Tatra Banka: Beating a Dead Horse

The creative folks at Tatrabanka are back, this time with a new card reader device. They have listened to the multitude of user complaints (so far even heeded my warning about single-sided moves). So they have introduced a key-ring card reader (called a minicitacka) as an alternative to the calculator-size reader (without calculator functionality).

Well, guess what, Tatrabanka: people hated your heavy handed tactics in introducing increased security with massively increased hassle and judging by the discussion with the eTrend article (in Slovak) announcing the new device, adding a key ring isn't enough to make things OK.

The images published by Tatrabanka are limited, but from the instructions it appears this little wonder is controlled by the combination of a dialing wheel and a button. Must be fun to dial and button in a 12-digit account number followed by say four digits for the amount to transfer...

If your sentimentometer tells you I am too harsh on Tatra Banka, check out what this poor American thinks about using the calculator.

My pledge holds: if you make me sign in using this ugly little device (or its dysfunctional larger twin), I will close my accounts with you (all six).


And a side note, just to get this off my chest: in mid-February I came to a Tatra Banka branch to deposit a cheque from the USA. We receive checks from our US partner at BratislavaHotels.com every month and Tatra Banka has happily charged us 400 crowns (approx. EUR 13.30) for depositing each for five years.

Suddenly, the teller announced that as of February 1 they no longer allow depositing checks in accounts. What should I do with the check, I asked. "Mmmm, do you have an account at another bank?" No, I don't (but soon I likely will). Well, then I don't know.

A brief lesson in customer service, dear Tatrabanka: if you want to discontinue a service that some of your long-term clients use (even if the service itself is loss-making, since I imagine that is the reason to discontinue it), notify them in advance. Someone at Tatrabanka should have pulled up a list of customers who deposited a check in the last say 24 months. Someone should have taken the time to contact them (phone, email, internet banking) and give them an advance warning of say a month or two, so that they can talk to their correspondents and arrange for alternative means of payment. It's not so hard to do and all it takes is a bit of customer-centric thinking. Sadly, the one-time leader in banking innovation in Slovakia has little capacity for that.

Things I noticed giving up the Crown for the Euro

On January 1, 2009 the Euro became the official currency here in Slovakia replacing the Slovak crown.

1. Before the switch
There was nervousness long before the D date about price increases. The government and media kept telling people how worried they are about businesses "abusing" the switch to enact "unwarranted" price increases.

One of the key economic news topics in December was what was not going to work after the switch. The banks had arrangements in place to shut down some services (internet banking for a few days) and ATM machines for a few hours.

Oh, and Google screwed Slovak Adwords advertisers (while Moneybookers didn't (in Slovak).

2. The giddy Day One
I shopped at my local Tesco on January 2 (January 1 is a holiday). I paid in crowns but received my change in euros. In this way within two days all the crowns in my wallet were gone and I was 'switched'.

The cashiers asked everyone whether they would be paying crowns or euros. Some people said Euros with a proud smirk. It was a funny feeling, yet another important marker on our way to become 'first class' Europeans.

ATM machines here supposedly usually have slots for four notes. The banks reportedly fed the euros in two slots a few days before the New Year, minimising the downtime required to switch. For a few days you were only able to get EUR 50s and 10s in some machines or 20s and 10s.

3. Nominal schnominal?
I am trained as an economist and I know there is no money illusion and nominal does not matter to a rational person. Nominal of course does matter (and there are loads of evidence in behavioural economics literature).

We tipped by rounding up in crowns before. E.g. you'd leave 100 on an 82-95 crown bill. Traditionally people would simply round up to the nearest 10 and in recent years in classier establishments to nearest 20, 50 or even 100.

With euros, even rounding up to the nearest euro sounds cheap to our ear yet a euro is 30.126 crowns. So people first did not tip at all, I believe out of fear of under or overtipping. I tipped a taxi driver who delivered sushi a little over a euro towards the end of the first euro-week. He told me this was his first tip in the New Year and other taxi drivers confirmed people had ceased up tipping.

With the government sponsored price abuse hysteria, many businesses are keeping weird an uneven euro prices to avoid any semblance of the derided 'machinations during switch from crown to euro'. This is inefficient and annoying but sooner or later I am sure this will stop.

There are some data probably interesting for economists on what portion of currency in circulation was withdrawn within the first fifteen days through retail shops. There is other data on people bringing in cash to the bank days before the switch to have it converted seamlessly and legends of dodgy cash buyers of expensive apartments helping fuel our real estate bubble.

