Bad vacation home experience

[jekajekalynn]

Has anyone else ever had a bad vacation home experience?

It's sad to say, but I am actually looking forward to coming come from this vacation. I have stayed in vacation houses for the past 5 years and until now I haven't really had any major complaints. Infact I LOVED last years house we stayed at, and it is rented out by a fellow DISser.

This years house however, has really put a bad taste in my mouth, and I am not really a pick person. I however have an ever expanding laundry list of complaints regarding this house including:

-Trash strewn about the carport to greet us upon our arrival
- my dm's bathroom is creepy crawly bug central
- LOTS of lamps and lights that either don't work, or don't have bulbs
- HUGE spider webs (and spiders) around the pool chairs , and very visable cobwebs strung throughout the kitchen
-we have all kinds of woodland creatures (ie raccoons) who have been knocking over trash cans outside, and the locks on the lids are broke. My dm and dmil had to go out at 6 in the morning to clean up the mess in the street they made with our trash3.

and the two biggies...

- We have had NO phone since we got here... the phones do NOT work and I have called 3 times to a very apathetic management company regarding them ..

- Dryer vent was completly broke, called Tuesday and finally someone Wed evening came to fix it after my 2nd call.


Unfortunatly our security deposit is non refundable... Is there anything I should do?

 

[Tissa]

Oh my, I have no advise because I haven't had this happen yet. Where are you staying? Do you know how to get in touch with the owner? It's possible they do not know that the management company is doing a bad job.

 

[gsmbaby19]

If you paid with a credit card, I would document everything that occurred. Take pictures if you are still there. Then, file a dispute for the remaining charges.

 

[Kellydelly]

I would contact the owner if you are dissatisfied. The last time we rented a home the water was shut off when we arrived (not something you want to discover late afternoon!), the kitchen furniture was wobbly (unsafe to sit on), there were several broken chairs in the garage not taken care of and the laundry closet door was hanging off the track. My handy husband discovered that the main water valve was turned off outside, so he turned it on. He tightened the screws on the chairs and fixed the closet door. If you have had to spend your own money replacing lightbulbs I would demand compensation for that.

 

[mousey]

If you complain enough the mgt. office should put you in a different house. I know its a pain packing up, but it might save your vacation.

 

[lizcro326]

I rented a home from an internet website with a follow up phone call. The company was Home Star Vacation Home ran by Tim & Liz Miller (aka Perez).

It was a nightmare the entire weekend. I took pictures, documented everything for the owner and my credit card company ( Chase Disney Visa).
To make an extremely long story short I wound up paying $800 for a weekend that should have been $400.

The owners blatantly violated thier own terms of service, overcharged my credit card, refused to refund if I left, changed the terms 2 hours after I checked in and decided not to heat the pool as agreed if I didn'y pay ANOTHER $60 and wanted to charge an ANOTHER $150 because my dogs were over 20 lbs (they knew one was a beagle and one a husky and even had it listed on the original invoice). There was broken furniture, bugs, dog pee on the walls, hair in the sinks, splattered stuck on food in the refrigerator, hairballs on the front frig grill. garbage in the yard, the list was endless.

Even with all of my documentation and pictures, the owners not only kept my deposit but added more charges and over charges. I filed complaints with the City of Kissimee, Osceola county, State of Florida and my credit card company. Found out they weren't even legal to rent our the property, but they STILL have my $800. They sent me an email saying if I leave the property no refunds when I first sent the complaints via email (Chase had that too) and then replied to the complaint that they had provided accomodations so therefore there are no refunds. Chase let the charges stand !!! Even the proven overcharges due to the home owners mathmatical errors !! I was floored I asked Chase if I got a judegement against the company theu court would they reverse the charges then and was told no because they don't get involved in litigation.

Now, my only other option is to take the owners to small claims court to recover my losses but I need a lawyer because the house was in one county, I live in another county and the office is in yet another county. I live 2 hours away and am still dealing with this problem 1 year later and paying interest as well as having a terrible experience with rude owners. I even disputed with VISA itself and asked for a re-dispute with Chase, still no word from anyone.

I have rented alot of houses, condos and timeshare units at Disney and this is the very first time I ran into this situation. I wish you nothing but the best trying to fix your situation. Document everything and hope your credit card company does a better job than my own.

Liz

 

[isla bonita]

Has anyone else ever had a bad vacation home experience?

It's sad to say, but I am actually looking forward to coming come from this vacation. I have stayed in vacation houses for the past 5 years and until now I haven't really had any major complaints. Infact I LOVED last years house we stayed at, and it is rented out by a fellow DISser.

This years house however, has really put a bad taste in my mouth, and I am not really a pick person. I however have an ever expanding laundry list of complaints regarding this house including:

-Trash strewn about the carport to greet us upon our arrival
- my dm's bathroom is creepy crawly bug central
- LOTS of lamps and lights that either don't work, or don't have bulbs
- HUGE spider webs (and spiders) around the pool chairs , and very visable cobwebs strung throughout the kitchen
-we have all kinds of woodland creatures (ie raccoons) who have been knocking over trash cans outside, and the locks on the lids are broke. My dm and dmil had to go out at 6 in the morning to clean up the mess in the street they made with our trash3.

and the two biggies...

