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Top > United States > Hawaii 
| Vacation Rental Complaints |
| 14. |
Classic Cottages - Kaiui, Hawaii
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WARNING !!!
The house was not as advertised. The furnishings were trashy, the place was not clean, and the pictures on the website were misleading. The owner, Chris Webster, was a real jerk.
When we refused to stay there, he would not refund the rent we had paid him. When we said we were going to call the authorities, he beat us to the punch, called the police and accused me of "trashing" the house. He said we littered the lanai with food cartons, etc. and that we tore curtains and a screen on a sliding glass door to the lanai.
In fact, the curtains were dry rotted and torn before we got there as well as the rip in the screen door.
As for the mess, in one room, the sleeper sofa had used tissues on the floor under it, it was gross. The refrigerator on the lanai had someone's "leftovers" in it! The fan in one room was encrusted with dirt and dust.
As it turned out, we stayed there for about 3 hours as some of our family members looked for another place to stay. Eventually, we found accommodations at the nearby "Plantation" resort. It cost us over $7000.
Anyhow, as I said, he filed a complaint against me personally before we could file our own. The police actually had a warrant out for my arrest for "malicious destruction of property". The next day, when we had settled in at our new lodgings, my sister and I went to the police station in Lihue to file our complaint, only to find out that the police were looking for me!
A police officer had responded to Chris's complaint by going to the house to see the "damage" that Chris alleged that I had done. The police report said the place was a mess and there were broken items. The police officer at least agreed with what we thought, although he thought that we were the cause, not the victims.
Luckily, the police and the district attorney could see that we were not the cause of the damage and through the warrant out, but they could do nothing for us about getting our money back.
The system makes it very difficult for tourists to fight this kind of situation because you would have to travel back to the island to take the owner to court, and there is nothing that you could do if he and his attorney postponed on you after you traveled there. How many trips would you have to make?
As it turned out, my older sister who had arranged this trip was so distraught about the situation (the money lost and the stress) that it was ruining a trip she had planned for years, so, I dropped the issue for the remainder of the trip and we all tried to have a good time.
Upon returning home to Michigan, I pursued an inquiry into bringing Chris and Classic Cottages to justice, but found out that there wasn't much anyone could do for me. That's why I decided to write this complaint. Hopefully, no one else will go through what we had to endure.
Chuck B
Date Added: Aug 11, 2009
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| 16. |
Old and tired
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"The good: walking distance to beach and Mama’s fish house and the big parrot called Coco that flew in each night at 6pm.
The bad and ugly: In a few word – Old, tired & dirty. The light switches were dark dingy, the fan was filthy so that it was unusable, the walls were dirty with dings, had to use toaster on living room floor due to no spare outlets, no response from owners on initial contact via 2 phone calls (when we first arrived) and one email, took three days to hear back. The bedding was old, thin sheets, dusty windows that don’t open, headboard bangs against wall, not connected. The lamps were not functioning without bulbs, had to buy TP, everything was worn and tired looking. Drapes had holes and worn spots. The door on the smoke detector was open with no battery. The screen door did not function, pictures on web site must have been taken when unit was new. The kitchen fan over stove is loud and scary. Found big dead spider legs in towel, the toilet ‘sings’. Found mice feces and the DVD remote had dead batteries in it. The owners did come out two days before we left (we stayed 8 days as we had to pay in advance) to fix the lamps and provide mouse traps."
Date Added: Apr 12, 2010
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| 17. |
Akaka Falls: Sweeping Ocean View & Horseback Riding = Ruined Vacation
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The advertisement for this place is very misleading and the place was not a safe environment for anybody to stay in. Multiple times on the advertisement it says that this place is “clean”, but it turned out to be the filthiest place instead. Spent 4 hours of vacation time just to make it somewhat livable by fixing and cleaning up the place. Below is a list of problems with this vacation rental.
1. Door lock did not work
2. Door installation fell every time it was opened
3. No telephone or any other way to communicate to the owners or anybody, especially in the case of an emergency
4. All blinds broken, especially the one in the bathroom was broken and shabby that you could see right in. Had to put a towel over it for some privacy.
5. Dust, dirt, and bugs were everywhere from the windows, fans, furniture, kitchen appliances, etc.
6. Mattresses were so old that they sunk, bedding needed to be washed (could see hair and drool marks from the people before) and hair, dust and leftover items were found under each bed.
