Valerie D.

On February 7,2014, a group of 7 friends secured rental property #******* on www.vacationrentals.com (part of the HomeAway family) for December 3-December 7,2014 (4 nights). On December 1,2014 at 6:42AM, the booking agent, Dave Banner, informed our group that the property owner received a cease and desist letter form the city and could not rent the property to us. He offered us other options in Ft. Lauderdale (not Miami). After selecting another rental, Dave informed us that the replacement property we selected was also "unavailable." Since our group of 7 women were traveling to Miami from California and Arizona the next day, we had limited options and ended up renting a hotel room. After returning home, I went to the website to write a negative review. I noted that the property is still available on the VacationRentals.com website at a rate of $699/night vs. the rate of #361/night that our group secured in February. I can only assume that Dave canceled our rental in order to rent the home at a much higher rate to another renter. In fact, the owner has yet to fully refund our security deposit. I tried to post a negative review on the HomeAway website, but it was blocked because I did not stay at the property. HELLO?!? I couldn't stay at the property because the owner canceled the reservation two days before I was due to arrive! This is a very dishonest business practice and I do not recommend that anyone conduct business with VacationRentals.com or HomeAway!