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A group of friends who lost more than £6,000 after the owner of the luxury Ibiza villa they had booked on Vrbo “disappeared” say the company’s “book with confidence guarantee” turned out to be hopeless.
Elaine Forth, who lives in Birmingham, and her friend Lisa Colclough had booked the villa for a group of friends in 2020. They paid more than £7,700, but have only been able to recover their deposit and service fee.
They are the latest people to report booking expensive holiday accommodation only to find there is very little consumer protection in place if there is a problem.
The booking was paid for in part using Forth’s credit card, in the belief that this would give some protection if the worst happened, with the rest put on a debit card.
When Covid hit, the group were forced to cancel but were told by the owner that they could reschedule the trip post-pandemic.
But by the time they were ready to rebook, the owner had stopped responding to messages. It later emerged that he had removed the property from the Vrbo website.
Since then the friends have tried every avenue to get a refund, but say they have been rebuffed.
More at https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/feb/26/ibiza-villa-owner-covid-booking-vrbo
Elaine Forth, who lives in Birmingham, and her friend Lisa Colclough had booked the villa for a group of friends in 2020. They paid more than £7,700, but have only been able to recover their deposit and service fee.
They are the latest people to report booking expensive holiday accommodation only to find there is very little consumer protection in place if there is a problem.
The booking was paid for in part using Forth’s credit card, in the belief that this would give some protection if the worst happened, with the rest put on a debit card.
When Covid hit, the group were forced to cancel but were told by the owner that they could reschedule the trip post-pandemic.
But by the time they were ready to rebook, the owner had stopped responding to messages. It later emerged that he had removed the property from the Vrbo website.
Since then the friends have tried every avenue to get a refund, but say they have been rebuffed.
More at https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/feb/26/ibiza-villa-owner-covid-booking-vrbo
