Anybody out there have any dealings with ResortQuest, a vacation rental outfit that seems to book through a Web site called Vacation Rentals by Owner?
Over at The Consumerist, a blogger posts a tale of getting raked over the coals in fees and strange taxes when his wife canceled a vacation rental booking the day after it was initially made — and a good three months before the scheduled date they were to arrive.
When the poster’s wife called ResortQuest to cancel the family’s reservation, the agency told her that she would not receive any refund of a $330 deposit. Then ResortQuest sent a cancellation statement detailing a $95.70 “reservation fee” and $190.92 in “taxes” (so it would seem that these people got some of their deposit back).
The poster sent the usual angry e-mails off to the company, demanding an accounting of just who was assessing and collecting those taxes. It was only when he started asking these questions directly to customer service reps at ResortQuest that he was told by a “manager” that he would receive a full refund. But even then, the company initially refused to provide a confirmation receipt of that refund.
The story ends well for the blogger, but it does raise some concerns for those of us out there thinking of renting vacation homes in place like Florida, where this blogger was headed. Apparently nothing in ResortQuest’s fine print detailed these cancellation penalties and tax assessments.
Anybody out there who can shed some light on ResortQuest, give Gadling a shout.