We have made the switch now complaint of the day seems to be that we have to now carry too many coins and they don't fit in a normal wallet (I would add the bills don't fit in the beautiful and RFID-fraud safe Flipside Wallet (TM)).

Crown to Euro Brings Along Fines for Abusers

The Slovak Commerce Inspection will issue the first fine to a company that abused the currency switch from Slovak Crown to the Euro to unjustifiedly increase prices. The Inspection "proved" there was a 50% increase by a children's game machines operator in the Trnava region.

Euro became Slovakia's official currency on January 1, 2009 when the country became the 16th member of the Eurozone. For 15 days the currencies circulated in parallel but now crowns can only be exchanged in banks.

The Inspection reportedly (in Slovak) received 460 complaints from citizens, 260 concerning price increases (the rest probably on issues such as not posting prices in both currencies as required).

There is a Price Board/Council in place, led by an older guy from old-school employer association, to monitor prices. The Council identifies sensitive areas. They have now promised to take a close look at changes in taxi prices, hairdressers, restaurants and school dorms.

I did tell you they were crazy!

P.S. I am required by law to disclose to you here that the official conversion rate is 30,1260 crowns to the Euro.

Five Bs I loved in Istanbul

I just spent five days in Istanbul with my family (I am doing another post on the travel details since I have a few useful Istanbul tips). We loved Istanbul, even if it was a challenge with an eight-month old. So here is a quick rundown of the things I really appreciated there:

1. Baby-Friendly
Istanbul is definitely not baby friendly in any conventional way. The streets are steep, pedestrian sidewalks narrow at best (but often non-existent). In the hilly neighbourhoods (all of Istanbul we saw) there are often uneven steps on the pavements, forcing the stroller onto the road. There, cars and motorcycles speed by, honking horns.

But Istanbulians love babies. Everywhere we went with the baby the people were unimagineably warm. When I walk around Bratislava with the stroller (and especially with the baby sling) I get a lot of smiles and some friendly comments but few people would engage with the baby. In Istanbul the BABY was the centre of attention. Everybody everywhere smiled, made sounds (in the photo the guard at Hagia Sophia baby talks the baby in the sling), people would come up to pat him on the head, sometimes kiss his hand. Waiter and shop assistant would pick him up and carry him around, entertaining him. Every parent (unless, of course, you are particularly worried about communicable diseases) knows how gratifying it is when people show love for their child.

What struck us was that this was most often men (in Bratislava it will usually be women) although the explanation may simply be that most people out were men. Our baby loved the attention but also this made our job of keeping him happy throughout the day a lot easier.

2. Beyoğlu
Whether luck or my obsessively extensive, professionally biassed travel research, we picked the right neighbourhood in Istanbul. We stayed in Cihangir, a part of the Beyoglu district between the well known Taksim Square and Kabataş.

Beyoglu was once the seat of Greeks, Jews, Levantines and Armenians but aparently declined after all of these people left Turkey. But it is now a vibrant mixture of gentrified and run down, residential and commercial, Turkish and Cosmopolitan.

We loved it from the amazing Art Nouveau architecture, through stunning Bosphorus views through neighbouthood shops, bakeries, restaurants. There was such a healthy mix of modern and authentic. People out late into the night and just a good vibe.

We simply enjoyed walking around the neighbourhood and that's what we did the most in our five days in Istanbul. We briefly ventured into the glorified Sultanahmet across the river but felt much more at home in Beyoglu.

3. Bidets
The Turks are so civilised. In our hotel but also at the Airport, in restaurants and at the Grand Bazaar there was always a bidet built in to the toilet (or a separate water outlet for the same purpose in the so-called Turkish toilets).

A bidet is used for intimate personal hygiene - it is a stream of water directed at your behind, which lets you wash rather than just wipe after using the toilet. I am embarrassed to say I had never used one prior to this visit to Istanbul but now I am determined to have one installed as soon as we get a chance.

Having seen their ubiquity in Turkey I am sure Turkish people must look funny at the rest of us when travelling abroad. Of course, the above assumes that people actually use the facilities but then, if they didn't use them I think they probably would not spend the extra to install them everywhere?

In the photo from our hotel the bidet attachment is running (the stream of water in the middle of the bowl). You operate it using the valve on the left.

4. Bad Driving
Especially on our first day I was always worried for our safety - you have to be constantly on the look out because Istanbul taxi drivers drive fast, as do other locals. There is no courtesy in traffic - you see an opening, you move. If you wait everybody starts passing you by.

