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Top > United States > Michigan 
| Vacation Rental Complaints |
| 1. |
Hummingbird House, Lakeside, MI, Cottage rental disaster
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My husband and I rented this cottage in July. It is a disaster waiting to happen. The cottage property and services are misrepresented on the web site, and the conditions were unsafe. The cottage was filthy and not clean on our arrival. The outside of the property was unkept and bug infested. It had leaves and vines covering the screen door and in the gutters. The windowboxes were filled with artificial flowers, not real. However, this was only the beginning! It states on web site to have central heat and air conditioning; however, only later at our insistence during 90 degree heat, did the owner have someone install a filthy air conditioner that appeared as though it was removed from someone's garage floor. We turned it on with pliers because it didn't have a knob! We stuffed paper towels in the gaping holes left in the window. It was faulty wired to the microwave on a powerstrip. Each time the appliances were used, they would short circuit. Both smoke detectors had been disabled, with only wires hanging from fixtures! The bathroom was filthy with old debris and tissues in the garbage bin. There were insects infested in the tub. The high def, flat screen tv advertised is the size of a laptop screen propped up on a bench. I could not locate the Adirondack chairs or outdoor fireplace (chimenea). To make matters worse, the owner kept our security deposit because she said that our dogs scratched her door. I know this is not true because the dogs were crated when they were not in my sight. Also, the owner based this on heresay of a "friend" she asked to come and snoop outside the house one morning. Since blinds are missing on a main window, our privacy was invaded. And, the owner (who lives in Chicago) stated that the friend said our dogs were "barking and scratching like crazy." However, she never came inside the house to observe, if indeed, my dogs were scratching! This is a scam and unsafe! The owner mentions that she is one of the few to welcome families with kids and dogs. BEWARE! We spent way too much money on a dump that only caused us grief. She does not accept credit cards. Currently, she is listing on Craig's Chicago list. And, she claims to be a proud member of the Harbor County Chamber of Commerce in MI, where we located the listing.
Date Added: Aug 19, 2008
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| 2. |
Little Bear Cabin Baraga, Michigan BAT cabin
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The cabin itself was fine, in fact charming, the shoreline extensive and clean. As mentioned, the accommodations itself were fine, other than it sits very close to the highway. Opening windows results in only traffic noise, not lake noise, as I’d hoped. The rest of stay I shall detail here. We were scheduled to stay 2 nights. In the middle of the night on the first night of our stay, there was a BAT in the cabin. Thankfully, there is a set of French doors that separates the bedroom from the living area, so the BAT was kept at bay from the bed. Call me squeamish, but I’m not staying in a cabin with a BAT for 2 nights, 1 night was bad enough. We packed up and I called the property owner. I told her there was a BAT, we were leaving 1 night early because of the BAT, and would she agree to a 1 night refund, to which she said yes, she’d agree. I didn’t ask for more than the 1 night’s compensation, only for the night we didn’t stay. After several weeks, and no refund, I began to e-mail her, requesting the refund information. To which, she replied with a letter to my home, and a gift certificate to another night’s stay at the BAT cabin or any of the other properties she had in the area (we live 7 hrs away). The letter detailed how she had spoken to her lawyer and, since the BAT is an act of nature, she was not responsible for a refund. In addition, she concluded that, and I quote……”the bat came in with you and left when you did”. I must state that both arriving and departing happened in broad daylight, we would have noticed a BAT following us in and out. At any rate, that statement is preposterous. So after verbally agreeing to a refund, she recanted. I would not recommend this property due to the BAT, the proximity to the highway and the integrity of the owner.
Date Added: Aug 12, 2010
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| 4. |
Overpriced Junker w\ a deposit miser for an owner
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QUESTION: What could you rent for $2400?
ANSWER: Anything would be better than this place!
I took my family on summer vacation a couple of months ago. We searched online and found this place to be reasonable and to be honest it looks decent and well kept from the photos. When we got there, my 6 year old daughter said "This place looks nothing like the photos. It is a dump!" Children never lie. With week old garbage piled to the roof on the side of the house, we were overcome by the disgusting odor immediately as we opened our car doors and we walked through the front door. Smoldering hot day with a garbage dump stink in the air, our first goal was to get the AC cranked up. "Wait! Where is the AC?" No AC available on the first floor, where you spend most of your time and only 20 year old window units that sputter and spit a little bit of wind upstairs. Maybe our next goal is to just lay down and get some rest, the beds were rock hard with no spring whatsoever. The sheets that were on the bed were covered with sand when we got there. The neighbors were absolute white trash staying up until 3am every night with all kinds of dogs constantly over invading your yard and deck. Some of the neighbors did not have restrooms but had porto-pottys instead so I guess we should have felt thankful even though the water stank to high heaven. The entire cabin was not clean when we arrived the kitchen was the worst of all with some sort of grease coated to the microwave and floors covered with dirt and sand. If you do decide to rent this dump, bring your own dresser because the owners keep all of their clothes and things in the drawers.
I am not one to complain. I try to stay positive and I am definitely not someone who takes enjoyment in writing these things.
When we left, my entire family encouraged me to complain to the owner. I did not complain until the owner decided that she would try and nickel and dime more money from me from my deposit.
I wish I would have known about this website to check beforehand. Now, all I can do is hope that someone else will check it and not make the same mistakes that we did.
If you decide to rent this place or any others, here are some questions to ask:
1. Send me more pictures, I want to see other rooms of the place and I want to know the dimensions.
2. Ask if they have central air.
3. Ask if there water is safe to drink and use.
4. Ask for someone to be there for a pre-inspection before occupancy. Too many renters in the Michigan area continue to get ripped off by these owners who are taking money at will. Just look for ads on this website.
5. Ask what the neighbors are like.
6. If possible, take a small trip and look at the cabin before renting. If we had looked at this one beforehand, we would have never stayed.
7. And make sure that they are honest with their pricing, I could have kicked myself driving around the Paw Paw area looking at some of the other beautiful rental cabins.
Date Added: Sep 9, 2010
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| 6. |
Ruined our vacation
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mold/mildew and dirt in the fridge, stained carpet and mattresses, dirt and hair in the shower, rickety and completely rusted bbq grill, 'out of order' sign on the dishwasher, '8 foot canal that all but of the largest boats can easily pass thru' was nothing but a swamp with a little water- no way we could have put our boat in there, there was a boat on the opposite side that looked like their area had been dredged out, mosquitos the size of small birds, unsafe stairs without even a railing!, white dog hair all over the furniture, upstairs bedrooms had 1 air conditioner that was propped up with a board, laundry room had a deadbolt on it, unbelievable smell that was a cross between mildew, mustiness and wet dog. Owner was deceitful, dishonest, unprofessional and it took him 5 days to return our money. He offerred to have the place professionally cleaned and to put air conditioners in all of the bedrooms as was advertised. He would do nothing about the dishwasher. Stated the cabin was "exactly as advertised" even when I pointed out the blatant discrepencies. To say this place was unsafe and unsanitary is being polite. Our entire vacation that I saved 1 whole year for was totally ruined. We have never, ever had this experience in all of our years of renting. In fact, the place where we normally stay have called us in the past to thank us for leaving the cabin in such clean and remarkable condition! The only reason we didnt stay there was because it was becoming too small as my mom loves to quilt and wanted more room for her projects. I wish I could go back and do it all over again and had never even heard of Dennis Benjamin and his "Kellerbee Cabin". Our friends and buisiness owners of Houghton and Higgins Lake scrambled together to find us an alternate place to stay and when they did they offerred for us to stay free of charge because they felt so awful for us.
Date Added: Aug 15, 2011
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