PLEASE READ: This is what happens when a guest has their deposit held due to excessive damages. Every single time the deposit is held, the guest will leave a negative review. I suppose to feel like they somehow have hurt us. In 4 years & hosted over 200 stays, with average 4.7 Star Review, we have had to hold a deposit 4 times. So, to put this into perspective, this guest is in the bottom "2 percentile" of VRBO guests who have stayed at my properties. To the contrary, we have mostly 5 Star reviews on this property and many families have returned multiple times.
Let's begin. On Thanksgiving Day, I arrived at 10:50am for a checkout at 11 am. We first consolidate outside/exterior garbage bins and begin pool maintenance. This is perfectly acceptable because pool maintenance is required on a continuing basis and not dependent on a vacant property for maintenance. This a NOT a violation of VRBO policy as Frank claims.
As I got to the pool, there BUCKETS OF DIRT dug up from the yard area next to the pool and dumped into the pool. There was also dirt dumped on the pool deck. The pool pump had run and circulated the dirt all over the pool bottom. The dirt was 1-2" deep at all 4 corners at the pool bottom. In addition, there over 50 rocks from the landscaping, thrown inside the pool. I assume that the kids were being watched, so that the adults "allowed" this situation to happen, in other words, nobody stopped them from doing it. The other possibility is the children were not being watched, and the guests were putting their children's lives and my homeowner's insurance in jeopardy around an unsupervised pool.
In addition, there were pool toys, goggles, trash left in and around the pool and on the pool & patio deck and in the yard. Pool supplies which we have available for use were left scattered everywhere, not put away where those were found.
This guest claims, that I cursed his wife. The exact words of my exchange with his wife, which I asked her, "who dumped all this dirt into the pool". Her reply was, "we did the best we could". So not sure what Franks considers cursing in that exact quote, which he was not a witness.
The Zodiac G3 pool bottom cleaner had sucked up a stone which was thrown into the pool and damaged the diaphram. Our next guest was due to check in at 4pm, and I did not have my Zodiac, I had to continue cleaning the pool with other methods, which require longer time to clean the pool for the rest of the afternoon. I also had to come back 3 additional days to purge the pool filter.
For the house, I had to call in help, to do an "Emergency Deep Cleaning" in addition to the standard cleaning, which is outlined in our rental agreement, as to what standard cleaning covers. Frank did agree to this rental agreement and should understand that we will return the house to no less than VRBO Standards, with a Standard or Deep Cleaning for the next guest, dependent on the condition we receive the home.
There were crumbs across all 2200 square feet of the house, including inside all the couches, cushions, theater room chairs and beds. We had to move and clean behind and inside each piece of furniture, bed sleeper sofa. There was food spilled down the side of the stove so we needed to pull it out and clean inside, behind and under. There were dirty dishes and cookware left stacked inside the sink. One of the couches needed to be shampooed along with a shampooing of stains on floor of Theater Room rug. Furniture was moved to different rooms and needed to be relocated back to the original spot..
I am not sure what 2 hours of cleaning Frank claims they did. The carpets, floors and furniture remained unmolested by a mop or vacuum cleaner during their stay. The floors and furniture were filthy. Trash was in every room. The dishwasher was run, however there were way too many items loaded inside and the sprayer was blocked, so everything had to be rewashed or hand washed and dried. The only recognizable thing that they did prior to leaving was a load of laundry, so we applaud that attempt to help.
The house was officially turned over at 5:45pm, to the next guest, so they were delayed in their arrival and inconvenienced on Thanksgiving Day, due to the condition which we received the property.
Now Frank stated that he hurt his "bad", with my pillowtop mattress topper. I will allow for the reader to judge for themselves. It is about 1 year old Tempur- Pedic Temp Adapt 3" topper. It is Amazon's Choice and over 4 stars Rating (See Amazon Reviews and compare to Frank's). We have actually had many guests compliment how comfortable the mattress in that Master Bedroom was for them.
The guest claimed that the pool was freezing and almost unusable. Generally November - February are not ideal pool months, like the summer. I checked the temp in my log book and the pool temp was 76 degrees the week of their stay, and with all the toys left inside the pool, I would say it was used a lot by this guest, and also used alot by the prior guest and by the guest who came in after this stay as well. It is a solar heated pool, so not as warm with shorter days and cooler temperatures of late November.
Finally, the guest which came in after we had the house was cleaned, was very satisfied, even after she and her family were inconvenienced, and gave us a 5 STAR REVIEW! I will let that speak for itself.