Etienne L.
Yelp
Okay so here's the deal. I rented a very nice home from these people and everything went smoothly in securing the property. They provided adequate communication and we arrived at the lovely home with no problems. I will tell you, as past owners of 2 beachfront properties on Pawleys Island, SC and know intimate in's and out's of renting, as we did rent them out from time to time, my wife and I took careful care of the house and property. When there were 2 small issues, the said company jumped on it and expressed appreciation for our help in reporting the issues and they dealt with it per mel. Because of their promptness, we will definitely will be doing business with these folks in the near future...or so we thought. I will tell you the price was not cheap and included a $1,000 safety deposit. But fine, we were initially happy with the experience. My daughter loves art and decided to do art on the painted carport, a 2'x4' area located towards the front of the carport. I want to report there were tire marks noted when we arrived, but, it's a carport after all. We came in a Yukon XL with a Yakima Rocket box on top, so we could not park in the carport, thus, we parked outside the whole week. No problem. But, the issue we had was the day we were leaving, One of the nice ladies who works at said company called and asked if we had a good stay, which I concurred and commented on how well they responded and how we were going to use them again. Unfortunately for me, I did NOT get her name as we were in the throws of packing to be out on time, which we were. I did tell her of the "artwork" done by my daughter and if she would like me to clean it off. I told her where it was and what my daughter used, which was colored chalk. I told her it would be no problem and in fact was going to scrub it off anyway, obviously, as I did not want to incur a charge. She ASSURED me it was fine and not to worry...see where I am going with this? So everything is good, or so I thought. Some days later I received an email, no call, and they informed me the "owner" was upset that there was paint on the carport. I knew exactly what was going to happen and kicked myself for not listening to my inner voice and cleaned it myself. I responded that the nice lady called and I told her specifically of the artwork and if I should go ahead and clean it off and how the lady told me "not to worry about it" and it would be "fine". I do need to point out our daughter used water to spread out the color, which gave it a "painted" look. But was in fact colored chalk. I emailed twice after their original email and stated she had used water which gave it a painted look. But No email was received, no communication from "Vacation Rentals of the Florida Keys" was ever sent to me. I knew we had a problem and I knew more than likely what they were going to do. And they did. I received my security check in the mail yesterday minus $250.00 "for repairs"! Are you freakin kidding me? Really?
First off, they should have communicated with me via email, text or better yet a phone call. But no...just crickets on their end and a cold envelope with the check. No response, no personal small note or anything came with the check. Again, just the "for repairs" on the check stub. I had a reasonable expectation that they would have been honest and forthright in dealing with this but, sadly for them, their behavior speaks for itself. It was unfair to say the least and again they made NO attempt to contact me to rectify , other than the check minus the $250. They have shown "very poor" business acumen for sure. Had they been honest and fair and if in fact the water stained the paint at all, (which I find hard to believe). No pics were sent to me to show the issue and the "mystery woman" who I spoke with should have footed the bill. Heck, I would have have payed half, which is even more fair. So my advice in dealing with this company is to "beware". My story is completely factual and not embellished in anyway. We will not be renting with them, obviously. Hopefully, although I doubt they will learn from this. Hope this helps folks. In closing, I left a stellar and glowing review on some damned website and if I can find it, will make an addendum. Shame on "Vacation Rentals of the Florida Keys". Was $250 worth this honest review? They should have been professional and called me.But chose not to. And so it is.