Myself and 14 female friends and family members were looking into a vacation home to rent for a trip in January 2017 for 4 nights. I had found THREE separate properties managed by these people on both VRBO and Flipkey:
Property 1: Advertising "Brand-new, luxurious, 2 units, 100ft from ocean which sleeps 18:
On Flipkey: https://www.flipkey.com/mission-beach-vacation-rentals/p1138530/
Beautiful, right? YES. So I had excitedly emailed them via Flipkey. They emailed me right back indicating the final rental price including all taxes and fees: $3531 for 4 nights. Since I am coordinating with 14 other women, back and forth email chains ensued and we finally agreed on location, pricing, etc.
At this point it was 2 weeks later so I went back to the email they had sent me and saw instructions on how to proceed with booking the property. They said to provide my full name, address, phone number, and the names and ages of all people staying at the property. I did as I was told and sent it off! I then receive an email from "Jessica":
Them: "We don't accept weekend bookings as of right now for January"
Me: "What do you mean? I had emailed not even over 2 weeks ago and the date was no issue. Is this temporary?"
Them: "The owner doesn't want us to accept any weekend bookings so far in advance. If anything we will open it up for bookings last minute".
At this point, I suggested to them to take the listing down for both Flipkey and VRBO since the whole entire POINT of searching for a property is based on the dates you enter into the search engine and finding available properties! "Last minute bookings" - because people are willing to spend $3500+ last minute?? Sure, OK?! Who would have known that they would think 5 months was too early to book a $3500 home?? Spoiler alert, they do.
After spending 2 weeks coordinating with my group, I was frantic and desperate to find comparable properties in a similar area with similar pricing. So I went HAM that night on Airbnb, Flipkey, and VRBO and found 3 more properties within the same area, price range, and offered 6 bedrooms:
Property 2: Advertising "Newly Remodeled Retreat w/ Stunning Views, 25 steps to Beach, No service Fee which sleeps 20"
On VRBO: https://www.vrbo.com/4252945ha#
On Flipkey: https://www.flipkey.com/mission-beach-vacation-rentals/p1138530/
Property 3: Advertising "Beachfront - Perfect for Family Reunions w/ patio and Terrace which sleeps 16:
On VRBO: https://www.vrbo.com/388515
On Flipkey: https://www.flipkey.com/mission-beach-vacation-rentals/p353175/
I should have known because they ALSO happened to be with the this same management company as Property 1 but I thought "Hey, why not. It'll probably be different owners". So I email again, just like previously, I get a response back immediately for both properties with the total rental price including all the taxes/fees (Property 2: $3642 and Property 3: $2642) with the same set of instructions: "To proceed with booking, please provide your full name, phone number, address, and a list of names and ages of all guests". I did as instructed and the following day, I receive an email back from "Nicole".
It was a one-liner:
Them: "This house is not suitable for that many adults."
Naturally, I responded: "Which house are you referring to because I had emailed about 2 and one says it accommodates up to 20 people"
Yet another one liner: "We can not agree to more than 10 adults at either home".
I scoured through the postings on both VRBO, FLIPKEY, and their own site at www.pacificsandsvacations.com to find anything about the maximum amount of ADULTS vs children they allow at their homes and found absolutely nothing.
In conclusion, these people are DISAPPOINTING, have MISLEADING postings full of FALSE ADVERTISEMENTS, and are a complete waste of time. I guess my suggestion would be (if you still really want to book any of their properties) is to lie about your guest count and don't count on their properties being available for booking a whopping 5 months prior to your vacation and book them "last minute". read more