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1. Manager Rented property to someone else, withheld $100 refund


I rented a home from Vacaton Home Rentals (for 7/20/2007, secured it using a credit card. Before arriving to location, at the airport getting ready to get on the plane, I was informed that the home was rented, they did not expect US (a basketball team) until 7/21. The manager (Rod) said it was their mistake and they would put us up in another rental for the night, the move us the next day. Rod never went with us to the house, just gaved me the access code, (it was late in the morning Vegas time about 12:30 am) The house was not ready for occupancy and had roaches, a hole in the wall, the rug was dirty, the daybed was on the side, some blinds were torn. I called Rod immediatly to complain and let him know this was unaccetable. I was told that house in vegas have roaches. LOL. I then drove to the property I had requested and found people were in the home. I then decided to take the team, 8 boys and check into the Las Vegas Hilton for the night. I called the next day 7/21 and let them know how I felt and wanted a refund. I was told they would have the original property ready at 3. I had to call them around 3:30, of course they did not call me. I was told that he would have to put us in another house, I said no, you are in breach of contract, just give me my money back. I paid $2285. He agreed. I picked up the money, a cashiers check, for $2185, that was stuck in the door of the office. The information inside, was the credit card authorization form, that listed all the fees i was charged, and written in pen, a new fee of $100 for meeting us at the office late. LOL, LOL.

I had been in contact with this guy from the time I filled out the lease information until the time I stepped on the plane, he was informed that I would be coming in late, NO WHERE and AT NO TIME, did he ever MENTIONED a fee for meeting late. THEY are incredable. I have requested the $100.00 back. A basketball team does not have money. Plus we had to go above the budget when I had to get the boys rooms permanently at the LAS Vegas Hilton.

I was told; " You should be happy you got a refund"
Category:   United States
United States > Nevada

Date Added: Jul 31, 2007
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2. Discount21 - Vacation Rental in Nevada


We recently rented this home and found the home to be unclean. Garbage was piled outside, and eventually we saw a cockroach.
Pictures on website do not reflect actual condition of home. Pictures show grass outside however it is completely rock.
Has a process server come during our stay looking for owner.
Have tried to remedy with owner to no avail so far.
Category:   United States > Nevada
United States

Date Added: Jul 27, 2008
Vacationer Reviews Vacationer Ratings

3. "Arts & Crafts" House in Godalming, Surrey, UK


Of the "sleeps 5" listed, two beds were in the attic, accessible only with serious effort, through a vertical wall-mounted ladder that led to a hole in the ceiling. (This was deceptively called "a cleverly designed stair" in the listing.) One of these beds was a trundle that could not have been pulled out without virtually dismantling the portable closet. This room was unsafe (due to unshielded hole in floor) even after we purchased multiple nightlights for it (no refund for those.)
HW boiler for dishwashing etc. worked very rarely throughout one-week stay. Promised Internet disappeared too halfway through, with no response from owner when help with both were requested. No refund offered; only "Discount off of future stay" (as if...!)
Property quite lived-in, full of owner's personal effects, aged stocks of food and well-worn furniture. The only room with double bed was almost entirely taken up by a large, projecting wall-mounted piece of martial arts equipment.
Owner stated that he would appear on premises 1st day to orientate renters; did not, also did not visit to refund security deposit on last day as stated in contract; we had to request several times after returning to US and then received expensive wire refund of less than we had paid.
All in all, a disappointing experience with an unsatisfactory property from very "tarted up" VRBO listing on a website that does not allow any truthful feedback; We have had better rental experiences in Europe from other sites and will not use this one again.
Category:   Europe > England
Europe

Date Added: Oct 12, 2008
Hot Bottom Rated
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4. False Holding of Security Deposit


We have been renting on Anna Maria Island for 4 years, 3-4 times each year without ever losing a penny of our deposit. We recently rented a property from Gavin Fraser in Key Royale on the island and were extraordinarily disappointed with his behavior concerning the security deposit. We didn't damage any property, cleaned the house (mopped floors, cleaned kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, living areas, and the outside), washed all but a few towels and the bed linens. This is our usually check out tasks, which we've never encountered a problem.

This guy withheld our entire ($500) security deposit! He sent a nasty email saying we had "abused" the house, completely disrespected the property and left it filthy with trash laying everywhere. Everything Gavin Fraser had said was completely false, it was like we were talking about two different houses!

Everyone in our party (10) was completely shocked by this, as we all worked very hard to leave the house clean.

