Review by Kimberly Bergmann (date: 13-Jul-2008)
Subject: Horrible experience at surfside
Comment: My family and I were so excited to have rented a home on the ocean at 211 seaside drive south in Surfside Beach, SC. We were traveling with two other couples and their children from 7/5-7/12. July 10th was our 10 year wedding anniversary. This was to be a special trip for our family and friends. Instead what we were faced with was nothing less then disastrous. To begin with, a week before we left I had visited the VRBO website for the home at 211 seaside drive south and noticed some discrepancies in the listing. I then went to McKown properties site and noticed even more. For the same home he had different pictures and the bedroom configurations were different. We were bringing our own linens, so we needed to know what the actual bed sizes were. We called, and called and called again. Finally we reached Bill McKown. He was abrupt and confrontational. He assured us that this was a “premiere” rental property once owned by a famous NASCAR driver. The home had been updated since the VRBO listing was place. “New” furniture was placed and the beds were upgraded to all king beds. He told us if we wanted our money back we could have it because he could rent this place tomorrow. After he calmed down, he assured us that if we were not satisfied with the property he would reimburse us. So we all brought our king sheets and hoped for the best. Upon our arrival, we found the grounds of the home littered with cigarette butts, beer bottles and fire work remnants. The unlocked door opened and we were greeted with filthy floors, covered in stains, french fries and chips. The garbage cans were full, windows and tables were covered in prints, oh and then of course, the beds were not as described, though he did leave a bag of linens for us. Instead of the 5 king beds we were promised, we had two king’s, three queens and two twins. We were left some nice rotting jelly fish on the deck as well. There was fresh toilet paper in the bathes which told us that some one had been there, just not long enough to vacuum or clean. I spent most of the afternoon and evening vacuuming. We placed sheets on the dirty old furniture and blankets on the floor. None of us wanted our children and babies playing on such filth. We called the rental agency and were told that unless it was an emergency no one would be available until Monday. Monday came and went and no one responded. We had paid extra for a BBQ which was supposed to be there on our arrival. One of us had to finally visit the McKown agency where we spoke with the secretary. She promised to get in touch with Bill and all of this would be resolved. The BBQ arrived the next afternoon the igniter was broken, that wouldn’t have been a problem if the stove worked properly. We were told we had a hot tub, we did, but it heated up to a whopping 82 degrees the whole time and the jets didn’t work. Two people came out to look at that after several calls, but both agree that it needed a special pump that would not be there by the end of our trip. They also told us that it had been broken for weeks. We still had not heard back from any one at McKown, we called again and reached the secretary, who asked us to send an email with all of the issues. Sadie assured us again she would speak to Bill and it would be handled. She was so nice and I believe she truly wanted to help. My jet tub was broken. There were literally no supplies in the kitchen to work with. As far as the wall mounted TV’s that he bragged about in the listing, that didn’t materialize either. We had one TV in the living area, one in the sitting area with a 20 dollar DVD player that worked half of the time. And in two bedrooms there were TV’s from the mid 90’s that had static reception. The pictures on the VRBO listing were not of the same house. When we got home I started looking around at other listings, and much to my surprise found the pictures of the home that we were renting, on an entirely different listing by a different agency. We spent most of the week trying to reach some one at McKown properties, but no one responded. In all of our years of renting vacation properties I have never once had to complain, I have also never been treated so badly. The pictures in the listing were obviously stolen from another property to make his look better. He is an absolute crook. I don’t know how he gets away with these types of business practices. I do not want another family vacation to end the way ours did. For nearly 6,000 dollars for a week I certainly expected better. My family’s summer vacation was ruined and this man continues to try and rent this home as a premier property. Renter BEWARE!!!!!
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