Cozy Retreats Cozy Retreats Rented cabin to multiple people at same time, no refunds Sevierville, Tennessee

On 12/17/2009 I visited the website vacationhomerentals.com. I sent a request for listing 45432 for more information on renting. On 12/17/2009 at 5:10pm, I received an email from Shirley Matthews saying that the cabin was available for the dates that we needed (12/26/2009-12/31/2009). I contacted Shirley by phone. She asked for a deposit of $300 to be sent through PayPal to Lynda Matthews and requested a credit card number to be held for security. She gave me a reservation number to include with the PayPal transaction.

I sent the Paypal payment of $300 on 12/18/2009. She requested we pay our balance by 12/21/2009 as a wire transfer to a bank. I said I was uncomfortable wiring money but she insisted that it cost them money to do Paypal, so they preferred that did a wire transfer. I sent the wire transfer of $309.98. On 12/23/2009, I emailed Shirley to confirm she had received our payment. On 12/24/2009, I received an email from her stating that she received our balance and we would receive our packet later that day.

I never received anything. I called Shirley at 225-200-5275 and left a voice mail several times saying that we weren't sure where we were going so we needed the address. We were scheduled to leave at 11AM on 12/26/2009. At 10:30AM, I finally received a call from Shirley giving us the address and key code of 616 Magic Kingdom Lane.

We arrived at the cabin at approx. 7:30PM on 12/26/2009. There were cars in the driveway so my husband went up and looked inside. There was another family there. We went to leave and they came out and asked if we had rented the cabin for the night. We said we had. The family said that they had also booked the cabin for that week. They said that we were the second family to come by and say we had booked the cabin. All of us had paid in full, either wiring money or PayPal. We called the Sevier County Sheriff's Department and filed a report.

Upon leaving the cabin, I called Shirley Matthews and left a voicemail. I also emailed her stating the situation. I received an email on 12/27/2009 stating that there was a mixup and we would receive a refund in 7-10 business days. This is the last contact I have had with Shirley. I have called and emailed several times with no response.

I filed complaints with vacationhomerentals.com, my bank, and Paypal, none have been able to refund my money. The cabin is no longer listed at vacationhomerentals.com. It is now listed with Shirley Matthews at http://mimbeo.com/vacation-rentals/tennessee/beautiful-log-cabin-smoky-mountains-4023.html.