SCAM ALERT
I got an email today. I have heard alot about rental SCAM, but this one is something new for me, and I decided to post it here. I don’t know if this is a true story, you have to read it and see…
“We have holiday renters in who are demanding a full refund for their 2 week holiday because there are “so many problems with our house.”
To summarize this is how they work.
Day one and Two everything is “perfect” Lovely home, lovely view, nice and clean etc
Day 3: The guest screams “ant invasion” and they demand a full refund . I said no and put them up at a 5 star resort for 2 nights while the exterminators go into our house. They find a few ants and do their thing.
Day 5: The guests return and say it is disgusting there are dead ants all over the shower, I reply the housekeeper can come in tomorrow but in the meantime there are 5 jets in the shower can’t you just turn it on and wash them down the drain?
Day 6: Housekeeper goes in finds 4 dead ants in the whole house and my bath towels all over the floor so they do not have to walk on the “absolutely filthy floor.” They demand full refund again. They are complaining about everything else also.
Day 6: The guest calls at 10 pm and says the ants are coming into all rooms and she can show the exterminator where they are coming in.
Day 7: I call the exterminator again and give them name and cell phone of guests to coordinate entry.
Day 8: I miss urgent call from exterminators. Guest calls again and demands full refund because “house is a pigsty and they have never had such a horrible holiday.”
Day 9: Receive call from exterminators. Last year for the same 2 weeks of July they were called back repeatedly to a holiday rental unit in the Okanagan. They checked their log book and found the same people were the complainants. Same name, same cell phone number. Last year the complaint was mice. The exterminators saw no droppings at all in the house but the guests said they “saw mice all over the place.” They demanded, AND GOT, a full refund from the owner despite the fact that they remained in the home the entire time.
The first time the exterminators went to the other rental they were denied access and had to go back again.
My air conditioner man has just been denied access despite the fact that it is 40 degrees and the “air conditioner is not working” they told him to come back after they leave.
I have contacted the RCMP and although this is a scam they have heard of it is not illegal. I can not post the guest’s name because it is slanderous.
Please familiarize yourselves with rental scams and contact other rental owners that you know to pass this information along. Please forward this information to your lodging booking people. Contact me at rental.scam@hotmail.com for more information.
Has anyone heard of, or used a referral site or a site to post bad renters on?
We all have a lot of pride in our homes and take care to provide our guests with the best holiday they can have. For the past 10 days I have been subjected to verbal abuse and constant phone calls, my family has suffered from the stress that I have been under to fix all the “problems” that arose. My housekeeper and caretaker have been yelled at and commanded to “come to the house immediately” and do things. These guests have badmouthed our holiday rental to the housekeeping staff, the neighbors, and anyone else they have been in contact with. Who knows how much damage that could do?
I have paid out
$1200.00 for two night accommodation in other resort
$ 500.00 for extermination that could have been handled with much lesser measures
$300.00 for emergency response to “gas smell” from stove. Repairman found “absolutely no leaks, smell or problem with stove.
$40.00 for emergency visit from caretaker plus an hour to talk her out of quitting after verbal abuse from guest
$150.00 for additional housekeeping
$25.00 for housekeeping when Guest called and talked on the phone about all the problems for 45 minutes.
These people will not get their money back from me.”
