| Vacation Rental Complaints [Tag : Vermont] |
| 2. |
Property not as described
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My husband, 2-year-old son and I rented a house at 351 Lane’s Lane in Charlotte, Vt., from John Zeeman of Massachusetts and Florida in July 2010. We found the property on Vermontproperty.com. It is listed as a “Charming 2 - 3 bedroom camp on Thompson's Point in Charlotte. Direct lakefront, great lake and mountain views, sunrises. Lakeside deck off lower level bedroom. Includes dock and is fully equipped.”
We sent in half of the total rental and security deposit ($700) by the due date. Mr. Zeeman told me his bank account number, then asked me to find a branch of his bank in my area and deposit it there. That seems like an extremely questionable practice, but I complied, and was unable to find a local branch of his bank. He then asked me to simply send the check to his residence in Florida, which I did. I asked later if he’d received the payment, and he responded that he’d gotten other checks and didn’t know which deposit was from which renter, but that he was pretty sure he’d gotten it.
I sent the balance in by the next due date as well, this time to his residence in Massachusetts. Again, when I called to confirm that he’d received it, he asked me to go back through my bank records to see if I’d gotten the cancelled check back.
I also asked him for some information regarding the house, including, are there baby gates at the stairs? Is there a TV/DVD? What do we need to bring? His answers were somewhat vague, and he said that he hadn’t been to the house in a while. He said he didn’t think there were baby gates and that I should bring some (it turns out there were baby gates at the bottom of one set of stairs and at the top of the other). He also said that residents of houses along the lake don’t drink the water (although he didn’t say why) and that his cleaning person would leave water for us. There was not water left for us. He also said there was no cable although the TV got 2-3 channels, and there was a VCR player but not DVD player. He said that it was “pretty primitive living” which, in retrospect, does not jibe with “fully equipped.”
When we arrived we were shocked at what we saw. To get from the driveway to the house, you have to walk down a fairly steep slope. There seemed to be steps cut into the slope and held in place by railroad ties, but the steps had not been well maintained, and it was a hazardous walk from the car to the house; definitely not suitable for young children or my 66-year-old mother, who was supposed to share the house with us. There was a large gap between the slope and the wooden walkway leading into the house, and the railing was too high to be of any use to my 2-year-old son. Plus, it only bounded one part of the walkway, leaving the slope side unprotected, and it had no rails.
The house itself could have been charming, but there were so many cosmetic and hygienic issues with the property it was hard to fully appreciate it. A huge cobweb was draped over the front door, and we had to duck to avoid it, making me wonder how the cleaning person could have missed it, unless he/she was shorter than 5 feet tall. While the kitchen and bathroom were clean, the floor of the entire property still had dirt, sand, crumbs and dog hair all over. I found a raisin on the floor in the living room and another on the bedside table in an upstairs “bedroom.” Several windows in the house didn’t open, and the ones that did had filthy, bug-encrusted screens and bug carcasses along the bottom of the windows. One screen had a big enough rip to let mosquitoes in.
In the kitchen, it seemed as though all the appliances were plugged into a power strip. There were baby gates, but only at the bottom of the stairs that led to the “room” my son was supposed to sleep in, and the top of another set of stairs that lead to the lower level bedroom. The “room” Zeeman said would be good for my son turned out to be an approximately 6’ x 8’ alcove off the top of the steps that had a day bed but no door and no closet. I would not have felt comfortable allowing my toddler to sleep in that room. The lower bedroom smelled strongly of mildew. There was a washer and dryer but either the light in this room didn’t work or we couldn’t figure out how to turn it on.
The outside of the property was a disappointment as well. There was recycling in the front yard that hadn’t been picked up, as well as some old car parts. We were hoping to be able to swim off the dock but the water seemed to be filled with concrete blocks and other debris. Zeeman said there was a canoe and a rowboat, but the rowboat was filled with water and resting on the bottom of the shoreline. I didn’t check the condition of the canoe.
After trying to contact Zeeman about the condition of the property, we left to find other lodging. Zeeman said he’d “make it right” and offered to cover the cost of the hotel for the night. However, we could not imagine staying in the property in its overall condition. We stayed in a hotel the rest of the week, and had several frustrating conversations with Zeeman, including one in which he said he could have rented to other people that week, overlooking the fact that we could have (and DID!) rented another property. He also told us we’d signed a contract – one which he emailed us and spelled my name wrong – and so he was not obligated to return our money. Eventually he said he’d speak with his mother, with whom he owns the house, about a partial reimbursement.
In the meantime, I considered cancelling the second check I’d sent him, but did not, as I stupidly hoped Zeeman would do the right thing and give us at least half of the rental fee back. It turns out he didn’t even cash it until Wednesday of the week we were to stay (two days AFTER we called to complain).
A few days after we returned home, and after another phone message and email, Zeeman returned our entire security deposit ($300), and $100 of the $1100 rental. Here’s what he said in the final email I received:
“I understand the place is rustic, and that you have a small child, but i went to see it the other day and the condition was normal....there was a metal object on neighbor's property line, no idea why, but other than that condition was ok and was ok with all other tenants this season. i always try to describe accurately, but understand things may be different with a 2 year old along” [sic]
Overall this was a very negative experience. I feel the property was not as represented. If you are interested in renting this property you should take our experience into consideration, and certainly do not rent it if you have a young child.
Date Added: Aug 24, 2010
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