Very Disappointing
Submitted: April 8, 2009
Stayed: February 2009
Over the last eight years, we have rented seven homes through HomeAway/CyberRentals and never had a negative experience until this rental. I arranged a trip for five families to stay at this house over President's Day weekend and we treated the house with the utmost respect and care when we were there. When we left, we made sure things were in perfect order, and we even called the garbage removal service to make sure our garbage was picked up asap.
The owner said the house was in great shape, but there was some cereal spilled in the basement shag carpet. He said he had to keep half of our security deposit because his cleaning lady had to spend extra time vacuuming. $250 of vaccumming? He also accused us of using illegal substances in the home, which was incorrect and we found very offensive. I would never rent this house again.
Owner's Response: Our place is a very beautiful, but older home on a very gorgeous piece of property. We've owned it for 25 years, and value and respect both its beauty and its limitations. Most renters are very careful of our place, but when it has been abused, or left in an unsatisfactory condition, we deduct the cost of the extra cleaning required from the security deposit. In this particular case, the cleaning person described what apparently had been a food fight in the basement room rec room. Cereal was everywhere, in, around, on and under everything in the room. It necessitated a total cleanup, which upset both the mood and the schedule of the cleaning person.
Our lease also states very clearly that smoking is not allowed in the residence. In this case, the cleaning person identified evidence of smoking in the cleanup debris. Some of us have severe allergies, so we do everything to encourage our renters to adhere to this policy.
Our place is very secure, and carefully watched. In 23 years, we have never have had a single occurrence of theft or of unauthorized entry to the place. Because of this, we generally think it reasonable to attribute damages to renters, rather than to vandalism or to unauthorized use.
We seldom cash the security deposit check until we determine that something has gone wrong. We think this is fair to both renters and to us. And we determine the extra costs before contacting the renter. This gives us the opportunity to tell the renter the good news that we will be returning some of the deposit at the same time as we give them the bad news.
Our renters enjoy the spaciousness and beauty of the place and its surroundings, and respect the place along with us. We welcome all those who will agree to do the same.
Helpful votes: 9/12
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