Bay Drive Cottage

[redacted] [redacted] I would like to seek a refund for the extra night's charge ($plus GET and accommodation tax of 13.962%) from the owner, due to the fact we did not stay in the cottage on the 4th night and she was aware of us leaving her property (I have copies of emails and texts in which I tell her of our desire to vacate and she never once mentions she will charge us for the extra night if we didn't leave before 10am) I will be happy to provide any further information you may require Thank youRegards, [redacted] ***

*** ***
*** *** *** *** *** I would like to seek a refund for the extra night's charge ($plus GET and accommodation tax of 13.962%) from the owner, due to the fact we did not stay in the cottage on the 4th night and she was aware of us leaving her property (I have copies of
emails and texts in which I tell her of our desire to vacate and she never once mentions she will charge us for the extra night if we didn't leave before 10am). I will be happy to provide any further information you may require. Thank you.Regards, *** ***

Complaint:
I am rejecting this response because:
The accommodation provided to us was not as described or promised by Spoon Lake Cabin in Kaneohe The following is a list of the reasons why we are requesting a refund for the extra (4th) night, as charged by the owner.
First, the cottage has a sliding glass door as it’s main entry and the lock was broken, making it useless to secure. I tried contacting the owner on Dec (who was in Montana at the time), but was unable to make immediate contact, so I called her cleaning lady instead, who informed me the owner knew of the broken lock. After several more attempts to contact the owner, I finally got her on the line and told her of the situationDuring the course of our conversation, the owner indicated to me that it wasn’t unusual for them to leave the doors “unlocked all the time” and that I shouldn’t be worried about the broken lock. After telling her that I was not comfortable with that, she then proceeded to call a locksmith at 7:30pm HST. Thankfully, the locksmith was able to repair the broken lock, but we had to pay for the repair ourselves, since calls and texts to the owner and her husband regarding payment were unanswered until the next day
Our second issue with the cottage emerged after days, as we began to notice our allergies flaring up as soon as we entered the unit. After further inspection, we discovered the cottage provided to us was not at all cleanIn fact, as my photos document, there were thick layers of dust, grime, and cobwebs on the bedroom furniture (headboard and nightstands) and in the living room (sofa, chairs and tables), which drastically exceeded any "accumulation" of dust in a living space, especially one that was supposed to have been cleaned the morning of our arrival (Dec 19). My husband and 5-year old son were sneezing, had watery eyes, and runny noses every time we were in the cottage, and it made sleeping there almost impossible. When I spoke to the owner and expressed my concern over the amount of dust, plus the excess amount of lizards (geckos), roach and ant traps, and mold found in the cottage, she basically blew me off and said it was cleaned properly and they had never had a complaint about cleanliness before. I volunteered to send her pictures documenting the issues, but she refused to accept them. She did not even offer to have the cottage cleaned again
So, my family and I decided to leave the property and I spoke with the owner on the morning of Dec around 7:30am/8am HST, indicating that we would be vacating the rental that day. During the course of our conversation, she did not mention that we had to vacate before 10am, or we would be charged another night’s fee. Instead, she stated that if we felt we needed to leave, it was ok to do so
I then sent her a text and email on the night of Dec (around 6pm HST) to inform her we had vacated the property and asked her to go over the reimbursement charges. She replied the next day saying she would refund our money, less a cleaning fee and the 4th night’s stay. I did not understand why we had to pay a cleaning fee when we were not given a clean unit to begin with, and after a bit of back and forth with the owner over the phone, she agreed to refund that amount, but would not budge on charging us for the 4th night. She insisted we should have left before 10am so that the cottage could have been cleaned and readied for someone else. Had she mentioned this during our conversation on the morning of Dec 22, I would have gladly complied. But she did not
I am very disappointed with the way she handled the situation and that she did not provide us with a clean, safe place as promised in her listing. I have included some pictures of the amount of dust on the bed and couch for reference (I have more pictures that document the level of dust found throughout the unit). I have also filed a report with ***, the website which the owner used to advertise her property. We have used the *** service at various locations in Hawaii, Europe and the US Mainland, and have never had an issue like this before
It is for the reasons stated above that we are seeking a refund of the extra night charged to us
Sincerely,
*** ***

