Lake Austin Waterfront Retreat - Hot Tub, SUP, WiFi, Dogs Welcome

Our home has been on VRBO for 15 years. During that time, we have received about 250 reviews with a 9.6 rating and dozens of families who return year after year to enjoy our home. This saga started with my property manager contacting me because she arrived at the house hours after Samuel’s scheduled check out and found he and his group were still there, our SUP was badly damaged, and Samuel and his friends were in the process of leaving the house in complete disarray. Prior to their arrival, I advised Samuel that the hammock had torn during the prior guests’ stay and a paddle had been damaged, that I ordered replacements for both which would be delivered during his stay, and I apologized for the inconvenience. He did not respond, nor did I hear from him during his stay regarding any problems with the house. Instead, a few days after he left, I received a message that he was very disappointed, had left a very negative review and that he was demanding a refund. Since the review was not yet posted, I asked him to please let me know what the problems were and to give me some details about the damaged SUP. He ignored the question about the SUP he damaged and proceeded to tell me he was 6’5” 220 pounds (my manager said he was closer to 5’8” 150) and that “I am not demanding a refund in exchange for deleting my review because that would be extortion.” That statement, together with his complaint that it was unreasonable that he would have to “install” the new hammock during his stay, which entailed opening the box and hanging it on the hooks on the hammock stand, convinced me that I was about the be the victim of a shake down. Regardless, we take guest feedback very seriously and have investigated Samuel’s complaints. The HVAC is working fine. It was 97 degrees each day Samuel was there, the house was full of people and the HVAC continues to keep the home very cool. Regarding the hot tub heating, I get a photo of the hot tub temperature gauge after each cleaning. It was 102 an hour before these guests arrived and 2 hours after they left. It is working fine. The ladder on the boat dock has been removed and not replaced because the stairs which are 3 feet away are much safer and easier to use. As for the stairs being slippery, they go down into the lake and we leave a scrub brush near them if they grow slippery during a guest’s stay. We have replaced the broken SUP with a new, lighter SUP. I, like most VRBO owners, want to know about problems and maintenance concerns during a guest’s stay so we can address them immediately during the stay, or as soon as possible. It raises suspicions for me, and I hope for review readers as well, when I do not hear from a guest regarding complaints during their stay, and then receive a litany of complaints after a late departure and damaged property along with a demand for a refund. We are very proud of our 9.6 rating and strive to improve on each of our guests’ experience at our house.