Q. I recently rented a villa near Nice belonging to friends of a friend and did it without an agent, which was probably a mistake. A faulty pipe caused flooding on the lower ground floor. Four plumbers came in and out of the house over four days but still one of my sons had to sleep on the drawing room sofa for three nights; the bathroom of the main bedroom was out of action for two days, as were the pool loo and shower throughout our two week visit, during which time the whole of the house was pervaded with a pungent smell of damp. I had deposited £2,000 for breakages and a final clean, valued at £300. I left a note suggesting that, to compensate me for all the problems the owners would let me off the £300 for this ‘professional’ clean which, it turned out, would be undertaken by the gardener and his wife. I received a cheque minus the pounds and without comment. What should I do as the sum is too small for me to litigate?
J.O., Canterbury, Kent
A. Write saying that you have consulted your travel insurers about getting some compensation for your disrupted holiday and have been told that it falls to their insurers to pay up. Would they like to look into this? Or would they like simply to return the £300 you originally suggested? The sum is nugatory but you must pursue the matter on principle and not allow the spectre of mutual friends to cloud the issue.
Q. Why doesn’t C.S. Woodbridge use ‘grease’ for butter, margarine and low-fat spreads instead of the suggestive ‘lubricant’? My grandfather, apparently, has used the term for half a century and it is now so accepted by us that those trying to penetrate our family circle show their mettle and shrewdness by asking grandpappy if there is any ‘grease’ for the toast.
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