Villa Fraud St Barts

Hello,
We recently searched and found a villa we like under HomeAway/VRBO; the property manager that came up "David Hasswell" and property owner Jullian Design LTD; we got a rental contract fom Present HomeAway, Inc; turns out to be a FRAUD!!!! We sent the contract back signed and then a deposit was wired to HSBC; we became suspicious when "David" didn't send a welcome package; we questioned him and he said that the villa was rented by the owner and our dates were no longer available; he said he would wire back our deposit.....its been over a week of chasing "David" and being run around..........no return of our deposit. If you are dealing with this co/person; run don't walk away!!!! Total FRAUD!!!!!!

What is the name of the Villa you supposedly rented? Sorry about all of this.

Good luck on this. Maybe a week isn't that long and they just haven't refunded it yet?

I am sorry to hear about your experience, but isn't wiring money for this purpose frowned upon in the credible circles of home rentals? We once rented a condo in Colorado thru VRBO and no wiring of money was involved. We put deposit and balance on American Express. I hope your situation resolves itself but I would never wire money to anyone but my mother.

A case of let the buyer beware ? A shame that this happened to the new poster. Wiring should have been a tip off is what immediately came to mind as I read the post. With the exception of 1 rental, I/we have always worked with 1 company on island because I figured that that company would have its' pulse on their listings, whereas other companies with offices on island represent other islands and villas and know less about all of their listings on more than one island. I hope the poster pursues refund.

If this is really a scam and you never get your deposit back, I would report it to the tourist office as well as the gendarmerie, someone should look into this company and find out what's going on.