View Full Version : Newbie has questions about security
Mickey2003
07-01-2003, 05:18
This is my first time renting a villa through orlandovillas.com and everyone here seems nice, helpful, and honest I'm sure--however, I can't help but think that there's likely to be a bad seed somewhere. How can I be sure the person I ultimately decide to rent from is legitimate? That my credit card number won't disappear into cyber space and end out in the wrong hands? Especially when one price quoted seems too good to be true....
Thanks for the advice.[:I]
All the villas on this site are accredited. They have all been verified by the owners of the site by production of bills and double checked as the owners on the state sites.
At the end of the day you get what you pay for, if something seems too good to be true it usually is! However there are often plenty of bargains for last minute bookings if an owner has a gap they are keen to fill.
steph_goodrum
07-01-2003, 11:44
Hi
As Fiona says although some prices may seem to be too good to be true, it is also true to say that post 9/11 manyowners have had a difficult time securing bookings but still have large mortgages etc to pay so may have had to adjust the amount the would normally be prepared to accept in order to keep their dream home going. If you are particularly concerned you could ask whichever owner you decide to rent from to give you the link to their official County records, although this has already been checked by the administrators of OV it may give you some reassurance to see it although obviously security and trust has to be a 2 way thing, so some owners would not like to give the full address until the balance of payment has been received. As far as your credit card etc goes, make sure you have a complete contract detailing exactly what you are paying for e.g. length of stay , pool/spa heat/ taxes etc and you will at least have the security of knowing your credit card company would also be liable if there was a problem, although this is most unlikely as from the beginning of this year only villas which can be checked against official records are permitted on the site.
One other thing, as I said trust must be a 2 way thing and although it is true to say that you are trusting a stranger with perhaps $1000 of your money but the homeowner is ultimately trusting a stranger with their dream home/investment which is usually in the region of $200,000 and believe me all us owners have heard of horrific stories where homes have been abused and disrespected by guests, and in some cases emptied completely of tvs etc, which is unfortunately why we mostly have to take a damage deposit in case of any trouble.
We like to think though that by having personal contact with ourselves you can learn to trust us and that strangers are just the friends we haven't met yet, and I, like many other owners, have a new network of friends from all over the world who have stayed at my home and now let me know what the family is up to etc., which is one of the nicest aspects of homeownership I, personally, have found.
florida4sun
07-01-2003, 21:20
A good way is to ask for the name of their MC and check to see if they are listed with the Better Busisiness Bureau. This is a very good accreditaion service, if there have any complaints you will see them listed and how they have been dealt with. There is no excuse for any MC not to be listed with the BBB. http://www.bbbonline.com/ make sure you get the fuill legal name of the MC. There are many companies with similar names.
By using a credit card you sgould be pretty much covered aainst fraud anyway.
quote:Originally posted by Mickey2003
This is my first time renting a villa through orlandovillas.com and everyone here seems nice, helpful, and honest I'm sure--however, I can't help but think that there's likely to be a bad seed somewhere. How can I be sure the person I ultimately decide to rent from is legitimate? That my credit card number won't disappear into cyber space and end out in the wrong hands? Especially when one price quoted seems too good to be true....
Thanks for the advice.[:I]
I just looked for my MC and they are not listed. Will it cost them much to get accredited as they are a very small concern?
Chris
Shardeblil
08-01-2003, 18:58
Can I also add, that some owners are not with MC's at all but with private caretakers.
This is each owner's preference, so please do not think they are not legitimate if they tell you that they do not have an MC.:)
Mickey2003
08-01-2003, 19:26
Thanks for the great advice. It's all helping me feel more confident about the process...[8)]
orlandobabe
10-01-2003, 15:43
Just looked for my company and can't see them there either. These are my fourth company and they are the best so far-so just because they are not listed it doesn't mean they can't be trusted.
Can't find mine on there either. There was another site you could look for but I can't remember it. Can anybody els?
Jacqui
mines a member of the Central Florida Property managers Ass? does anyone have a site address for this?
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
10-01-2003, 17:18
Scimoon:
It's http://www.cfpma.com/
Mickey2003
11-01-2003, 06:14
Porky, I just love the flying pigs! Thanks for the giggle.
garysargent
27-04-2003, 17:38
I have similar concerns. We'd very much like to rent one of the private villas here but are being put off by possible problems.
As well as the chance of dealing with a dishonest person, we are worried about what may happen if say the villa we are to rent burns down, the owner becomes bankrupt etc.
Is there any kind of holiday insurance that we can get that would cover us against all of these kinds of issues (I'm based in the UK)?
This is usually covered by ABTA in the UK but each owner would need to register with ABTA (I think).
