Heartbroken about current stay in FL

[Sunnygal75]

So I am here in Florida on vacation with my DH and In law. This is the first time back since 2019. We rented a villa and not happy with it. It wasn't really clean when we arrived, dusty, dead flies etc. in the windows, TVs in bedrooms don't work properly, dishwasher didn't work and after 9 days the owner got 1 replaced, the pool wasn't cleaned before we arrived and owner said he would get the management to clean it when they supposedly cleaned it, while were out, you could tell the only thing they did was put some water it in. The same dirty marks on the side of the pool and alot of dirt at the bottom were still there.
The owners management is awful. They have never answered the phone when we called and the owner has to get involved and contacts them. He says he may have to look for a new one.
The shower sliding door almost feel on my husband the first night and it won't shut fully. My in laws are acting like all these things are my fault and I am just so upset but trying not to show it and making this stay worse.
This villa appeared to have good reviews but I don't get it.
We have stayed at villas every year since 2010 and this has never happened.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Oh wow that is horrendous. It is also awful of the in-laws to blame you since your trip is suffering as well. Sad this is happening to you

 

[cvjw]

I just expect issues now when renting houses. Our last rental in watercolor had so many things wrong. I lost so much vacation time waiting for the rental agency to send someone to fix the various issues. I just make the best of it. It is still your vacation. Try not to dwell on the negative.

If my in laws thought the issues with a rental house were my fault, that would be the last vacation I ever took with them.

 

[RamblingMad]

Can you cancel and move to another place? I did that once in HI. We had borrowed someone’s points for a time share. Turned out it didn’t have AC, so I booked us another hotel to stay at and bit the cost. Not worth a poor vacation to stay and be uncomfortable.

 

[Christine]

I used to do home rentals too, but after some reading, I probably won't anymore because it sounds like this has become more common. There was a woman on another forum just this weekend who had a terrible experience with an AirBnB outside Disney and just ended up packing up and driving on property and getting an impromptu room. Sounds like you're well into your trip now but I hope the owner's will compensate you.

 

[Hisgirl]

My step daughter just rented a large beach front in Orange beach. The outlets were missing covers, (including the dryer outlet), the advertised large, soaker tub didn't exist at all, the door on the shower didn't have roller and couldn't slide to open at all, water was coming out from under the frig , the door lock stopped working, and on day three, the entire ceiling was dripping water down onto the beds and furniture. Like someone had sprayed the ceiling with water. (we saw it) The owner finally came and acted annoyed "WHERE are my shower rollers!?" As if they had something to do with it.

Air bnb was zero help and while they refunded the remainder of the trip, they held back $1500 in fees and taxes.

I've done some research and found sites where others have complained and that can get you into trouble. One woman stated that after wrangling with air bnb, her own access to her personally owned air bnb rental was cut off and she was no longer allowed access to see if she had any reservations.

So buyer beware on that one for sure.

 

[StageTek]

My in laws are acting like all these things are my fault and I am just so upset but trying not to show it and making this stay worse.

The poor condition of the villa is terrible.
The reaction of your in-laws is unacceptable. How unkind to blame you for things you have no control over.

 

[VandVsmama]

So I am here in Florida on vacation with my DH and In law. This is the first time back since 2019. We rented a villa and not happy with it. It wasn't really clean when we arrived, dusty, dead flies etc. in the windows, TVs in bedrooms don't work properly, dishwasher didn't work and after 9 days the owner got 1 replaced, the pool wasn't cleaned before we arrived and owner said he would get the management to clean it when they supposedly cleaned it, while were out, you could tell the only thing they did was put some water it in. The same dirty marks on the side of the pool and alot of dirt at the bottom were still there.
The owners management is awful. They have never answered the phone when we called and the owner has to get involved and contacts them. He says he may have to look for a new one.
The shower sliding door almost feel on my husband the first night and it won't shut fully. My in laws are acting like all these things are my fault and I am just so upset but trying not to show it and making this stay worse.
This villa appeared to have good reviews but I don't get it.
We have stayed at villas every year since 2010 and this has never happened.

Which location in FL? Which property? (so I know where never to stay!)

Your situation on the vacation rental sounds like a nightmare. And your ILs are being buttheads. Maybe don't vacation with them on the next trip.

 

[OneOftheB's]

I own a vacation rental, so I have a few questions. First, did you rent through an agency or directly through the owner? If through an agency, you need to reach out (you should have the first day really) stating that if x,y,z wasn't taken care of within 24-48 hours, you would call your credit card company and dispute the charges. The industry is pretty nonchalant about issues until you threaten their pocketbook. It's common practice that if you stay in the rental, even after contacting them about issues and don't threaten to leave or leave that things were not bad enough for you to get a refund, that's why it's very important to contact them immediately with issues (and follow up with email if possible).

That being said, I'm sorry you are having a bad trip. Unfortunately I think you are fighting a few issues. First, cleaners are not only overwhelmed with work but are just doing the very most basic of cleanings (when I was at my vacation rental last weekend, the cleaners spent less than 30 minutes to "clean" a 4 bedroom house and that included changing linens). The going rate is between $280-300 to clean a 4 bedroom in my area. Second, getting an appliance can be a process. First, a someone notifies the owner there is a problem, next a repair guy (who may take a few days) is called, then if a new one is needed either the owner or management company has to choose/pay for the new appliance, schedule delivery, then the delivery people may or may not install the appliance. It has taken us a full month to get a new ice machine for our house, although we were in no rush as we were the only scheduled occupants during the time with no ice maker but would have taken more than a week between getting the repair guy out, ordering the machine, getting it delivered and then installing it and doing some carpentry work to accommodate the new machine that is 3 inches smaller. Last, there are a large number of people who have no business owning or renting vacation homes who got into the business when covid hit; they are just trying to make money with no regard to the fact that they are providing an intrinsic part of someone's vacation.

I'm sorry your inlaws are being jerks, that's uncalled for and honestly that would probably be the last trip I took with them. I hope things turn around.