My husband and I rented this house for 14 days for family vacation with our children and grandchildren (8 people). On arrival we found -- Filthy bathroom floors, (both) - dirty kitchen countertops, sliding doors and microwave. I immediately called the owner to report that cleaning people had not been there. He told me on a Saturday it would probably not be possible to get them back. WE cleaned the house ourselves.
Air conditioning was not working. When we arrived, it registered 79 degrees, so we set it to 71, but system kept blowing warm air and registering 79-83 degrees for the entire weekend. I requested repair, but service did not come until Monday, when they “tweaked” something and left. AC worked well for four days, then same hot air again for three days over the second weekend. More promises from owner, but no relief until late Monday. Owner promised every day that new HVAC would be installed, but that never happened.
Quickly we realized the freezer and refrigerator were not working. It is in “Auto Defrost” (?) we were told by the owner. No solution. “Auto Defrost” happened three times during our stay defrosting the freezer foods. Service came during the second week of our stay, and told us to not keep settingon “Hi” and left. At medium setting, the freezer defrosted again, so we raised it back to the highest power, the only way it would work till next breakdown.
I needed to call or email the owner almost every day, and he basically called me a liar, constantly questioned my complaints -- since he said no one else had complained. Eight family members experienced what I describe. I also reported the issues to Home Away on July 21 and August 1. They reviewed my complaints and photos and sent me a partial refund of their service fee. VRBO was very professional and considerate.
Owner accused me of trying to get money from him. I believe he should have refunded 4-5 days of the rent, since he did not deliver basic services of contract -- AC, refrigeration and clean house for at least one third of the days of our stay of 14 days and as VRBO suggested, we did try to negotiate that. (Last phone call he was yelling at me) In the end, his offer was unfair and not representative of breech of his contract, so I did not accept the small refund he offered.
Safety issue: an open window in the wall in the cathedral ceiling from the upstairs loft right next to children's top bunk bed where they could fall 15 ft/ playing around.