1. I used Homelidays to find an apartment.
2. I did everything Homelidays recommended by contacting the owner, making a reservation, and taking out their %26quot;surprise-proof%26quot; insurance.
3. I sent a deposit to the owner.
4. I became suspicious about the owner because of the poor level of Englished used by a doctor (the owner) on a subsequent email asking for more money.
5. I contacted Homlidays to express my concerns and I received an email back stating that the owner and the apartment listed on their web site is a fraud.
6. After weeks and many emails and phone calls, I have not received any further responses to file an insurance claim. The fine print in the their %26quot;surprise-proof%26quot; insurance is that they don%26#39;t pay when it is owner fraud. This is contrary to Homelidays saying they will pay if the apartment is in the wrong place or the size of the apartment is wrong ---they just say it%26#39;s owner%26#39;s fraud. In my case, the apartment was not even there.
7. They obviously list apartments without a simple legitimacy check (ie. the phone book).
8. With exchange rates and Western Union fees, I am out about $600US.
9. Though others have stated they have had success with Homelidays ( I wonder if they are employees of Homelidays) without problems sending cash, I will NEVER send cash again NOT ever use Homelidays.
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I%26#39;m sorry for your bad experience. I had a bad one myself with a Florida based company, renting apartments in the South of France. (Unbeknownst to us, they charged about $1000 on top of the owner%26#39;s %26quot;listing%26quot;). We never were able to recoup our losses, but In this case, the %26quot;owner%26quot; was not at fault ~ he was flabbergasted that we had been fleeced, and very embarrassed that his property had been used in the scam, and tried to help us legally ~ needless to say the Florida Co, vanished in the night. So we all lost.
It%26#39;s a bummer when money is stolen but the %26quot;expenses of exchange rates%26quot;, can%26#39;t be blamed on anything but the weak US $.
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What a shame! I have used apartments several times and I have a couple of %26quot;security%26quot; checks I apply for myself - these being:
1. I ALWAYS check to see that there%26#39;s positive reports from previous tenants, from across number of websites (eg, I google the address and if there%26#39;s no other listings or reports, I don%26#39;t persue that apartment)
2. I make direct contact with the owner and ask many, many questions about the apartment -over a period of weeks (I am probably one of %26quot;those%26quot; tenants!)
3. I do not send cash via any method other than by PAYPAL and try to have most of the transaction conducted in cash, on arrival.
4. I ALWAYS do a location search and compare the neighbourhood with what is described by the owner
and...all of the above can still result in a fraud. So far, I haven%26#39;t had a problem. I%26#39;ve used VRBO, Lodgis and CentreParis, without any real problems (other than minor descriptors, such as - there was no courtyard view from my apartment).
The website you booked through is huge - and I%26#39;m surprised they shrugged off your issue. I must admit, I%26#39;d expected that these agencies would be wanting to protect their reputation.
I hope you have a better experience next time.
Sandra
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I am not familiar with French law but here if a company lists an apartment they are at least responsible for being sure the apartment exists. It also seems to me that misrepresenting the contents of the apartment is one type of fraud, but listing a non-existent apartment is quite a bit more serious. Sorry about your loss but hope you will not let it turn you offgoing to Paris. There are a number of postings about apartments on TA where you can find posters who have stayed in the apartment you are contemplating.
Good luck.
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I%26#39;m just curious how someone can find this website -after- they%26#39;ve had a bad experience, but didn%26#39;t find it when they were searching for apartment %26#39;reviews%26#39;.
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Travelnutty - I think that mwiars didn%26#39;t actualy do an apartment %26quot;review%26quot;...trusting in correspondence with the owner and agent.
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%26quot;Discover%26quot; showed me your complaint while I posted a similar one about %26#39;Homeliday%26#39;. The one I tried to rent was on %26#39;Rue Fondary%26#39;. Would it be, by any chance, the same fraud one you tried to rent?
I was a bit luckier that I didn%26#39;t wire money over. My lost was only one or two days in Paris, spent crazily looking for a place to stay.
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No, the address was: 12 Rue de Castiglione
I didn%26#39;t find out about TripAdvisor until a couple of months ago. I Googled, etc. Homelidays and at the time, I could not find out much about them.
One can really be exploited with Homelidays. I know now if I wanted to make some extra money that all I would have to do is pay them $100, send a few pictures and a description. Then sit back and wait for the money to come in (illegally but easily).
Somebody else was correct. I didn%26#39;t do enough research on the %26#39;owner%26#39;. I was falsely secured with the Homeliday%26#39;s no-surprise insurance policy which I now also know is a fraud. Their insurance company (nor Homelidays returns calls nor emails).
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Wow that is a shame...we used Homelidays.com for a trip to Guadeloupe last Feb...and it was great! We are going to Maui this March and I actually felt fearful about sending all of the money upfront (or 30days before).
My friend is looking for a roomate and posted a room for rent on roommates.com and came across a scam also...luckly she knows someone at Bank of America that informed her about the scam...which involves London/West Africian nations.
There are tons of scams out there...it is a shame that a internet site that is supposed to be trusted (like Homelidays.com and roommates.com) cannot insure their customers that they are fraud free...or at least have some kind of fraud protection...or tips/guidelines etc...
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Wow that is a shame...we used Homelidays.com for a trip to Guadeloupe last Feb...and it was great! We are going to Maui this March and I actually felt fearful about sending all of the money upfront (or 30days before).
My friend is looking for a roomate and posted a room for rent on roommates.com and came across a scam also...luckly she knows someone at Bank of America that informed her about the scam...which involves London/West Africian nations.
There are tons of scams out there...it is a shame that a internet site that is supposed to be trusted (like Homelidays.com and roommates.com) cannot insure their customers that they are fraud free...or at least have some kind of fraud protection...or tips/guidelines etc...
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I will be may be relating a story of a rental fiasco upon my return to Paris. I fly out of Canada tomorrow the 5th and have a minor battle going on with the return of a rental deposit.
However, i never rent without:
1. Comparing suites and rental prices in the general area.
2. Always pay by credit card since we as consumers have up to one full year to contest any charges on the card. At least in Canada we do. (This is the one reason i do not accept them in my own business apart from the high merchat fees they want.)
3. If i cannot speak to an owner directly, no matter where in the world they happen to be, then i pass. I don%26#39;t do email only.
4. I will not do a direct bank transfer to another bank as one owner of several apts wanted to do to a Swiss bank nonetheless.
And, I will be vindicated with respect to this dispute with this apartment owner. He just has no idea of the tempest I will unleash on him from afar.
And ......... i am going to love every minute of it... smile!
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