Legal assistance with rental problems

Questioner

I have a holiday home that I rent out via various websites. A few weeks ago I received a booking request/reservation by email. I sent the guests a rental agreement with a payment request. I blocked the house for that weekend, Friday to Monday, on all websites. Then the guests asked if it could also be Thursday to Sunday. I replied that it was fine if the midweek before was not booked and that I had to contact the manager and that I could let them know the Monday before. They agreed to this. I reminded them twice that I had not yet received both the rental agreement and payment. This must be arranged 8 weeks in advance or less. This would be arranged the Sunday before. When it turned out that the midweek was not booked, I contacted the manager but unfortunately he was not available on Thursday. I informed the guests of this, after which they cancelled the weekend. I emailed them that it doesn't work like that, they had booked the weekend, they then asked me for a favor for a possible adjustment of the days which I thought was fine if this had been possible. They don't agree with that because according to them I should have approached the manager earlier. I can't book the manager for more days because if a midweek had been booked I wouldn't have needed him on Thursday. I tried to make it clear to the guests that the weekend was booked for them and that they have to fulfill their obligations but they don't agree with that. What are our rights here?

Lawyer

I see it differently: the parties have deviated from the previous agreements in mutual consultation. The request for a 4-day stay could not be granted. You would have done better to state that the additional request would be at your own expense and risk. Or you could have asked whether they still wanted to stay for the 3-day weekend. So it is not a favor but a new agreement. What general terms and conditions do you use for the rental of the house?

Questioner

Thank you very much for your response. Next time I will have to be clearer about that. It was not a new agreement, they asked it as a request, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'. It is clear that they interpreted my answer differently. Up until now it has all been very amicable and so I did not expect this response from potential tenants. Once again I have learned a lot from this and will certainly mention that next time. I don't quite understand what you mean by general terms and conditions, the contract states that 8 weeks in advance or less if booked later, the rental agreement must be signed and payment made and no refund will be made.

Lawyer

According to the law, a new agreement has been created even though nothing has been set down on paper. (but in e-mail or by telephone) People wanted to book the holiday for longer, which request was accepted by you as a new rental order. You can include everything, how an agreement is created and the conditions under which and/or changes take place under whatever name, in your general terms and conditions.