rental reservation security

IslandRedneck said:

Hi gang.

Getting ready to head to Jarabacoa for the first time and found a great villa on the dr1 website. I pasted the link below. However, I am concerned in that reservations are not allowed via credit card- they want money transfer. Am I being paranoid or could this be a scam? Has anyone ever heard of the owners, Philip and Andrea Bucher? Thanks in advance!

-Kevin

http://www.dr1.com/rentals/property/P_25.html?radded=1

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A lot of small businesses have no arrangements for credit cards.
Maybe you could email Robert and ask him about them.
As they are advertizers, there's a good chance that he has met them.
robert@dr1.com

I can't vouch for this specific business, but it's not completely unheard of.

In Cabarete I know of one rental group that requires 50% wire transfer up front and cash on arrival. They're reputable, have good bookings, and repeat clients.

However, you're doing the right thing... check to your satisfaction before you wire money to someone!

As far as I'm aware they are legit, but please take into account anyone can post and pay for a property for rent listing on DR1. Do your due diligence, email them, ask for references etc.

Usually the scam artists are uncovered pretty quickly here on DR1

How hard could it be to accept paypal?

IslandRedneck said:

Well, I went for it and it seems OK. After, against my better judgement, wiring the deposit to the owner, I got lots of tips on how to cut costs on getting there, good directions (turns out its in the "Racquet Club"?), and alot more confidence in its legitamacy than I had before. Will post again when all is said and done, thanks for all your comments
-Kevin

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Thanks for keeping us up to date, Kevin.
We look forward to a trip report, if you feel so inclined.
Buen viage.

The problems of "is the rental real?" cuts the other way too. Is the renter real?

We try to give the prospective renter all the information that we can regarding the rental and after they appear to us to be real, we refer them to another website that has some additional info about us and a Paypal link or wire transfer.

I've have 3 in this last month that stalled on payments and kept coming up with stories of: change of dates, CC frozen or didn't have one, my phone was broken, only me and a freind but need 4 beds.... etc. Takes time and money to weed out the "bad renters" lol. (money talks, B.S. walks.)

I would guess that DR1 can not tell if all rentals are legit, but most likely the rental or owners are known on DR1.

Regards, Ringo

Ringo said:

The problems of "is the rental real?" cuts the other way too. Is the renter real?

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You mean like this one?

ROBERT MOSS ROBERT MOSS to reservations
show details
Jan 29 (2 days ago)
MR. JOHN HARRING WOULD LIKE TO RESERVE A ROOM AT YOUR ROCKY'S ROOM RENTALS FOR FEBRUARY 5TH TO FEBRUARY 12 2008. PLEASE CONFIRM BY E-MAIL.

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And even after replying to him/her (clearly a scammer at work) that we were all booked up, he she still tries one more time.

ROBERT MOSS ROBERT MOSS to reservations
show details
Jan 30 (19 hours ago)
MR. JOHN HERRING AT THIS E-MAIL ADDRESS WOULD LIKE TO RENT A ROOM FROM YOU. FROM THE 5TH OF FEBRUARY TO THE 12 OF FEBRUARY. HE WILL BE STAYING FOR ONE FULL WEEK. IF YOU CANNOT GIVE HIM A FULL WEEK LET US KNOW HOW MANY DAYS OF THAT WEEK HE CAN STAY IN YOUR PLACE.

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Rocky, I would guess that you have heard just about everything.

Perhaps a "sticky" for vacation rentals to help both sides could be informitive and fun?

IE: to renter;
Email me all your CC info and I'll run it. Look for the taxi at the airport, he will know where to take you.

Regards, Ringo