In an ideal world, everyone would be who they say who they are, and we can trust everyone. Unfortunately that isn't always the case. Much too often we read about, or even meet couples or families that have been scammed in the vacation rental business. It is very scary and can be a tough mistake to come back from. As a trustworthy and professional vacation rental company, we hope that we can help you make the right decisions when renting a vacation home through a rental company or through the home owner directly.
= Craigslist – Although there are some homeowners out there that do use this site to rent out their condo, we don’t recommend booking with this route. Craigslist can be so very sketchy and even dangerous. We have seen too many people show up to check-in for a reservation they never had! Only to find out that they had been scammed.
= Google/Website – A website can say a lot about you or your company. If the site looks professional and provides more than enough information about the condo as well as the owners and/or rental agency, it is probably legit.
= VRBO – We use VRBO to advertise our vacation homes, as it had proved to be a wonderful way for our homeowners to monitor their rentals. Although we do not book our rentals through VRBO’s website, there are some privately owner vacation homes that do. We just advise a little bit of caution with this method.
At some point in booking/searching for your condo you should be able to communicate with the company or individual frequently. A phone call is always a wonderful way to find out exactly who you are talking to. In most cases companies will have a 1-800 number, with cute hold music that plays while you wait for the next representative. That should make you feel at ease, knowing that this company is professional and most of all, REAL.
I strongly urge, that if you’re renting through a privately rented condo, that you insist on speaking with the home owner over the phone. There is something very satisfying about being able to talk to a real person rather than chatting over emails.
This goes for companies as well as individual home owners. Ask questions about the area. Inquire about the local restaurants, directions to the nearest movie theater, etc. Someone who is familiar with the area should be able to answer these with ease. Now companies like Booking.com or Expedia usually have remote reservationists that all are all over the country, so they typically won’t be familiar with the area, but are almost always a legitimate rental source.
Ask if you can see the condo before renting it. Even if you live far away, and that may not be possible, they don’t know that. Ask if you can come by and check-out the condo just to see if it is what you’re looking for. We welcome anyone who would like to tour our units when they’re available.
Are there any reviews for this person/company? Read them. Ask if they know where you can find a few. Reading others testimonies can help you greatly in deciding on a condo to rent. If there are not reviews available for that unit and it has been rented for a while, that seems a little fishy to us.
What’s the check-in process? If you are renting through a company, there should be an address where you are going to check-in on the day of your arrival. If you can Google that address, and a phone number is listed with it, call it. Ask questions about the rental that you were inquiring about.
For privately rented vacation homes, homeowners will typically have a lockbox on their condo’s front door, or a battery operated dead bolt.
Is there anyone I can contact if I have an emergency? We have an after-hours emergency service every day of the week. Someone can always be reached should there be an emergency during your stay.
This is the part that we urge caution. Most companies will take a credit card over the phone for payment, if you trust this company and have verified its authenticity, then this can a safe way to pay for your condo.
For privately rented homes, most owners will request cash, or check be mailed to them for payment. Once in a while some owners will request a money transfer or to have the money wired to them. When you have the owners information for the transfer, make sure that the owners name matches the account. We have seen many cases where people think they are transferring money to sweet Ms. Barbara who owns a Purple Parrot Condo, but are actually sending money to Chris who lives in Chicago who doesn’t own anything other than a public record. We joke, but this is very common.
Don’t EVER, EVER, EVER give your credit card information over email. This is so dangerous, and is not a smart move. No trustworthy home owner or even rental company will ask for this information through email. If they do, that is a GIANT RED FLAG.
Call frequently to check on your reservation. Ask to have a receipt emailed to you to keep on file. All of our confirmation emails have your reservation receipt/confirmation attached to keep on record.
With rental companies, this should be no problem. They should be able to pull up your reservation with no problem. Just give them your name and ask questions about your arrival dates, reservation total, where you’re staying etc. This a great way to put your mind at ease and verify your reservation.
With individual home owners – Email or call and inquire about the dates you have booked. Ask as if you were a different person wondering if those dates were available. Just as with the rental company, call and give them your first and last name and ask what your travel dates were, reservation total, etc. If they have no record of it, or act fishy about giving you the information, RED FLAG.
First, we are so very sorry that his has happened to you. Your initial reaction should be to call the police. They usually have a plan of action for these situations. Give them all of the information on the person/company that you have been communicating with.
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