at what point is it false advertising? UPDATE: Owner threatening to sue me.

[connorlevismom]

In this case, I would be upset about the grill, especially if I purchased food for the purpose of grilling.

However, I would not expect them to provide games for the gaming systems. I would assume that any kid would bring their favorite games along with them-I certainly wouldn't rely on the rental unit to have it...sort of like expecting to see current magazines in the doctor's office haha. Nor do I think the unit is obliged to provide them.

I hadn't considered that certain game systems might be a novelty for some children. I was thinking strictly in terms of the kid who can't go a day without playing their favorite xbox game...so I just assumed they would have and bring their own. My mistake

This was our case. We don't have either an Xbox or a PS2. We rented the house because we don't have those and it would be fun for my son to be able to play those games, since we don't have the systems. We only have a Wii. So he was really excited about being able to play both the other systems. And he was REALLY bummed when there were no games.

 

[mrsklamc]

Don't suppose you paid with a credit card, or paypal, or anyone with whom you could contest the charges?

 

[cey]

As a long term renter at WH for many years, I personally would not want to deal with any renter who has a MC that is not available on the weekends. A reputable MC would even supply emergency numbers for afterhours in case of major problems which lets face it can occur. If a pipe bursts or the lock ceases up on your front door, any renter is entitled to prompt assistance and correction of the problem from a management company. That saying, any vacation rental is only as good as its management company. Case in point, last year the house next door to us was advertised as pet free. A renter moved in with two huge dogs ( and I mean big dogs ) which were locked inside all day long (10-15 hours) while they were away. The management company finally managed to evict them on the seventh day but then only spent less than an hour cleaning the four bedroom villa. Sorry, but I don't care how good your cleaning crew is, 1 hour is not enough time to remove hair and pet dander and excrement from inside and outside! They didn't even touch the pool lanai! Sorry about your situation but rest assured you are helping other potential renters avoid this bad apple!

 

[connorlevismom]

As a long term renter at WH for many years, I personally would not want to deal with any renter who has a MC that is not available on the weekends. A reputable MC would even supply emergency numbers for afterhours in case of major problems which lets face it can occur. If a pipe bursts or the lock ceases up on your front door, any renter is entitled to prompt assistance and correction of the problem from a management company. That saying, any vacation rental is only as good as its management company. Case in point, last year the house next door to us was advertised as pet free. A renter moved in with two huge dogs ( and I mean big dogs ) which were locked inside all day long (10-15 hours) while they were away. The management company finally managed to evict them on the seventh day but then only spent less than an hour cleaning the four bedroom villa. Sorry, but I don't care how good your cleaning crew is, 1 hour is not enough time to remove hair and pet dander and excrement from inside and outside! They didn't even touch the pool lanai! Sorry about your situation but rest assured you are helping other potential renters avoid this bad apple!

I agree 100%. When I rented the homes I researched not only them, but their management companies. I was very comfortable with them all. This owner switched comanies and never told me (not that she is required to) and I did not find it out until after I arrived at the house and saw the book. She switched to someone that I had never heard of. Had I known this ahead of time, I would have cancelled and rented from someone else.

This company did have an after hours number and we did call it, but we had to leave a message. When the person came the next day to look at the cleanliness, he told me that they did not respond because they only respond to real emergencies and this was not an emergency. He even told me that a backed-up toilet was not an emergency (we did not ahve a backed-up toilet) because there are more bathrooms in the house.

I asked the owner about the management company change and she told me it was because she was being ripped off from the other company. I had another house with this same management company and it was SUPER clean and well mantained. I am thinking that she changed because she wanted something cheaper. I honestly do not think that she wants the responsibilities of being an owner of a rental.

 

[Ali]

Was there any way to file a complaint with your credit card company?

 

[dis-happy]

The situation sounds crazy. Thanks for letting us know a rental house to avoid.

 

[Kathryn19007]

To Connerlevismom,

Boy oh boy, you sure got a lot of exposure on this thread regarding your supposed horrid time at Windsor Hills. I would have to say that you did better here than on Trip Advisor for sure!

