My brother in law has a wholesale shoe business. He sold a guy $40,000 worth of shoes which he paid for by credit card. The guy did a charge back and kept the shoes. The credit card company sided with the customer even though my brother in law had proof that the guy still had the shoes. It had something to do with my brother in law not entering the 3 digit security code correctly, so I guess you could say he screwed up, but that just goes to show how much the credit card companies side with the consumer. The guy kept the shoes and my brother in law got screwed out of $40,000. Its not like we stayed there and kept this guys product and refused to pay later. I'm confident I will win this dispute. Its fine if it takes 9 months as long as the money is on hold during that time.
VRBO refund
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Sittinginthesun
Recycles dryer sheets
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Utrecht I have had dozens of people rent my vacation property via VRBO and I've never had a single negative word of feedback and nothing but 5 star reviews from every guest but something tells me if you were a renter that would change.
From what you described, the neighborhood didn't sound too safe. However, you didn't even go to the apartment. You also mentioned that the owner said you got off at the wrong subway stop. Maybe the apartment was very nice and the immediate surroundings were nice to
Texas Proud
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WOW.... sounds like he got screwed on a technicality..... did he sue? For that much, I would have hired a lawyer and sued.... looks like an easy win case... however, he might not have had any money....
Do not get me wrong.... I hope you win... I have won the slam dunk ones, but not where it was a dispute on if I got the service level I expected...
Why? You think I'm hard to please?
If someone can tell me how to post pictures from my phone, Ill be happy to show some of the neighborhood Im talking about
This post in the Forum Admin section will help you http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f32/forums-101-posting-accounts-basics-40168.html#post739527
That's very possible, but I had no idea there was another way to get to the apt. We got off at what looked like the closest stop and walked towards the place. If we needed to go to a different stop to avoid the war zone, I would think the owner would tell me that.
The place looked nice in the pics and we wanted to stay there. The last thing we wanted to do was go thru all of this hassle. This could've easily been avoided if the owner had given us instructions, but Im sure he doesnt want to lose customers who dont want to be a stones throw from muggings and shootings. Now he has to deal with this hassle also.
RunningBum
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It's more of a curiosity thing (for me, anyway), plus we can do what was suggested in the other thread, I think, to use google maps street view to actually look at the neighborhood. I'm also trying to learn how to spot VRBO issues, since I had a good experience the one and only time I used it last month and would probably try again.
I'm also a bit confused that you could book a place, and file a dispute that's still ongoing, but it somehow seems difficult for you to find the link to it.
I'm still buying your story, but not as strongly as before. Not that we are the ones you need to convince.
My wife booked it and she is out of town. She sent me a link to it on my phone and Im trying to figure out how to post it here when the link is on my phone. I find it amusing that someone would think I would make this up. For what purpose?
Lisa's Townhouse - Luxury Condo Style... - HomeAway Brooklyn
You can see that the pics they have posted of the neighborhood look nothing like the pics I posted. It may well look like their pics but like I said, they shouldve told us which stop to use so we wouldnt be putting our safety at risk. I guess we shouldve kept walking all the way to the apt but it never occurred to me that the neighborhood might change. I was sure we had been duped. Even if the place itself was nice, I thought we would be exposed to the area I posted every time we went to and from the apt to go sight seeing and there's no way I would be walk thru there after dark.
You can see that the pics they have posted of the neighborhood look nothing like the pics I posted. It may well look like their pics but like I said, they shouldve told us which stop to use so we wouldnt be putting our safety at risk. I guess we shouldve kept walking all the way to the apt but it never occurred to me that the neighborhood might change. I was sure we had been duped. Even if the place itself was nice, I thought we would be exposed to the area I posted every time we went to and from the apt to go sight seeing and there's no way I would be walk thru there after dark.
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Bestwifeever
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The owner will just say that your photos are not of the property and were taken X Blocks away from the property. Good luck with the refund.
Meadbh
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The street sign says "Macon". A quick Google Maps search shows that this is a long street adjacent to Bedford-Stuyvesant, which even I know is a high crime neighborhood. A Google search also found this forum discussion from 2011:
Macon Street, Brooklyn Safety (Utica, Stuyvesant: crime, vacation home, neighborhood) - New York City - New York (NY) - City-Data Forum
Macon Street, Brooklyn Safety (Utica, Stuyvesant: crime, vacation home, neighborhood) - New York City - New York (NY) - City-Data Forum
Like I said, if the owners wants happy customers, he should tell people from out of town the best way to enjoy his property. Getting stabbed while walking to the apt is probably not going to make his customers happy.
He told my wife that we just didn't want to be in a predominantly black area and that the area was safe.
He told my wife that we just didn't want to be in a predominantly black area and that the area was safe.
M Paquette
Moderator Emeritus
Ah! Bed-Stuy!
The Bedford-Styvesant neighborhood. What the realtors like to call "Renaissance Brooklyn". It's a neighborhood undergoing gentrification. Some blocks and side streets are pretty sketchy. Others are pretty nice. My oldest daughter lives there.
The Bedford-Styvesant neighborhood. What the realtors like to call "Renaissance Brooklyn". It's a neighborhood undergoing gentrification. Some blocks and side streets are pretty sketchy. Others are pretty nice. My oldest daughter lives there.