- We have had NO phone since we got here... the phones do NOT work and I have called 3 times to a very apathetic management company regarding them ..

- Dryer vent was completly broke, called Tuesday and finally someone Wed evening came to fix it after my 2nd call.


Unfortunatly our security deposit is non refundable... Is there anything I should do?

Jess
I am so sorry to hear all this.

First contact the owner and state what was.
Any owner who is worth their anything would die if they heard this about their home.
Second if you paid by credit card or pay pal contact them asap
Third take pics and post to owner

I hope something comes of it. No one should go on vacation and spend any type of $$ and have nothing but a nightmare!

There is no magic happening there.

Also thanks for the nice words. Drop me a pm and we can chat if you are down for any longer.

 

[Judy Judy Judy]

Infact I LOVED last years house we stayed at, and it is rented out by a fellow DISser.

I am so sorry about all your troubles, this is my worse nightmare....could you please pass along the name of the person with whom you had a positive stay we are looking into renting a home for next years trip and I really find word of mouth to be the best. TIA

 

[JANNYANS]

I amso sorry you have had your vacation spoilt by this experience-there is no excuse in my book for a home to be presented like this.Having no phone is a real no no in a rental home as it is part of the licensing agreement -who knows if they need to phone the emergency services?

It sounds as if the owner and man co are not doing their jobs peoperly.Was this home booked direct with the owner or through a company .If it was a company the owner may not be aware of its condition so if you can contact them .
I don't understand why the security is non refundable -surely it is deposit that will be returned only if there is damage ?

 

[kksmom92]

I'm so sorry to hear your home isn't as it was described.

I would be contacting the owner and letting them know. Last year we stayed at a house that had red marks on the carpet and the blinds to the pool were broken we just thought they might want to know and they were glad we told them as they have no clue and only believe what their management company tells them.

After reading your story I'm more nervous now to rent something. If you don't mind me asking... where are you staying? (Just in case I was looking at the same place)

 

[davinakb]

If you paid with a credit card, I would document everything that occurred. Take pictures if you are still there. Then, file a dispute for the remaining charges.

My sister did this with AMEX and won her complaint, got a partial refund. Agree with everyone else about taking pictures (now and when you leave), documenting calls and emails and all complaints to both the owner and management company. Sorry you're having a bad experience.

 

[JANNYANS]

kksmom92although I understand your reservations please do not stree too much over renting a home most owners take a great pride in their homes and at the moment it is the ones that are finding things tough that are letting the side down a little.If you do your research and ask as many questins as you can think of-like how many times a year do the owners visit when was the last time they upgraded anything in their home then you are on the way to getting a nice home.

 

[jekajekalynn]

Ughh...I payed with a check...is there anything I can do?

I am gonna contact them asap

 

[jekajekalynn]

Ohh...and for those who were wanting to know the best vacation house I have spent at so far..it was Isla Bonita's .

This house of sucky-ness I stayed at this time has the Address of 2949 Sunset Vista blvd, Sunset lakes resort.

 

[muffyn]

My sister did this with AMEX and won her complaint, got a partial refund. Agree with everyone else about taking pictures (now and when you leave), documenting calls and emails and all complaints to both the owner and management company. Sorry you're having a bad experience.

I have had the best luck with AMEX disputing something.
all I said was & I want to dispute a charge. they said which one.. & they never asked for a reason! it was gone!
I was really shocked they didn't want your blood,,,,,,, like some others

 

[dougsmom98]

We had a less than ideal experience last year. We had no cable from Saturday until late Tuesday night. Our pool heat wasn't working well and then they turned it way up and removed the pool filter and then the pool turned dark green. We couldn't use it for the last two days of our trip because they put such strong chemicals in to clear it up. We are still renting another house this year. Things can go wrong, but I have to believe that most owners are good owners. When things didn't go well for us, we did call the owner. He wasn't much help, but I felt better talking to someone else other than the management company. We got no compensation, but we didn't push the issue either.
Good luck. Enjoy what is left of your vacation.

 

[a1tinkfans]

If you paid with a credit card, I would document everything that occurred. Take pictures if you are still there. Then, file a dispute for the remaining charges.

SORRY, I did not see you paid with a check. I HOPE This works/ed out for you. I NEVER pay without a charge card, AMEX is amazing!

 

[CarolA]

For those of you now thinking "Amex will protect me" MAYBE!

I once had a charge appear RANDOMLY on my Amex.

Amex's response "you gave the hotel the right to charge when you stayed there" Yes, but that was TWO months before. Called the hotel (small family owned place that my company did a lot of business with) The owner went LINE BY LINE through his Amex payments to make sure he didn't get paid this money. He sent PROOF to Amex that he didn't process charge and/or get paid. Amex's response "we don't make errors" I wound up calling the office of the President. And apparently they DO make these idioit errors because he has an entire team of folks who do nothing but clean up the idiot errors! SHEESH! So if they won't fix a charge they make in error, I have no faith!

 

[isla bonita]

Ohh...and for those who were wanting to know the best vacation house I have spent at so far..it was Isla Bonita's .

Thanks for the kind words Jess. Its always nice to hear good things.

 

[jekajekalynn]

Well, I emailed him Sunday evening about the problems, we'll see what comes of it.

I would've emailed him sooner during the actual trip ,. but the houses computer was somehow configured to not allow any user to view email pages.