On May 19th, 2024, I booked a 4-night stay in Hollywood through VRBO. The cost was $1968.92. We would arrive 10-28-2024 and depart 11-1-2024.
On October 23, 2024, I received an email from Oraklus vacation rental management telling me that "due to an emergency situation with the owner, we are unfortunately no longer able to host you at the property that you booked with us." When I spoke with Stephanie on the phone, I asked her what the emergency was, but she refused to elaborate.
They told me that "We do have another beautiful property nearby that comes with additional amenities, including a pool and a 5th bedroom. We can offer you an upgrade to this house, but there would be an additional fee of $1,000 due to the extra amenities." I was part of a group of 4 so the extra bedroom wasn't going to be used, and with our busy schedule while we are there, the pool wasn't going to be used either.
I looked at the property online and told them that it was acceptable, but I would not be willing to pay an additional fee. They refused. I told them that since I was going to be charged for a late cancelation that the owner of the property who canceled on me should have to pay the additional $1000. They said, "that is not how it works". When I refused, they simply refunded my money and moved on. They expressed no concern whatsoever that I am now 4 days away from arriving and I do not have a place to stay. I have never seen such an apathetic and indifferent response in my life.
We were able make other arrangements and we did visit LA during those days. On 10-29 & 11-1, we drove by the property that cancelled on us and saw no evidence of an emergency (flood, fire, construction workers etc...). This makes me very skeptical about their "Emergency" story.
For the record, here is the cancelation policy that I had to abide by: "100% refund of amount payable if you cancel by Sep 28, 2024. 50% refund of amount payable (minus the service fee) if you cancel by Oct 14, 2024. No refund if you cancel after Oct 14, 2024."
It is bad enough that the employees of this company are morally depleted, but their actions were possibly criminal. We will know the answer to that soon as I have filed formal complaints with the California State Attorney General office and with the California Department of Consumer Affairs.
You have been warned. read more