Good Vibes Rule

[momuv8im]

 

[dogodisney]

Did you sign any type of contract that stated the deposit was refundable?

 

[momuv8im]

 

[sympatico]

How about putting the info about the home and owner on here so others will know.

 

[momuv8im]

 

[dogodisney]

We have an email booking form but not a signed contract on either side. His online booking states that once a booking has been confirmed that there is a $100 admin fee to cancel or change dates with the difference refunded.

Print out the page that states that fact. That way you have proof. Try getting in touch with him again requesting your refund and give him a time limit. If he doesn;t refund your money, you may need to take him to small claims court. If he doesn't refund your money and he is advertising his rental on someone else's site (like home away), get in touch with them to to let them know about it.

 

[psharrock]

Hi

I am really sorry about the problems you have experienced with an owner within Formosa Gardens. It is a fantastic area, but I agree you need to be 100% comfortable with your interactions with the owner.

With regards to the home itself, is the home 6 bedrooms, and owned by a couple from the UK.

Paul

 

[momuv8im]

 

[psharrock]

I'm not sure what I can really do.

Whilst I know where this house is within the community, I don't know the owners personally. I'll talk to a few of the HOA board members over the next few days to see if any of them know them well.

Paul

 

[sympatico]

The home name I believe is Fantasia and from pics it has a Mickey head shaped west facing pool.

 

[momuv8im]

 

[Glencora]

Do you have any friends who are lawyers? I'm not suggesting that you hire one to sue him, but my Dad's a lawyer and family members (like me )have asked him to write letters for them on his office stationary in situations like this. Not threatening, just stating the facts and saying something like "We will expect to receive your check within the next two weeks." Sometimes that gives people the little push to make them respond. HTH.

 

[momuv8im]

 

[dogodisney]

We spoke to an attorney and since there was never a contract in writing we can file in small claims court in our hometown and get a judgment against the owner for the return of our deposit and court costs. He may not pay the judgment but when we send it to collections it will interfere with his ability to refinance or obtain new mortgages on his US properties. Have also filed a complaint with the Florida Attorney General.

We may never see a dime but we are not going to let this go either.

Best of Luck. I hope it all works out for you.

 

[momuv8im]

 

[Low Flyer]

A previous responder who is also an owner has been in touch with me as I am also the Secretary of the HOA. It is of course none of our business, but I have given him the contact details in an attempt to resolve your problem.

Anyone renting a home makes their own business case, but in general deposits are non refundable and this can be anything from 10-25% of the total to stop time waster's tying up several homes until they decide. The final balance paid 6 weeks before arrival date. Credit cards are only a partial guarantee and any communication you have by email etc constitutes an agreement between you. That is, you are both making commitments and you pulling out, broke that agreement.

Most owners I know will give a full refund if they can book the home for the same period.

 

[momuv8im]

 

[denisenh]

We have an email booking form but not a signed contract on either side. His online booking states that once a booking has been confirmed that there is a $100 admin fee to cancel or change dates with the difference refunded.

The owner should refund you $400.00 then. Seems easy enough to understand.

A previous responder who is also an owner has been in touch with me as I am also the Secretary of the HOA. It is of course none of our business, but I have given him the contact details in an attempt to resolve your problem.

Anyone renting a home makes their own business case, but in general deposits are non refundable and this can be anything from 10-25% of the total to stop time waster's tying up several homes until they decide. The final balance paid 6 weeks before arrival date. Credit cards are only a partial guarantee and any communication you have by email etc constitutes an agreement between you. That is, you are both making commitments and you pulling out, broke that agreement.

Most owners I know will give a full refund if they can book the home for the same period.

The booking aggreement above appears to be his own "booking case".

Prospective tenants may be "timewasters" but they are also families who are on vacation to FL trying to make the best arrangements for their families.

I would suggest that any homeowner that finds it a waste of time to interact with potential renters leave it to their management companies. If you find us a waste of time now then we certainly never would have had a good arrangement had we stayed.

Now placing a value on that waste of time, in our case perhaps an hour responding to emails over the course of one week, I think a $100.00 is more than generous compensation for someone who does not have any agreement in writing and never had a confirmed booking. Every owner I have encountered considers a booking confirmed only upon reciept of the deposit. Until that time they are free to accept other bookings. To block out your calender when you do not have a confirmed booking and to refuse other tenants is in fact a waste or your own time and poor management.

From our perspective an owner who is this uncooperative in the beginning of our transaction is not someone we want to send another $2000 to and risk the well being of our vacation plans.

Thank you for posting your experience. Good luck dealing with this. Based on what is posted in this thread, you are clearly in the right.

 

[sympatico]

Maybe the owner will send you the $400. once he rebooks his home to someone else. On one of the sites where I found this home it states that deposits are non refundable unless the home is rebooked.
Deposits for this home are non-refundable unless the dates are rebooked and will be subject to a $150 admin fee. From this site:
http://www.orlandosfinest.com/6b-fantasia.htm

 

[psharrock]

monuv8im,

Please remember when reading this post that I am only the messenger here and have nothing to gain either way.

I have now been in contact with the owner, who had never heard of disboards. Some of the key points you raised in your original post differ from their version. It is also slightly worrying that you have now changed your original post yesterday to remove key paragraphs and added in a new paragraph.

Every owner deals with bookings differently but it is common that once a guest states they are wanting to book then the dates are 'held' for a short period whilst the deposit is made. You can imagine the fall out if a guest states they wanted to book and then gets disappointed due to the fact that another guest beat them to paying the deposit.

Your biggest problem seems to be that the owner cashed your check. From the information he has given me it was impossible for him not to cash the check, because whilst he was in the UK, the booking form which you completed and returned via email, requested the check to be sent directly to Suntrust's processing center in the US, so on receipt it was automatically processed. The terms and conditions did state that the deposit was non-refundable, but on cancellation this would be refunded less $100 admin fee once the dates are rebooked. Some owners don't refund any deposit if the booking is cancelled even if they manage to rebook the period.

The owner has already re-confirmed the money will be refunded (less admin fee) once the dates are re-booked, as you have now added to your original post, this is a busy period and therefore a booking should be forthcoming in due course.

It is obvious that there has been a breakdown in confidence but from talking to the owner, I am not sure if this was the reason for cancelling. I think it would be best to open up a dialogue with the owner, to ask that he keeps you updated when he issues booking forms for your dates. This way you can at least understand that they are actively marketing your cancelled dates in the attempt to obtain a new booking to refund your money.

I really hope that the owner finds a booking so that he can then refund you, so that from your position the problem goes away. I cannot see what else I can do to help and hopefully I won't be flamed by other readers of this post for making this reply

Paul