Theft by Host or Employees During Stay
UPDATE: Thank you for all the feedback! We have told the host we have no intention of returning the refund, and any issue should be raised with VRBO. Will be buying an SD camera and dry bags for all future trips!
Recently stayed at a property in Morocco booked through VRBO and two issues arose during the trip. Wondering if anyone has had similar experiences and how they resolved them through VRBO or arose where.
- Cash was taken from within wallets and bags in multiple rooms on two separate occasions during the trip during excursions that were organised by the host. Nobody else was staying in the property and the only people that were supposed to have access were the employees of the host.
- The host refunded the stay through VRBO the morning after the second theft and requested that we pay them in cash or via bank transfer instead.
I notified the host of the missing money during the stay, and was told that this was impossible as nobody but his employees had access to the property. To add detail, I arrived one day late to the stay, after the initial theft, and upon arrival immediately joined one of the excursions, only to find 1/3 of the cash missing from my bag upon our return from the trip.
We have since left the property and the country. I have contacted VRBO to report the theft and the request for cash payment. VRBO said they would contact the host and update me on the situation, I am yet to hear anything from VRBO but have been contacted by the host via WhatsApp asking for payment via bank transfer.
The situations as it stand is that we have received the refund from VRBO, but have had no update from them since contact (5 days). The host is asking for payment via bank transfer, we have not paid the host the refunded amount and do not intend to do so unless some resolution is reached via VRBO.
Has anyone experienced anything similar or can recommend on how to proceed from here?