You are what I would like to classify, as the guest from hell.... the ones who find fault in pretty much everything and then try to benefit back from it. I do not say this lightly... I have gone through your reviews on Trip Advisor, and also many of your posts on here, and I actually have to search to find a positive report from you. Troubling most though is how you draw others in; those who have not been there, witnessed and go by your word without doing a bit of background checking. Interesting that, as I stated on the Trip Advisor Board (my goodness, was there a review site you missed??) you have either profited by or been offered compensation for half the complaints you lodged, not a bad track record... what was it I called folks who do this on a regular basis? Holiday Hounds? No, that wasn't it, will have to go back and reread the post I guess. But have seen folks who do this, in action all over the world (look me up on Trip Advisor, been to a LOT of countries in my 38 years of traveling so I do not speak out of turn.... of folks who book a lower resort, for example, then go running to the rep. loudly complaining and the only way to shut them up is to upscale them to another resort, usually the one they wanted to book but didn't want to pay the price in the first place! I have even heard folks laugh and tel others about their scam!
But back to the problem at hand.
I stayed at Dsnys Retreat last year in December for a week. Place was spotless, inviting, great location, easy to find, amenities were amazing, beds comfortable, showers incredible, decorating was as if I was at a friend's home, not a rental home... pool was great, water clean... and I could go on and on.

I also stayed there this year, RIGHT AFTER YOU... and my question would be.... what on earth did you do to the microwave that the glass popped right out of the frame??? I had to call the management company and within 4 hours it was replaced with new. And I did NOT ask the owners for a discount due to not being able to heat up my coffee cup!

I was as thrilled this time around as last time... and yes, I saw a bug in the lanai... oh my god!! and this one was alive!! Fancy that! Also saw one (thankfully dead) in our bedroom one morning... we gave it a proper burial, down the toilet! What we love about this property is it is easy to find in Windsor Hills, great location with no snoopy neighbours looking in from the back yard, house is very roomy, has everything you would need.... I want to be a kid again to sleep in the bunk beds... and my friends drool when I post my photos on Facebook!

Your biggest complaint was no BBQ. Did you not notice immediately that it was missing? If so, did you make an inquiry to the owners? If the BBQ was so important to you, why didn't you just rent one from the management company as I know for a fact that they rent them for a very reasonable rate, full tank of propane and all! Might have cost you an additional $45 at most! Big deal when you are on a Disney Vacation.... $45 doesn't even buy you LUNCH on site for two people!!

Game units - if MY children were excited about these game units I would most definitely inquire as to what games are available, and if nothing was to my children's fancy I would have gone to my local rental store and rented ones they would like. With the ages of your children, Precious Ponies and Barbie games might not have been much interest. Would you have complained if those two games or similar were all that were available or would you have gone to a rental store and get some of more interest?

As for cleanliness.... I do find it hard to believe that the owners would have left "remnants" of themselves all over the carpeting knowing that guests were coming in right afterwards. My goodness how close DID you get to check out which supposed hair was which??

Bugs.... come to Eastern Ontario in June - August and if you do NOT see bugs... well, Florida is a tropical area, there are bugs... BIG BUGS... BIG FLYING BUGS.... and I know that these resort areas spray the areas to death, however some last longer than they were supposed to, and end up dying in many inconvenient places... up here it is usually in my coffee cup! So IF you did see bugs, just sweep them up, voila, end of drama!

Home owners who live far rely on their management company to care for the house. Only with CONSTRUCTIVE criticism can they improve their services, their homes, for their guests. No one place is perfect, even high end resorts have issues. It just depends on the guests ATTITUDES as to how they will choose to deal with it. Noisy air conditioners, cracked tiles, marks on the wall, lamps with light bulbs which do not work, outlets which do not work, coded door batteries die, and the list can go on forever. If I were to pick apart every place I have ever stayed in, well, I could always find something wrong.... but why bother. Because I focus on the good parts... and there is always good parts... and while I have reviewed many properties, I have never ever thought to demand compensation... I just "learn my lesson" and move on... well, except for a horrid hole in the wall in Paris we stayed in 2010~!! haha

Anyway, I think, before everyone gets on the band wagon, it might be wise to look into it yourself. I noticed that over 10,000 views are on this topic. All by the word of one guest. Scary to think that a business can be ruined by one disgruntled guest who makes claims that no one can back up (aside from the missing BBQ worth about $45 for a week). Even the alleged "bugs" were not in evidence when inspected.

So please, we all have the right to review be it a restaurant, hotel, resort, facility, whatever, but please keep in mind, those who read them that this might be ONE person's opinion and ONE person's perception.
Cheers
Kathy Gingras
Ontario, Canada
225 Cities and counting...

