Glad I didn't do AirBnb

[FUEGO]

We had one in Lucca that was not in the shape depicted in their pictures. The only direct impact was that the shower head was no longer able to be slipped into its bracket on the wall. We just doubled up in the other bathroom. The sun deck furniture was badly worn but that did not affect our enjoyment. Overall it was fine. But I don't understand why they would not reattach the shower head bracket. Maybe Italians do not shower every day?

Other VRBO rentals have been fine.

Shower setups in Europe were really YMMV for us. Lots of times we ended up with a handheld shower head you held up while showering and put down when scrubbing. Shower curtains or other types of enclosures were absent in 60-70% of the places. I guess it's just a different set of expectations in euro bathrooms vs US bathrooms.

 

[Sunset]

I just finished using my first VRBO for our family vacation. The only other one I have been too was to St. Thomas that my brother had set up (It was excellent and the property was called an Estate).

Anyhow, there were a few interesting things that I am not sure of as being normal for VRBO or similar type rentals, so I wanted to get a feel for if it were normal. I don't want to give away too much info, just in case the owner is a member of this board

...... but I just wanted to get a feeling from people who have used VRBO or Homeaway or whatever if that is the norm? It felt like we were pretty much interrupted our whole stay .....

A great post.
Listen, I have a cottage that needs someone to supervise the contractors and repairmen working on the place, can you let me know when is your next vacation time ?

 

[Ronnieboy]

A great post.
Listen, I have a cottage that needs someone to supervise the contractors and repairmen working on the place, can you let me know when is your next vacation time ?

Yes. And I'll gladly pay you to let me

 

[Ronnieboy]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I will wait and see how much of my deposit I am getting back and then go from there. I am expecting the whole amount but who knows??

What is the typical time frame of the return of deposit?

 

[ivinsfan]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I will wait and see how much of my deposit I am getting back and then go from there. I am expecting the whole amount but who knows??

What is the typical time frame of the return of deposit?

When you say Sunday do you mean Sunday the 17th...the return of your deposit should be triggered as soon as the cleaning and walk thru has been done. It should be any minute now. With all due respect you seem a tad bit passive about the entire thing. Did you damage anything in the rental, if not why do you say you hope you get the entire deposit back? You should have expressed to the owners your lack of satisfaction with the almost constant service interruptions and lack of use that caused.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

. There was mention that the previous renters were from AZ and they had the A/C running 24/7 which froze the a/c and supposedly caused a leak in the ceiling. She couldn't understand why people wouldn't want the ocean breeze blowing through the windows. As she is saying this I am literally dripping with sweat due to the humidity, temp and my obesity. I am thinking to myself, I'm going to crank these mothers to 70 as soon as you leave (they were currently off and it was 78 in the house).

BTW the fridge stunk like a mo fo being unused and probably dirty for so long.

There are no manual ice cube trays to make ice and I don't think the rented fridge/freezer gets that cold as the ice cream bars we bought on Sunday are barely staying on the stick they are so soft.


Sunday - get a text, "when are you leaving so I can come clean"?

OMG ,hahahah, too funny. These are the type of owners that brag when they sell their house that the windows treatments come with the house. The ones with 2 inches of dust on them that have been hanging from 1974.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

We had one in Lucca that was not in the shape depicted in their pictures. The only direct impact was that the shower head was no longer able to be slipped into its bracket on the wall. We just doubled up in the other bathroom. The sun deck furniture was badly worn but that did not affect our enjoyment. Overall it was fine. But I don't understand why they would not reattach the shower head bracket. Maybe Italians do not shower every day?

Other VRBO rentals have been fine.

I shower twice a day. Maybe they wanted you to shower with a friend to get into the romantic mood.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

T
We spent 65 days in Europe and had a few instances like this where stuff didn't work. The owners were very apologetic and tried to make things right. One guy refunded 10% of the week's rental fee when the hot water didn't work for several days (we heated water on the stovetop and took tub baths in the very nice huge clean bathtub). The 2nd bathroom was out of commission due to a water leak the week before so it was kind of a cluster but worked out ok for us. It was somewhat rustic out .

Oh this would have made me happy, parading around in my 312 pound Adonis like body. "Hey honey heat up another 25 gallons of water I think today is a 3 shower day, And pour it slowly over me i want the rainfall effect. "

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

A great post.
Listen, I have a cottage that needs someone to supervise the contractors and repairmen working on the place, can you let me know when is your next vacation time ?

