Welcome to Consumer Rescue
Fiascos and Fixes
If you don’t smoke, I’m pretty sure you don’t pack cigarettes, marijuana, or a crack pipe when you go on vacation. Life-long nonsmoker Jason Gladden certainly didn’t bring any of that when he recently took his family to a baseball tournament. However, that didn’t stop his vacation rental host from charging the stunned dad a $250 smoking fee.
But the surprises didn’t stop there.
Can a vacation rental host refuse to refund your security deposit — no questions asked? I discovered the answer from one unreasonable VRBO host is, “Yes, I can.”
I have news for her: No, she can’t.
This story is another in our file of outrageous tales of travelers being fleeced by vacation rental hosts and franchise hotels alike. These owners are helping themselves to hundreds and even thousands of dollars of their guests’ money with little to no justification. And unfortunately, the cases are piling up at an alarming rate.
Paul Trosclair says he just spent nearly two grand on a vacation rental that does not exist. To make matters worse, Vrbo sided with the person he believes is a thief disguised as a host.
Now Paul hopes our advocacy team can prove this vacation rental is nonexistent and get his money back.
But can we do it?
Falling for a vacation rental scam surely is not at the top of your list of things to do this summer. It certainly wasn’t in Don Boyk’s plans. But that’s exactly what happened when a thief disguised as a Vrbo host persuaded him to send a $500 deposit via Zelle.
His cash was soon in the hands of the scammer and Vrbo informed him the listing was fraudulent.
Now Don hopes we can find a way to save him from this vacation rental scam and retrieve his money.
But if a consumer uses Zelle to send cash to a stranger, is there any way to get it back?
Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Info
© 2025 Consumer Rescue / Michelle Couch-Friedman
