About six months ago, I contacted Martin regarding my interest in VRBO property # 295549 (http://www.vrbo.com/295549) for early Feb.
Martin urged me to quickly put down at deposit to hold the studio, so I gave him my credit card information over the phone and was told that I was all set.
One week prior to my Feb 1st departure date, Martin sent me an email saying, "the apartment you originally booked has some owner issues and the best is if you stay in the following apt". The alternate apt was far inferior so I asked what was the issue, and he replied: "In Brazil people tend to change things owners want to charge more even after a deposit was made months ago". Then he gave me two more inferior options, and a fourth option that was similar to the property that I reserved but asked for about 50% more money for it.
Martin then made the following statements to justify the bait-and-switch:
"A lot can change in Brazil in 6 months."
"Rio is one of the most expensive cities in the world and you're paying a great price"
"You are coming to a 3rd world country please work with us a bit"
"Normally its 3 e-mails to confirm a booking, this is bit too much for a 5 night rental of a studio"
So I inquired several times and in various ways about having my deposit returned to me, and Martin eventually replied, "We pay the owners the deposits when we make the reservations, I can apply the deposit to another apartment however I am not able to refund you 6 months later, best is to get one of our apartments". So it looks like Martin is unwilling to return my $175 deposit.
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