Hahaha, I was thinking of something similar but i was laughing too hard to include that.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I will wait and see how much of my deposit I am getting back and then go from there. I am expecting the whole amount but who knows??

What is the typical time frame of the return of deposit?

With an owner like that about 25 % back. They will say you ruined the nonworking kitchen a/c. And broke the trash compactor. And because of the owners attitude, I suspect they will view you as an extortionist if you ask for any kind of refund from the substandard accommodations.

 

[dtbach]

I don't think my wife would go for renting somebodies spare bedroom. We have enough money to get a nice hotel so I think I will skip on Airbnb and VRBO and let all you fine folks have them.

 

[Peter]

I don't think my wife would go for renting somebodies spare bedroom. We have enough money to get a nice hotel so I think I will skip on Airbnb and VRBO and let all you fine folks have them.

You can also rent whole houses. We just got from visiting some of the Utah National Parks, and stayed in a cottage with two bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen. So not necessarily somebody's spare bedroom.

 

[shortstop14]

I've been fortunate enough never to have those kinds of a problem with either VRBO or Airbnb. I'd definitely be asking for a price reduction, and at the least I'd modify your post into your review of the property. Or maybe point out that I'm going to do that if I don't get satisfaction.

 

[Winemaker]

DW and I have used VRBO about 12 times in Hawaii, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Oregon and North Carolina, the last 4 years. Never has the place been less than spectacular and well worth the money. We have a trip planned for Western Florida in November, if it still there. Awaiting next installment billing for conditions.

Will never stay in a hotel if I can get a VRBO again.

 

[Ronnieboy]

When you say Sunday do you mean Sunday the 17th...the return of your deposit should be triggered as soon as the cleaning and walk thru has been done. It should be any minute now. With all due respect you seem a tad bit passive about the entire thing. Did you damage anything in the rental, if not why do you say you hope you get the entire deposit back? You should have expressed to the owners your lack of satisfaction with the almost constant service interruptions and lack of use that caused.

Just some of the comments the owner made when doing the 1st day walk thru. There wasn't any damage to the home that I am aware of.
I guess I am passive due to the fact that it was my first use of VRBO, I wanted to treat the home as I would treat my own, and just the fact that it was someone else's home/property. I know that if it was a hotel (where that is their business day in day out) I would have been very vocal and asked for compensation or just said no.
The rental did end on Sunday the 17th. So I will watch for the deposit reimbursement soon.

Thanks

 

[Ronnieboy]

I don't think my wife would go for renting somebodies spare bedroom. We have enough money to get a nice hotel so I think I will skip on Airbnb and VRBO and let all you fine folks have them.

The only way we would (and did) do it was rent a whole house. Don't get me wrong, the house and location was nice. Definitely close to $2 million home (if not more). We both value our privacy too much to do a room or share a house with strangers.

Just looked, Zillow says $1.95M

There isn't a price advantage over a hotel room either, it might have been similar in price to buy 3 hotel rooms for the week, one with a kitchenette.

 

[Ronnieboy]

With an owner like that about 25 % back. They will say you ruined the nonworking kitchen a/c. And broke the trash compactor. And because of the owners attitude, I suspect they will view you as an extortionist if you ask for any kind of refund from the substandard accommodations.

That is what I am afraid of....

 

[ivinsfan]

That is what I am afraid of....

There must be a contact thru VRBO either email or cell phone..Is there some reason you don't contact the owner and ask where you desposit is? VRBO is a business and you don't need to treat it as any different then a hotel arrangement. No need to be so passive, how much was your deposit?

 

[ivinsfan]

Just some of the comments the owner made when doing the 1st day walk thru. There wasn't any damage to the home that I am aware of.
I guess I am passive due to the fact that it was my first use of VRBO, I wanted to treat the home as I would treat my own, and just the fact that it was someone else's home/property. I know that if it was a hotel (where that is their business day in day out) I would have been very vocal and asked for compensation or just said no.
The rental did end on Sunday the 17th. So I will watch for the deposit reimbursement soon.

Thanks

I just checked my rental in Jan and I had my deposit back in full within 2 business days. Every place you stay on vacation is someone else's property. VRBO is a business and the owners that don't toe the mark soon lose their business thru bad reviews and lack of repeat business.