Oceanfront Paradise Rentals

Review: This seller advertises a beach vacation rental home in La Jolla, CA that has photos of a beautiful, clean, and large vacation home. It came to my attention after we had already sent a deposit check of $3562.50 to the owner that this home was grossly misrepresented. After reviewing prior vacationer's details about the home it is apparent that the photos representing the home were taken around 2000 when the house was sold. Most of the furniture in those pictures no longer exists in the home and according to these reviews the home is filthy, old, not kept up, contains broken furniture and unsanitary carpets & linens. It also does not have a working, heated pool as advertised or access to the beach as advertised. I contacted the owner via email and asked for current photos which he sent me a link to his website with this house on it. Along with the link he apparently thought I was another person inquiring about the property and told me the dates (that I have already booked supposedly) were available and that he needed a check to hold the property. The photos on that website appear to be current but have fake/photo-shopped furniture placed in the picture as well as other photo-shopped actions attempting to make the house appear much nicer than it is. After learning this we attempted to contact the seller via email to cancel our reservation and to have our deposit refunded but received no response. We also attempted to call the owner and until we pretended to be someone else we didn't get a call back. At that time I spoke to the owner and told him I want my deposit back and the reservation cancelled, something I'd already requested via email with no response. The owner didn't argue the fact that the home is misrepresented. He said he needs a cancelation email or written request for the refund but that he is "on vacation" for 2 weeks out of the country. I attempted to further the conversation but the owner hung up.Desired Settlement: I want a refund check of $3562.50 sent to me immediately and our vacation rental cancelled. I also want this man to be held accountable for the people he continues to scam through false-advertising. He advertises for weddings and when I saw that it made me sick to think that a poor bride could actually be scammed by him. He needs to improve the conditions of the home to meet the advertised standards or give people full information on what they are getting into when they book this beach house.

Review: I reserved a house for a family summer gathering in San Diego area.

I gave the deposit of $2,000 with condition that I want to see the house first. Since I gave the money, I have not been able to reach him. I have called him over and over, but can not reach him. I have e-mailed him and asked to cancel the reservation and return my deposit. Again no reply.

All my e-mail request and contract are well documented.

After searching on Yelp, it turns out I am not the only one, and over 15 people have been scammed by this company and this person. Now I can not reach him for refund.Desired Settlement: I want my $2000 back

Review: I booked this house in May while I was in Ca. for my family. I met the owner [redacted] at the house, did a walk thru and paid for our upcoming vacation Aug 19th-24th. I let [redacted] know that we were going to have a reunion of military families and it was going to be nice for everyone to stay at the same place.

I got an e-mail from [redacted] the night of Aug 17th, saying the house was not available due to repairs and he sent me a check on the 16th. This came to a shock to all of us. Out of the 5 families, 2 of them were already in San Diego at Lego land, waiting to check in to the house on Monday. I called and e-mailed [redacted]f many times, but he did not respond. [redacted] single handedly ruined the Summer vacation for 5 military families and their kids.

A week has passed and still no check in the mail. I contacted my bank and reported the transaction as fraud. I have also contacted the San Diego District Attorney, the US Air Force Judge Advocate Office. I also posted a complaint about this company on [redacted]. Shortly after my post [redacted] called me and said the check was returned & he wouldn't refund the funds unless I removed the [redacted] post. I told him the bank and authorities would handle it from here.Desired Settlement: Refund the total amount of $2100 and a investigation into this company, before the scam some one else.