VRBO won't refund Sanibel stay for next week

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There may be some kind of act of God line in your contract. That being said tell them your next call is to local media and it’s their move. They are a corporation exploiting a natural disaster.

Local media will side with the local property owner who shows up on camera with a signed contract and a harrowing story of survival.

Doubtful.

[Anonymous]

OP, keep us posted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There may be some kind of act of God line in your contract. That being said tell them your next call is to local media and it’s their move. They are a corporation exploiting a natural disaster.

Local media will side with the local property owner who shows up on camera with a signed contract and a harrowing story of survival.

And amex will side with the renter not provided with the service that they paid for

Great. This response was for those advising Op to go to the media. Media won’t care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There may be some kind of act of God line in your contract. That being said tell them your next call is to local media and it’s their move. They are a corporation exploiting a natural disaster.

Local media will side with the local property owner who shows up on camera with a signed contract and a harrowing story of survival.

They absolutely will not. It's gouging, basically. And what that does is deter tourists from coming back to Sanibel once it does reopen. It smears the whole community as bad actors. They're going to have enough trouble attracting tourists back once things reopen, they do not need this kind of bs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know when I rented in OBX it was made clear to me that if we had to evacuate for a hurricane we would need travel insurance if we wanted to be reimbursed. So I guess if the reason OP can stay there is because the roads are out or the gov’t has an evac order still I can see the argument that it’s on her to get insurance.

This is slightly different insofar as the hurricane already happened and now, PRIOR to the vacation, it's completely a non option to go there.

But what if the bridge was washed away and the house was habitable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There may be some kind of act of God line in your contract. That being said tell them your next call is to local media and it’s their move. They are a corporation exploiting a natural disaster.

Local media will side with the local property owner who shows up on camera with a signed contract and a harrowing story of survival.

And amex will side with the renter not provided with the service that they paid for

Great. This response was for those advising Op to go to the media. Media won’t care.

I agree-- you have thousands of people who have lost their homes and you expect to get on tv because your vacation was disrupted? That is DCUM-level cluelessness for sure.

[Anonymous]

I read they were using barges and boats to deliver supplies and heavy machinery. The twitter link with the photo shows a Verizon truck that was being delivered to help provide a “hot spot” as a mobile cell and wifi server for the island to help first responders to be able to communicate. I have seen photos of heavy equipment (like front loaders on and dump trucks) on barges that were going out to Sanibel. How else do you think they get the stuff out there? On Jose Andres’ helicopter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know when I rented in OBX it was made clear to me that if we had to evacuate for a hurricane we would need travel insurance if we wanted to be reimbursed. So I guess if the reason OP can stay there is because the roads are out or the gov’t has an evac order still I can see the argument that it’s on her to get insurance.

This is slightly different insofar as the hurricane already happened and now, PRIOR to the vacation, it's completely a non option to go there.

But what if the bridge was washed away and the house was habitable?

It’s not accessible. So nope.

[Anonymous]

OP tell them you will need a Hurricane Pass to access the property. You will need the owner to be at the pass distribution site (Sanibel Room, Crown Plaza in Ft, Myers) to prove they are an owner/resident then they can hand it over to you. I am sure the National Guard will love that.

[Anonymous]

OP I had rented a vrbo house for week and then the nation (or just my state?) went into lockdown -- no travel.

The owner of the home allowed me to have a credit with him and I was to call and reschedule.

Months passed and we tried to reschedule but the owner now had a long term tenant and we could not.

He finally (after months of emails) refunded my $$ except for a $500 vrbo service fee of something which I never got.

Good luck OP!

[Anonymous]

VRBO is notorious for its terrible customer service. They want to put everything on the owners and provide little to no assistance. At the beginning of covid I had 2 friends who had to cancel reservations because of lockdown and the owners refused to refund the money. VRBO said it wasn't their problem.

[Anonymous]

The property where I was going to vacation was then sold and I had trouble getting my deposit back

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, surprised by how many people on this thread are clueless to the risk of booking during hurricane season. I NEVER book in advance to a hurricane zone for August to early November. I'm even leery of July now. Yes, it is completely unfair and ridiculous but it's really hard to get your money back even if you buy the travel insurance. Even with insurance they sometimes only give you for the days it was a mandatory evacuation.

Example: You have booked a Saturday to Saturday rental. There is clearly a storm coming there that is going to hit, say Monday. But the evacuation order only covers Monday and Tuesday. They will still charge you for Saturday and Sunday, even though it is crazy to travel there then. And after even if the place is a mess they will often not cover you for Weds on.

It's absolutely absurd. Don't book in advance during hurricane season. I only go to the beach in the south august to early november if it is a raltive's house OR if it's like Thursday or Friday and I am looking to book for the Saturday coming up in like a day or two.

While I agree, the VRBO owner at this point has nothing to give OP. No roads lead to Sanibel, people are using boats and helicopters to get to the mainland.

Why should OP be forced to pay for ‘nothing’. This isn’t OP being upset that it’s going to rain a little or something like that.

DP. It’s about who bears the risk of this kind of scenario. By renting a place with a no refunds for any reason policy, OP likely got a discount over what she would have had to pay for a rental that did allow for cancellations/refunds. In doing so, OP effectively agreed to accept the risk of this kind of event in exchange for the cheaper rate, instead of paying more for the owner to bear the risk. Now that the dice have been rolled, OP is having buyers remorse and wants out of the deal she made.

I thought this nonsense was actually serious for a minute. Buyer's remorse...good one.

You cannot refute the substance so you try to dismiss it instead. Noted.

Note whatever you want, sweetie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VRBO is notorious for its terrible customer service. They want to put everything on the owners and provide little to no assistance. At the beginning of covid I had 2 friends who had to cancel reservations because of lockdown and the owners refused to refund the money. VRBO said it wasn't their problem.

To me this is a different situation. The house was there and available, but outside forces (pandemic) intervened and the renters cancelled.

In this scenario OP is presuming (rightly so) that the owner does not have a rentable property available as advertised. If there is no power, it is not an a/c property. If there is no running water it isn't a 2BA house with shower, toilet, dishwasher, etc. Heck, it may have foundation damage and not even be habitable. OP paid for a good that the owner almost certainly can't deliver.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VRBO is notorious for its terrible customer service. They want to put everything on the owners and provide little to no assistance. At the beginning of covid I had 2 friends who had to cancel reservations because of lockdown and the owners refused to refund the money. VRBO said it wasn't their problem.

To me this is a different situation. The house was there and available, but outside forces (pandemic) intervened and the renters cancelled.

In this scenario OP is presuming (rightly so) that the owner does not have a rentable property available as advertised. If there is no power, it is not an a/c property. If there is no running water it isn't a 2BA house with shower, toilet, dishwasher, etc. Heck, it may have foundation damage and not even be habitable. OP paid for a good that the owner almost certainly can't deliver.

Unless the contract says otherwise. We can speculate all we want but the key Q is what did OP promise?