Leisure in Rome Scams Travelers
Apr 14th, 2012, 08:40 PM
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Leisure in Rome Scams Travelers
Leisure in Rome is a scam!! DO NOT rent with this company. They are NOT honest!! Leisure in Rome is in fact “Nightmare in Rome”. This company presents luxury apartments on their website to trap customers into renting them, demands a steep non-refundable deposit, then delivers dirty worn out apartments lacking basic supplies. The owner of the company does not think it’s a problem to advertise an “extra special luxury design apartment” with supplies of linen, towels, etc. and deliver a dirty apartment with no basic supplies, no hot water, etc. The owner discounts guest reviews on their own website and insists customers should see the actual apartments for themselves instead of believing the reviews. In this way, guests are trapped: it is too late to cancel the reservation, and the guests will be trapped in the apartment, whatever the condition. We are one of the victims.
Here are some reviews from the company’s own website:
“The pictures on the website certainly did not reflect the true condition of the apartment…, (it) was indeed tired & required maintenance and was quite dark and (personally) depressing. Perhaps it would have been suitable for college students or backpackers but in my opinion was certainly not up to scratch… the lighting was not all operable in the unit and it certainly needed a good clean…”
“A nightmare. Apartment wasn't cleaned when we arrived for check-in (1900). NO HOT WATER. No toilet supplies. No kitchen basics (towels, etc.).”
“this apartment needs a very good clean. Marks all over the walls and doors broken soap dish in main shower, toilet roll holder broken in 2nd bathroom. Attention to detail...ZERO! Pillows terrible, beds rock hard. We left two days earlier.”
“The floor was very dirty, the walls weren't very clean either, a microwave would be useful and there was only a small pan for 6 people. The toilet seat of the first floor bathroom hasn't been repaired yet and the same applies to the shower, despite all the complaints of previous guests. During our stay there wasn't enough toilette paper available.”
“Dirty, don't think the floors have been washed for months. Owner not responsive - broken toilet seat lid, said he'd have it fixed the next day, never happened. Left message regarding leaking shower hose in one bathroom and problem with the mixing value in the other shower, never got back to us.”
So, draw your own conclusion. We just want to warn you: The company will promise a luxury apartment, take a big non-refundable deposit, when you arrive and see the true condition, your vacation will already be ruined and you’ll be on the hook for the full payment with no recourse. Beware.
Owner of Leisure in Rome, Angelo refused to refund our deposit and said delivering a dirty apartment with no supplies, etc. is not violating the contract. So, he apparently thinks that’s appropriate. The manager, Cinzia also said that guests check-in and check-out, so dirtiness of the apartments is “normal.” Please note, Leisure in Rome does charge a steep cleaning fee as part of the rental. The company apparently pockets the cleaning fee and never cleans the apartments. Cinzia even lied to us saying that the apartment is now renovated and the pictures are brand new and it is a true luxury apartment. What a joke, those pictures are exactly the ones posted on their website last year when we booked it. In fact, they changed the name of this apartment, Cinzia said “sometimes we change name”. We wonder whether the truth of their changing names of their apartments is to hide the bad reviews.
We filed dispute with our credit card company. We’re writing to New York Times, TripAdvisors, Lonely planet, Fodor’s, etc. to tell the true story and the business practices of this company, so people will be aware of the scam.
Here are some reviews from the company’s own website:
“The pictures on the website certainly did not reflect the true condition of the apartment…, (it) was indeed tired & required maintenance and was quite dark and (personally) depressing. Perhaps it would have been suitable for college students or backpackers but in my opinion was certainly not up to scratch… the lighting was not all operable in the unit and it certainly needed a good clean…”
“A nightmare. Apartment wasn't cleaned when we arrived for check-in (1900). NO HOT WATER. No toilet supplies. No kitchen basics (towels, etc.).”
“this apartment needs a very good clean. Marks all over the walls and doors broken soap dish in main shower, toilet roll holder broken in 2nd bathroom. Attention to detail...ZERO! Pillows terrible, beds rock hard. We left two days earlier.”
“The floor was very dirty, the walls weren't very clean either, a microwave would be useful and there was only a small pan for 6 people. The toilet seat of the first floor bathroom hasn't been repaired yet and the same applies to the shower, despite all the complaints of previous guests. During our stay there wasn't enough toilette paper available.”
