Bella the Ball 360
Keyboarding is not my thing excuse typos.<br><font
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2003
In the past we have always used Sky Auction to book our trips. They are great. Unfortunately, this year they did not have the resort we wanted which was Sheraton Vistana. My son stumbled across a booking for Vistana while checking Air B and B (which up till now I refused to use). It looked legitimate and so we booked from a vendor the last name starts with P. ( not using full name so this does not get cut)
.WE booked 2 weeks( all she would allow from her inventory) and found out there were hidden fees of over 600.00. This was still better than the rack rate that Marriott had for the resort and there was actually nothing we could do because we had already booked the two weeks. We added through Marriott two days in the beginning of the two weeks and two days at the end but the middle was through this person who claimed to be a realtor. Since our dealings with Sky Auction had always been fantastic we thought this was a similar set up.
First what I had not realized was that she was a third party booker and this was not supposed to happen on Air B and B. As the time drew closer, we tried to contact her and it was difficult. The only way we could was to call ABB and tell them she was not responding. WE need her to send the reservation down to Vistana. The first time we reached her she pretty much off handedly said I manage over 100 properties and indicated you are small potatoes in so many words.
After many, many, many attempts to ask her to send down the reservation, and a kick in the behind from ABB she SAID she sent them down. Keep in mind the fee had to clear before she would do this and that cleared at least two months before. GREAT! Even when Vistana said they did not get it, she insisted she sent it!!
Because we reserved from Marriott we had our first days at the condo all set and arrived on the Thursday. Our ABB reservation started on the Sunday and we constantly checked with the manager to see if she sent down the reservations. Well SHE DIDN'T. After countless calls to her and ABB the day before our ABB reservation was supposed to kick in SHE CANCELLED OUR RESERVATIONS!!!!!!!!!! NO, she did not inform us either. So here we are in Orlando with NOTHING but two days at the end of the trip at Vistana!!
Luckily the manager of the resort had held our 2 weeks in the middle of the stay so we were frantic but not hysterical. The manager was WONDERFUL! Despite him giving us the best rate he could after knowing our plight and without asking him to (restoring my faith in humanity) it still cost us 500.00 more than we had paid on Air B and B but we were just relieved that we had a two week reservation.
When we called air B and B they of course were apologetic and refunded our payment BUT NOT THE FEE. This went to MS. P. (she deals in Vistana rentals so she will be easy to spot) and she would not refund it.
ABB told us that SHE HAD MANY COMPLAINTS of this type against her name. and clearly nobody could post on the review. Oh great what are they doing about it ? NOW you tell us!
HERE IS THE KICKER, YOU CANNOT WRITE A REVIEVW OF A VENDOR ON AIR B AND B IF YOU NEVER USE THE RESERVATION!! BECAUSE WE COULD ONLY SEE GOOD REVIEWS WE HAD NO IDEA( HAVING BEEN USED TO SKY AUCTION ). SCAM, SCAM, SCAM AND THIS PERSON
HAS GOT IT DOWN PAT!!!
SHE ONLY ALLOWS YOU TO BOOK A TWO WEEK STAY THAT WAY SHE IS UNDER A 1000,00 IN FEES WHICH I ASSUME IS SOME SORT OF CUT OFF FOR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.
Clearly ABB does not police the vendors on their site. If they do they are doing a horrible job of it.
We put a claim in on our Discover card and hopefully will recoup the fee. They will go after her but, what if we were not proactive and seasoned travelers stuck in Orlando with no where to go? What if we were family on a tight budget and it was our first trip? I could go on and on with these scenarios. It cost us an additional 500.00 for the rooms which trust me we were relieved to pay only that much. There is a special place in the "underworld" for her and I hope she is relegated to an office with a phone that never stops ringing!
Honestly, I would never rent an Air B and B because I do not like the thought of NOT dealing with a corporation like a Marriott or Hilton and my feelings were only solidified after this experience.
Staying in someone else's house freaks me out but who knew this bottom feeder could hide under the cover of a large hotel chain. ABB will find you somewhere else to stay but not knowing the area and only being able to stay in strangers homes was not an option for me! The 250 sorry gift for a credit to stay on another property from them for this situation was, in my opinion, ironic and humorous , the only use for me is to set the paper it's printed on afire for warmth in the winter!!! I would much prefer that they change their posting policy so that bottom feeders can be exposed.
