First, let me start off by saying that I have never written a negative review in my life. All of my other bookings through VRBO have been wonderful so I've been happy to give positive ratings. But I just wanted to write this to warn future guests ahead of time what they are getting into if they rent from PoshPadz.
When we arrived, my wife and I immediately noticed an odor similar to a humid basement, but figured it had probably not been rented in a while. We opened the windows and later that day purchased an air freshener as we stocked up on groceries. The apartment itself is fine… not "luxurious" as described, but walking distance to beach and a pool in the complex so worked well for our needs. On the day we left, we decided to leave the air freshener for next guest (decision would come back to haunt us).
Two days later I woke up to email from Gary with attached pictures stating, "Below you will see a burnt coffee pot and water damage to the floor. We also notice you purchased a large tub of moisture absorber following the damage. As per the legal agreement you signed any damages caused in the unit during stay are your responsibility. We will be obtaining estimates shortly."
I called Garry to explain the damage was clearly not made by us and sent him photo of the air freshener receipt showing it was purchased within two hours of our arrival. I then asked to meet him at apartment so we could view the damage in person (we happened to still be in FL). Gary refused to meet or acknowledge receipt.
Realizing that I was not going to pay quietly, Gary became more aggressive, warning me that, "PoshPadz is a multi-billion dollar global company with a full team of lawyers. I can assure you it is not worth fighting, you will end up paying far more."
I have showed the photos of damaged floor board to 2 different contractors. Both said damage like that is caused by water coming from below the floor planks, likely from a leaked foundation or appliance (both the air handler and dishwasher are 3 ft from damaged plank). When sides of the planks are higher than center (as photos clearly show), it is called cupping and is caused by water from below the surface… water above surface has a crowning effect on floor boards.
PoshPadz clearly knows this, but also know it’s cheaper for guests to pay them rather than hire a lawyer and try to fight. Also, since they make every guest provide credit card info upon arrival, they just charge the card any amount they want.