All owners here are vetted and verified as has already been said.They will all have adequate home insurance as you would in UK and should anyone be in the unfortunate position of not being able to honour your booking for any reason I am sure they will do everything in their power to get alternative accommodation for you-after all bankruptcy generally doesn't happen overnight.You can continue looking for a home to rent from this site with confidence.
You could look at it from the villa owners perspective, they are entrusting strangers with their property and possessions. Trust is a two way thing..
Any owner who had problems with their villa for reasons such as mentioned above would immediately look to their management company to find their guests another location. After that we all have contacts with other owners at our locations, and failing that we have a network system with thousands of other owners.
I have no reason to believe that anyone dishonest has their villa on this site, and if you have any doubts about the legality of any owner you should bring it to the attention to the owners of the site. Only bona fide owners are allowed to promote their villas on here.
We are covered by insurance for our villas, but for individuals to be ABTA bonded is prohibitively expensive, which is why only the larger companies can do that, they charge you a fortune and you never know where you are going to stay until you get there! Here you can have inter-action with the owner and ask any questions you wish.
As an Owner myself I can only echo the comments that have been made above.
There are far more benefits in Dealing direct with Owners - YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE GETTING.
I have in the past before becoming an Owner booked accommodation through an ABTA Bonded Agent only to find that it has been selected on arrival and not in the area I would have chosen etc
We are all very keen to make stays in our homes as personal as possible
Daniel Ramsey
28-04-2003, 01:48
I almost do all my purchasres online, plane tickets, rooms, park tickets, car rental and everything else from camcorder film, clothes, information, maps etc.
Reason is because of living in Alaska, here I would have to drive 120 miles to buy tickets and such, we have some stuff in town but its limited and marked up considerably. As far as trusting someone and sending money to them months ahead of arriving also has my concern, last time I did go through a booking company but that was just after 9/11 and a 3 bedroom home was available to us for $66 USD a night down from $109. Originally we had paid for 10 nights inside WDW property at a home away from home resort,it was cancelled and refunded by Disney at our request, for the same money we are now getting a home to ourselves for 4 weeks. Personally we treated the home much better than our own, kids you know are curious and can break things, we replaced or left money for the cup or dish they broke, we thoroughly cleaned the house last day, washed all the sheets and cleaned the floors, kitchen and policed up loose trash, now we may be an acception from the regular public but we believe in manners and respecting other peoples property. If I was a home owner eventually it would just drive me nuts wondering what was happening to my rental home![:0] I would literally have to have somebody nearby to drop in and check up all the time and as for credential from a renter there could not be enough, so I think the owners here are chancing things enough with their investments, especially when they are supplied with embellishments like TV's, stereo, games, computers. I am going to make sure John and Sarah are satified with my family and our ability to be respectful, a chance to escape from our cold winter in Alaska for fun and sun means so much for our families well being, especially since we must work harder the rest of the year for 6-9 months, we look to our annual vacation as a place to forget our pain of months of overtime and a place to start fresh for the next year.
Mickey2003
30-04-2003, 20:13
Seems there's been a lot of activity on this post since I first expressed my concerns a few months ago. For the record, I did rent through orlandovillas.com and had a *fantastic* family trip to Disney in March -- made all the more enjoyable by the accomodations provided.
Thanks for all of the assurances. And if any other newbies share my previous concern I'd be happy to pass along the information for the villa I ultimately rented.
Best,
"No longer a newbie":D
wow, I am glad to have found these posts. My husband and I just rented a place for the Fall. We picked that time of year, because of decreased attendance at the parks. We come to Florida often, and usually get cheap hotels, but this idea popped into our heads last week. I can not believe that we didn't think of this before.
After I made my deposit though, I got a little nervous about not going through my faithful travel agent. I feel a lot better doing this now.
What happens, though, if the air conditioning breaks while we are there, or the refrigerator, etc. Will they be prompt fixing it? Or are you just in a pickle?
SJD
Mickey2003
02-05-2003, 01:55
If your AC was on the fritz, I suppose you'd be at the mercy of the property management company. The one that took care of the property we rented was great. I called them when we checked in with lots of stupid questions about the alarm on the patio door, how to operate the jacuzzi, etc. They were quite helpful.
Given that a bad management company would presumably be fired after receiving a lot of complaints, I'm guessing the industry is self-policing.
The first port of call if anything is not right is the MC. They are on hand to sort out any problems. I do ask if it is not resolved that I am contacted. I have to say if there have been problems I have always (so far) been advised by my MC and they have either asked me to ok expenditure to resolve the problem if it is a major one, or just let me know out of courtesy about a minor problem which they have resolved.
Mickey 2003 is quite right. If our MC's don't look after the property to our and our guests satisfaction we walk!