How to Avoid Accommodation Booking Scams in Cannes

Picture this: suitcases gathered, transfer found, and you’re en-route to Cannes. Upon arrival at your destination, you find... it doesn’t exist. Sound like a nightmare? You’ve unfortunately just been scammed.

Scam /skam/ noun informal-

a dishonest scheme; a fraud.

Are you familiar with this word? Does it conjure up the horror of being left on the street with your suitcases at Cannes, on your own with nowhere to go?. How can you avoid ending up in this situation? Follow the guidelines below, and you’ll be on the right track to booking safe and secure accommodation. Here are our 5 tips on how to avoid accommodation booking scams in Cannes:

1. Always check the company credentials

If you don’t see an address listed or a contact page on a company's website, this is a red flag. If the company you are looking at doesn’t offer say where it is located or have a phone number, it's likely not legitimate. Don't go there.

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

2. Tweets, calls, responses… anyone there?

Always check and see if the company has social media accounts, and whether they actively use them. Do they seem to be interacting with their users, or does it look like a robot to you? Similarly, if they provide a phone number but don’t answer their calls, or try and get back to you - be very wary.

3.) It’s worth a Google

Try to search your company. What’s your result? If you can find the actual company on Google, that’s a good sign. If not, keep looking for other options.

4.) Terms and conditions

You should check on the company’s website if they have a page where you can access their terms and conditions and privacy policies. These statements are legally binding. If a company is willing to make this information available to clients, it is a sign of trustworthiness.

5.) Analyse the risk of scams

If you feel uncertain, but you’re simply just trying to get the booking out of the way because maybe you waited until last minute, rethink your final decision. Maybe a company offers affordable prices, but if you consider the overall cost of time, booking an apartment, losing money, and then having to book AGAIN- it's a huge loss of money. Not to mention how infuriating it is to have to start from scratch when you've got loads of meetings lined up for your day head. Trust us, this is not how you want to start your trip in Cannes.