“Dirty, don't think the floors have been washed for months. Owner not responsive - broken toilet seat lid, said he'd have it fixed the next day, never happened. Left message regarding leaking shower hose in one bathroom and problem with the mixing value in the other shower, never got back to us.”
So, draw your own conclusion. We just want to warn you: The company will promise a luxury apartment, take a big non-refundable deposit, when you arrive and see the true condition, your vacation will already be ruined and you’ll be on the hook for the full payment with no recourse. Beware.
Owner of Leisure in Rome, Angelo refused to refund our deposit and said delivering a dirty apartment with no supplies, etc. is not violating the contract. So, he apparently thinks that’s appropriate. The manager, Cinzia also said that guests check-in and check-out, so dirtiness of the apartments is “normal.” Please note, Leisure in Rome does charge a steep cleaning fee as part of the rental. The company apparently pockets the cleaning fee and never cleans the apartments. Cinzia even lied to us saying that the apartment is now renovated and the pictures are brand new and it is a true luxury apartment. What a joke, those pictures are exactly the ones posted on their website last year when we booked it. In fact, they changed the name of this apartment, Cinzia said “sometimes we change name”. We wonder whether the truth of their changing names of their apartments is to hide the bad reviews.
We filed dispute with our credit card company. We’re writing to New York Times, TripAdvisors, Lonely planet, Fodor’s, etc. to tell the true story and the business practices of this company, so people will be aware of the scam.
Apr 15th, 2012, 07:53 AM
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They are not the only bad apples in Rome. I booked a room with Giubbonari B&B, was met at the door to be told "no room" and was taken off to a deadful apartment. We were there for only 2 nights and couldn't get the owners on our mobile, so didn't complain, but it was a real con.
Apr 15th, 2012, 08:36 AM
#6
"Here are some reviews from the company's own website."
anonymous6868, I couldn't find the reviews you quoted. Please provide a link or at least advise which specific apartment or apartments the reviews you quoted relate to.
Other than the verbatim repeat of your complaint on Tripadvisor, reviews for Leisure in Rome there and elsewhere are generally positive.
Your post on Tripadvisor mentions that you couldn't find any info on the company when you made your reservation "last summer." I'm with the others in wondering why you would do business with a company you knew nothing about, especially after reading bad reviews. It would seem that you had enough time to do some research. In my case, I don't make non-refundable deposits unless I'm absolutely-positively confident in all aspects of a reservation.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but I hope there were some lessons learned.
anonymous6868, I couldn't find the reviews you quoted. Please provide a link or at least advise which specific apartment or apartments the reviews you quoted relate to.
Other than the verbatim repeat of your complaint on Tripadvisor, reviews for Leisure in Rome there and elsewhere are generally positive.
Your post on Tripadvisor mentions that you couldn't find any info on the company when you made your reservation "last summer." I'm with the others in wondering why you would do business with a company you knew nothing about, especially after reading bad reviews. It would seem that you had enough time to do some research. In my case, I don't make non-refundable deposits unless I'm absolutely-positively confident in all aspects of a reservation.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but I hope there were some lessons learned.
Apr 17th, 2012, 03:35 PM
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I wasn't able to find reviews of this company last summer when I booked. My mistake is: I trusted the manager and the endorsement. I started to look for reviews again early April this year because I could not see the apt we rented on it's website ( manager Cinzia told me later that they changed the name.) FYI, our trip to Rome is this summer, I booked almost one year in advance. I posted this story is to warn others as my family is one of the victims. You can draw your own conclusions. I did get a response from SlowTravel whom Leisure in Rome claims as one of its endorsers. Please see response from SlowTravel:
"Thank you for contacting us as we do not recommend this agency. We call agencies that we recommend, "favorites" and you can find a listing of our Italy favorites here: http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/listings/favorites.htm. Leisure in Rome has never been on this list...
We do see though how they have included us on their website as recommending them and will pursue how we can have them remove that as it is misleading at best.
Again, thank you for notifying us.
The SlowTrav Team"
"Thank you for contacting us as we do not recommend this agency. We call agencies that we recommend, "favorites" and you can find a listing of our Italy favorites here: http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/listings/favorites.htm. Leisure in Rome has never been on this list...
We do see though how they have included us on their website as recommending them and will pursue how we can have them remove that as it is misleading at best.
Again, thank you for notifying us.
The SlowTrav Team"
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