Warning.Took wife to NYC Sept. paid a company 1stclassrental.com for 51 nights horror

[farang101]

Paid by credit card Richard D'Avila after I did a shoutout in Roomorama asking for 51 nights near eye hospital in NYC . He answered he had an apartment he can rent from Sept. 9 to Oct 30 2013 near Union square not far from Eye Hospital 14 th street 2nd ave. He had a web site and many ads saying he was a lawyer that had this Company 1stclassrental.com and we get maid service twice a month. Pictures of apartment 130 West 15th Street 11G, One bedroom and terrace. Roof deck and entrance on 14th Street with doorman etc. I sent a friend who used to live in Bkk to look at it and he met Richard who pulled up in a convertible Mercedes. So we decided to go for it and give payments which he did through Square credit cards, two payments one for $4500 and one for $4000. He said send our Passport copies and our Itinerary so he could have some of his staff pick us up Sept. 9 after 10:00 pm arrival JFK. NYC. So we did the payment as he said and signed guest agreement July 25 2013. We arrived on time and he was not there til after Midnight himself. He had another Mercedes and drove us to the apartment after taking our credit card and charging us $85 for the trip. He told us the Landlord changed the deal about short time rentals and he had to have us leave Sept 9 to one of his other 18 units. Sept 25 he told me to meet in the Diner downstairs and figured out the cost per day and said he had no other apartments available. He said he would pay $400 for flight cancellation change plus give us the $167 per day for the Sept 9 to Sept 30 usage. He had to refund through Square $4500 and the other $910 he would put in our checking account in NYC. He picked us up and said no charge to take us to Newark Airport. When we left we flew to San Fran for a few days and had to stay at Embassy Suites since we did not have much time to get a hotel and Hotels.com said that was all that was available. $819 for three nights and they had a shuttle bus take us to BART train service to go to city each day. By the time we got back to Thailand we found that no deposits were made and my NYC bank showed no refund for credit card. We wrote Richard and he said that is up to your bank and as far as the checking deposit he did not make it yet because his book keeper wanted more proof of cost of change of flight which we sent him again.

We contacted Square Credit cards for small business online and wrote about our situation and the person that responded wrote that their Company did not get a refund request as of yet and that they could not give it anyway past 60 days so they suggested make a dispute with my bank Citibank in NYC which we did. They at the bank said it takes 45 days to go through the process and give the merchant a chance to dispute the charges themselves which the bank submitted Oct 30 so we will know what they do by Dec 22 they said. In the meantime he had claimed in emails that he sent us a check but would not say why not deposit as he said in NYC to avoid sending to Thailand. He refused to say how much and why he had to send it to Thailand. He also said he finds it ironic that we did the dispute when he sent us a check. I explained that during our stay at the apartment there was a legal notice five pages from the Attorney for the landlord claiming $10850 for rent was due 9/11 and the check he sent bounced and he had legal and bank fees to pay. I had taken photos of the notice and submitted to him during our stay. I also was getting eye treatment at the Eye and Ear infirmary in NYC and he had requested no mail go to the apartment because of the problems with the landlord so he had all mail go to a drop box mailbox etc on west 57. The Hospital sent my records there for me and he never gave them to me. In those records were my Social Security number. Richard now vindictive claiming I was scamming him by the bank dispute said he put us on notice that he was going to get us. He had our Identities and passport etc etc and would get us. Whatever that means we do not know but felt he might pull Identity theft and notified Attorney Generals office and BBB and IC3 and Embassy and SS office in Manila. We did the Social media and other places where he advertises and they request feedback from his clients and we wrote also on www.pissedconsumer.com where another lady wrote there about her situation and her living in Australia and sending him her credit card info etc and how he canceled on her two and a half weeks before the trip and how she was threatened and abused verbally by him and never got her money either. So we write on the Social Media to inform others of our plight and possibly what might happen to others if they used his services. The landlord also wrote about going to the District Attorney to help us file with his Attorney his fraudulent and bully tactics and his threats. We had to make Experian and other credit agencies aware of his threats and the bank and make changes. My eye treatment had to stop since three hospitals in BKK were not able to help me. At 67 yrs of age and been disabled since 1993 when I had to retire. So that is my situation and we hope the bank gets our $5410 back for us and he is prosecuted for ripping people like us who live outside USA and others off.

[Crossy]

Not Thailand related, unreadable anyway due to poor (no) formatting.