Windsor Hills Townhome Ant Problem??

[beachgrl001]

Hey bouncy, your owner sounds like mine! is his name Neil? I think I will contact my owner too , how did you put it when you brought it up to him? I dont want to seem like Im complaining before I get there. Have a great trip and be sure to post a review of windsor hills

 

[Bouncy Bumble]

I just said I had read that some units were infested with ants, and wondered if he had any complaints. Also asked if the management company would respond if we had a MAJOR problem. I kept it light and just said something like "Just want to know if I'll be sharing the home with some univited guests."

 

[Brian Noble]

beachgrl: if you're renting from a Neil M. in the UK with a 3BR townhouse, you are renting from a great owner. Very responsive, and the townhouse is lovely, and was ant-free in Feb/Mar of this year.

You'll have a great time!

 

[kylara]

I lived in FL for a number of years and this is what I was always told when I had any bug problem. If you have units sharing connecting floors and walls, if one is infested then the entire row is infested because they get in the walls. If one place is treated, then they just move down to the next one. The entire section should be treated.

So that might be why the person three units down had them too. But other buildings in the same complex might be okay.

The time I had sugar ants (just moved in) the pest control retreated the entire building. He felt my apartment was the worst because there was not one living there and so they had a "safe haven". After about two weeks of treating the building, inside and out, they disappeared for the most part.

 

[beachgrl001]

Brian, Yep! Thats him!!! I agree he is so nice they even offered to buy a stroller of our choice for our use(I had asked if they had one) We ended up buying a maclaren anyway so I told him not to worry about it. And he said If I changed my mind to let him know what kind to buy! Also he arranged for us to have early check in I picked him over a few other owners at windsor hills because he was so nice and accomidating

 

[JoyG]

I think I would have died if I saw ants. We stayed in a townhome in Emerald Island in June and I didn't even think about leaving food out. We did leave some out on the counters...bread mostly. My kids ate dry cereal in the living room and they probably dropped a few cheerioes or something but we never saw any bugs at all.

I do remember reading in the household manual that the place was regularly sprayed and to call if we saw anything. But we never did.

 

[Karen4120]

Thats great that you found such a great owner. He sounds terrific. I wish I found him before our trip!! I found out later that I probably paid a higher amount for 10 days then most townhomes. We paid more because we thought an end unit would be nice and the inside had lots of nice extras.

Too bad there isn't a place on here where we can post the good ones....and the ones to keep away from! I know I really was worried about doing the private rental route. It all turned out OK and thankfully....we loved Windsor Hills and the area and everything else but our roommates!

I know our owner is far from being overly nice about this. I have yet to hear back from our owner about our 10 percent refund. I sent another email asking if he heard back from the mgt company. So far no response and they usually were very responsive when we were negotiating etc etc. I'm getting the feeling that he is trying to dodge this issue. Not getting a good feeling at all. Too bad he doesn't value his reputation and that of his townhome! I will send another letter with the actual pictures via regular mail just as a reminder that this really DID happen. Not sure what they heck he thinks. I emailed all the pictures to him etc. I have a picture of a hamper filled with at least 100 dead ants. The rest were all clinging to my son's clothes and were washed away. What a mess it was to clean up!

 

[Gillian]

I'm so sorry to hear you had such an icky problem! I hope the owner resolves the issue to your satisfaction.

It certainly doesn't sound like a food issue, although it's good to spread the word about keeping stuff (especially sugary things) in the fridge or sealed containers. We just do it out of habit when we visit florida because that's what my grandmother taught me.

Are you allowed to post good homes/owners in the reviews section? Isn't it okay as long as it isn't your own home?

 

[curtisva]

We are staying at Windsor Hills for the first time in Aug at the Story Time 2. Has anyone stayed there before? I have spoken with the owner several times and he seems so nice and helpful. I am looking forward to it. Sounds like a good idea to ask about the pest treatment though. Lord, I hate bugs. I know you have to put up with some bugs in Florida but certainly couldn't deal with what you had to go through with the ants.
Can't wait for vacation!

 

[Karen4120]

I know when I was hunting for references on my unit. There were none and I did a search by their unit name, owner name etc and nothing came up on the boards. I did find a link here that was very helpful where you can verify ownership of the unit you are renting.

I'm not too sure on what we can and can't post about units. I do think it would be great if there were a subtopic on private owners where everyone could go and read posts about certain units. I did a few posts asking people if anyone rented our townhome before we booked it. I never found one person who stayed there. I did get lots of other recommendations from people here on some great condo owners. Don't think I got any for the townhome. There was one condo owner that had been recommended to me more than once...that speaks volumes for them! I know I tried pretty hard to find past references and I didn't get any from the owner or...on here. We just took a chance.

I'm sure that the people that stayed in my unit in the past are no longer reading DIS boards and thats why I got no feedback. It would be great to have a place to post about each unit (by name etc) that we stay in and our feedback on the place. I know the planning process would be much easier if we had such a sub topic on this forum.

