When the cable company came out on Day 3 (one day after we were informed of the issue) they explained that there was an electric current running through their cable line due to an issue with the outside utilities serving multiple homes in the area, specifically, the electric wires not having a functional neutral. This was explained by the utility company whose issue this was to contend with. The utility issue impacted the cable wire and led to the smoldering of the cable wire. We immediately contacted the utility company, on Sunday which happened to be Father’s Day. We also, in an abundance of caution contacted the fire department to ensure everyone’s safety and expedite the utility company’s response because getting immediate service, especially on a Sunday can be challenging. It is inappropriate to mischaracterize the facts as having dealt with a “fire” – that is simply factually inaccurate and damaging to the reputation of this wonderful house which has been overwhelmingly positively reviewed in the years it has been rented. To be clear, there was no fire and, as the manager of the property, we made the executive decision to contact the fire department following your representation that everything was fine. We called the fire department to ensure everything was safe until the utility company arrived to identify and resolve the issue. As they are required to do, the utility company arrived and fixed THEIR issue within a few hours, same day, again on a Sunday. As we discussed, this was an issue with the electric utility provider which was completely and entirely beyond the owner’s/house/property manager’s control and could have happened to any house on the grid.
As for the minor AC unit leak, that too was immediately remedied and resulted in no loss of air conditioning to the home or impact to your stay. Purely as a courtesy to address this inconvenience, we sent a bottle of wine and charcuterie board. None of this resulted in any damage to the house or your belongings. The same cannot be said for your lack of consideration of the items in the house as we understand a lamp was broken along with some other issues following your stay reported by our cleaning crew.
By the third day of your stay, you demanded a full refund for the week, yet insisted on staying in the house for the remainder of the rental period. Again, as a courtesy because there is nothing obligating us to do so, we offered you a replacement house down the block, which you promptly declined and confirmed that the house was good after the utility company fixed its problem.
You completed your stay without incident or complaint. It is not uncommon for minor, and unfortunately sometimes more substantial issues to occur (which was not the case here). This is why there are contracts you sign upon agreeing to the terms of your stay. Simply put, there are protections in place for renters such as yourself and owners/management companies, to equitably address resolution based upon the nature and extent of the issues and how they were addressed. Resultingly, we understand that VRBO agreed that your request is unreasonable and similarly does not think a refund is warranted given the actual facts which underly your complaints. Following VRBO’s refusal to meet your unsubstantiated demands, you contacted us to threaten a bad review if we did not refund you the full week despite the fact that you enjoyed the rest of your stay and checked out. We declined due to the fact that the issues were beyond our control, caused by the utility and fixed same-day. You also declined to pursue the alternatives provided despite the fact we were under no obligation to do so. As set forth above, we have had hundreds of trips to this house, and of the people who have chosen to review their trips, we have a 9.2 out of 10 rating. We pride ourselves on the amenities of the house, including newly renovated bathrooms, open space, ocean views, crow’s nest, outdoor showers, the list goes on and history speaks for itself. Owners rely on honest good faith reviews because their income typically depends on it. We take our responsibilities very seriously and are extremely disappointed that you chose to write a nasty review seemingly in retaliation for nor receiving a full refund despite your weeklong stay. We responded immediately, successfully, and provided options. When you turned those options down we sent you wine and a charcuterie board, to go above and beyond. Clearly your experience is an unfortunate outlier, but we cannot control what happens with an electric utility over which we exercise zero control.