7. Appliances were unclean and did not work. Had a hotplate as the “stove” and the washer had cold water coming out when it was on “hot” and vice versa. Clothes got ruined due to not being aware of this.
8. The main light did not work, plus the flashlight that was there was broken.
9. Advertised that we would get fresh flowers and coffee every day. When asked why this was not provided, was told, “you wanted that?” Was told that she would reimburse us for this, but never did.
10. Items left over from the people prior to us. Used bottle of shampoo from a different hotel in the shower, etc.
11. Towels were rags. Had holes and bleach marks on them.
12. None or poor quality amenities. i.e. no Kleenex, water down soap, no table, etc.
13. Advertised that 5-6 people could stay there. The place was so small it could barely fit 2 people properly.
14. Upon returning the key to the place we were threatened and harassed by the owner all because we wanted to return the key to her. She claimed that we were trespassing and used harsh and threatening language. We also tried to mention again how dissatisfied we were about the place and she said that she did not want to hear about it and that she will have her dogs attack us.
-Upon speaking with some locals in the town, we became aware that others have complained about this place and the owner before.
Date Added: Apr 12, 2010
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| 20. |
SoCal Hot Properties/Kauai Hot Properties
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Rental for 2 weeks. August 14 to August 28. Upon arrival listed to sleep 10, only accomodations for 6. Found blow up mattresses;but nothing to blow them up with. Blinds in LR missing, broken could not close. Master BR leak toilet had a Rubbermaid bucket under tank; but water was around toilet, carpet MB wet from toilet smelled like cat pee. Head board MB just leaning against wall. Dirty kept finding recepits or pieces of paper on floor under bed. Found a 6 year old drivers license on shelf in MB closet, used a small hotel bar of soap to keep cabinet in MB from leaning on wall. In garage sleeper sofa with burn holes in it. Hall bath mold under shower mat, all bathroom mirrors needing cleaning.In MB large mirror had finger prints all over. No air conditioning, after paid last payment in confirmation with instruction told no air. In description stated no need for air,ocean breeze. Does not say NO AIR. So have e-mail stating provide air for us, was not their and even though asked and texted and promised beforehand did not have air. The leaky toilet they knew about reason for bucket, had someone fix on Monday ;but for 2 days had I had to wrap towels around base until fixedtosoak up water otherwise wouldhave damaged ceiling and been a slip and fall issue. We had to clean bathrooms and do mirrors upon our arrival. You pay a cleaning fee, they should get it back or hire someone else. So we called Mike Hermanns, instead of him calling us back, Rene called and spoke to my husband he discussed the sofa bed or lack there of, told of mattresses no pumps, spoke about blinds told my husband our 13 year old daughter could sleep on side of blinds that closed, so no privacy. Talked about air conditioners promised 2 Rene said only one;but where was it? Rene indicated that surfers from a few weeks before had done the damage to the sofa and blinds;but it never occurred to them to let us know what to expect upon our arrive so could have looked into something else for our 2 week stay. We never heard from Mike Hermanns in 2 weeks, even though he booked our trip and that is who I called and called and left another message for after speaking to Rene. A few days later called about a 1000.00 charge spoke with Kristina who would call me back when she got into the office, no call. So a week went by, no pumps or bed and no air conditioner. So I called agian on Aug. 21 about bed and air conditioners. What I received was a text message about the 1000.00 hold for damage protection and that the pumps where in the garage,so I texted back referring to the bicycle pump on the burnt sofa, I received no other message. So for 2 weeks we had no bed for my 13 year old daughter, she had to sleep with my husband and myself and my husband was hot and complained for 2 weeks. According to locals that was the only sunny days and warm temperatures, the temps were in the 80's , before that had mostly cloudy and cooler days. So without a breeze that ocean and open windows did absolutely nothing to cool the house,not to mention the 2 room in front of the house. So our trip to beautiful California could have been a whole lot more enjoyable if Socal Hot Properties and Mike Hermanns had given us a second thought. They received over 5000.00 and never bothered after that. Tried to resolve this;but pretty much have not received a return email reply since Oct.4. Have all e-mails, photos,phone and text records relating to this complaint.
Date Added: Oct 26, 2010
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