No one wants an unhappy guest or customer??"not a 5-Star resort, not an airline, nor a little mom & pop vacation cottage, as we have? We have been renting for to years and in the process have met delightful people, & made new friends from around the world, because their stay with us was an enjoyable experience? We continue to receive Christmas Cards each year from many & we are pleased and proud of that fact.Now after all these years, we have received our 1st negative feedback? This makes us disappointed and a little bewildered, as these issues have not come up before? We do our best to run a clean and friendly vacation rentalAlthough we do not agree with these comments, we will learn from this and always strive to do a better job? We hope others will do their homework and read all our guest reviews, which all have given us a 5-Star rating with the exception of one at ? 4-Star.Had this customer revealed that her child was asthmatic prior to booking, we would have given our cleaning person instructions to take extra precaution and spend additional time? We always accommodate when a guest gives us a heawith health issues? One time a guest was allergic to fragrances, so we took extra precautions not to use any cleaners, soaps or detergents with fragrances in that case? Living in Hawai’i's beautiful tropical environment, ? comes with its challenges for ANY homeowner in the islands? This is particularly challenging when there is a turn-over of occupants who do not understand what it takes to maintain a friendly indoor/outdoor environment/lifestyle??"i.e.: keeping doors closed to keep geckos out & not leaviing food attractants out, that will attract insects? With that in mind, it is necessary to use traps behind or under furniture to minimize this? We will continue to do so, as we have found it to be most effective and prefer traps to spraying chemicals.? The reality is this customer notified us after PM, (not "am"), that they had "just vacated", & although they did not spend the night there, our cottage could not be made available available & that night's income was lost? Therefore, we felt justified as they used the cottage for another hours beyond check-out time

Complaint: 11030864
I am rejecting this response because:
The accommodation provided to us was not as described or promised by Spoon Lake Cabin in Kaneohe.  The following is a list of the reasons why we are requesting a refund for the extra (4th) night, as charged by the owner. 
First, the cottage has a sliding glass door as it’s main entry and the lock was broken, making it useless to secure.  I tried contacting the owner on Dec 19 (who was in Montana at the time), but was unable to make immediate contact, so I called her cleaning lady instead, who informed me the owner knew of the broken lock.  After several more attempts to contact the owner, I finally got her on the line and told her of the situation. During the course of our conversation, the owner indicated to me that it wasn’t unusual for them to leave the doors “unlocked all the time” and that I shouldn’t be worried about the broken lock.  After telling her that I was not comfortable with that, she then proceeded to call a locksmith at 7:30pm HST.  Thankfully, the locksmith was able to repair the broken lock, but we had to pay for the repair ourselves, since calls and texts to the owner and her husband regarding payment were unanswered until the next day.  
Our second issue with the cottage emerged after 2 days, as we began to notice our allergies flaring up as soon as we entered the unit.  After further inspection, we discovered the cottage provided to us was not at all clean. In fact, as my photos document, there were thick layers of dust, grime, and cobwebs on the bedroom furniture (headboard and nightstands) and in the living room (1 sofa, 2 chairs and 2 tables), which drastically exceeded any "normal accumulation" of dust in a living space, especially one that was supposed to have been cleaned the morning of our arrival (Dec 19). My husband and 5-year old son were sneezing, had watery eyes, and runny noses every time we were in the cottage, and it made sleeping there almost impossible.  When I spoke to the owner and expressed my concern over the amount of dust, plus the excess amount of lizards (geckos), roach and ant traps, and mold found in the cottage, she basically blew me off and said it was cleaned properly and they had never had a complaint about cleanliness before.  I volunteered to send her pictures documenting the issues, but she refused to accept them.  She did not even offer to have the cottage cleaned again.  
So, my family and I decided to leave the property and I spoke with the owner on the morning of Dec 22 around 7:30am/8am HST, indicating that we would be vacating the rental that day.  During the course of our conversation, she did not mention that we had to vacate before 10am, or we would be charged another night’s fee.  Instead, she stated that if we felt we needed to leave, it was ok to do so.  
I then sent her a text and email on the night of Dec 22 (around 6pm HST) to inform her we had vacated the property and asked her to go over the reimbursement charges.  She replied the next day saying she would refund our money, less a cleaning fee and the 4th night’s stay.  I did not understand why we had to pay a cleaning fee when we were not given a clean unit to begin with, and after a bit of back and forth with the owner over the phone, she agreed to refund that amount, but would not budge on charging us for the 4th night.  She insisted we should have left before 10am so that the cottage could have been cleaned and readied for someone else.  Had she mentioned this during our conversation on the morning of Dec 22, I would have gladly complied.  But she did not.  
I am very disappointed with the way she handled the situation and that she did not provide us with a clean, safe place as promised in her listing.  I have included some pictures of the amount of dust on the bed and couch for reference (I have more pictures that document the level of dust found throughout the unit).  I have also filed a report with [redacted], the website which the owner used to advertise her property.  We have used the [redacted] service at various locations in Hawaii, Europe and the US Mainland, and have never had an issue like this before.  
It is for the reasons stated above that we are seeking a refund of the extra night charged to us.  
Sincerely,
[redacted]

