Nearly One Year Later Woman Still Fighting For Full Refund After Finding San Antonio Vacation Home Filthy
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Francine Christano has been in a vacation home rental nightmare since she rented a home nearly a year ago through VRBO. She arrived in San Antonio and contacted the owner after finding the home filthy. He came over and agreed the place was not fit to rent and promised a full refund. That was February 2020 -- before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, Christano has been battling to get her money back. The property owner directed his property manager, Plushy Host, to process that refund. They agreed in writing that they would. But they never did. Christano complained to VRBO; no resolution. She even filed a dispute with her credit card company, Capital One. Despite a written promise of a refund, she lost her dispute.
Then she reached out to CBS 2. Capital One gave CBS 2 a canned statement about helping customers and noted they are "still working with our escalations team." That was Monday. Four days later there is no response.
On Monday, VRBO said, "If you can give us a couple more days to work on it, I'm hopeful we can resolve it." Four days later there is no response from VRBO.
Plushy Host, which has an "F" rating on the Better Business Bureau website for ignoring customer complaints, ignored CBS 2 as well. On Thursday, it began sending Christano cryptic emails.
One reads, "You should have a refund that was processed in November, 2020. Can you please double check?"
When she informed them she received nothing, Plushy Host responded "It was processed through VRBO on 11/24."
After a series of back and forth about the seemingly fictional refund, Plushy Host wrote "since there have been issues with refund processing, please provide your preferred method to receive the remaining refund today: Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, PayPal." She immediately wrote back that they should use her Zelle account tied to the phone number they had on file. That was before noon. There was still no refund Friday.
Christano finally received a $700 refund from VRBO on her credit card, less than half of the $1,617 she is owed. While Christano waits for her money, we wait for answers.
For Capital One: Why was her dispute denied in the first place? What happened to the promised "escalation?"
For VRBO: What happened to the promised answer after a "couple more days?" You offer a "Book with Confidence Guarantee," where you tell customers, "We've got your back when the unexpected happens... from the moment you book until your trip is done." Why does that guarantee not apply in this case, where the owner of the property even promises a refund?
For Plushy Host: Why do you keep promising Ms. Christano a refund, if you have no intention of delivering it?
By the way, VRBO is part of the Expedia group, a travel giant. Both Expedia and Capital One are multibillion dollar companies. Christano is out of work as a result of the pandemic. We'll update you on her quest to get her remaining $917 back.
UPDATE: On January 16 Ms. Christano received a Zelle transfer of $291.62, which along with two other payments in recent days, equals a full refund and makes her whole. But again, it took nearly a year and dozens of emails. And it took four days and even more emails, after our story originally aired. Plushy Host, VRBO and Capital One all have failed to provide CBS 2 with any meaningful explanation for what took so or why she finally received a refund. Plushy Host emailed Ms. Christano that "it would be great to get a retraction" on the CBS story. We are happy to update the story with these latest developments, but we will not be retracting it.
Also From CBS Chicago:
- Struggles Exacerbated On Magnificent Mile With Gap, Macy's Leaving, But Advocates Say Reinvention Will Come
- Mayor Lori Lightfoot Wants To Reopen Restaurants And Bars 'As Quickly As Possible' To Reduce Risk Of Underground Parties
- Schererville, Indiana Family Is Poised To Be Evicted For Having Too Many Children