 

[mrsklamc]

LOL. Like we are really supposed to believe that you, with your single post, just happen to be the guest that stayed there right after OP and happened to run across this thread. If you think you are dissuading anyone from believing OPs opinion you are so mistaken. You've only made it look even more like the property is owned by a deranged internet stalker.

 

[kathie859]

oooohhhh....Kathryn19007---methinks thou dost protest too much
Especially for a first post

 

[mrsklamc]

To Connerlevismom,

Boy oh boy, you sure got a lot of exposure on this thread regarding your supposed horrid time at Windsor Hills. I would have to say that you did better here than on Trip Advisor for sure!

You are what I would like to classify, as the guest from hell.... the ones who find fault in pretty much everything and then try to benefit back from it. I do not say this lightly... I have gone through your reviews on Trip Advisor, and also many of your posts on here, and I actually have to search to find a positive report from you. Troubling most though is how you draw others in; those who have not been there, witnessed and go by your word without doing a bit of background checking. Interesting that, as I stated on the Trip Advisor Board (my goodness, was there a review site you missed??) you have either profited by or been offered compensation for half the complaints you lodged, not a bad track record... what was it I called folks who do this on a regular basis? Holiday Hounds? No, that wasn't it, will have to go back and reread the post I guess. But have seen folks who do this, in action all over the world (look me up on Trip Advisor, been to a LOT of countries in my 38 years of traveling so I do not speak out of turn.... of folks who book a lower resort, for example, then go running to the rep. loudly complaining and the only way to shut them up is to upscale them to another resort, usually the one they wanted to book but didn't want to pay the price in the first place! I have even heard folks laugh and tel others about their scam!
But back to the problem at hand.
I stayed at Dsnys Retreat last year in December for a week. Place was spotless, inviting, great location, easy to find, amenities were amazing, beds comfortable, showers incredible, decorating was as if I was at a friend's home, not a rental home... pool was great, water clean... and I could go on and on.

I also stayed there this year, RIGHT AFTER YOU... and my question would be.... what on earth did you do to the microwave that the glass popped right out of the frame??? I had to call the management company and within 4 hours it was replaced with new. And I did NOT ask the owners for a discount due to not being able to heat up my coffee cup!

I was as thrilled this time around as last time... and yes, I saw a bug in the lanai... oh my god!! and this one was alive!! Fancy that! Also saw one (thankfully dead) in our bedroom one morning... we gave it a proper burial, down the toilet! What we love about this property is it is easy to find in Windsor Hills, great location with no snoopy neighbours looking in from the back yard, house is very roomy, has everything you would need.... I want to be a kid again to sleep in the bunk beds... and my friends drool when I post my photos on Facebook!

Your biggest complaint was no BBQ. Did you not notice immediately that it was missing? If so, did you make an inquiry to the owners? If the BBQ was so important to you, why didn't you just rent one from the management company as I know for a fact that they rent them for a very reasonable rate, full tank of propane and all! Might have cost you an additional $45 at most! Big deal when you are on a Disney Vacation.... $45 doesn't even buy you LUNCH on site for two people!!

Game units - if MY children were excited about these game units I would most definitely inquire as to what games are available, and if nothing was to my children's fancy I would have gone to my local rental store and rented ones they would like. With the ages of your children, Precious Ponies and Barbie games might not have been much interest. Would you have complained if those two games or similar were all that were available or would you have gone to a rental store and get some of more interest?

As for cleanliness.... I do find it hard to believe that the owners would have left "remnants" of themselves all over the carpeting knowing that guests were coming in right afterwards. My goodness how close DID you get to check out which supposed hair was which??

Bugs.... come to Eastern Ontario in June - August and if you do NOT see bugs... well, Florida is a tropical area, there are bugs... BIG BUGS... BIG FLYING BUGS.... and I know that these resort areas spray the areas to death, however some last longer than they were supposed to, and end up dying in many inconvenient places... up here it is usually in my coffee cup! So IF you did see bugs, just sweep them up, voila, end of drama!

