Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum
Calis Beach Forum => Hotels, Private Rentals in Calis - Questions and Information => Topic started by: Steve H on May 22, 2015, 22:52:43 PM
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Hi all,
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I've just signed up to this forum through a recommendation from someone at the Fethiye Tourist Information Office. I had originally e-mailed them and asked for help in trying to find out if an address my family have been given for a villa rental is in fact a legitimate address. We have paid a deposit and will shortly have to pay the balance but are reluctant to do so at present because we have been given an address which, firstly, Google Maps does not recognise and secondly the person at FTI says doesn't make any sense. Therefore he suggested that I join the forum and throw it out to you guys.
Not sure if I would be allowed to give the address out on this forum but if anyone has any knowledge of the Ovacik area, that would be very useful. If someone can put our minds at rest by suggesting how we find out for certain then I would be very grateful.
Cheers,
Steve
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You can send me a pm and I will take a look. I'm quite familiar with Ovacik.
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Hi Steve H - you've come to the right place for local knowledge etc. How did you hear of the villa you're renting - private ad or somewhere like Holiday Lettings / Owners Direct?
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Welcome to the Forum Stevie. It may surprise you to know that lots of companies in the U.K. are advertising a Hotel (and taking bookings) in Koca Calis, that has not even been built yet. So, glad you are checking this villa out. Good luck.
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One of the presenters on GMB has just been scammed for a villa he "booked"with the owner via Tripadvisor. Seems the email of the villa's owner had been hacked. It's cost him & his friends £3,500 & they have little to no hope of recovering the money. Probably the best advice he gave was to get a land line no for the owner, call it & ask questions about the locality ie things like how far to the nearest shop / restaurant/ bar etc
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Do you have more inf re the villa such as a photo and is it on any web sites that can be checked and might have reviews?
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Morning all,
Thanks for your replies.
Basically, we found the villa via Owners Direct while searching a few months ago. We liked this particular villa, sent an enquiry, had a response from the owner, confirmed the price, asked some more questions about the villa, even spoke to him when he was back in the UK, paid the deposit via bank transfer and have had a couple of e-mail exchanges since.
On the Owners Direct website the villa has just one review (sometimes there are no reviews on certain villas but that doesn't mean it's dodgy). We have been told the name of the villa and have checked the internet but there are no other reviews that we can find on Trip Advisor etc
Everything seemed quite normal, as we have booked our villa holidays in the same manner for a few years now, until I asked him for the address in order for me to view Google Earth and get an idea of where we were going on our holidays etc.. (all normal stuff to me or am I just a geek?... lol)
His initial response was that he didn't know the address but the nearest landmark is the Poseidon Hotel. When I asked him again he eventulally came back with the address which I referred to in my first post.
I do understand that Turkish addresses are somewhat vague at times and maybe I'm a little paranoid about the whole thing ....but!
Cheers,
Steve
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I can't see any harm in posting the owners direct reference for people to look at this villa - it may then be recognised by someone on here.
I always check places out via google earth so if that makes us both geeks, so be it ;) ;D
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Post the link and the address.
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Hi all,
Here's the link (hope I've done it right - not an expert with computer technology).
Please bear in mind that if this turns out to be completely legitimate and someone out there knows the owner, then I will of course feel very relieved but at the same time very embarassed that I've doubted him.
Hope you all understand.
http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/accommodation/p8110905
The address given is :
Oludeniz MH15
No. 11
Kat 1DR
Fethiye.
Cheers,
Steve
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By the looks of it, it could be off of Mendos Cad. Behind the Shell petrol station. Although the address isn't very helpful, I think one of the pictures shows the 2 mobile phone towers at the top of the hill from Fethiye.
Oludeniz IS 15 minutes away, but by car. You definitely wouldn't want to walk it. You have to be going at a very brisk pace to do Hisaronu in 10 minutes too.
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I've tagged Menthol on FB - she may recognise it.
How are you getting to the villa when you arrive? If you are arranging a transfer you will need some clear directions so maybe go back to the owner and ask for them from the Shell station KKOB mentioned. That's an easy landmark to "google earth" from.
