Magical Vacation Homes - BEWARE!

[AActon]

This was the first time I booked with Magical Vacation Homes and sadly it was far from magical. We were unable to travel due to it being illegal to enter the USA due to Covid restrictions. I requested that the deposit I paid was carried forward so I could re-book in 2022 and this was flatly refused. Every other trip I had booked with other companies were either refunded or carried forward.

This is appalling behaviour and I would never use Magical Vacation Homes again.

 

[MomOTwins]

I looked at their policy and it is only the 20% deposit that is non-refundable if you can cancel more than 30 days in advance (which I assume is the case, since we've known about Covid travel restrictions for a year). It is fairly industry standard for home rentals to be subject to a cancellation deposit; they may have had to pass on other guests because they reserved a spot for you as a home rental is all or nothing--once they sell it to you, they can't sell it to someone else (unlike hotels where your room booking does not necessarily prevent other guests from booking rooms as hotels are rarely at 100% occupancy all year round).

If they're refusing to refund you the balance you paid above the 20% deposit and you're outside the 30 day period, you should dispute the charge with your credit card company as they are in violation of their own cancellation terms.

 

[AActon]

I agree with all you say re their terms. However, other home rental companies have allowed me to carry forward my deposit to 2022. I appreciate this is beyond their contracted terms but there is no flexibility with Magical Vacation Homes. I visit Florida a couple of times a year (and have since 1990) and I would've thought a longer term view might have been a better option.

I totally get things are difficult for everyone but we get judged a lot more on service in hard times than good.