Lena/Elena/Lina - Yuri/Gary Goldberg Bait and Switch Holiday Rental - With Deposit Payed 6 months ahead Manhattan, New York

This weaseling couple act on www.holiday-rentals.co.uk, www.homeaway.com, and other such apartment renting sites, where I am sure they have multiple ads, because I know for a fact that they have a number of apartments that they juggle for luring you into sending them money. I have supplied the city and web address of the specific apartment with which they baited me, I did not find a link to "owner's other properties" on the page and I do not want to invest any more time researching these individuals.

But the names Lina Lena Elena Yuri Gary Goldberg in New York, or more recently Lina Holidays should suffice as a red flag to warn the reader about any other apartments they might advertise.

We wanted a central Manhattan apartment for the holidays. We were planning this from April so were glad to have a wide choice. At the beginning the person Yuri seems very helpful and eager to accomodate you. He offered a competitive price for an attractively central apartment, close to Times Square, after contacting them on holiday-rentals. The problem was that the apartment was no longer available, but he suggested working something out to "come up with the solution". We had a rather long stay so more money in his pocket!

This should have been a warning right there, if the apartment is taken what can you do about it?? But eager and lured by the good offer I was very glad he would cooperate.

He suggested some other apartments OR "convincing the people in the apartment to switch" as "they were only 3". Hello?? This was a smoking gun! But who would have thought he would make bad on a reserved by deposit apartment. I just thought they did not commit anything as is decent and business fairplay to consider.

So, happy I get the apartment I agree with him about the deposit and send more than 2000 USD via bankwire. He confirms reception, and wary as I was of bait-and-switch cases everywhere on the net, I specifically ask: "Does the money unequivocally reserve the apartment for us? Is it secured for the x-y dates?". He assuringly replies "your rental has been reserved". I insist "Is there a contract?", to which he says "I do not have contracts". Sign No 2.

We stop communicating, letting the time to pass, having the peace of mind of having a secured apartment. This was more than half a year before the trip. One month before the arrival date I get an email: "Can you confirm your dates?" I readilly reply with my dates. To which adorable Mr. Goldberg says "Unfortunately, the original apartment is not available for your dates(major repairs are scheduled beginning of december)". What he offers is an apartment considerably further away from the central zone, with fewer bedrooms, on the same price!??!? After this revolting answer, I urge him in a more strict or harsh tone email to be a trustworthy business partner, and just stand by his commitment to reserve the apartment for which I had payed the deposit. The coward then chickens out and asks for the bank account to which to refund me refusing to even supply a different apartment. He does not even deny that he made up the repairs story.

So what happened was this: he gladly used my deposit, forgot all about my dates, perhaps made a note of the time of the year of my trip, then, when the demand for the apartment rose and he got really good offers, he chose the most lucrative one, gave no attention to my reservation and booked the other people. There obviously was no rigurous booking system, everything was played by the ear, to maximize his financial gain with no consumer rights in mind. "Can I get more money? To hell with any business code of honor, just let me accumulate more!!"

Furthermore not only did he get interest free money for 6 months ahead, he also ruined our vacation prospects by leaving us without accommodation one month before the trip, remember, a Christmas/New Year's Eve trip in Manhattan!! You can imagine the offer of apartments we had and the prices they were on that short notice!?

This kind of thing needs proper legislation to protect the consumer, and unfortunately because of the nature of the business relations, with many private landlords submitting their offers, the prospects for improvement are slim. We're still in the Wild West days of this business. So you should beware of what can go wrong, as it went here, try to use reputable businessman, unlike the Goldbergs, and always check up on the person on rip off warning sites such as these before paying anything. Even then you don't have much guarantee - there was no report to warn me about these Goldbergs - so just keep your fingers crossed.

:( Granted this sucks

P.S. You don't want to think about the ethnicity of these people, it's too much of a stereotype to fathom.