Cars will make U-turns in the most unlikely places. There will be cars parked on pavements or so close behind each other that you cannot cross the road in between.

Yet in this aparent chaos there seems to be order. Perhaps the lack of rules keeps people on their toes but everyody we saw driving did really well. Cars would squeeze through narrow constrictions and drivers skillfully maneouvred their way through traffic.

My theory (which I first explored in Holland where as a pedestrian you had to be constantly on the lookout for bikes) is that the heavy traffic helps preserve people's faculties into their old age. After getting into the every man for himself mentality I actually liked dealing with the traffic - I felt every road crossing made me a stronger man.

5. Baklava
I am a fan of cakes, which are less sweet. I like my chocolate dark and my bananas green. I constantly harass the baking (read older female) part of my family to cut the amount of sugar in their cakes (usually, using half the sugar in the magazine recipe works just right). This would, of course, make me an unlikely candidate to enjoy the ultimate in sweet cakes - Turkish baklava.

Thin layers of filo dough, chopped pistachios and other nuts and rich sugary syrup. Sometimes chocolate, sometimes (I am not sure about this one) condensed milk? Amazing stuff. The Turks really have this down.

On about day two of our Istanbul stay I bought two pieces of baklava and was hooked. Every subsequent day the number of pieces of baklava I ate grew exponentially. I tried baklava from a large commercialised bakery, from numerous smaller vendors and ended up liking the locally made fress Cihangir Bakery baklava best.

We bought about three boxes to take home as gifts and for our own use the night before departure, then felt this was not enough and bought another few boxes on the day of departure. In duty free, we bought two more just in case.

Come see me, I will show you what I'm talking about.

Countdown to 2008 Elfyourself

This year the elves will be back - only three days to go! On November 17 you can again upload face shots of family and friends to ElfYourself.com and turn them into dancing elves.

The problem with ElfYourself last year was that it was unclear how this massively successful viral campaign benefited its financiers (an office supply chain I still prefer not to name here). Simply said very few of the people who liked the campaign actually remembered the office chain - many in fact thought it was the other (better known) office chain that was behind the campaign.

I can't wait to see whether and how the makers of ElfYourself have taken the criticism on board this year.

Disqus Now Installed

Having seen Disqus in action on avc.com I have decided to experiment with it a little on this blog.

Renting an apartment from Izumi von Hardenberg, apartmentsnycity.com? Beware.

UPDATE: This story had been up for a few hours and already people have been coming looking for "Izumi von Hardenberg complaint". There seem to be many of us! Please leave a comment if you've been ripped off by Izumi.

I have been meaning to write up my recent experience trying to rent an apartment for a week in New York through an Izumi von Hardenberg of the website apartmentsnycity.com (also operating through thecheapapartmentsnyc.com, advertising on vacationhomerentals.com, craigslist, and many other places). This is a frustrating episode that takes a good half hour to tell in person and is filled with twists too funny and weird to believe.

At the same time, I wanted to get this information out to other potential victims of Izumi's crazy bait and switch antics and perhaps save someone from what we had to go through (and possibly save them a lot of money). There are other reports on Izumi von Hardenberg on Rip-off Report (a search for Izumi von Hardenberg on the website shows up more and yet more can be found with the alternative spelling Izumi von Hardenburg), based on what we experienced I believe every single one of them.

Izumi advertised an apartment at apartmentsnycity.com on Craigslist. I emailed her on September 8 asking about availability from October 2 and she confirmed it was available but suggested upgrading to another property she called Most luxurious Times Square 3-bedroom 2 bathrooms Apartment No. 1, quoting it at $440 per night for three people.

I confirmed I wished to book. She suddenly increased the price to $460 per night, claiming that information on her website was out of date (conveniently ignoring that she had quoted the rate herself in email a day prior). After a bit of negotiation she agreed on a price of $3075 for the whole week (works out $440 per night) and requested that I send her a deposit of $1050 on PayPal (the deposit was to be 30%).

I felt uneasy simply sending money to a random address. I asked that she at least send me a PayPal request specifying what apartment the deposit was for, ideally from an email address associated with the website I was booking through.

"No need to worry we do this as business, we have many apartments, just sent money request email us after you pay. Izumi",

came the reply.

Following her PayPal request I sent her $1100 to secure the most luxurious apartment on September 11.

On September 19 Izumi wrote requesting our names ASAP for authorization in the building.