[redacted] 
[redacted] I would like to seek a refund for the extra night's charge ($99 plus GET and accommodation tax of 13.962%) from the owner, due to the fact we did not stay in the cottage on the 4th night and she was aware of us leaving her property (I have...

copies of emails and texts in which I tell her of our desire to vacate and she never once mentions she will charge us for the extra night if we didn't leave before 10am). 
I will be happy to provide any further information you may require. 
Thank you.
Regards, 
[redacted]

No one wants an unhappy guest or customer—not a 5-Star resort, not an airline, nor a little mom & pop vacation cottage, as we have.  We have been renting for 10 to 13 years and in the process have met delightful people, & made new friends from around the world, because their stay with us was an enjoyable experience.  We continue to receive Christmas Cards each year from many & we are pleased and proud of that fact.Now after all these years, we have received our 1st negative feedback.  This makes us disappointed and a little bewildered, as these issues have not come up before.  We do our best to run a clean and friendly vacation rental. Although we do not agree with these comments, we will learn from this and always strive to do a better job.  We hope others will do their homework and read all our guest reviews, which all have given us a 5-Star rating with the exception of one at  4-Star.Had this customer revealed that her child was asthmatic prior to booking, we would have given our cleaning person instructions to take extra precaution and spend additional time.  We always accommodate when a guest gives us a heads-up with health issues.  One time a guest was allergic to fragrances, so we took extra precautions not to use any cleaners, soaps or detergents with fragrances in that case.  Living in Hawai’i's beautiful tropical environment,  comes with its challenges for ANY homeowner in the islands.  This is particularly challenging when there is a turn-over of occupants who do not understand what it takes to maintain a friendly indoor/outdoor environment/lifestyle—i.e.: keeping doors closed to keep geckos out & not leaviing food attractants out, that will attract insects.  With that in mind, it is necessary to use traps behind or under furniture to minimize this.  We will continue to do so, as we have found it to be most effective and prefer traps to spraying chemicals. The reality is this customer notified us after 10 PM, (not "am"), that they had "just vacated", & although they did not spend the night there, our cottage could not be made available available & that night's income was lost.  Therefore, we felt justified as they used the cottage for another 12 hours beyond check-out time.

No one wants an unhappy guest or customer—not a 5-Star resort, not an airline, nor a little mom & pop vacation cottage, as we have.  We have been renting for 10 to 13 years and in the process have met delightful people, & made new friends from around the world, because their stay with us was an enjoyable experience.  We continue to receive Christmas Cards each year from many & we are pleased and proud of that fact.
Now after all these years, we have received our 1st negative feedback.  This makes us disappointed and a little bewildered, as these issues have not come up before.  We do our best to run a clean and friendly vacation rental. Although we do not agree with these comments, we will learn from this and always strive to do a better job.  We hope others will do their homework and read all our guest reviews, which all have given us a 5-Star rating with the exception of one at  4-Star.
Had this customer revealed that her child was asthmatic prior to booking, we would have given our cleaning person instructions to take extra precaution and spend additional time.  We always accommodate when a guest gives us a heads-up with health issues.  One time a guest was allergic to fragrances, so we took extra precautions not to use any cleaners, soaps or detergents with fragrances in that case.  
Living in Hawai’i's beautiful tropical environment,  comes with its challenges for ANY homeowner in the islands.  This is particularly challenging when there is a turn-over of occupants who do not understand what it takes to maintain a friendly indoor/outdoor environment/lifestyle—i.e.: keeping doors closed to keep geckos out & not leaviing food attractants out, that will attract insects.  With that in mind, it is necessary to use traps behind or under furniture to minimize this.  We will continue to do so, as we have found it to be most effective and prefer traps to spraying chemicals. 
The reality is this customer notified us after 10 PM, (not "am"), that they had "just vacated", & although they did not spend the night there, our cottage could not be made available available & that night's income was lost.  Therefore, we felt justified as they used the cottage for another 12 hours beyond check-out time.

[redacted] 
[redacted] I would like to seek a refund for the extra night's charge ($99 plus GET and accommodation tax of 13.962%) from the owner, due to the fact we did not stay in the cottage on the 4th night and she was aware of us leaving her property (I have copies of...

emails and texts in which I tell her of our desire to vacate and she never once mentions she will charge us for the extra night if we didn't leave before 10am). I will be happy to provide any further information you may require. Thank you.Regards, [redacted]