This reservation was a fiasco. After I paid in advance I anticipated contact from the owner regarding details of how to get into the unit, etc. NOTHING. No call or email. I emailed her twice through VRBO, no response. We drove to the unit a half hour before check-in and drove up and down the county roads increasingly frustrated because the property address did not exist! Nothing but trees and highway. Even kind passerby stopped in their cars to ask us what we were looking for, and tried to help. Nothing but rural country roads and poor phone reception. No property.
Anticipating a warm hideaway awaiting us, after a long drive followed by a two-hour search looking for the address and multiple phone calls to reach someone, we were stressed and exhausted.. Finally were able to reach VRBO directly from the side of the road; they apparently contacted the owner (whose name and number we never had) because the owner of the unit finally called us -2 hours after check-in when it was getting dark.
She stated the address listed was intentionally incorrect, to “keep Lookie-loos away”, And that she did that with all of her five units. Rather than being apologetic she was dismissive and rude. When she finally did give us the correct address just down the road, the place, though it looked cute from the outside, was dark, damp, and reeked of mold. The odor was so bad we could not close the slider.
I called the owner directly (who lived somewhere on the acreage), and she basically said the unit was clean, dry and did not smell….it was either our imagination, or our dogs were causing the smell. However our dogs were still in our vehicle and never set foot on her property.
We asked for a refund to which she grudgingly agreed. She emailed an apology of sorts the next day but still blamed our dogs for the odor that she claimed did not exist. Rather than the relaxing weekend getaway we anticipated, this experience was hellish. We ended up camping on a friends sofa, and returning home more stressed than before we left home.
None of this was the fault of VRBO, they did not know the property address was intentionally false. The owner insisted she emailed us twice with check-in info but she never contacted us….. except for the email after the fact, still blaming our dogs for the smell and concerned only about her ratings. And a fake address?? We would give this place a zero rating if that were possible. Hope this saves someone else what we went through..