Look at the pics I posted. I guess I should be happy renting a place here right? Im a snob and so hard to please I guess.
Meadbh
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Three things:
1. This website is Homeaway, not VRBO. Are they the same company?
2. Did you click on the Map tab? The apartment is clearly right in the middle of Bedford-Stuyvesant.
3. I see a red flag in the description on the website:
Enjoy the experience of a neighborhood that was once a hidden gem in the NYC landscape. Come and be part of the Brooklyn Renaissance.
I have visited NYC only twice in my life. But based on my limited background knowledge of NYC and information in the public domain, I would not choose this location.
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Homeaway and VRBO are the same company. My wife booked the place, not me. She talked to the owner who assured her that the area has been revitalized and there were nice restaurants and shops all around the apt. All he had to say was avoid XYZ area and you'll love the place.
RunningBum
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Bed-Stuy has been a terrible neighborhood for a long long time. I've never lived there, but know this from stories of athletes who grew up there and "escaped". Isn't Spike Lee from there too? I also knew from visiting a friend in nearby Park Slope and he said that UPS (or maybe FedEx) doesn't even put a sign up for their building because they would get robbed too often. I thought I read that your wife knew Brooklyn. Very surprised she wouldn't know this, but in any case the listing doesn't hint at this for those who wouldn't know. That's bad. Anyway, I understand some parts have been gentrified and may indeed be up and coming so the rental may be in a safe enough area. Not surprised at all that there would be a path from a subway stop that would be like a war zone. I don't have time right now to do the street view thing, but as soon I saw it was in Bed-Stuy that set off alarms.
I looked at the reviews, and 8 of 9 (not counting "anonymous" were one time reviewers, which may or may not mean something. I left a 5* review for my only time renting and it's all legit. The 9th person had a review for a place in Austin months before, so it looks legit.
My guess is that there probably is a safe path to the place from a different subway stop and you were unfortunate not to select it. The owner/manager should have known to ask and tell you an alternate way to get there when you called, though maybe he was on the defensive if you didn't give him a real chance.
I don't know what that means for your chances to get your money back. I stand by my suggestion of trying to work with the owner to try for a partial refund since you put zero wear and tear on the place, no cleaning needed, and they should take responsibility for not telling you the best way to get there when there clearly is a bad way to go. Your sense for the situation you were in was almost certainly correct, but perhaps your response to the owner was not. Or just as likely the owner did not respond well to you.
I looked at the reviews, and 8 of 9 (not counting "anonymous" were one time reviewers, which may or may not mean something. I left a 5* review for my only time renting and it's all legit. The 9th person had a review for a place in Austin months before, so it looks legit.
My guess is that there probably is a safe path to the place from a different subway stop and you were unfortunate not to select it. The owner/manager should have known to ask and tell you an alternate way to get there when you called, though maybe he was on the defensive if you didn't give him a real chance.
I don't know what that means for your chances to get your money back. I stand by my suggestion of trying to work with the owner to try for a partial refund since you put zero wear and tear on the place, no cleaning needed, and they should take responsibility for not telling you the best way to get there when there clearly is a bad way to go. Your sense for the situation you were in was almost certainly correct, but perhaps your response to the owner was not. Or just as likely the owner did not respond well to you.
RetireAge50
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From google street view the place looks awesome. Might have to parachute in to get there safely.
The owner offered a refund of the cleaning fee which was $59 I believe. The credit card people told us not to accept it as it could be interpreted as us accepting a negotiated "settlement" from the owner.
I suspect the owner has had plenty of other complaints and charge backs and has gotten other people to take a tiny partial refund for this exact reason.
My wife grew up in NYC but hasn't lived there for 25 years. She obviously knew the area was bad 25 years ago but there are plenty of NYC neighborhoods that have been revitalized over the years. Thats why she questioned the owner about the area. All he had to do was be honest and tell us to avoid certain areas and which subway stop take and all of this would've been avoided. We wouldve never gone near the street we were on and may have never even known we were so close to any danger.
As it was, it was the opposite. We had no idea there were any nice areas near us.
I suspect the owner has had plenty of other complaints and charge backs and has gotten other people to take a tiny partial refund for this exact reason.
My wife grew up in NYC but hasn't lived there for 25 years. She obviously knew the area was bad 25 years ago but there are plenty of NYC neighborhoods that have been revitalized over the years. Thats why she questioned the owner about the area. All he had to do was be honest and tell us to avoid certain areas and which subway stop take and all of this would've been avoided. We wouldve never gone near the street we were on and may have never even known we were so close to any danger.
As it was, it was the opposite. We had no idea there were any nice areas near us.
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Fermion
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Meh, I went to Google street view and the place looks just as safe as some of the areas in GTA5. 
Note I couldn't go down one of the streets because the Google camera car had been jacked.
Note I couldn't go down one of the streets because the Google camera car had been jacked.
MooreBonds
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I went to the listing above. I zoom in on the map, and drop the "street view" thing to do a street view. I landed at 522 Madison St, about 1/2 block away from the place. The very first car I saw parked on the street wasn't exactly indicative of the hood...
(it's a Rolls Royce)