Home owners who live far rely on their management company to care for the house. Only with CONSTRUCTIVE criticism can they improve their services, their homes, for their guests. No one place is perfect, even high end resorts have issues. It just depends on the guests ATTITUDES as to how they will choose to deal with it. Noisy air conditioners, cracked tiles, marks on the wall, lamps with light bulbs which do not work, outlets which do not work, coded door batteries die, and the list can go on forever. If I were to pick apart every place I have ever stayed in, well, I could always find something wrong.... but why bother. Because I focus on the good parts... and there is always good parts... and while I have reviewed many properties, I have never ever thought to demand compensation... I just "learn my lesson" and move on... well, except for a horrid hole in the wall in Paris we stayed in 2010~!! haha

Anyway, I think, before everyone gets on the band wagon, it might be wise to look into it yourself. I noticed that over 10,000 views are on this topic. All by the word of one guest. Scary to think that a business can be ruined by one disgruntled guest who makes claims that no one can back up (aside from the missing BBQ worth about $45 for a week). Even the alleged "bugs" were not in evidence when inspected.

So please, we all have the right to review be it a restaurant, hotel, resort, facility, whatever, but please keep in mind, those who read them that this might be ONE person's opinion and ONE person's perception.
Cheers
Kathy Gingras
Ontario, Canada
225 Cities and counting...

The rule.

 

[thumbalyna]

Funny how Kathryn19007 never posted on this forum before, is the exact guest who stayed in the rental immediately upon OP departing and the rental was amazing.

I find it funny how she mentions a damaged microwave, is she trying to say not only did OP break it but she rigged it back up so you couldn't notice the glass was no longer in the door!

I writes reviews on TA whether good or bad. I think that nice middle of the road reviews mean more when i travel than bad or great reviews.

Whoever Kathryn190007 is obviously has too much time on her hands if she is stalking OP to see where she is posting reviews at.

 

[MilitaryMouse]

LOL. Like we are really supposed to believe that you, with your single post, just happen to be the guest that stayed there right after OP and happened to run across this thread. If you think you are dissuading anyone from believing OPs opinion you are so mistaken. You've only made it look even more like the property is owned by a deranged internet stalker.

so true!

 

[mikat]

To Connerlevismom,
Boy oh boy, you sure got a lot of exposure on this thread regarding your supposed horrid time at Windsor Hills. I would have to say that you did better here than on Trip Advisor for sure!

- diatribe omitted -

So please, we all have the right to review be it a restaurant, hotel, resort, facility, whatever, but please keep in mind, those who read them that this might be ONE person's opinion and ONE person's perception.
Cheers
Kathy Gingras
Ontario, Canada
225 Cities and counting...

Wow. Just . . . wow.

Whoever wrote this, you just made a bigger case for never renting this house than OP ever could have.

 

[connorlevismom]

"Kathryn",

The best thing you could have done was just ignore the thread. Nobody has posted in it since the 30th of October, so by you coming on here and posting your very obvious rant, you just bumped it right back up to the top of the page and now even more people will really get to see for themselves just what I have been talking about and dealing with. Should have just left well enough alone.

 

[Robbi]

The rule.

What is the rule?

"Kathryn",

The best thing you could have done was just ignore the thread. Nobody has posted in it since the 30th of October, so by you coming on here and posting your very obvious rant, you just bumped it right back up to the top of the page and now even more people will really get to see for themselves just what I have been talking about and dealing with. Should have just left well enough alone.

You're right. I would never have seen this thread otherwise. Thanks Kathryn, by posting you alerted me to the thread and now I know not to rent that house.

Have to add all the comments added by owner cracked me up.

 

[4kids4karen]

Ain't nobody got time for that!

http://youtu.be/kOGBIbqXwYE

 

["Cinder" Ella's Mom]

The OP should rent a 45$ grill when one was promised to her and asking for compensation is wrong? Nutty. If you think listing a name on here precludes us from thinking you ARE the owner or a friend of hers...not buying it.

 

[robinb]

Hmmm ... Kathy added her review on the owner's Home Away listing the same day that the owner added TEN owner submitted reviews to bury the OP's negative review. What a coincidence!

 

[dis-happy]

NP: passive agressive much???

Funnier still, the DISers here on this board advised her to ask for a credit back, an absolutely not unreasonable request.

I read the TA reviews and thought she did her best not to vilify but stayed pretty middle of the road.

Think we should all work to bump this post every month or week or so to warn others!!

to the OP. That renter comes off sounding insane.

 

[robinb]

I also stayed there this year, RIGHT AFTER YOU...

Oh really? The OP was there on 10/15 when she started this thread. You posted your review on Home Away on 10/26 saying that your stay was in September, NOT October.