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  • Report:  #1268746

Complaint Review: Michael LEE

Michael LEE & Hanna LEE EcoYetAll & VRBO listings of Encore, Cora & Shangri-La condos: Vancouver & Coquitlam, wheelchair users beware! Michael is a liar, rip-off and evil conman: he falsely advertises his condos as wheelchair accessible, inaccessible bathrooms, refuses to refund and threatens if you complain or pursue Vancouver BC, Internet

  • Reported By:
    Debbie — Oxford Other United Kingdom
  • Submitted:
    Wed, November 18, 2015
  • Updated:
    Wed, November 18, 2015
The owner Michael Lee advertises his condos on the VRBO web site. He describes them as wheelchair accessible so I believed that they were suitable for me as a wheelchair user. However, the bathroom, sink, bath and toilet are not wheelchair accessible or user-friendly: not enough room, no grab rails etc so I was unable to proceed with my booking, yet Michael kept $6000 of my money and refused to refund me anything but the $500 damage deposit using the 60-day refund policy as an excuse. My care agency deemed the bathroom inaccessible and said the caregivers wouldn't be able to get me on & off the toilet or in & out of the bath due to the layout + the lack of grab rails - BC has a very strong lifting policy in place in terms of health and safety. There is also no land line in the properties so I couldn't call an ambulance if I fell on the floor while I was alone and couldn't get up - I am British, don't have a Canadian cell phone and my English mobile doesn't work in N America.
 
I am a single person, I have no husband or children to take care of me and both my parents are dead. I have multiple sclerosis (MS) and am wheelchair bound. I only get £450/month Disability Living Allowance = $900 which I struggle to survive on and I need every penny/cent. I was going to attend a neurological rehabilitation facility in BC to try to regain my mobility, but after the problems with this condo I was unable to do this as all my funds were used up and I couldn't afford alternative accommodation.
 
When I asked for a refund Michael told me that he was swamped with requests to rent this condo, so in addition to withholding my funds he rented the condo out again for the same period so received the funds twice. When I submitted a complaint to VRBO he got nasty and threatened to remove any reviews I wrote and blacklist my name on the VRBO web site so that no owners would rent their properties to me.
 
Michael has tried to defend himself by using a comment  I made to him early on when I said I thought/hoped that I might be able to overcome the bathroom accessibility issues. "Thought" and "hoped" are the key words though, unfortunately this wasn't possible.
 
Michael's company is called EcoYetAll, his condo units are called Encore, Cora & Shangri-La and he operates in Vancouver BC. I urge wheelchair users to beware and steer clear!
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