This is the complaint that I have submitted to BBB. Please do NOT do business with this company as they do not know how to run a business at all. You will just be wasting your money staying at any of their properties.

We rented Casa de Sol from Thursday, July 2, 2009 through Thursday, July 9, 2009 during your “Premium Season”. We have honored our part by paying one-half deposit upfront to reserve this home and completing the payment one month before our vacation stay.
My family and I have rented vacation homes all across the nation and this is the most unpleasant, disappointing, and non-functional rental we have ever experienced. You market a list of home features that are either not present, non-operable, and/or misleading. You did not even list a maintenance or emergency contact phone number in your 5-page folder. And yes, we know 911 is an emergency number but that number does not connect us directly to you, the rental company, or the owner of the home.
Your company markets the following statement below:
“The large open great room is surrounded by windows with views of the Gulf, Sound and 12 miles of National Seashore. The house has flat screen TVs throughout, a wet bar, as well as the most incredible kitchen imaginable with Viking appliances and granite counter tops. This is a house for entertaining!”
As the weekend progressed, this rental home unveiled to be an embarrassment for our family and guests.

• First of all, when we came into this home, there was an uninviting smell throughout the home. We had to buy air fresheners to create a comfortable breathing environment.

• You had advertised this rental as luxury living that sleeps 10-12 people. Sure, there are enough beds for 12 people to sleep on but that was about it. There are not enough wine glasses, cookware, or even seats at the dining table to hold this many people.

• There are many areas that were not cleaned. Layers of dust are accumulated on the ceiling fans, center pieces, fake plants, etc. There are spider webs and dead insects throughout the home. The air filter for the A/C unit is dirty. The floors still had some dirt and sand. Again, my family and I had to purchase cleaning products to re-clean what your employees had failed to do correctly. We left the dust on the props, dead insects, and spider webs for you to review.

• Three bins of trash from the previous renters were not removed from the premises. We arrived at the property with the overfilled, green trash bin at the curb of the home. There were also 2 other overfilled, blue trash bins on the side of the home. The trash from the large green bin was picked up on Saturday but the other 2 trash bins were still on the side of the home. We do not feel that it was our responsibility to pull out these trash bins to the curb when we did not create that trash. In addition, my family and I are not aware of when trash pick-up schedule is in this area.

• The light for the front door does not work. The doorbell is cracked and is inoperable.

• This home has knives, pots, bowls and a kettle that are rusted.

• The Viking Stove was missing a knob for one of the ovens. Also, we are unable to use all the burners on this stove. The stove became inoperable on the morning of July 4th. My family and I purchased over $800 worth of food for the 4th of July event. Natural gas was no longer available for use.

• After the gas stove went out, the water heater also did not provide any hot water! Everyone in this household had to take cold showers for a day and a half.

• There are two dishwashers present, however, only one works. The other dishwasher is missing the knob that turns on the unit.

• The drawer, located at the bottom of the microwave, does not stay close. It will occasionally open out which is dangerous for the children passing by.

• There are two bar stools at the island counter. However, one bar stool is broken. One of my family members who sat on it, fell back when he lean against the back side of the chair. One of the family members had to go purchase tools to fix it.

• There are a colony of ants around the blender of the wet bar. We had to put the blender in the sink and cleaned the area on the counter.

• The ice maker in the bar area was inoperable, dirty and there was mold inside. Again, mold is very unsafe for anyone to breathe in.

• There is a wire that comes out of the wall outlet in the dining area. This is a safety and hazardous issue. This wire operates the exterior balcony lights. You should have a licensed electrician to correct this deficiency immediately.

• Track lightings under the cabinets of the kitchen are not properly installed. These strings of lights hang low and needs to be properly mounted. This type of deficiency is not up to standard in a luxury vacation home.

• The sliding patio doors to the balcony always come off track. It is extremely difficult to open and close this door. The screen door is also just hanging from the top.

• In the master bedroom of the 3rd floor, a tube and wires are hanging down from the ceiling. Photos from your website indicate that a flat screen TV was once there. Again, hanging wires are safety issues and this is a misleading advertisement from your company. Even if the flat screen was out of commission, it should have been replaced by a comparable flat screen, not a tube TV.

• One of the sinks in the master bedroom has a slow drain.

• In the middle bedroom of the 3rd floor, a cable wire runs from the window along the corner of the room and into the closet. This cable wiring is unprofessional and is a safety concern.

• The bathroom light for the standing shower does not work. It is in the bedroom to the far left on the 3rd floor. This is the bedroom that faces the ocean.

• All of the air vents in the bathrooms along with the air vent in the laundry room on the 3rd floor all have mold and mildew around the vents and ceiling. Our children have allergies and this is health hazardous to them.

• The master bedroom has dead insects on the ceilings at the corners of the walls.

• There are no flat screen TV’s throughout the home as advertised on your website. The living area has a projection type TV placed in the built in entertainment center. Obviously, Holly does not know what a true flat screen is.

• The charcoal grill outside was filthy. We had to go buy cleaning products to scrub off old grease and grime. (Again, more expenses on our part)

• The gazebo is unstable. Some of the wood has detached and huge nails are exposed. This is a serious safety issue and needs to be addressed immediately.