On September 23 suddenly this message arrived:
Thecheap Apartmentsnyc to me - 10/2-9 SORRY THE CHANGE OF APARTMENT N4K

We're sorry we have landload problem at the apartment you booked, can you instead take a 3bedroom 2 full bathrooms 43rd street and 8th avenue? It is basically the same, except for 4 block ddiffence and it is close to the Times Square . We're sorry let us know ASAP

I think I can let our subsequent email exchange speak for itself.

Andrej to Thecheap, Sep 24

Hi. This is a very unpleasant surprise. Can you please send photos and description of the other apartment?

Thecheap Apartmentsnyc to me, Sep 25

Can you email me about the pictures tomorrow? I will get them then

Andrej to Thecheap, Sep 26

Hi, I am emailing about the pictures.
At this stage we have little choice due to timing - we will take the apartment unless there is some major problem with it.
Please let me know how and when we will get the keys. We are arriving at Newark at 1 pm on Oct 2 and making our way to the apartment.

Thecheap Apartmentsnyc to me, Sep 27 - Re: 10/2-9 SORRY THE CHANGE OF APARTMENT 3w $380 and 58th 2br $380

We're so sorry We lost the 3bed as well. So now what we have available is 58th st 2br 2nd ave, 3 nights 10/2-5 $380/night and 10/5-9 2br 47th st and 9th ave, also $380/night. If you can book this I'll arrange transportation between apartments. Pictures attached is 47th st and 9th ave 2br

Thecheap Apartmentsnyc to me, Sep 27 - 10/2-9 I'm working on if you could stay at 3bed 2 bath whole time

Please email me your phone number. 3bed 2 bath whole time, as originally planned, so please give me 1 day and I'll email as soon as I know. Please fill out meantime.

Thecheap Apartmentsnyc to me, Sep 27 - 10/2-9 n4k 10/2-9 3p 3bed 2 bath $3075 including cleaning deposit $1050 Everything is set at this apartment

Everything is set at this apartment 360 west 43rd st, apt.n4k Please fill out below, do you need airport pick up?

Andrej to Thecheap, Sep 28

Hi Izumi,
Thank you for sorting this out.
If you are charging us the same price, we expect the apartment to be of the same standard as originally agreed (high speed internet connection, conveniently located near public transportation – access to many major subway lines is available within few minutes, luxury 600-thread count 100% Egyptian cotton sateen sheets and premium Avanti towels, views). Please confirm this.
Regarding the airport transfer, how much do you charge?
Kind regards,
Andrej

Thecheap Apartmentsnyc to me, Sep 28

Hi, the problem is the internet, since it is a new apartment, cable is not there yet, is this a problem with you? You can get internet at starbacks, about $35, which I will pay and you get access for the whole month, or I'm sure there is wireless from neighbors in the apartment, let me know ASAP. If this is absolutely important to you then we may have to change the apartment.
(high speed internet connection, This is a new apartment and cable service is not installed yet, but I believe you can take neighbor's wireless conecction --Is this very important to you?
conveniently located near public transportation – access to many major subway lines is available within few minutes, Yes, 42 nd and 7th ave, 7 lines there, 2 blocks away
luxury 600-thread count 100% Egyptian cotton sateen sheets and premium Avanti towels, Yes
views). Just city view, 4th floor
Please confirm this. Neark $55 each way

Andrej to Thecheap, Sep 28

Hi, we will be three persons each with a computer and will need to connect at least twice per day each. If we can reliably connect to a wifi in the building, we will be fine but if not it will be a major inconvenience. In that case we will need three starbucks memberships and some compensation for the coffees we will have to keep buying to be able to sit around.
Also no cable means no TV?? Either way a discount is in order, since you had advertised views, roof deck and what not.
Regarding the airport pickup, if the price you quoted is per vehicle (not per person), we would like to order the pickup

Thecheap Apartmentsnyc to me, Sep 28

Please contact Adonis for pick up, $55 for the entire car. We'll check out the wifi, and I'll buy you 3 starbucks connection, and I'll give you $10/day for coffee. However this is more expensive apartment, rent there is $5000/month since it is closer to Times Squrae. Is this o.k with you?

Andrej to Thecheap, Sep 28

Thanks for the prompt reply.
1. How or where do I contact Adonis?
2. Ok on the rest
Best regards,
Andrej

Great, right? Izumi did cause us a little stress but she did get us sorted in the end. WRONG.

