Dinosaurhaus Vacation Rentals NYC They are not a real vacation rental company. The take your money and then do not return your calls or contact you. New York New York

If Dinosaurhaus books through Airbnb and Airbnb holds all of the funds until the booking is cancelled by them (Dinosaurhaus), then it is their responsibility to cancel that booking in a timely manner so that the customer is reimbursed.  We were reimbursed by Airbnb two days before our two week trip that we had booked nine months in advance.  That is unacceptable. If Dinosaurhaus cared about providing decent customer service than they would have given us a call to let us know what was happening, or better yet, advised Airbnb to reimburse us due to cancellation long before our trip was to take place.  We were left scared and scrambling to make new honeymoon plans due to this lack of service.  Our treatment through bad communication over the course of the last few weeks of constantly trying to contact someone at the company to find out what was happening was just terrible.  It was an awful experience that was never explained or taken responsibility for from the company. 

I booked with Dinosaurhaus in June, 2014, for early July.  I booked through Expedia, and although the Expedia agreement was 50% upfront and 50% on arrival I was immediately billed for 100%.  I didn't realize this until the trouble began, though.

Having no information about how to get into the apartment I began contacting the phone number and email provided a week before my departure date, simply to ask how to get in.  A contracted answering service answers all the calls, says they will take a message and I'll be called back, but no calls were ever returned.  Two days before my departure, I called three times, and was told that "Martine" had left a message specifically for me, promising a call back "today."  But by 10:30 that night, the call had not come.  

I then called Expedia, who was alarmed by my story because I was due to travel shortly and had no plan to get into the apartment, whose existence I was by then beginning to doubt.  They advised me to cancel the reservation, as I was still within the cancellation window and entitled to a 50% refund.  That's when I looked at my credit card statement and realized I had been charged the full 100%.  I made other travel arrangements with Expedia's help, and cancelled the Dinosaurhaus reservation through Expedia.  That night, around 2 am, I received an email from Martine, not responding to any of my earlier questions, but instead to the Expedia cancellation.  She said they were understaffed and asked me to please reconsider canceling--she would pick me up from the airport if it would help.  At this point, I still would have said no--I was traveling alone with a child while pregnant and trusting someone who couldn't answer a phone to pick me up at the airport, unsure of whether I would have a place to sleep that night, was unappealing.  But the real deciding factor was that I had by now made other arrangements with a hotel, and I had paid for that in full. I told her as much, and that I expected a refund.  That is the only contact I have had from her or anyone else at her company.

I emailed and called several more times over the next several days, trying to resolve this without resorting to third parties like this site. No response, and no refund.  About twelve days after canceling, I called Expedia, who two days later told me they were also unable to get through to Martine or get a call returned.  (Expedia is helping me, but will not refund my money, saying only Dinosaurhaus can do that.)

So, about two weeks after canceling, here I am.

I don't know anything about airBNB or whether the earlier complainant was actually charged money.  But I know that my experience trying to get important information was also met with silence, and that my credit card WAS charged, and has not been refunded, with no explanation, although no services were provided.  I would not have posted here [yet] except that I noticed Ms. Lacroix did have time to respond with a lawsuit, and so I felt I should step up and share my similar experience in case it is of help to the earlier consumer. I have documentation of everything I have stated above, and will happily post a positive resolution once I have received a refund.

For whatever it's worth, I do believe these apartments exist and some people have rented them happily.  

The review posted here about thedinosaurhaus is not true.  The guest who posted this review reserved an apartment through airbnb.  The guest never paid thedinosaurhaus.  In May 2014 airbnb entered into a settlement with the NYS State attorney to handover private information of their hosts to the NYS AG who has been investigating Airbnb for violating NYC local ordinance.  

Due to this reason we have ceased doing business with Airbnb and canceled all reservations made through them.  This is verifiable by doing a simple search on google regarding the settlement that Airbnb made with the NYS AG.  This guest is not being truthful and we never took a cent from the guest as Airbnb holds all payments until the guests check in.

Due to the lies that the guest posted about our company we have filed legal action against them for libel and knowingly posting false information which is damaging to our reputation online. We have been in operation for 4 years now and do not take guests payments without providing a service.  Below is an example of the level of service we provide to our guests.

http://www.booking.com/hotel/us/lincoln-center-flats.html#tab-reviews

Thank you.

thedinosaurhaus