.WE booked 2 weeks( all she would allow from her inventory) and found out there were hidden fees of over 600.00. This was still better than the rack rate that Marriott had for the resort and there was actually nothing we could do because we had already booked the two weeks. We added through Marriott two days in the beginning of the two weeks and two days at the end but the middle was through this person who claimed to be a realtor. Since our dealings with Sky Auction had always been fantastic we thought this was a similar set up.
First what I had not realized was that she was a third party booker and this was not supposed to happen on Air B and B. As the time drew closer, we tried to contact her and it was difficult. The only way we could was to call ABB and tell them she was not responding. WE need her to send the reservation down to Vistana. The first time we reached her she pretty much off handedly said I manage over 100 properties and indicated you are small potatoes in so many words.
After many, many, many attempts to ask her to send down the reservation, and a kick in the behind from ABB she SAID she sent them down. Keep in mind the fee had to clear before she would do this and that cleared at least two months before. GREAT! Even when Vistana said they did not get it, she insisted she sent it!!
Because we reserved from Marriott we had our first days at the condo all set and arrived on the Thursday. Our ABB reservation started on the Sunday and we constantly checked with the manager to see if she sent down the reservations. Well SHE DIDN'T. After countless calls to her and ABB the day before our ABB reservation was supposed to kick in SHE CANCELLED OUR RESERVATIONS!!!!!!!!!! NO, she did not inform us either. So here we are in Orlando with NOTHING but two days at the end of the trip at Vistana!!
Luckily the manager of the resort had held our 2 weeks in the middle of the stay so we were frantic but not hysterical. The manager was WONDERFUL! Despite him giving us the best rate he could after knowing our plight and without asking him to (restoring my faith in humanity) it still cost us 500.00 more than we had paid on Air B and B but we were just relieved that we had a two week reservation.
When we called air B and B they of course were apologetic and refunded our payment BUT NOT THE FEE. This went to MS. P. (she deals in Vistana rentals so she will be easy to spot) and she would not refund it.
ABB told us that SHE HAD MANY COMPLAINTS of this type against her name. and clearly nobody could post on the review. Oh great what are they doing about it ? NOW you tell us!
HERE IS THE KICKER, YOU CANNOT WRITE A REVIEVW OF A VENDOR ON AIR B AND B IF YOU NEVER USE THE RESERVATION!! BECAUSE WE COULD ONLY SEE GOOD REVIEWS WE HAD NO IDEA( HAVING BEEN USED TO SKY AUCTION ). SCAM, SCAM, SCAM AND THIS PERSON
HAS GOT IT DOWN PAT!!!
SHE ONLY ALLOWS YOU TO BOOK A TWO WEEK STAY THAT WAY SHE IS UNDER A 1000,00 IN FEES WHICH I ASSUME IS SOME SORT OF CUT OFF FOR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.
Clearly ABB does not police the vendors on their site. If they do they are doing a horrible job of it.
We put a claim in on our Discover card and hopefully will recoup the fee. They will go after her but, what if we were not proactive and seasoned travelers stuck in Orlando with no where to go? What if we were family on a tight budget and it was our first trip? I could go on and on with these scenarios. It cost us an additional 500.00 for the rooms which trust me we were relieved to pay only that much. There is a special place in the "underworld" for her and I hope she is relegated to an office with a phone that never stops ringing!
Honestly, I would never rent an Air B and B because I do not like the thought of NOT dealing with a corporation like a Marriott or Hilton and my feelings were only solidified after this experience.
Staying in someone else's house freaks me out but who knew this bottom feeder could hide under the cover of a large hotel chain. ABB will find you somewhere else to stay but not knowing the area and only being able to stay in strangers homes was not an option for me! The 250 sorry gift for a credit to stay on another property from them for this situation was, in my opinion, ironic and humorous , the only use for me is to set the paper it's printed on afire for warmth in the winter!!! I would much prefer that they change their posting policy so that bottom feeders can be exposed.
