Seriously you might as well file your suit straight into the lake.. That's not how things work here.. 

They informed you two days before, they offered two alternatives, you refused, you got a full refund.. That's really good service. 

Thanks John. Actually im already in Geneva and I did not get my refund yet. Meaning I have to pay for accomodation from my pocket while I wait for them to wire it back to me. They informed me on Friday evening, and my arrival was on moday - everything was already closed, including the banks. The options they offered me were either 30min away by train from the place I’ve booked or 20ch/night more expensive. I actually did accept the more expensive option, but I told then i would accept it on a temporary basis and would look into my options, including legal measures. They then pulled this option and said they were gonna   refund me, because “they did not do legal problems”. If you believe this is good service, we strongly disagree.

Also, the notice I had to give them, in case I had to cancel, was 2 months. Totally non-refundable if notice from my side was shorter than 2 months. Two days notice, not even business days - is not an acceptable notice in under any circunstances, specially in a city like Geneva.

Switzerland is not a service orientated country, it just isn't..  And it is absolutely not a file suit / threaten legal action country.

I get it that you were inconvenienced, it sucks for you.. But you'll get nothing but an empty bank account if you try to go legal on companies for things like this.

"For Switzerland" you got pretty good service.. Honestly.

You should go to the tenants’ association, ASLOCA,whose offices are in Eaux-Vives as quickly as possible – not forgetting that tomorrow is the first of May and public transport will be at a standstill during the May Day procession in the afternoon.

All the best,

Ritchie

That's really good service?? By what standards? I don't know the exact terms of what Samantha paid for,  but at first sight it does not seem fair. You see, that's the problem with Switzerland, nobody fights back for their rights, they just pay or move on. That's why everybody tries to abuse for us consumers. If general attitude was different, there wouldn't be so many abuses.

Coppet is just 9 min away by train from GVA every half an hour. It’s a small lovely town by the lake and famous Coppet castle. I love it. It’s not as close as Servette but honestly faster to the city center than from other parts of GVA. 

It's reality though isn't it..?  No point in saying otherwise.. Do you honestly think hiring a lawyer to fight this would be cost effective?  

Like it or not it's the local way .. 

Specifically yeah it sucks getting something like this at short notice .. But it's like you turn up at your hotel, it's on fire.. They offer you another hotel 15 mins taxi ride away or another more expensive one 5 mins away, and you say no.. What else can they do? 

what about give me the same conditions I've paid for and having insurance covering the extra costs..?! I mean, if anyone has to pay extra for the problem they had, why does it have to be me?

Ignore John H. What you've described is shocking and Switzerland is not lawless. As for Coppet, yes it is nice but getting there is a hassle if you don't have a car. No way is an apartment in Coppet a realistic substitute for one in Paquis. Richie's suggestion that you contact ASLOCA as soon as possible is a good one. In addition, I think that glocals should have a red alert for eshortrental and easyflat unless the matter is resolved to Samantha's satisfaction.

Your comment reinforces my view that you should report your experience to ASLOCA. The more evidence they have on file about the malpractice of a régie or an agent, the better.

The annual subscription fee is money well spent and you’ll be able to call on their advice should you ever need it on another occasion.

Thanks Ritchie, I will get in touch with them soon and will update it here.

I'm just trying to give a bit of a reality check here.. Yes of course this situation sucks. 

But if Samantha is only here for a short time, it's likely not worth spending that time, plus all the cost on fighting a losing battle.

ASLOCA are good but I doubt they'd get involved, these companies are not regies, this is essentially a crap version of AirBnB.

In case you really want to chase it, you can always get free legal advice from www.pje-ge.ch  see if it's worth taking it further.

Agree with John. It’s not a pleasant situation but in life its better to choose the battles worth fighting for. Unfortunately in Switzerland you can’t do much about your situation. Just as an exemple: I booked 1 night in Swiss hotel near Zermatt this year. Informing the hotel about my late arrival. Calling the same day again to inform them that will arrive around 23:00. The owner was asking for extra money, hung up on me, closed the hotel and didn’t let me and my friend in. Hovewer he charged my credit card for the whole stay. Police and hotel association couldn’t help. this battle I can’t win without loosing a lot of money, energy and nerves. Yes, its not fair. But sometimes Life teaching us the lesson to be ok when it’s not fair and to move on. 

I see the owner of the company is a Glocals member .. Maybe they will comment  

https://www.glocals.com/members/member_profile/123090

That comment pretty much sums it up. Eshotrental and Easyflat can claim that the situation ("a severe water problem") was unforeseen to them, and that it was the responsibility of the owner, but as brokers who offered the property and made the contract with Samanntha, it was their responsibility to fulfill the agreement.

The question, though, is what is their legally-binding obligation. That is set by the terms of the contract signed by Samanntha and them. That is what any court would look at: what is it that both parties willingly agreed to and signed a contract for.

In the case of Eshortrental, the terms and conditions state under 5 (you can verify by clicking here):

"The Company accepts no responsibility vis-à-vis the Tenant or the Owner regarding the acceptance, refusal or fulfilment of the Lease, including the restitution of the Object. In the event of a dispute regarding the Lease, the Company will not be a party in any way."

A court would point out that the tenant agreed to those terms when signing the contract. So, shamefully, they have a way out. Legally, that is. Morally, it is shameful behavior and a terrible way to build a business. In this kind of situation, it is the renter who is in a vulnerable position, depending on them to have a place to stay.

So, if Eshortrental is legally covered, that leaves easyflat.ch.

They do not post their terms and conditions on their website. I do not know whether Sammantha signed a contract that mentioned them, or it the only contract signed was with Eshortrental.

But Easyflat.ch is a regie, so ASLOCA may be able to help you deal with them and tell you what their responsibility is and what recourse you have.

To be fair, John H may have a point that it may be futile to fight this. But if it was me, I would at least try to find out if I have any recourse. And Nat is right that Coppet is only 9 mins away by train from Cornavin (26 mins at certain times). Maybe Sammantha would have actually liked it. But she is not from here and one should not be put in a position to make an uninformed decision that would commit her to live there for several months while perfoming serious work, which is why she chose the Paquis location, not because of its charming character.

Thanks, John, for posting the link to the profile of the Eshortrental owner. I hope she responds, and if not, I suggest we all write her (respectful) emails with our opinion.

I'm not sure there is no room under the Eshortrental terms and conditions. In Samantha's case, given the late notice the owner is in clear breach of contract. I don't see any exceptions for force majeure. And in paragraph 5, Eshort rental explicitly states that it is the owner's representative. Therefore, it seems that Eshortrental is bound to do something more than just return the original sum to Samantha. If that were not the case, the owner could change his/her mind at any time. And whether Coppet is quaint or not is really beside the point. There is a tram going through Paquis every 5 minutes and you can be in most of central geneva from Paquis in less than 20 minutes. The same is not true for Coppet.