Great property, lousy owner
Review Submitted: June 1, 2009
Date of Stay: March 2009
The house is very clean, comfortable, and well-furnished. The location is great but the owner, however, is not. The hot tub didn't work and although the owner tried to get repair service, it couldn't be fixed during our stay. In fact, the electrical panel was melted and the technician stated we were lucky it didn't catch fire and burn the house down! When I asked for a refund of some kind, the owner refused stating he wasn't liable for an "appliance" breaking down. This was a houseful of family celebrating a 70th birthday. A hot tub on a VT ski vacation is important. It's like having no music at your wedding reception. It's not like the blender broke. I wonder what he would have done if the stove or heat didn't work? Still nothing? Instead of relaxing, I spent much time on the phone trying to reach the owner and arrange repair. He did offer an extra night stay which was basically meaningless since we had to return to work (and it's not a hotel where you can go back for one night). If he did equate the broken hottub as worth one nights stay, then some type of refund is reasonable. I understand that unexpected things happen and he did attempt to repair it but I also expect owners to display common courtesy and offer a gesture of good faith (even $100) when things go wrong. Very unprofessional and disappointing.
Owner's Response: Unfortunately the hot tub was not working properly that weekend which was understandably disappointing. We had a service company make an emergency visit on Saturday but unfortunately the parts needed could not be delivered until Monday when it was fixed. We did everything we could to fix the hot tub within a few days. The hot tub is working perfectly and there have not been any other problems before or after this renters stay. Unfortunately things do sometimes breakdown especially in the elements of VT. We did offer the renters an additional night stay which we thought was a gesture of good faith. We want all of our renters to enjoy their time at the house and in Vermont. The entire house is very special and we hope that the renters enjoyed the rest of their stay as well as their special birthday celebration.
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