Disappointing
Review Submitted: October 6, 2009
Date of Stay: September 2009
I rented this home for myself, my husband, and our two very young children. Shortly after our arrival we discovered there was a furry four-legged rodent(s) in the house leaving daily droppings (meaning poop) on the floor in the kitchen and living room. I was extremely disappointed that when we left after 2 days (we originally planned to stay 8 days) due to the fact that I did not want to expose my children to vermin that the owner informed me that we would no longer qualify for the quoted weekly rate and upped significantly the daily rate for the 2 days we stayed. Of course, we had paid in full prior to arriving so perhaps I should be grateful that the owner provided us with any refund. (huh?) I was surprised that the owner's initial reaction was shock that I would leave so quickly and not give her the chance to bring in an exterminator and hunt for the rat(s). I guess putting my family's safety first (my 2 year old picked up rat poop!) was not understandable to her. So, if you choose to rent this home bear in mind that it is your problem if anything goes wrong with the home and refunds are at the owner's discretion and judgment on how much she was inconvenienced (not yours- even though you have to repack, find a new place to stay, and put in multiple requests for a refund.) I would not recommend this property to anyone - I recognize things in life happen but how this unfortunate situation was dealt with is my issue and inexcusable.
Owner's Response: This was a very unfortunate situation that occurred while I was away on vacation.
The renter didn't mention that we immediately offered to have our cleaning people clean the house again when she first mentioned that she saw mouse, not rat, droppings. We also explained several times that what she saw were gecko droppings.
We understood her concern and exchanged courteous e-mails. She sent us photos of the rodent droppings in question which I felt would help to find the problem areas.
The refund was sent 12 days after their early departure from the house. Here is the letter of explanation I sent to her with the refund.
Aloha,
Sorry for the delay in getting this refund to you but I had to talk to the pest control people and the cleaning people so I could show them the photos and get explanations as to why you felt the house was infested with rodents. Both companies inspected the house. Thank goodness you were wrong. The pest control company verified what I thought. It was not mouse dirt but gecko poop. Geckos, as much as we love them because they eat the bad creatures, are very messy. And the larger size droppings were just made by large geckos. Geckos are also creatures of habit and will leave their poop in the same places, night after night. Hawaii is in the tropics and we cannot keep them out of our homes or keep them from pooping. They are our guests too.
Refund is enclosed. Also, your refundable damage deposit is enclosed. The discounted rental fee was based on staying eight nights in September. We have no two night special package rate. Therefore, the two nights must be based on the open rate.
The cleaning fee is a departure cleaning. The cleaning company cleaned after you and your family left. It takes the same amount of time whether someone stays one day or eight days. The same procedure is used.
Although we have a no-cancellation policy and a no-refund policy for early departures, we feel very badly that this occurred. We apologize for any inconvenience to you and your family.
Mahalo.
One of things we pride ourselves in is our aloha to all of our guests. We do our best to rectify all problems. We offered to clean the house again. She refused the offer. Contact with pests and/or pest droppings inside or outside of our home is not reason for termination of our Agreement nor is it reason for a refund. We still sent a refund for six days.
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