[Prefatory Note 1: This post is of no interest to most of our loyal or other readers of this blog. However, we do note that there has been a heightened interest of some as to the recent "Home Away events" in Florida encountered by our staff, so, what follows are: (i) the review I wanted to post on the Home Away site but could not because of space limitations imposed by Home Away; and (ii) the review actually posted on the Home Away site. In addition, a complaint against the owner has been submitted to Home Away but it's only recourse is to "encourage" the owner to refund us the day rate charge with words of persuasion--the most extreme version of which would be to revoke the privilege of the owner's listing his property on Home Away's (which is actually just a portal for VRBO and other rentals). The review I wanted to file was intended to be the basis of the complaint because the only avenue Home Away makes available for such complaints is by telephone. Our understanding from the Home Away telephone rep is that, under Home Away policy, the owner is not entitled to keep, and is to refund, the amount paid for the night for which the house was not inhabitable. Here is the link to the rental where one can see the referenced reviews noted in both reviews below: Link to Florida Rental Site Finally, it is meet to note that the daily rate was higher than the rate stated on the site because the rental was during a season that is supposed to be marked by peace on earth and goodwill to all]
[Prefatory Note 2: Within with two hours of submitting the review and complaint, the owner phoned me twice. I did not take either call. Here is the transcript of the voicemail message he left: "Hello Mr. C[name omitted for privacy concerns] this is Dr. K[name omitted for privacy concerns]. I left a message. I'm couple I guess where I left a message for. Give me 602 number. Have a good day apology. I'm at nine with you accepting thank you. I do you said your family is having trouble classes you take care of them have a great year. Thank you and dad this morning is toast. Thanks." The audio of the message is not any more elucidating]
[Prefatory Note 2: Within with two hours of submitting the review and complaint, the owner phoned me twice. I did not take either call. Here is the transcript of the voicemail message he left: "Hello Mr. C[name omitted for privacy concerns] this is Dr. K[name omitted for privacy concerns]. I left a message. I'm couple I guess where I left a message for. Give me 602 number. Have a good day apology. I'm at nine with you accepting thank you. I do you said your family is having trouble classes you take care of them have a great year. Thank you and dad this morning is toast. Thanks." The audio of the message is not any more elucidating]
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Review as Wanted to Be Posted:
One Star
One Star
A Wonderful House and Beach, But Caution ...
I submitted to the owner a draft of the review I had prepared to submit (which is reproduced below) to give him an opportunity to suggest any changes. It pointed out the good points about the house and its location, but also pointed out that: (i) while no fault of the owner–but rather the fault of Florida Power & Light, we were not able to stay in the house the first night we were supposed to; and (ii)) while the owner reimbursed us the $158 hotel charge we had to incur, he would not refund us the daily rate we had paid to stay the night the house was uninhabitable. In response, the owner sent two emails attacking my honesty and otherwise making a series of ad hominem attacks, false charges, and inaccurate self-serving supposed justifications (e.g., “All the staff members had been paid to take care things such as moving your dates around, making sure that Florida Power was let in and testing their work, cancelling electric contractor, helping you for their time regarding coffee machines (even Kuerig) and my time for sending and confirming of the check”)–all apparently intended to excuse his not refunding us the daily rate amount we had paid for the night we could not stay in the house. I have done many Home Away rentals over many years, and I have never encountered a situation such as was encountered here–paying for a night the rental unit was uninhabitable.
The owner’s only stated specific “objections” to the draft review were that: (i) it did not mention that the electrical problem was the fault of Florida Power & Light (the draft review did just that) or that he reimbursed us for the hotel charge (the draft review did just); (ii) his Rental Agreement relieved him of the responsibility of refunding us the daily rate charge for the night we could not stay in the house (Section VII of his Rental Agreement actually says the owner will refund the daily rate for “unused days” due to electrical problems); and (iii) the power was restored at 9 pm which was “communicate[d] to [us] at the front desk of the hotel” (which message we never received and we never even heard about until the owner mentioned this in his above-referenced emails).
The only other objection stated by the owner was his generalized and unsupported statement that the draft review “is one-sided, is self-serving, contains a few untrue statements, and does not state all the facts”--but gives no detail beyond that. Here, then, are “all the facts,” including the matters raised by the owner’s emails, which were not included in the draft review because I considered them too minor or of too little or no import or otherwise of no relevance to prospective guests: (i) the owner reimbursed us for the cost of a specific dishwasher additive (in the amount of $5) which the Guest Manual instructed guests to buy and promised reimbursement; (ii) we found mold in the master shower upon our arrival; (iii) the front-door’s dead-bolt sticking required us to call the handyman; (iv) water leaked through a living room window which we had to attend to and alerted the owner about thinking he would want to know; (v) the coffee makers did not work (which the owner attributed to their lack of recent use) until we unclogged them; (vi) there was no gas grill as the Rental Agreement and Guest Manual represents there to be; and (vii) the owner agreed to a 1-day change in dates requested more than 5 months before our scheduled arrival and long before we could have cancelled for no charge, which he agreed to without any fuss and never mentioned until we asked for the refund for the night the house was uninhabitable.
Finally, I do regret that, before agreeing to rent from this owner, I did not heed the warnings reflected in the reviews posted on July 8, 2019, May 4, 2018, and February 26, 2018 and the owner’s responses to them. The caustic responses of the out-of-state owner, whom I have never met, are hauntingly similar to the caustic emails he sent me after I asked for the 1-day daily rate refund and shared with him the draft of the review.