 

[Brian Noble]

The difficulty is that there are many many homes/owners, and each owner and home is different, and so it is likely that quite a few homes will have had only one or two people that have stayed in them. Personally, I don't put too much stock in individual reviews; I'd need to see *several* *recent* reviews for a property before I'd make a decision based on them.

However, one thing that would be really interesting and useful is a set of reviews for management companies---both by owners and renters. It seems to me that the mgmt company has at least as much to do with a rental experience as owners do (and possibly more---they manage the cleaning staff, respond to problems, etc.) and there are fewer of them so that reviews might be meaningful.

 

[Karen4120]

Brian,
I agree with you! The management company's reputation is something that should be checked out. I know in my case, they could have solved this problem very simply. The owner did get back to me and he said he is still waiting for a response from the mgt compnay....its been more than a week since he asked for an update. He was going to remind them again and get back to me.
Karen

 

[Karen4120]

Just wanted to report back that the onwer decided to totally ignore the ant problem. He never got back to me and after a few email reminders he still did not update as to why the managment company acted as they had. I had asked to be reimbursed for my troubles a lousy $150 and he just ignored me. I sent pictures of all the dead ants in my kids clothes, and the dead ones they left us to clean up after the pest company came out. He was not phased. His reputation means nothing to him.

Keep awaw from "Seethemousetownhouse[/B]" they don't care about you after you've paid the bill. I found it thru the windsorhillsrents website. If anyone wants to email me for more info, Karen4120@aol.com.

I also want to reinforce that the Windsor Hills complex is great and I would stay there again but with a reputable OWNER and MGT COMPANY.

Karen

 

[willise]

We also just returned from Windsor Hills townhome (second week of Oct) and we had a huge ant problem as well. The management company was called 5 times, but never sent anyone out to spray. We had ants all over the kitchen and bathrooms. They even got into the dishwasher while waiting for the dishes to be cleaned. When we sat down to eat at the dining table, we had ants on the table before we could finish the meal.

I am not very impressed with this management company.

 

[Lucky'sMom]

Which townhomes and management companies is everyone referring to? We just reserved at Story Time 3, and the owner assured me that they haven't had any ant problems, and that they have their units sprayed every week. This has me so worried!

 

[willise]

Story Time 3 is a condo, I believe, so hopefully you will be alright. I am waiting for the owner to get back to me about my ant problem. Funny thing is that before we started our vacation, any emails I sent to him were answered within 8-12 hours. I haven't heard a thing from him since I complained about the ants.

What does that tell you?

BTW, I can guarantee you that the units are not sprayed every week for ants.

 

[Lucky'sMom]

Hi, Story Time are townhomes...here's the web-site www.storytimeorlandorental.com. Don't the individual owners set up their own pest control schedule? I have the email from the owner where I was assured that they have never had an ant problem because they have their townhomes sprayed every week. I would totally freak out if we had an ant problem and move to a hotel (and be out a lot of money!)

 

[willise]

I believe that in some cases, the owners are not aware of problems with the management company. I'm sure they pay a lot to these management companes to deal with problems onsite, but the management company doesn't live up to the agreement. Having said that, I am still waiting for the owner to reply to my email - 2 days now - if I don't hear from him, I will let you know the management company that left us in such poor shape.

These townhomes are very nice and well furnished, but ours had a broken handle to the patio door so we had a very hard time accessing the splash pool, broken chairs, broken glass in the picture frames, etc. But by far, the ants were the biggest issue.

More to follow

 

[FLParadisevilla]

All of these problems are sad to hear about! I am surprised that you never heard back from the owner! I would be very disappointed in the Management Company since its thier job to fix the broken things and take care of the problems like Ants!!!

 

[isla bonita]

Karen4120

KarenG is right on the money about the man/co's responsibility. I rely on ours to do all of the thongs I can not get to from a long distance away.

I also think after reading all your posts the owner should have to reimburse you for your trouble. I call when my guests arrive and ask how things are. If they have any questions etc...

I would have been aware of the ants, put a call into the man/co, the pest control people would have been out and of course either the man/co or the guests would have vacuumed and swept. There would have been some type of compensation some where.
I do understand things happen but this is way over the top. A guest pays a nice chunk of change for the rental of a home and should get their monies worth. A guest goes on vacation to relax not deal with stuff. We all know stuff happens so make it worth their while for the extra stuff they should have to deal with.

If they had dealt with the situation better you would have been unpleased that it happened but as things happen in life you would have had a better taste in your mouth when asked about the home and owner. Owners can not afford bad publicity. It will kill your business. They do not know the repercussions of their actions.

My only hope is that you do not choose to not ever rent a home again. There are more good owners then not and shame on them for not taking care of their guests to the best of their ability. Just know not all owners are so uncaring.

Things will happen in our home just like they happen in our own homes, hotels, condos, etc... it is how we handle these unfortunate events. Hope next time you are treated in the mannor that you should have been and I do hope there is a next time.

Deb