On Oct 1, a day before our arrival, Thecheap Apartmentsnyc wrote:

Sorry somebody who booked 8 months ago contacted me today. I didn't have them in my booking, but they did pay 8 month ago. So I have n4k 3bed available 1 day, buts can you take other apartment apt. 1 below 10/3-9, it is not as nice or as big, but only $360/night and it does have high-speed internet ready. We're very soory, just let us know:Pictures attached

Andrej to Thecheap Apartmentsnyc, Oct 1

Hi, Ms. von Hardenberg or whoever sends these unsigned emails,
This is beyond belief.
Please provide us with what you have repeatedly promised or provide us with adequate compensation for having to exchange over 20 (!) emails to book an apartment to find out two days before arrival that the fourth apartment you have offered us is not available and you intend to move us between two apartments neither of which meets the criteria of what you originally confirmed and took over $1000 Paypal deposit for!
This is the worst accommodation service I have experienced.
Please let me know ASAP.

Thecheap Apartmentsnyc to me, Oct 1

adequate payment, how much you can pay for the 2br below? normally $360 the 3bed is $460/night, how much total are you willing to pay?

Andrej to Thecheap Apartmentsnyc, Oct 1

Hi, we are willing to pay the $3075 including cleaning charge for a 3 bedroom apartment of the standard you originally took our deposit for! We were not looking to save more money.
We do not wish to move apartments and we were not looking for a 2-bedroom. We will stay the week for $1500 and just forget about this whole experience or we will pay you the full price listed for this 2BR place on your website ($299.99 plus $20 per night per person more for more than 2 people), which makes it $2240 but will feel at liberty to publicize this ordeal in full detail.

Thecheap Apartmentsnyc to me

Hi, I will look for a better place to stay because I can't do $2240, give me till tomorrow I just asked my assistant to look for a place.

Thecheap Apartmentsnyc to me, Oct 1 - 10/2-9 Really sorry we messed up

Really sorry we messed up, right now only apartment we have is 2br below 10/6-9. I will find a place for 10/2-6, if Ibed is o.k, then I have a place 6th ave and 50th st, sleeps 5 people 10/2-6 and if you can take the 2br then we can do $250/night. Just so sorry our booking system got so messed up. Or I can recommend you a hotel 10/2-6, and I pay you $100 relocation fee, just let me know ASAP, we still have time to locate an apartment 10/2-6 Really Really sorry.

Thecheap Apartmentsnyc, Oct 1 - 9/2-9 Very odd proposal 4 days $900 Can you call me 917 362 9280?

Very add proposal, and I know you'll be very inconvinienced, however the price is really good. We can do 3bed 2 bath 1 night 9/2, then 2br 34th st 3 nights 10/6-9 and for the total of 4 nights I can do $900 Then I'll find you a hotel 3 nights. The best is priceline, you can pick up stuff starting $200/night, even if you take 2 rooms, still like $400, let me know if you need my help locating a hotel. We're really sorry to put you through this. Sincerely apologize. Can you call me?

Andrej to Thecheap, Oct 1

I just tried to call. It is now the morning here and you're probably asleep.
I insist you provide us with accommodation for the seven days we have paid a deposit for. We will move once, if necessary.
My phone number is XXX XXX XXXXXX, call me as soon as possible.
Andrej

Thecheap Apartmentsnyc to me, Oct 1 - 10/2-9 I found a place for 3 nights 10/2-6

W18th st and 8th ave only $300/night, so your total is $1800 oppesed to %3075 It is inconvinient to move, but you save lots of money you can use it for dinner etc. Let me know ASAp, I have to make a deposit to secure this

Andrej to Thecheap, Oct 1

We have money for dinner. You do not mention size of place, etc.

Andrej to Thecheap, Oct 1

Hi, I have been trying to call at the number you sent me yesterday since about 8:15 your time this morning.
We will take any reasonable apartment you can get us. Please call me at +XXX XXX XXXXXX ASAP.

Finally, after hours of trying (from 8 am Izumi's time, got through to her about 2:30 pm) we spoke. I was livid. Izumi suggested we take a 3-bedroom for one night, find a hotel for the next three nights and move back to a 2-bedroom for the final three night. "You find us a hotel!" I insisted. "You took over a thousand dollars as deposit for a week, now you are taking no responsibility!". Izumi hung up. I called back. She never responded to anything I said, beyond saying "Right, right, right, right, right" a few times.

She then suggested she would book a one bedroom apartment for the three in-between nights for us. I said ok, if the apartment is of decent standard and there is room for the three of us (adult males) to sleep. She said something about sofa beds and then asked if one of us could sleep on an air mattress. I said fine but then she said we would have to pay for it, because she would have to buy it and bring it there...