* * *
Here is the original draft of the review as sent to the owner:
The house sits right on a beautiful beach and the pictures on the website are accurate. Actually, the outside pictures do not do justice to the grounds which have been improved since the pictures were taken. The two-story house is spacious and the kitchen is upgraded appliance-wise, and there are plenty of plates, glasses, cups, and silverware and cookware. The rooms are quite large and the view from each of them, as well as from the lower deck and the upper deck, is glorious. Direct TV and access to Netflix and other streaming services on a large screen smart TV is a nice feature, as are the TVs in the bedrooms. The beach is fantastic for walking on. There are relatively close grocery stores that are excellent and three very close restaurants that are terrific. There is a delightful nature preserve that is very close-by with wonderful walking trails and places to fish. If our review stopped there, we would give 5-stars. Unfortunately, there was an issue.
We arrived at the house on check-in day, and found water dripping out of the freezer. We immediately phoned the out-of-state owner, who promptly sent his handyman to the house. As we soon learned from the handyman, the electricity in the house was not working with the result that none of the appliances worked (including the refrigerator, oven, and stove), the TVs were not working, and there was no internet connection because the modem/router was not working. The handyman tried to fix the electrical problem but, while he was very nice, he said he was at a loss as to what to do, and so he phoned the owner and told him to contact an electrician. With the electricity not working as of 6 pm, and no electrician available before the next morning, the owner graciously agreed to and did pay the $158 charge for us to stay at a Hampton Inn. However, the owner declined our request that he refund us what we had paid for the day/night we could not stay at the house because of the electrical problem. The owner’s position was that, because the electric problem was the fault of Florida Power & Light–which it turns out and we learned the next morning it was, and was not his fault, he was entitled to keep what we paid for the day/night we could not stay at the house–which was $XXX (plus the related tax). In essence, then, we paid for an 8-day/night stay, but were able to stay in the house, through no fault of either us or the owner, only 7-day/nights. To be clear, we do not hold the owner responsible for the electrical problem caused by Florida Power & Light. We just respectfully disagree with the owner as to whom should be entitled to the $XXX for the day/night we paid for but could not stay at the house because of the electrical problem.
[Note: The $XXX figure is used because HomeAway’s instructions for reviews say “[d]on’t disclose the rates charged” (boldface omitted) for the rental. There is no dispute as to the amount of the daily rate charge]
Review as Actually Posted:
One Star
A Wonderful House and Beach, But Caution ...
I sent the owner a draft of the review I had prepared to submit to give him an opportunity to suggest any changes. It highlighted the many excellent points about the house and its location, but also stated that: (i) while no fault of the owner–but rather the fault of Florida Power & Light--we were not able to stay in the house the first night we were supposed to; and (ii) while the owner reimbursed us the $158 charge we had to incur at the hotel he directed we stay at, he would not refund us the daily rate we had paid to stay the night the house was uninhabitable. In response, the owner sent two emails attacking my honesty and otherwise making a series of ad hominem attacks and false claims (e.g., that his Rental Agreement relieved him of the responsibility of refunding us the daily rate charge for the night we could not stay in the house, when it actually states the daily rate charge for “unused days” due to electrical problems will be refunded). I have done many Home Away rentals over many years, and I have never encountered a situation such as this–paying for a night when the rental was uninhabitable, and then being unfairly vilified by email diatribes. In retrospect, I would have done well to heed the warnings reflected in the reviews posted on July 8, 2019, May 4, 2018, and February 26, 2018 and the owner’s responses to them. Those caustic responses of the out-of-state owner, whom I have never met, are hauntingly similar to the caustic emails he sent me.
My intention was to include here the original draft review shared with the owner, but the space limitation imposed by Home Away made that impossible. It also required me to make an abbreviated presentation of other matters, including that: (i) we found mold in the master shower upon our arrival; (ii) the front-door’s dead-bolt sticking required us to call the handyman; (iii) the coffee makers did not work (which the owner attributed to their lack of recent use) until we unclogged them; and (iv) there was no gas grill as the Rental Agreement and Guest Manual represents there to be.
Review as Actually Posted:
One Star
A Wonderful House and Beach, But Caution ...
I sent the owner a draft of the review I had prepared to submit to give him an opportunity to suggest any changes. It highlighted the many excellent points about the house and its location, but also stated that: (i) while no fault of the owner–but rather the fault of Florida Power & Light--we were not able to stay in the house the first night we were supposed to; and (ii) while the owner reimbursed us the $158 charge we had to incur at the hotel he directed we stay at, he would not refund us the daily rate we had paid to stay the night the house was uninhabitable. In response, the owner sent two emails attacking my honesty and otherwise making a series of ad hominem attacks and false claims (e.g., that his Rental Agreement relieved him of the responsibility of refunding us the daily rate charge for the night we could not stay in the house, when it actually states the daily rate charge for “unused days” due to electrical problems will be refunded). I have done many Home Away rentals over many years, and I have never encountered a situation such as this–paying for a night when the rental was uninhabitable, and then being unfairly vilified by email diatribes. In retrospect, I would have done well to heed the warnings reflected in the reviews posted on July 8, 2019, May 4, 2018, and February 26, 2018 and the owner’s responses to them. Those caustic responses of the out-of-state owner, whom I have never met, are hauntingly similar to the caustic emails he sent me.
My intention was to include here the original draft review shared with the owner, but the space limitation imposed by Home Away made that impossible. It also required me to make an abbreviated presentation of other matters, including that: (i) we found mold in the master shower upon our arrival; (ii) the front-door’s dead-bolt sticking required us to call the handyman; (iii) the coffee makers did not work (which the owner attributed to their lack of recent use) until we unclogged them; and (iv) there was no gas grill as the Rental Agreement and Guest Manual represents there to be.
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