Check that accommodation is authentic

IT’S NO secret that thousands of South Africans make their holiday plans late, and are hunting for last-minute Christmas and New Year accommodation.

This year, due to the tough economic climate, there’s more accommodation than usual still available online for the festive season in many, normally over-subscribed, areas of the country.

Gumtree SA’s general manager Claire Cobbledick said that while there were good deals to be had, and online space was getting more secure every year, holidaymakers needed to exercise caution to avoid fraud. “Some people forget common sense when they’re under pressure on a deadline to find somewhere to stay,” Cobbledick said.

The most common scam was to rent out a property the advertiser did not own, or to rent to several people at the same time.

She suggested the following precautionars:

Don’t be taken in by photos. Sometimes a scammer will pull images from a legitimate property site. Be very wary of low-grade, cropped or pixellated photos. Before committing to a booking, ask the advertiser to send additional photos of the property and, if possible, use Google Street View to confirm that the property is at the address advertised.

If you know someone in the area, ask him/her to check.

Ask the lessor for references of previous guests. Not only can you confirm the legitimacy of the site and the quality of the accommodation, you can also get some tips about the place.

If rates are seductively cheap, there may well be a problem. A cut-price bargain, without adequate explanation, should raise alarm bells. As should a lessor hounding you for immediate payment.

Warning signs include: a lessor who is evasive about providing direct contacts; bad spelling; and a foreign phone number.