• Wood boards with exposed nails and a broken concrete block are located at the side of the home. This is a safety issue and is dangerous for we have children playing outside of the beach home.

• There are patio chairs lined up on the side of the home. There are also many furniture and items stored in the garage (1st floor). It seems that this is more of a storage house than a rental home.

• This is a luxury home you advertised; the linen you provided should have been updated. The towels were all worn out and mismatched. Moreover, the washing machine is out dated and should at least be up to the same quality (or better) of the dryer. It seemed that you have put any leftover type of furniture, props, and accessories into this house. This is not a preference of taste; it is more of being updated and upkeep of this home. Also, a touch of paint would help the home to be more presentable. There are dents, scuff marks, and scratches on the walls throughout the home.

• There was a wedding at the house before our stay started. Tables and chairs were not picked up until Friday at noon. We paid in full to rent this home privately from Thursday to the following Thursday. You, the company, should have coordinated proper cleaning and pickup after previous renters. This is very unprofessional and lack of management to invade on our time spent there. Although they were only there for about an hour to pick up their items, that was an hour of privacy that was taken from us.

• There were numerous phone calls and numerous emails to your company. On Friday morning, I specifically stated the issues in the emails and this company chose to send out a guy named Gary have no authority or decision making skills. He simply apologized and said there is nothing he can do at the time. Only one phone call was returned on Saturday afternoon although the first phone call from me was on Friday morning. On Saturday, “Holly” said that the owner of the home is out of the country and cannot be reached at this time. The following day, another maintenance person came to inspect the stove approximately at 1pm and called the owner directly from his cell phone to tell him that there is no gas at the home and the owner, Sean picked up the phone immediately. He also said that Sean was the one who sent him out there. When I spoke to Holly, she said that she would get someone out there first thing in the morning. We missed breakfast and lunch that day because the maintenance guy did not come out until 1pm and the gas company did not arrive to replenish the gas until 3pm!

• Your rental policy states that “Strip all bedding and place in the laundry area. Start the first load of laundry”. First, why should we strip the bedding when you have charged us a cleaning fee? Second, how are we to start the first load of laundry when you did not provide us with any laundry detergent? Do you wash your linens in just water? I must say that is pretty unsanitary!

• Overall, you advertised that we will feel that we are “on an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”. I beg to differ and I would like to know which episode you are referring to.


NOTES for phone calls and maintenance contact

Emailed them on Friday, July 3rd (no email/phone response)
Emailed and called them on Saturday, July 4th (spoke to Holly who had very unprofessional customer service)

I have called/emailed every day since my stay at Casa del Sol. On Friday afternoon, a man named “Gary” came out and asked if we had problems with the master bedroom. We told him that there are many problems with this home as stated in the email that I had written that morning. We asked if he was the maintenance person, he replied that he works for the owner part-time. He also said he is not really the maintenance person but just came out because of the complaint. He did not have any tools with him nor did he call before he came to the home. He even said that “I really can’t do anything” (to help us). Also, he shared with us that the owner of this home is not really a good landlord and that this home is not well-kept. He even said “I can show you which homes around here to rent that is better and cheaper”. He also agreed that we should be upset for the price that we paid for the home considering that it did not match what was advertised. Furthermore, he mentioned that the last renter who was a realtor was also not pleased with this home and that the owner will definitely be getting it from him. After realizing that he could not do anything to help us, we courteously sent him on his way home and told him to go and enjoy his holiday weekend with his family. We never once yelled at him nor were we rude to him.

On Sunday, July 05, 2009, a maintenance person came out to look at the stove approximately at 1pm. He said the tank is out of natural gas and the company will be here later to replenish it. After 3:00 p.m., AmeriGas came to refill the natural gas tank. My family and I were not able to have proper meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) on Saturday, July 4th, breakfast and lunch for Sunday, July 5th. We came in from all over (California, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida) to share this holiday together. Sure, Holly did offer us a $200 gift certificate to go eat somewhere…but $200 does not cover 5 meals for 12 people! Also, we rented the home so we can have our privacy, not go out and join the circus of people out on a holiday weekend! Considering how we did not have a working stove or hot water, I had a right to be furious but Holly did not. I demanded a maintenance person (as anyone would have) and she kept yelling that no one would come out because it was the 4th of July but at that time she had only called two of the company’s regular maintenance guys. Fireworks did not start until 9pm. She called around 5pm. The maintenance guy had a 4 hour window to get out there and figure out the problem. When you run a rental home business, you must make sure that there is maintenance 24/7, 365 days a year. Also, everything should be checked to make sure that the guests will not run into issues like the ones we ran into. Obviously, the management company avoids as much contact with the renters as possible. I’m sure if the house were to burn down that you would be out there instantly! A day and a half completely ruined because we were not able to use the house to the fullest and you do not think that it is fair that you refund what we are asking? You, your company, staff, and the owner has managed to ruin our vacation.

Again, your low season fee is $2800 plus taxes and cleaning fees (even though the home was not clean when we got there). Even for that price, it is not worth it. So, since we stayed for 4 days, we think that it is fair that your company, beach house rentals, should reimburse us for all of the inconvenience and the horrible experience that you’ve put us through this past weekend. We are requesting a refund of 50% or else further action will have to be taken.