I am trying to rent an apartment in Rome. Rick Steves Rome 2008 recommends the firm Homelidays.com. I found an apartment on this web site (no. 111266) and I wired 1/3 to the owner - $500. She has disappeared and does not respond to phone calls or e-mail. Any suggestions???
Posted by
SF Bay Area, CA
2030 posts
Can you contact the firm and get help or information about what to do? Perhaps the owner is out of town.
Can you stop payment of the check?
Posted by
OP
Fort Gratiot, MI, US
4 posts
Interestly, the entire site is now "down for maintenence." I contacted Rick Steves Friday and they told me to give it a few days. I will try again Monday. I know RS isn't responsible but if the site has become a place for scam artists perhaps it should be removed from the book and readers warned on this site. I may be out a few hundred bucks but results for other travelers could be devastating.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
We've used homelidays several times without any problems, so let's not be quick to tar the whole site with the same brush. One suggestion, once the site is back up and running, is to e-mail homelidays' management and inform them of your problem. They should be quick to act, if they want to protect their reputation.
Posted by
Falls Creek, Victoria, Australia
48 posts
To be fair, they do give an expected time for the site to return 15:00:00 19/04/2008 European time.
That's a whole different thing to the site going offline.
Posted by
OP
Fort Gratiot, MI, US
4 posts
You are absolutely right. The owner could be out of town. This could be a misunderstanding. However, I leave for Rome on May 8. I wired the money on 4/9 and I haven't heard anything since. No one answers the cell number. Yesterday, the site said it was down until 18:00. Today, its 15:00. I am hoping for the best. Thanks for your input.
Posted by
Falls Creek, Victoria, Australia
48 posts
OK
I see the homelidays site is back up.
I see they are not a booking agency, but rather an advertising directory of accommodation. (You don't book with them, or even through them, but direct with the property.)
They may attempt to help with any dispute to protect their reputation, but are not directly responsible in any way.
I'd ask homelidays if they have alternate contact details for the property owner, otherwise I'd just persevere with the existing number you have (does it ring out, or do you get an out of service message?)
Posted by
OP
Fort Gratiot, MI, US
4 posts
I was finally contacted by the owner confirming receipt of the funds. Am somewhat embarrassed.
Posted by
XXX
1170 posts
Oh my gosh, I am so HAPPY for you. I got a bit worried while reading through the responses, and thinking about my VRBO rentals in Rome and France.
Thank goodness it all worked out. Do come back and let us know about your trip and the accommodations. Don't feel badly. It's your money and with the site down and no one answering the phone, it is normal to jump to the "wrong" conclusion.
Happy travels :-)