How to spot party rental scams that could target your family with fake deals
PHOENIX (InvestigateTV) — Martha Cavazos couldn’t wait to celebrate her daughter’s 15th birthday. She was planning a surprise with an inflatable double water slide and an inflatable bull for the party.
“I texted a whole bunch of other party rentals, and that one replied to me right away,” she said.
Cavazos paid a $150 deposit, but the morning of the party, she was ghosted.
“I text them, ‘Hey, what’s going on? What’s the ETA?’ No response, not even to look at the message. I waited another hour. I texted again, ‘Hey, what’s going on,’ and they didn’t reply,” Cavazos said. “At that time, I was like I don’t think they’re coming through. I think I’ve been scammed.”
The Better Business Bureau has received reports of equipment rental and party planning scams on its scam tracker.
How to avoid rental scams
The Better Business Bureau recommends several steps to avoid getting scammed:
- Research before you rent
- Take a good look at the website and ensure it has accurate contact information
- Think twice when renting from listings only advertised on social media
- Be wary of people who contact you on messaging apps
- Review your contract carefully to ensure your delivery date is accurate, as well as the final cost and payment
If you spot a party rental scam, report it to BBB.org/scamtracker.
Red flags to watch out for
Often, the scams start on social media.
“What’s happening with the inflatables and the event planning problems I’ve seen is happening with a lot of different scams,” the Better Business Bureau’s Joe Ducey said. “People are using cash instead of credit cards, they’re not reviewing the company beforehand, and they’re putting a lot of money up front for nothing, And those give scammers, if they’re a scam company, all the tools they need to take their money and run.”
The scams often begin on social media and are designed to be believable. “Everything looked legit,” Cavazos said. “It seemed real.”
But let’s take another look at the situation. Cavazos wants you to learn from it. She found this place on Facebook.
“I said, ‘what services do you offer and where are you located? I’m interested. Can you please tell me more?’” Cavazos said as she read the messages. “They said ‘thanks for your interest in our slides. Where are you located and when do you need the slides?’ I said ‘I’m in Glendale, Arizona. I need them for this Saturday.’”
Looking back, Cavazos realizes the person messaging never answered her question about where the company is located. She also spotted red flags on the website when she looked at it more critically. There’s no phone number, there’s no address, and many of the photos look like they were taken on a field in the Midwest, not Arizona.
“If you really want to go into it, you can take these pictures and do a reverse Google image search to see where else they were used. It could have been pulled from some other website and put on theirs, and they’re not really representing what the company is,” Ducey said.
Perhaps the biggest red flag is the way Cavazos had to pay. The “company” wanted payment sent via Chime or Zelle, and when Cavazos paid, the contact information was a random Gmail account, not something related to the supposed party rental business.
“Consumers are paying with cash apps. It’s a common way to do it. It’s an easy thing, but once that money’s gone, it’s gone because it’s cash coming right out of your bank account,” Ducey cautioned.
Financial impact on families
Cavazos knows she won’t get her money back, and she’s frustrated.
“That’s a light bill. That’s a phone bill,” she said. “I’m a single mom, so I barely make ends meet. It’s diapers for my grandbaby. $150 is a lot.”
Fortunately, with some help from her family, Cavazos found a real rental company with a last-minute slide still available for the birthday girl.
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