TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Booking a Villa

Has anyone use Homeway, VRBO, or Sprimbarth Cap Caraibes to book a villa? any problems? Any issues doing wire transfers for deposits?

We've used VRBO and didn't have any problems. We didn't do a wire transfer, just sent a check.

NEVER use wire transfer, you will not be covered by VRBO/HomeAway. Use a CC or any of their accepted payment methods. Read the websites protection policy..

We have been using Sprimbarth Cap Caraibes for all our rentals for almost 20 years. We pay with Visa.

Homeaway/VRBO only cover up to $1000 if travelers pay through the site with a Credit Card or echeck. The sites offer travelers the opportunity to buy additional insurance to cover costs.

It seems more common for French Side properties/agencies to request wire transfers.

Homeaway charges a commission to owners for each payment that goes through its site, as do the credit card companies via Paypal or other payment agents. I personally offer guests an additional discount if I save that commission when they pay by check or wire transfer. Most prefer to pay by check as a result. Granted, many of them are repeat guests, but new renters do this as well.

IMO a prospective renter's best course of action is to read reviews on the sites. Properties with a number of positive reviews and a substantial history of listing on VRBO/Homeaway are more likely to be legitimate. After all, it is tough to generate a dozen or more sham reviews over a lengthy period of time. In addition, if an owner is engaging in dicey business practices, they will have their listing dropped by Homeaway/VRBO after multiple complaints.

I admit to getting scammed out of about 900 bucks - realized it too late to get our deposit back but very pleased with our replacement.... Never again with a wire transfer - I have some protection with paypal/credit card

We booked our villa's for many years thru an agent in the US, although Sprimbarth Cap Caraibes was the master property manager. I'm not a fan of Sprimbarth Cap Caraibes and use the agent to help us. My experiences with Sprimbarth Cap Caraibes directly have not been good. The agent has been very helpful and has some leverage with Sprimbarth Cap Caraibes.

Sorry, Rick I didn't answer the second part. I would also recommend against wire transfer. Use a credit card, which gives you some ability to dispute if needed.

We contact the owner of the villa we rent through VRBO for the price. Once we have negotiated that with the owner he notifies Sprimbarth Cap Caraibes and they handle the payment and paperwork. We pay with credit card. Finding a villa you like and returning there multiple times seems to have encouraged the owner of our villa an incentive to add in a free dinner and extra maid insurance.

We have used Sprimbarth Cap Caraibes direct for about 7 years. Never had a problem and pay with a credit card.

We have used VRBO for multiple properties in multiple islands. Two have been check and one via CC. Never had an issue.

That being said I feel lucky that we have found good owners. I always research the heck out of things and cross reference reviews from VRBO to Tripadvisor to make sure its not a scam.

We also have used Sprimbarth for the past 10 years and use my Visa card. We have used VBRO for a beautiful place on Barbados and wire transfered money to England for the rental. Had no problem.