Customers of one short-term booking platform complain of refund runarounds

Complaints are piling up against the short-term rental booking company Houzlet, as more customers complain about issues getting refunds from canceled stays.

NBC6 first told you about the company back in February.

Thomas and Theresa Topolski reached out to NBC6 Responds when they couldn’t get a refund after their short-term rental booking was canceled by the company last minute. 

The company’s website promises to help people with the rental process, but the Topolskis say they got the runaround when they tried to get a refund for the $3,588 deposit they paid. 

“We're not rich. I'm a retired teacher and a secretary saving to do these things, and there are other people just like me,” Thomas Topolski said.

Now other people are speaking about the refund woes they have experienced with Houzlet.

“He was looking for a luxury condominium in Miami Beach,” Jessica Ruggieri said.

Ruggieri operates a short-term rental management company and also helps international clients find and book properties on other platforms.

“I did online research to see that they'd been in the market for a very long time. I've seen that they hosted over 30,000 listings, and that they had good reviews,” Ruggieri said. 

She says she helped a client book a two-month stay at a luxury condo in Miami Beach she found on Houzlet’s website. The client paid nearly $40,000 up front at the time of booking. But a week before the reservation, she says the company canceled on her client.

“They offered us to search for another property. They weren't able to find a replacement property in the vicinity,” Ruggieri said.

Therese Silicato and her husband also were left with a canceled reservation. Their reservation, booked through the VRBO website, was canceled a month before they were set to arrive in Bradenton, Florida for vacation. 

“They said that you had to, because of their programming, that they could not return money after 180 days of the original booking. And of course, they waited till the 11th month,” Silicato explained. 

Both of the viewers NBC6 spoke to say Houzlet told them to dispute the charge with their banks, which didn’t work. In Ruggieri’s case, Houzlet explained they couldn’t refund the money to a third party. Both viewers eventually filed complaints with the Florida Attorney General’s Office after multiple attempts to get the money from Houzlet failed.

So far, the AG’s office has received more than 60 complaints against Houzlet. Most of the complaints are related to the company canceling refund and failing to give refunds. 

VRBO, which started working with Houzlet in 2022, cut ties with the company, telling NBC6 Responds in a statement, “We are no longer working with Houzlet and are not offering their properties on our sites. If a traveler's stay has been canceled by Houzlet and they have not received a refund, we recommend they file a chargeback request with their bank in order to recoup any outstanding funds. In the event a chargeback request is not successful, the traveler may reach back out to VRBO customer support so that we can assist with next steps.”

Silicato reached out to VRBO’s customer support for help and she was able to get a refund.

Ruggieri says her client, who booked directly on the Houzlet website, is blaming her for the mishap, and she now worries this will tarnish her company’s reputation.

“He wants to come after us for the whole total of that cost that he lost. So, us as a small business, it would put us at a financial loss for a type of transaction like that,” Ruggieri said. 

Houzlet didn’t respond to our questions about these cases and other complaints about their refund policy, but they previously blamed their merchant’s refund policy, saying it doesn’t allow them to issue refunds for transactions made for over 180 days.