Not everything we expected!!
Review Submitted: January 7, 2009
Date of Stay: November 2008
We stayed at this Indio home for Thanksgiving week. It initially looked good, until the pool heater never worked (the hot tub finally did), the patio grill and outside frig. were gross, the internet was not available, as told, which was a big issue for us, the linens and supplies were limited (although the listing said much more was there). The final straw was the key set up. The house key was in a lock box on the door knob. We opened it upon arrival with a little difficulty. When leaving we tried to lock the key back into the lock box on the door. It would not close. We locked up the house and put the key in a safe spot and called the owner. She could not get it to work either and charged us $280 of our damage deposit to get a lock smith to come over and replace the box. This was not something we did - it is wear and tear on her property and another one of her items that did not work. She is an unreasonable owner and we will not return here next year. Be Careful - you could also lose additional money on this rental.
Owner's Response: I am shocked to have received my first negative review. Ever since I started advertising my vacation home, in September 2005, I have strived to provide the best customer service to my clients. I can address every aspect of the above review, but it still will not make this review a positive one. We have a swimming pool and a spa on our property that is being serviced by a pool company twice a week all year round. During colder months, the pool can take up to 7 hours to heat up. I always advise our tenants that when the night temperatures fall into the 40s they can’t expect the pool to be warm in a couple of hours. The spa heats up within 45 minutes no matter what the weather is like. When I got a phone call from Lisa, I had the pool service come out to the house on Thanksgiving night. The technician called me from the property saying that the guests had the filter pump running while trying to heat up the pool, and you can only work one or the other. He explained how to use the equipment properly to the guests. Patio grill is uses natural gas and is cleaned before every guests’ arrivals. The house has 4 bedrooms, and we keep 6 sets of bedding always available plus the abundance of towels. The guests were upset that we didn’t provide them with beach towels. Well, I don’t claim we have every kind and size of towels available for the guests. Also, if the number of guests considerably accedes the number disclosed to the owner, like it did in this instance, there could be a potential shortage in linens. Internet is only available upon request and to long time (1 month+) guests. And now the lock box: it is a very simple devise that holds the key to the house. It opens very easy by entering a 4 digit code. The guests left the key box in inoperable state leaving the key to the house in the refrigerator. The locksmith could not work the lock box, nor could he take the box off the door handle. He had no other choice than to replace the whole mechanism. The cost for the damage was deducted from the damage deposit. I understand that the damage was unintentional, but this is the reason the homeowners require a damage deposit. This is the first time since 2005 that I had to deduct anything from the guests deposits for damages. My family stays in our vacation home all the time and we make our priority to maintain the house and keep our repeat clients. Again, I work very hard to keep my clients happy, but this shows that you can’t please everyone all the time.
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Helpful votes: 2/2
