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Old 10 Nov 19, 09:38 PM  
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#11
prugone
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I'm afraid you will lose both ways on the exchange rate but don't let it put you off villas. We have rented for 35 odd years and haven't really ever had a big problem. The worst was a highjacked email request to an owner on Homeaway but the reply I received made me suspicious immediately. Couple of tips, NEVER pay by bank transfer. If you're told you have to, look somewhere else. And secondly, if you've had a previous bad experience DON'T GO BACK AGAIN!
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Old 10 Nov 19, 10:24 PM  
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#12
TheHughesCrew
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Phew. Glad most of the money has been refunded. I'm not surprised it's left a sour taste in your mouth. Hope you find somewhere else amazing, if you don't book directly with the owners x
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Old 11 Nov 19, 08:37 AM  
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Floridatilly
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Originally Posted by Disney_time View Post
I agree that has been a very stressful situation, but please please please pay at least something towards such a big purchase using a credit card. I'm so sorry that you have been left out if pocket though after all that stress.
Looking back we realise we were crazy to pay via bank transfer but as we had used the MC many times before we just went with what they advised. They said that was the best way. We just blindly followed their instructions.
We certainly won’t be doing that again.
Obviously credit card is better, how about PayPal? (For future bookings)
Thanks x
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Old 11 Nov 19, 09:47 AM  
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Originally Posted by Floridatilly View Post
Looking back we realise we were crazy to pay via bank transfer but as we had used the MC many times before we just went with what they advised. They said that was the best way. We just blindly followed their instructions.
We certainly won’t be doing that again.
Obviously credit card is better, how about PayPal? (For future bookings)
Thanks x
I am very relieved that you got your money refunded, I was very cross after reading your other thread, it was looking like robbery as I said on your other thread.

To your question, no don’t use PayPal for large purchases like this, you would lose the protection that comes with section 75, PayPal has protections but they are not as strong as section 75.
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Old 11 Nov 19, 10:38 AM  
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catherinesian
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I am so glad you got your money back in the end, what an absolutely disgraceful company. Will make sure I never use them.
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Old 11 Nov 19, 11:01 AM  
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#16
YorkshireT
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Book villas on Homeaway - on credit card as well, then you have double protection.
Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there who will take your money, and not deliver or deliver a sub par product. I've only had it twice in maybe 30+ rentals. One when the house was a bit grotty (pool cover all rotting in pool etc) and he tried to withhold my deposit alleging we had broken a cheap plastic towel rail which was worth $20. Luckily I had a walkthrough video as soon as we entered the house (with news channel on to show date and time, standard practise for me) which showed towel rail was not there. Had to threaten court action then he paid it back.
Second time was when we went to Feurteventura and the fairly new villa was dirty and run down. My FIL cut his foot open on shards of glass left around pool- which was all thick grime we had to sweep up. No pool heat as promised.Video evidence obtained, legal action threatened, full refund received.
They had one thing in common- apparently financially stressed owners.
Always google the villa, look at it on Streetview. If you know the owners telephone number, email, google them. Find the owners (easy to do USA with records online) and find where they actually live. Check out their own home on Streetview- does it look like someone who owns a $500k second home in Orlando?
Google the management co if using one.
On Homeaway only use one who has a history.
One story- I once nearly rented a villa on Marco, before becoming a bit suspicious. Did my due diligence on owner to find she had a fraud conviction- no thanks!
Recently I booked one through Air BNB for LA, but my usual due diligence checking including reverse image searching (after not being able to find anywhere that looked like it on Google Earth) showed that the images had been lifted from a property 30 miles away, and in New York. Alerted Air B N B and immediately cancelled for a refund, but it's put me off using again, and I'll stick with Home and Away.

Edited at 11:07 AM.
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Old 11 Nov 19, 11:03 AM  
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Susan Coleman
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Terrible treatment...
Glad you got your money back
next time book a Dibb villa...go straight to the owner and miss out the middle man...management companies are fine for the actual management...but I would avoid booking through them if possible...
good luck with your next booking xx
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Old 11 Nov 19, 01:31 PM  
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Floridatilly
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Originally Posted by YorkshireT View Post
Book villas on Homeaway - on credit card as well, then you have double protection.
Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there who will take your money, and not deliver or deliver a sub par product. I've only had it twice in maybe 30+ rentals. One when the house was a bit grotty (pool cover all rotting in pool etc) and he tried to withhold my deposit alleging we had broken a cheap plastic towel rail which was worth $20. Luckily I had a walkthrough video as soon as we entered the house (with news channel on to show date and time, standard practise for me) which showed towel rail was not there. Had to threaten court action then he paid it back.
Second time was when we went to Feurteventura and the fairly new villa was dirty and run down. My FIL cut his foot open on shards of glass left around pool- which was all thick grime we had to sweep up. No pool heat as promised.Video evidence obtained, legal action threatened, full refund received.
They had one thing in common- apparently financially stressed owners.
Always google the villa, look at it on Streetview. If you know the owners telephone number, email, google them. Find the owners (easy to do USA with records online) and find where they actually live. Check out their own home on Streetview- does it look like someone who owns a $500k second home in Orlando?
Google the management co if using one.
On Homeaway only use one who has a history.
One story- I once nearly rented a villa on Marco, before becoming a bit suspicious. Did my due diligence on owner to find she had a fraud conviction- no thanks!
Recently I booked one through Air BNB for LA, but my usual due diligence checking including reverse image searching (after not being able to find anywhere that looked like it on Google Earth) showed that the images had been lifted from a property 30 miles away, and in New York. Alerted Air B N B and immediately cancelled for a refund, but it's put me off using again, and I'll stick with Home and Away.
Scary stuff.
Cleanliness & safety is really important with a young child plus a child with diabetes
We have never actually used home & away before
I must give credit to VR360HOMES because they chased Iain at Citrus Grove Villas for us and threatened to remove all his properties from their site. They were very professional and acted promptly
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Old 11 Nov 19, 05:31 PM  
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princess allie
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We usually pay by bank transfer and have been lucky to have no problems so far. How would you suggest paying if not by bank transfer please? We have had a few villas and always paid this way.
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Old 11 Nov 19, 05:55 PM  
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Disney_time
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Originally Posted by princess allie View Post
We usually pay by bank transfer and have been lucky to have no problems so far. How would you suggest paying if not by bank transfer please? We have had a few villas and always paid this way.
I once dealt direct with a condo owner in California who actually took credit cards. He couldn't understand why I did not want to put my credit card details in an email to him and I phoned him instead with it. Anyway, he obviously took a written note of my number because he charged us again the same amount a few days after the balance payment. I emailed him right away, still not sure if he was trying it on or really couldn't work his credit card machine, but at least I knew we were covered and he would have got his knuckles wrapped by CC company if he hadn't refunded us straight away, which he did.

This year I booked through homeaway, paid deposit by credit card and got an email from owner (not via Homeaway messaging) asking me to pay balance by PayPal as she didn't accept payments via Homeaway. (Eh?, she just accepted the deposit). Advice on here and on homeaway website suggested she was trying it on to get out of paying Homeaway fees, so I clicked on the Homeaway "pay balance" button, paid it, got the receipt and didn't hear another grumble from the owner.

In both cases everything was fine with the accommodation, definitely legit, plenty good reviews, but the owners didn't fill me with confidence. Fortunately we had CC guarantee to fall back on.
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