After we hung up, Izumi called back. She politely asked that when we arrive at the apartment N4K on 360 west 43rd street, we should not tell the doormen we were renting anything. "Just say you are going to N4K. Call me if there is a problem." This reassuring exchange of course meant we were unsure the whole way on the plane whether we would even get into the building... This blog post, titled Beware of Izumi von Hardenberg, explains the reasons clearly, though.

Anyway, this was the final arrangement:
Thecheap Apartmentsnyc to me, Oct 1

I booked 1br, they have my credit card info, so please don't cancel:If you have any problem with this call me 917 362 9280 while your stay, but we already comfirmed everything right now, you have nothing to pay except $900
1.10/2 360 west 43rd st apt.n4k Alley will meet you there Call Adonis from the airport, if your flight is late you have to call adonis and aleey, otherwise $30/hour late fee check out before 11:00a.m
2. 10/3-6 1br balance $900 cash 304 west 18th, apt.1 11:00a.m at the apartment
XXXXXXX XXXXX-Contact (o) XXX-XXX-XXXX check out 12:30p.m
3.10/6-9 605 2nd avee, apt. 3 check in 12:45p.m 33rd and 34th street, please press apt.3 combination key downstairs 6052
alley will meet you there, call him if you're late check out 11:00a.m 10/9, leave the keys on the table, DOOR UNLOCKED

We were met at the airport by Adonis, the driver recommended by Izumi. A really nice and friendly guy (mentioned favorably by others in one of the rip off reports) took us to the first apartment. On the way he called Izumi's assistant Alley, who was supposed to meet us there. Funnily enough Alley had no idea there were guests checking in - he said he was there just to take pictures. This probably explained the perfunctory cleaning obvious on our arrival, as well as the obviously reused sheets...

Next day instead of sightseeing we made our way to the one bedroom apartment. No one was there to meet us at this decrepit looking Hell's Kitchen building a superintendent simply let us into the apartment. The place was small, contained just one double bed in the bedroom and two extendable sofas, which seemed too old to extend. Moreover, there was obviously not enough room to actually extend both.

We waited around for 25 minutes. I called the number given to me by Izumi two or three times but there was only voicemail. I called Izumi. "How come there is no one there?" she asked. She asked for the number for the owner she had given me. "Izumi, you will call me back? We are waiting here, we have other stuff to do." "Yeah," she said.

We waited for another 45 minutes, anger building up. At 12.15 we split, checked in to a Starbucks, bought wifi access and started looking for a hotel. We ended up at the Sheraton Manhattan for three nights (later moved to Ameritania near Times Square).

We tried to get a portion of our deposit back through the PayPal dispute resolution procedure (#PP-557-215-363).
"Our investigation into your claim is complete. As stated in our User Agreement, the claims process only applies to the shipment of goods. It does not apply to complaints about the attributes or quality of goods received. Therefore, we are unable to reverse this transaction or issue a refund." (I resent how PayPal handled this - their dispute form contains no fields covering payments for services, so I had to check weird boxes relating to goods and had no way of knowing my claim was lost from the start due to these choices).

I have emailed Izumi today asking for $700 back (the $1,100 deposit less a payment for the one night we did stay at her apartment). I will also, based on one rip off reporter's recommendations, try to contact PayPal again. Friends of mine have recommended a New York-based lawyer who will review the case and see if there may be legal recourse. In addition I have thought about writing to coop boards at the buildings whose addresses I know that Ms. von Hardenberg is renting out the apartments (most likely illegally).

I had never thought I could fall for this kind of scam, having extensive experience with the short-term apartment rental industry here in Bratislava. Although expensive, this is indeed a lesson for me. I had seen some of the rip off reports before I sent Izumi von Hardenberg money (unfortunately only those under von HardenbErg, not the ones under von HardenbUrg) and actually felt reassured (since they indicated Izumi was for real, even if she smoked inside her non-smoking apartments). Finally, there was a definite cognitive bias at work - I wanted to believe in this Most luxurious New York apartment even though I had a feeling in the back of my head that it was too good to be true.

We still had a great stay in New York. Even if we end up not getting any of our money back, I will remember Izumi warmly for the lesson she's taught me.

If you've managed to read this far, please help! Link to this post with the anchor containing the name Izumi von Hardenberg so that other people will be able to read this if they Google Izumi.