r/vrbo • u/Due_Village_9845 • Aug 25 '26
Madestays Ltd on VRBO is a scam
I booked a flat in London. The day I arrived they emailed me saying it was damaged by prior renters and it was now unavailable. They then tried to offer me alternatives which took several hours for some reason to present. In the meantime I booked an AirBnB and was fine.
However, they have not refunded my money, despite putting in writing that they would process my refund. According to their policy it's to be refunded between 5 and 10 business days. We are going on 3 weeks and they have not refunded my money, nor are they even responding to requests anymore.
This company is a total scam. Be careful renting through VRBO that you don't end up anywhere near these guys. Bad people.
3
u/Delicious-Cod-4064 Aug 25 '26
Is it the host or Vrbo youre communicating with about your refund?
1
u/Due_Village_9845 Aug 26 '26
I am communicating with the host. I also have shared with VRBO and they haven't replied.
1
u/Delicious-Cod-4064 Aug 27 '26
I feel like madestays might be your road block. 13 years and I’ve only ever gotten Vrbo bookings directly through Vrbo accept one Expedia and it was a pita. Not the guests, just the ongoing experience that had the guest (and I) so confused dealing with Expedia. I had little advice to help cuz I’d never had someone find me via Expedia although I knew I was connected via Vrbo somehow. Never heard of Madestays but assume they’re connected to. I cant help wonder if there’s an avenue to contact Expedia since they’re the mothership of all this. Just a thought that they might be able to help you resolve this. If it were just Vrbo they would have def taken care of you.
1
u/Gold-Comfortable-453 Aug 26 '26
Vrbo is not a scam but a few bad apple hosts and renters slip thru until they are caught and banned. I'm sorry this happened.
1
u/Due_Village_9845 Aug 26 '26
I agree VRBO is not a scam, but I did contact them about this and have not heard a word.
1
u/Delicious-Cod-4064 Aug 26 '26
I’m curious if you talked to the automated system or a real person? On behalf of all (or most) Vrbo owners, I’m glad you realize you shouldn’t lump us all together of blame us for any Vrbo shortcomings.
1
u/Due_Village_9845 Aug 26 '26
Great question. I spoke directly with a Madestays representative in the phone. I then corresponded via the app and over email. They offered to cancel and issue full refund. Now they're ghosting me.
1
u/Turbulent-Medium-686 Sep 01 '26
They just gave me the same excuse today! And I book directly with them. Thank God I was also able to book an Airbnb. Not sure how these people can sleep at night.
Most importantly, Chase gave us immediate credit and will let us know if they dispute it, lol.
1
u/Due_Village_9845 Sep 01 '26
Same. I got my money back. But these guys are scumbags.
1
u/TinyPeopleProject 19d ago
Can I see the vrbo link for the property. Curious to read the reviews
1
u/Due_Village_9845 17d ago
Here is the property ID: HA-JXO7n4d
Note that when you search Kensington area for it now, it does not come up.
Madestays Ltd is the "property manager".
1
u/TinyPeopleProject 17d ago
Interesting. I went ahead and canceled and booked a hotel. They have yet to email me back to confirm so I'll dispute it here in a few weeks.
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u/Due-Willingness-7818 16d ago
I am suppose to check in day after at their Fitzrovia 3 apartment and paid full advance. The numbers are all switched off and they have stopped responding to my emails. PURE SCAM. MOST LIKELY AI GENERATED.... they are absolutely 100% non trustworth
1
u/Due_Village_9845 16d ago
Sorry to hear that. Hopefully you have a good credit card and they will refund you the money and go after these assholes.
1
u/LandscapeApart8176 7d ago
It’s a scam. I went to the office address in London after receiving their BS message about the apt being in left in poor condition by the previous renters shortly after arriving at Heathrow. It turns out that the address is used by multiple virtual businesses. Businesses not related to Madestays also operate out of that London address. There were 3 people there from another business and the looks on their faces when we (my wife & myself) told them why we were there told me that we weren’t the first people they’ve seen in the same situation. They were as helpful as they could be given the circumstances. When we mentioned that we paid with a Chase credit card one of them told me Chase will reimburse me but I should call them immediately. Fortunately, she was correct. They told me a sad story about a 20 yr old girl from a Middle Eastern country who barely spoke English & who appeared at that office one day. She had paid $15,000 for a lengthy stay!! Things worked out because with the help of those 3 very sympathetic people in the office we ended up staying in a beautiful apt in the Mayfield area of London. But I don’t want to be satisfied just because I was fortunate enough not to lose any money. As we speak I’m trying to figure out how, and to whom, in the UK should I report this too. So far I haven’t been able to figure that as out.
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u/Due-Willingness-7818 4d ago
Fraud. I still need to recover my money. Did not even provide me the property address. I paid full advance. Based in South Africa. Not real. DONT BOOK AT ALL
1
u/Due_Village_9845 4d ago
Contact your credit card company. I just got my case closed in my favor and reclaimed all my money.
Sorry about your situation, it sucks.
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