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| 1. |
CASA MED in Puerto Aventuras www.casesmed.com
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This was the email I had sent to the sister of the owner of the house right after I got back from a week long stay. She is also the broker for the rental. After i had sent this email to her, she replied she would look into it and then never contacted me again. I did get my security deposit back but I wished she would have at least considered a partial refund.
Dear Connie,
We just got back from Mexico and unfortunately, we and everyone involved that stayed at the house was very disappointed.
Our list of issues includes;
1. No air conditioning in the main house due to broken air conditioner from Hurricane Dean. The air conditioner needed a new circuit board and this was not installed until Friday, 5 days after we arrived. Even after installation, the air conditioner turned off and stopped working after 5 minutes. There was no way to even sit in the living room and have breakfast without breaking into a full body sweat.
2. No cold water upon arrival. My little brother burned himself trying to turn off the shower because only hot water ran from the cold water faucet. This was fixed on Monday.
3. No water on Tuesday and partially Friday. Water was turned off in the house to deal with the Hurricane damage but was not communicated to us.
4. No hot water on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. No HOT water for two full days. We finally checked out on Saturday morning. The boiler was shut off for those days. The boiler is in the back room and was shut off so that even the pilot light was not on.
5. Only day we had hot and cold water was Wednesday. One day out of the entire week.
6. Left side first floor bedroom smelled of mildew the entire week we were there because the hurricane had blown the glass wall in and the rain had poured in. The crew did a good job of fixing the glass wall by the time we got but unfortunately, the damage was done and room, now void of any windows that opened had a horrible odor the entire week.
7. Jacuzzi did not work until Wednesday and then it didn’t have hot water like the rest of the house.
8. Bugs everywhere. There were thousands of tiny bugs on the dining room table so that no one could eat off the surface without having their plate crawling with visitors after 3 minutes. There was still so much cleanup/maintenance that had to be done while we were there, that the cleaning crew had to leave doors opened throughout the day. All the bugs and lizards were free to roam in.
9. No privacy. How can there be when there is a repair crew in the house 5 days out of the 7? There was water hoses dragged throughout the first floor to deal with drainage. There was someone on ladders to patch up and then paint over all the holes created by boarding up the house for the first three days. Then not to forget the air conditioner circuit board repair guy on Friday. The repair crew was in the house from the morning until the late afternoon.
I understand that the repairs had to be done and I can tell the repair crew was doing a very good job getting the house ready for the next group of guests, but in reality, we should have never been told the house suffered no damage. The front and side ocean facing windows were blown out and broken by the Hurricane, leading to the broken main air conditioning unit and water problems. Even the OMNI hotel had a swimming pool and deck being repaired due to the Hurricane Dean. The Sunscape Resort next door to us closed as well for repairs. The Hurricane damage could have been a lot worse, but we didn’t pay all that money to stay in a damaged building with no water and air conditioning, and getting bit by bugs all night long.
It really got so bad we had to stay out of the house all day so that we didn’t even enjoy the house except to sleep and get ready in the morning. We even paid other Ocean Clubs in Playa de Carmen so we could shower and use their facilities. Our last day in Mexico was spent at the Marriott Hotel in Cancun and my poor husband slept the entire day upon arrival at 2pm. Everyone including him was so exhausted with having to spend the last 6 days running out of the house and then not able to relax when we got back late in the evening.
We had asked you before we left about the damage Hurricane dean did to the area and the house. We feel you were not honest with us and thus, we arrived at an uninhabitable house with 9 people whose vacations were ruined by the experience.
We are asking for the return of our security deposit and a partial refund of our rental fee. We would have gladly stayed somewhere else if given the advance warning. We were also under the impression that all the water/air conditioning problems were just minor things that would have been fixed in a day or two and not have lingered on for a full week.
Date Added: Sep 26, 2007
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| 7. |
misrepresentation of property conditions/construction
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We inquired about property in 2009 for our family's spring break vacation. We specifically asked rental agent at luxury retreats in an email and by phone if any construction in or around property. Both owner of property and luxury retreats said no construction of any kind. I have all email correspondence.
When we arrived at site their were bulldozers, workers,dust, and construction everywhere. Not only are they building a hotel or resort right next to this property between the aqua hotel and casa feliz, but the villa below was also having outside tile replaced.
We tried to get it resolved but kept getting put off by manager who acted as if no english. We left went to dinner to inquire about construction and were told by local it had been going on for a while. We called rental agency they said would contact manager but no construction.
This ruined our vacation we had to find someplace else to go. We spent rest of our vacation trying to get a refund but only got a run around.
We have documentation with photo's of the magnitude of the mess. We could not even access beach because of construction netting and cranes.
They ended up giving us less than half of our rental back. We spent and additional 1,800.00 in phone, fax, blackberry long distance charges.
This company is a scam, and should be prosecuted as such. I have read similar complaints since returning home and they all have a similar theme. Owner is responsible/owner says they are, they tire you out with phone calls and run around.
Date Added: Mar 4, 2010
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| 8. |
Refusal to return booking deposit
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We booked a vacation villa in Cozumel called "Casa Ballena" for a week for our wedding. They required a 50% deposit ($1176.00) paid by check. Their contract has no cancellation policy in it. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our wedding. This was on March 15, 2010 and our reservation was for July 20, 2010. This was more than 4 months in advance. 127 days in advance, to be exact. In desperation I tried to negotiate applying part of the $1176 to a 1 bedroom property instead, since the wedding was canceled and no guests would be attending. The owner of the company, Ron White, said that was not possible. He said we will lose our entire $1176 unless they are able to rebook the same exact villa during the same exact week (which happens to be during Cozumel's low season). He also refused to give me the contact information of the property manager or owner, who according to him had control of our money.
I would NOT recommend doing business with this company. There are plenty of other rental companies that operate in Cozumel, do not take a chance with Sherrie and Ron White if there is even the slightest chance of an unforeseen circumstance that could cause you to cancel. It would be understandable to have a small cancellation fee(even though we canceled over 4 months in advance), but absolutely no refund?? Over $1100 for nothing? That is completely unethical.
Date Added: Mar 24, 2010
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