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GoogleEarth isn't much good for this Bluwise. Their satellite pictures are a couple of years old and there's been a huge amount of building in that area.
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Good point (I should have remembered how frustrated I get that it's out of date!) however, if the owner directs to the villa for a transfer, may give us a clue as to where it should be and more chance of someone knowing of it.
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Once again thanks for your time spent on replying.
The arrangement with the owner is that he will send a car to pick us up from the airport. Therefore we would not need to know directions to the villa. So it would be no good asking for directions from the airport.
I have checked Google Maps and have found the Shell garage off Mendos Cd but according to the owner's directions from the Poseidon Hotel it is indicating that it is just off Fahri Koruturk Cd up a side road.
I may have to e-mail him and just say that the address is not correct and we are concerned that maybe this is all a hoax.
By next weekend we will need to pay the balance for the villa rental (i.e. 6 weeks prior to arrival) so we have a bit more time to make our decision on whether we pay him or not.
Cheers,
Steve
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I think it is above the top road (Ovacik Cd) in Ovacik and is definitely towards the petrol station end judging by the exterior shots.
It looks like so many of the villas here it would be hard to determine which one it is and that address is crazy! That doesn't mean to say that the guy is being dishonest or that it is so unusual not to know the address in the first place. I know mine is the official Tapu address and registered as such at the Olu Deniz Belediye Offices. It has never helped one person find me. I always end up meeting them in my car by the local shop and them following me from there ....
If I get chance later tonight or tomorrow (sorry got 8 family members arriving very shortly) I'll try and check it out and report on here. No promises I'll be able to find it though.
Just seen your last post - I should be able to find it from those directions. But even if I do, that doesn't mean it is his villa does it?
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Steve, don't you get some sort of guarantee with Owners Direct?
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I've just send a pm to Steve.
Although the directions were slightly off, the villa does exist :)
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Steve, don't you get some sort of guarantee with Owners Direct?
You do if you make payment via them, for which I suspect there is a charge.
By making his payment by bank transfer OD have no further (financial) responsibility.
JF
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I think Steve is doing the right thing checking it out. No fun being stuck at Dalaman, out of pocket, no transport and nowhere to stay.!!
It really does make you think how much can go wrong booking up with someone you've never met. Brian James comes to mind. >:(
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To all,
Thanks to Dutchie and this forum we have established that the villa does exist.
I'm also pleasantly surprised by the reaction of you all to want to help out. In fact I'm chuffed to bits.
Just one more thing that I have to try and get verified and it is a point that Menthol raised - just because the villa exists doesn't make it the property of the person who is renting it out to us. To be honest it is a question that I have been asking myself for a while now but didn't want to appear too negative out in the open, so to speak. Maybe Owners Direct can help with this point.
Anyway, thanks guys.
Cheers,
Steve
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Hi Steve
Try and check the ownership if you can as Kat 1 may mean 1 apartment in a block, which isn't a villa, I may be wrong.
Could any members in Ovacik check out the owner from neighbours ect. Hope it goes well for you Steve.
Kevin
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The link you provided goes to a villa owned by An Andrew Hewitt.
The description of that villa is a straight copy and paste of a villa owned by someone called Tom Osborne. Link: http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/accommodation/p8081556
Under Tom's 'facilities' tab he writes "I enjoy staying in the villa because its better than living at home. I believe if you go on holiday you should have better facilities than when you are at home. Staying in a hotel fighting for a sun bed at 6am in the morning and sleeping in pokey rooms is not what I call having fun. This villa as all the qualities you would expect staying in 5* class villa"
Andrew, however, under his 'faciities tab, writes "I believe you go on holiday you should have better facilities than when you are at home. Staying in a hotel and fighting for a sunbed at 6am and sleeping in pokey rooms is not what I call having fun. The villa has 5* qualities."
Of course maybe Tom has nicked Andrew's description.
It's up to you guys, bail or gamble - but as someone suggested earlier, Dalaman airport is grim even when you do have somewhere to go. My feeling is (and not just my findings, all the others too) that you need to make sure this is all above board before jetting off.
