In October 2008 Izumi von Hardenberg nearly ruined our New York vacation. Since then, literally hundreds of people have found my blog post on the experience. I have no doubt this has hurt Izumi's business that has reportedly caused trouble for many unsuspecting New York visitors.
I was therefore amused but not too surprised to find out Izumi and her pals have abandoned the ApartmentsNYCity domain name, one of the websites they used to operate from (the site was not working as of today and the domain registration has lapsed in July 2009). Instead they are now trying to attract customers on a new site ApartmentsNYC911.com.
How do I know it is the same people? Well, for the start they have simply taken the template from apartmentsnycity.com and forgot to change the page title (see screenshot). In addition, the email adresses are the same (cheapartmentsnyc@gmail.com) and the voice on the voicemail of the contact number listed at apartments nyc 911 website is the same as the Izumi I communicated with last year.
This post, dated to literally a few days before my 2008 trip, actually describes the modus operandi I had experienced:
She baits you by telling you the apartment is available then switches the apartment and wants more money and wants to put you in a different location.The author also says she's already changed company names three times. I wouldn't be a least bit surprised if she even stopped using her personal name in business correspondence since anyone who Google's her comes across many negative reviews and warnings. The possible reincarnations include luxsuites.biz (with the new contact number (917) 575-0623), luxurysuites911.com, TheCheapApartmentsNYC and the seemingly legit HHRDEVELOPMENT Corporation (on hhrdevelopmentcorp.com).
(I have updated this article to be more neutral in tone and present a more balanced view).
8 comments:
I recently had contacted the site and received this reply, the email it's put me off and then I read your blog!
We have 14 apartments, if you don’t like the 4 apartments below just email us which other one you like.
We can book the Most Luxurious 3bedrooms 2 bathrooms center of Times Square gorgeous 32nd floor view of the river and Times Square, aleeps 14 people with 7 beds you requested below for11 people $540/night,is that your budget? If not we’ll try to discount. Then it is not on the site yet, but we have gorgeous luxury doorman full service building 4bedrooms 2 full bathrooms west 42nd street 30th floor of fantastic river view normally $650/night but we can do $550/night. We have 14 apartments, if you don’t like the 4 apartments below just email us which other one you like. You can book with $300 deposit Please click below for the apartments.
Times Square luxury 3bed 2bath $540 .htm
http://www.apartmentsnyc911.com/ts3br2.htm
Please send $300:
You have a choice, paypal, bank wire, direct bank deposit and mailing a check.
Pay pal account:
kevinkeg@lycos.com
Very sketchy...
Thanks for your post! As of late November, http://www.apartmentsnyc911.com is no longer active either, but not before we lost $200 on our Christmas family holiday rental. But thanks to you, Andrej, we found out is was a scam in time to reserve another place. We cannot thank you enough. If you have any recommendations for a big family holiday in NYC, we would appreciate it! It saddens me, an American, to see lovely people touring from other countries get scammed here. We aren't all that bad, honest!
Hi,
I know this post is a bit old but it came up after I searched. I used a different site but got an identical email saying to send a deposit to kevinkeg@lycos.com via paypal.
As it was a small deposit it looked genuine, full amount paid on arrival.
I was advised the apartment I requested was booked and offered others which did not meet the requirements (area etc).
I have repetedly requested a refund and continually get emails offering apartments or asking when I sent the deposit or who it was from.
I've had to use Paypal to get my money back.
Bottom line if the email address is kevinkeg@lycos.com do not use.
Hi, I had very unpleasant experience with her and the problem has not been solved completely yet. She asked me to send $100 as deposit via PayPal, Enrique Wallace
apartmentrentals@ewrealestate.org
payments@ewrealestate.org
She canceled my reservation suddenly and promised she would refund. I'm still trying to get it back. I think Mariko Okada has run away from Tripadvisor.com. I can't find her apartments any more. A few days ago I threatened her that I would start a new topic in which I would tell all the details how unreliable she was and send a warning mail to the administrator of New York Times Vacation Rental Ads. You can see her name on New York Times.com and airbnb.com. http://listings.nytimes.com/VacationRentalsAndInns/View_Listing.asp?CategoryID=NYTWTS&LID=80-WTS1008281
Her mail address is a15me and she sent a mail once, maybe by mistake, from this address; ikabs hkians .
I had a similar experience. In the end I did receive the deposit money back. It was paid to Enrique Wallace. Mariko's mail is a155@gmail.com, Phone number is 646-575-6717. Alternative mail: nycnofee99@gmail.com.
Alternative names: Izumi Von Hardenberg, Izumi Graf, Mariko Okada,or Mieko Ishii
Search her names on Google and you will know the truth.
Stay away from her!
Here she is!
http://www.alwaysonvacation.com/vacation-rentals/700748.html
'Deposit: $500 only, you can pay by credit card via paypal or you can also send a check or do bank direct deposit and bank wire. We will send you the contract before you pay $50 deposit.'
$500 or $50??? She always make mistakes.
Hi, I had very unpleasant experience with her and the problem has not been solved completely yet. She asked me to send $100 as deposit via PayPal, Enrique Wallace
apartmentrentals@ewrealestate.org
payments@ewrealestate.org
She canceled my reservation suddenly and promised she would refund. I'm still trying to get it back. I think Mariko Okada has run away from Tripadvisor.com. I can't find her apartments any more. A few days ago I threatened her that I would start a new topic in which I would tell all the details how unreliable she was and send a warning mail to the administrator of New York Times Vacation Rental Ads. You can see her name on New York Times.com and airbnb.com. http://listings.nytimes.com/VacationRentalsAndInns/View_Listing.asp?CategoryID=NYTWTS&LID=80-WTS1008281
Her mail address is a15me and she sent a mail once, maybe by mistake, from this address; ikabs hkians .
15 September 2010 14:00
CAN YOU PLEASE POST AGAIN TO LET ME KNOW IF YOU GOT THIS RESOLVED. I AM HAVING TH EXACT SAME PROBLEM AND I AM GOING TO REPORT HIM TO THE COPS. AS HE IS NOT TAKING MY CALLS NOW.
Hi, I'm the one who posted a comment on Sep.14. I just came back from New York to Japan last night. I asked Mariko Okada to send the refund asap after she cancelled my reservation. She suggested money order first and I refused it and told her I wanted my money back by PayPal. She told me she didn't have her own PayPal account and Enrique Wallace was her friend. I asked her to tell him send the refund from his account. I refused money order again and threatened her I would report her dirty business on the internet. She asked again and again when and how much I had paid. That made me more furious. She really is a blockhead. Then she told me if I lived in Japan, her parents would send me cash. Though I was so skeptical at first, a few days later her mother sent me cash by registered mail. There was her mother's name, Mieko Ishii and 'the substitute for Izumi Von Hardengberg' on the envelope! In it there was a short letter full of polite words to me with beautiful handwriting. I checked her address near Tokyo and the nearest post office on Google, and I'm sure they are true. I suppose this poor mother doesn't know anything about her daughter does in the USA. I solved my problem, but I will keep chasing her around on the internet. I would like to hear from you what has happened so far.
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