been burgled, we had a good look around and there were no signs of a forced entry ! Our English neighbour Jeff in 21G (RHS of the Villa) was outside so we asked him whether he had seen or heard anything in the last hour or so, he said he had been painting on his roof terrace area and heard nothing at all, we told him what had been taken and straightaway he told us that it sounded exactly what had happened to a Dutch Family last Summer (2016) who had lost 600 or 700 Euro, a pair of designer trainers but the burglars had left behind a Go Pro camera, the property had no signs of a break in. Apparently the Guardia were called and Solmar Rep was there for this burglary incident. He asked me if the locks on the door were new and I had a look and they are not new but aged and I said the mechanism was not smooth to lock the Villa, he told me to ring Solmar Rep and get the Guardia around as it was very suspicious ! QUESTION after this burglary summer to the dutch family in 2016 were the locks changed in the villa cometa to prevent later guests being burgled as there was a defenite burglary with a dutch couple which was reported to solmar villas and emily from solmar villas has confirmed this was reported to them in the uk ? Solmar Villas did NOT answer this question ! My initial look suggest the locks were not changed so my opinion is that the BURGLARY in 2016 was ignored which has left later customers vulnerable ! I reported this to the police, attended the Guardia Police Station with Solmar Rep who acted as an interpreter. Afterwards I rang Solmar on 19/05/2017 and spoke to Emily (Customer Service Rep) and asked about Burglaries at Villa Cometa any now it turns out that my friend Jeff at 21G was correct, she couldn`t confirm all the details but it did occur sometime in the summer of 2016. Conclusion In the UK there is a duty of care to prevent people and property being put at risk, I ensured 100% that the villa was 100% locked and secure ! The fact that a similar burglary occurred here before in the summer of 2016 should have prompted Solmar to ask the villa owner to get the locks changed as someone had a KEY TO GET INTO THE VILLA so in my opinion “Solmar failed the minimum standard that would be expected to ensure the safety of paying customers and their property, we could have been attacked in our sleep instead of just being burgled when we went out on a shopping trip” Someone entered the Villa with “Non Forcible Entry” Response from Solmar Villas I got a PDF file from a trainee solicitor for the company TravLaw following my complaint submission, in a nutshell they deny all liability and to add insult to injury describe our situation as “an alleged burglary” Emily from Solmar confirmed the burglary report by the Dutch Family TravLaw 4. Previous (alleged) burglary at the Villa Solmar cannot provide you with any details regarding that alleged burglary because they do not share information with anyone ! My Next Steps I`m going to go to ABTA with my complaint next !

Hi Uncle Bulgaria67, thanks for your information and advice, when you say an online review do you mean on here or on the villa company site as I wonder if they would delete it there as it makes their villas bad news ? I have asked a few people and if this villa had a burglary last summer shouldn`t they have a duty of care to protect future guests by making sure the locks were changed ? Lastly someone at work had a holiday in Mexico and a few guests were having a drink and it appears that 10 or 20 Dollars was missing from their room safes every 2 days or so but didn`t report it as they weren`t 100% certain if they spent it on an outside trip but thought more of it when they hadn`t been anywhere for 4 days, that emergency code you mentioned would that have allowed someone to gain access, lock it but still leave the guest code working ? Thanks again for your help I`m getting some free legal advice and then I`m going to put a complaint in to the Villa company on the basis of Inadequate security measures after a previous reported breakin. I`ve sinced looked at Travel Insurance and standard policies don`t cover gadgets like iPad Pro and Leisure Guard would add £85 on to cover theft and loss but only for items under 18 months old, iPhone 6S would be £65 and both had an excess of £50 In future only a cheap phone and all jewellery and gadgets get locked in at home I Think ! Thanks

Hi, just returned from Calpe in Spain and we were burgled in our Holiday Villa which was booked through a UK company. On our last but one day we locked all doors, windows and shutters and went out for 45 minutes, returned and all was OK outside, unlocked and went in and after about an hour noticed an iPad, watch, some jewellery was missing, our mobile phones were out on the sofa still there and nothing else was missing, all inside locks were still locked. Phoned the rep, whist waiting spoke to the one neighbour who said same thing happened last summer to a dutch family who had 600 Euro and an expensive pair of trainers taken but their GoPro was not taken, they reported to the rep and police came etc, we did not have insurance and wondered where we stand in that SOMEONE USED A KEY to get in, we had one and the Owner, Cleaners, Maintenance Etc have access to one, also previous guests, people with a grievance may have copied a key ? This Villa company does have a few mentions with other villas nearby on TripAdviser with similar stories, we used the Safe but it was only big enough for my bum bag containing passports, money and car keys etc The Guardia Police came and we filled out a report, they did not appear to be surpised or concerned. So a previous burglary should they have put NEW LOCKS on ? Are the UK Rental Company liable for lack of security and compensate me ? Any Advice please on where to go with this ? Thanks Milocoon

Hi dx100uk I may have given you the wrong idea ! My wife took out a completely new loan with Argos Loans it was taken out to pay off other loans/ credit cards and was not a refinanced argos loan, I,ve had a look at the agreement photocopy and was wondering what information a SAR might get us that would help us ? On the rear of the Loan Agreement (page 4 of the pdf) it mentions our rights under the consumer credit act 1974 and as far as I know my wife didn§t speak to a rep from Argos Loans but just applied by post ? Thanks for your help so far ! Milocoon

I have covered personal details and scanned it as a 4 page PDF file for you to look at. Thanks for your help in this matter. Heres page 4 the agreement rescanned as ArgosLoansAgreement as I messed it up in the original Thanks milocoon

Hi All my wife had a GUS Preference Account with Home Retail Shopping Finance, an old statement just lists Interest and no payment protection payment so just wondered if anyone knew if PPI charges would be included as Interest or whether this account is actually not worth chasing as everything else in 2003 has statements with PPI like terms on the statements ? Thanks in advance milocoon

Hi All and Dizzi if she reads this, my wife got herself in all kinds of trouble back in 2003. Briefly 10 Cards and 3 loans after she lost control of her spending. Lots of these things had payment protection. Managed to find most companies and to date 1) ARGOS LOANS Rejection letter, loan for £7000 to pay off other loans, Argos Loans sent my wife a letter with a photocopy of her acceptance of this loan, highlighted in this "You have also decided to take advantage of our Repayment Insurance for which the premium is £1,050.00 " She signed and dated this but Argos Loans, Thynne Street, Bolton, BL11 1AS say that the policy was sold on a non-advised basis and therefore our advisors were not required to assess whether you had existing cover in place. She was full time with the local council and with a pension so had employee benefits. This sale was prior to FSA and Argos Loans say the FOS does not have any jurisdiction over loans taken out prior to 14th January 2005, therefore you may find it helpful to make use of the Finance and Leasing Associations (FLA) conciliation scheme of which they are a member and are "bound by their lending code" A responsible lender would have checked her credit rating and seen all the cards she owned ! Would the original application form had a box to tick to not have PPI which she may have missed ? Any advice of where to go with this would be great ! Thanks In Advance milocoon