Our personal experience in Feb 2009
Review Submitted: March 17, 2009
Date of Stay: February 2009
I waited a few weeks after our trip before writing this review because I wanted to as objective as possible and not let any emotion to influence the review. Our party consisted of 9 adults with three children ranging from three to seven years old. First, the positives about the house:
1. Nice location with a marina only 15 minutes away and San Juan about a 40 minute drive.
2. House is nicely furnished with a pool table, HDTV, each bedroom with an AC unit which works very well and of course the beach right in the back yard. House is in a reasonably clean state given the humidity and locale.
3. Carlos, the assistant, did come out mid week to rake up new leaves and clean up the outside.
Now for the negatives:
1. Microwave broke down on the third day of stay. While the owner didn't specifically said it was somehow our fault, her quote was " It's funny how it stopped working when you guys came." It was not replaced for the remainder of our stay. We're talking about at most a $150 appliance and she'll have to replace it eventually anyway.
2. The downstair area has two AC unit. One was already malfunctioning on the night of arrival but the other unit was bigger and with it on, it was not a big deal. However, the second unit also gave out on our second night (sunday). We notified the owner the night. Now, there is a cool breeze and with the windows open, it was okay until you factor in 12 bodies generating heat with the TV and lights on and after a few hours, it did become slightly uncomfortable. Again, we told the owner of the problem on Sunday and given Monday was president's day and apparantly a holiday, she told us she would call someone tuesday morning. When nothing happened by wed, we called her. She told us she did call on Tuesday morning but when the repair person came out later that day, no one was home so they left and now can not come back until next week because they are so busy. First of all, when Carlos came out Thursday, he told us he called the number the owner gave him for the AC repair but it was not a correct number. Secondly, she never called us and told us we had to be there for the repairman and in addition, we don't think it was our responsibilities to be there for the serviceman. To summarize, there are inconsistencies with the owner's version of what happen and the bottom line is, the service should have been better.
Owner's Response: I can understand your frustrations with your vacation. It began with your cars not being at the rental company when you got there. I wanted nothing more than for you to forget that experience & have an incredible time at the house. This is why,
1. When you called, I went online and found a car Rental Company that had mini vans available.
2. I waited with the caretaker for 4 hours to show you the house. He was a new hire and I wanted to make sure everything went well even though I had a 2 hour drive back to Arecibo.
3. I drove you to the supermarket and a restaurant because it was now dark and I did not want you to get lost.
4. I refunded your entire security deposit despite the coffee table and counter stools being written on in markers and the large gouges made in the master bedroom furniture.
5. I gave you a substantial discount on your rental.
I wanted to mitigate any bad feelings of your vacation. Why would I not get the A/C & the microwave repaired if I could have during your stay? There was no cost to me. They are both new and under full warranty. After all, it is to my benefit to have these things working for my guests. I am truly sorry that these things happened and wish none of it had. But I would like to offer up a few counterpoints to your comments.
1. The first two days of your stay was a Sunday followed by a holiday eliminating 2 days.
2. I never expected you to wait for the repairman. I drove back (2hrs) to do so. We did not connect. I told you that.
3. There was no conflict in what Carlos told you and what happened. I asked him to follow up on the service call. When he tried the number I had given him, all he got was a busy signal. We found out when we finally called their Bayamon office, that they had consolidated their offices, eliminating our service center. Unlike the States, there’s no recording giving you another number, only a busy signal.
4. I told you that I did not think you broke the microwave or the A/C. How could you have? You said you guys were fine and would be out of the house most of the day anyway.
In summary, I wish Carlos had had a petty cash fund to buy a countertop microwave until the hooded one was fixed and that I had caught the A/C repairman in time, but it was certainly not due to a lack of effort or desire to give you great service. I fell short of my goal. A petty cash fund has been set up and the repairs made. We hope and expect that your next visit will be totally without mishap.
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Helpful votes: 8/12
