Vacation rental turned out to be non-existent

It couldn’t have been better, “Modern Apartment in Akropoli Area” not only was in the perfect Athens neighborhood, just around the corner from where I stayed last year. The apartment just south of the Acropolis was not only modern but fully accessible, a rarity in a private rental. The photos were gorgeous. (The apartment's still posted - photo left.) That’s important since my partner is disabled. Moreover, the owners seemed conscientious and caring. “Dear travelers, welcome to our city and we thank you for choosing our apartment for your stay. My wife Iphigenia and I wish you a beautiful stay in our city. I am an architect and an art photographer. I have studied architecture at the University of Florence in Italy. Iphigenia is a painter of Byzantine icons. Good taste and quality are our priority in our lives.” And the reviews gave it a 9.9 “exceptional” rating. After reserving for two weeks Oct. 26 – Nov. 9 I texted the couple to finalize arrangements: would they meet us, how would we obtain the key? This was late August and there was no response. I didn’t think much of it. Then, as the arrival date came closer, I started to text and email them again. Booking.com, where I booked the apartment, gave three ways to contact – email, text and phone. There were no written responses to several written attempts. I tried phoning on a number of occasions and each time the line cut out. Concerned, I called Booking.com, who assured me they would “launch an investigation” and tried contacting the owners themselves; they got no response. The first payment date, Sept. 25, came and I shelled out the 840 euros ($1241.54) still thinking the apartment wasn’t bogus. Increasingly worried in the final week before arrival I called Booking.com and asked to cancel the reservation and obtain a full refund. An agent said this wouldn’t be possible unless we arrived at the apartment and there was no one to greet us. What?! Would we have to stand on a public sidewalk, luggage in tow, and one of us in a wheelchair, trying to phone Booking.com and reserve another (accessible) rental? A nightmare! A couple of days later I called again and this time, as their "investigation" proceeded, an agent “assured” me I’d now get full refund. Since Booking.com couldn’t contact them, something was obviously up. But apparently one of the alleged owners did say they were “unable” to rent. This, after taking my first installment! At this point, I’m still awaiting the full refund and plan to contact Booking.com again this week. What about those “exceptional” reviews? Turns out they were not on Booking.com’s site but “based on 17 guest reviews from several other travel websites.” Booking.com said they vet rentals prior to advertising so what happened here? It makes me think certain unsavory actors post bogus sites – and this was a very sophisticated one – just to extract money.  

- Ron Stang, Windsor Ontario Canada, a frequent traveller 

Surprisingly, lots of people don't travel

I don’t know about you, but I know a lot of people who either don’t travel, travel in a very limited fashion, or disdain travel. One person I know absolutely loathes every single aspect of travel, from packing bags to getting into a car to drive to the airport, to the airport check-in, waiting at the gate, the yuckiness of security, the turmoil of plane boarding, the bus/taxi connection to the vacation rental - you name it. She’d rather sit at home and watch travelogues or use me and travel vicariously! Ye even a mention of one of my upcoming trips leads her to sigh. Then there are others who only seem to travel within North America but never Europe or another continent, or if Europe only to the UK. I’m surmising this is partly because the language is the same and that a lot of people are intimidated by foreign languages and cultures, though English is widely spoken everywhere. I can understand if people can’t afford to travel, even for relatively short trips from one province to another or within a specific part of North America. But it’s people with money – often retired – who sit at home and do…..what exactly? That’s their prerogative. Yet I’m still puzzled. Why wouldn’t you want to open yourself to the wider world, experience a completely new location and culture? Another theory I have for why people don't travel is lethargy. They’re simply caught in a rut. I too know the feeling. A few decades ago, I had every opportunity to visit Florida year after year as a guest of a family member. But I turned invites down. Lethargy, lack of will, in a rut, same old same old, creature of habit. People complain incessantly about airports, line-ups, delays in boarding, bumping into other passengers as they stow bags overhead. These are my top complaints as well. Recently, the UK’s Daily Mail travel editor Mark Palmer responded to some of his high-profile journalistic colleagues, fed up with hassles, who are swearing off travel. Why, he replied, would you do that when despite airport and connection irritants it’s still easier to travel than it has ever been before. A few hours to cross the country, several to another continent, double to the other side of the planet. When has travel been so easy and affordable, especially with online booking and package holidays? So, when I travel (and curse) an overcrowded airport I wonder: just who are all these people travelling, because very few people I know do. 

- Ron Stang, Windsor Ontario Canada, a frequent traveller