If it were me I'd need to obtain full confirmation that the holiday accommodation is safe, or take a hit on the deposit and find somewhere else to head for when you touch down.
Hope you have a brilliant holiday in and not be flying with all the worries of the unknown.
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Steve, don't you get some sort of guarantee with Owners Direct?
You do if you make payment via them, for which I suspect there is a charge.
By making his payment by bank transfer OD have no further (financial) responsibility.
JF
Actually, I stand corrected (by myself!). It looks like OD will cover up to £700 (http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/info/trust-and-security/travellers-secure-booking) free of charge.
JF
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Well that's better news John
Just to add to the pile of nagging doubts...he avoided the address question by saying they would send a car/taxi so you don't need to know where the villa is. Who's paying for that? Owners aren't in the habit of offering completely free airport transfers. Have they told you how much extra it will be?
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I would definitely be out on this one. You have time to find another villa to rent and also, based on John's link above, can get a refund from OD too. I would be involving them (OD) in this to investigate. The bank transfer you made may help in finding this person.
Very relevant point by Scunner too - who offers free transfers to Ovacik!!!!
Let us know how it goes Steve - there are owners on here you may be able to rent from worry-free.
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http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/accommodation/p8134864
Andrew Hewitt has another villa !!!!
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His phone number is +90 2526166184
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Excellent Alan - I'd certainly give him a call just to ensure everything is ok - I'm sure he would be fine with you wanting to make sure everything is genuine.
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http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/accommodation/p8134864
Andrew Hewitt has another villa !!!!
People are allowed more than one villa you know ;)
Hopefully they can phone him and get it all confirmed.
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Indeed they can and as the turkish tel number is the same for both villas, it could even turn out to be a management company
The second villa is advertised elsewhere with an owner in Newport and was for sale in November last year so all could be fine.
I certainly hope so as I can only imagine the stress this is causing for Steve and his family.
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I have never heard of this Tom but I do know Andrew. He has built a few properties in Ovacik so it could be possible that he also helps letting them?
The reason I know Andrew is that he has bought an item from us so not too familiar with the man though.
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Evening all,
Again thanks for another hard day of investigating.
I have e-mailed the owner with some further concerns and after taking in to consideration his comments and all the replies through this forum we think that everything seems above board.
This has not been the most straightforward of holiday bookings for us and I can honestly say that having spoken to my wife and daughter yesterday I was ready to bail out and look for an alternative villa. But after today's findings and re-assurances we are pretty confident that we can arrive at Dalaman airport knowing that shortly afterwards we will be in the villa that we had originally booked.
Time will tell of course and I will let you know how we get on in July.
I don't know how many of you guys will be in Ocacik between the 12th and 22nd July but it would be good to meet up and have a few beers with you all. If you are around then, let me know of a good bar to meet. It doesn't have to be Ovacik of course but somewhere close enough.
Ta very much for your time and effort.
Steve (and wife Paula, daughter Abbie and her friend Karla)
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I have never heard of this Tom but I do know Andrew. He has built a few properties in Ovacik so it could be possible that he also helps letting them?
The reason I know Andrew is that he has bought an item from us so not too familiar with the man though.
Superb stuff - great to know Andrew is real :) Apologies to Andrew for being concerned but he will know there are many cons in Turkey and in property rental - now to find out who Tom is :D
Have a great holiday Steve, give us a date and all 10,500 of us will turn up and take you up on that offer of a beer ;)
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I went for a scout round this morning and think I have found the villa. It is directly behind the Dianna Suites hotel up the hill a bit. I cant see it on google maps but you can see Dianna Suites so it will give you a bit of an idea of location. It looks a nice villa.
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Great to hear the villa actually exists...though it looks similar to many villas I didn't recognise it ( we have had a villa in Ovacik since 2004). Knowing where Diana Suites is it will be more like 30 minute walk into
Hisiaronu but should be lovely and quiet. Enjoy your holiday.
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Yes indeed, have a lovely holiday!