Watch out for this guy! He won't send us pictures of the alleged mess and won't return our deposit. We will more than likely be taking this guy to court.
Category:   United States > Florida

Date Added: Apr 9, 2009
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5. deposit never returned


(Here is the listing on Craigslist: http://staugustine.craigslist.org/vac/1356384096.html)

This man is a liar. He seemed trustworthy at first when he was willing to let me book his rental last minute, but afterward turned out to be a cheat. I signed an agreement stating I would receive my deposit back promptly by mail within 15 days of departure from the property. He never refunded my $550 security deposit, nor did he state any reason why not. There were no damages to the house or property. Also, he ignored all my attempts to contact him, even answering his phone and pretending not to hear me at one point. I sent him angry emails, to which he responded "don't be rude to people you don't know. i think i'll wait til next week to send your deposit."

I'm tired of being treated like a child. This man needs to give my money back and stop lying.
Category:   United States
United States > Florida

Date Added: Sep 14, 2009
Vacationer Reviews Vacationer Ratings

6. MATT SMITH Vacation Rental Con Artist Lanikai


Matt Smith is a con artist who manipulates and steals from clients who give deposits and refuses to provide them with confirmations by the time their balance is due, thus forcing the prospective client to withdraw their offer and forfeit their deposit. My mother lost 2100 dollars from this con artist and I wanted to warn other people about this antics. In addition, my mother's travel insurance will not cover this because my mother was forced to breach the contract by this man's actions. He is a completely dishonorable and disreputable person. He was not the owner but claimed to be. BEWARE!
Category:   United States > Hawaii

Date Added: Nov 10, 2009
Vacationer Reviews Vacationer Ratings

7. Refusal to return booking deposit


We booked a vacation villa in Cozumel called "Casa Ballena" for a week for our wedding. They required a 50% deposit ($1176.00) paid by check. Their contract has no cancellation policy in it. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our wedding. This was on March 15, 2010 and our reservation was for July 20, 2010. This was more than 4 months in advance. 127 days in advance, to be exact. In desperation I tried to negotiate applying part of the $1176 to a 1 bedroom property instead, since the wedding was canceled and no guests would be attending. The owner of the company, Ron White, said that was not possible. He said we will lose our entire $1176 unless they are able to rebook the same exact villa during the same exact week (which happens to be during Cozumel's low season). He also refused to give me the contact information of the property manager or owner, who according to him had control of our money.

I would NOT recommend doing business with this company. There are plenty of other rental companies that operate in Cozumel, do not take a chance with Sherrie and Ron White if there is even the slightest chance of an unforeseen circumstance that could cause you to cancel. It would be understandable to have a small cancellation fee(even though we canceled over 4 months in advance), but absolutely no refund?? Over $1100 for nothing? That is completely unethical.
Category:   Mexico
United States
United States > Minnesota

Date Added: Mar 24, 2010
Hot Bottom Rated
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8. Beware of OFFMAR, LLC


I paid $5400 to Jeff Glovsky of OFFMar, LLC for a Miami Beach vacation rental for the month of February; $2700 for the rent, $2700 for the Security Deposit. He has many listings on Craigslist. I have it in writing from him that we "..left the unit in better condition than we found it." Jeff Glovsky has acknowledged that he owes us our full deposit back. Our contract states it was to be returned 15 days after vacating the unit - i.e., March 15, 2010. Yet today it is May 30, 2010 and Jeff Glovsky has offered us nothing but 5 bounced checks. When I demanded a cashier's check he promised to send one a number of times and I have e-mails stating that these checks were in the mail. Yet nothing was ever sent, nothing ever showed up. I am still waiting for my money.

Please beware in renting from OFFMAR!!!
Category:   United States > Florida

Date Added: May 31, 2010
Vacationer Reviews Vacationer Ratings

9. Security deposit not fully refunded


This past May a group of family and friends went to stay at the Sandpiper House near Gold Beach, Oregon. The house was nice, though not as clean as we would have liked. The hot tub was fine, and the beach was a short walk away. The website said the deposit would be refunded if the house was left as found, with a load of laundry started and a few other things.
My friends cleaned the house and left the laundry for me, since I was leaving later. The instructions said to start a load of sheets but because there were two loads of sheets, I put the ones I washed in the dryer, because I was afraid they'd get musty. I couldn't start another load because there was only enough detergent for one.
The friend who paid for our stay was not refunded the deposit because the manager said that some sheets were missing. Or not exactly missing, but not matching the sizes that should have been there.
This is ridiculous as well as insulting. If I needed sheets, I would spend less and get new ones that would fit my bed. Years ago, a business owner in that area told a dissatisfied customer (my dad) "You should have known better." Well, now I guess we do.
Category:   United States > Oregon

Date Added: Jul 21, 2010
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