Long & Foster Realtors

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below I was not told about the policy to have it fixed within hours upon check in Furthermore, I was not made aware that I had an opportunity to decline taking the unit without Air Conditioning I was told there were no other places available which I find highly unlikely since Long and Foster is a very large realty company and I'm sure there was at least one place in South Bethany or a close area with room for a family of or at least put us up in a hotel for nights until it is fixed I have small children so for me on Saturday afternoon in August at check in telling me (kids and adults) that I had no place to stay unless I took this unit and in an unfamiliar area I felt this was my only choice because other options were not given to me by Long and Foster staff I was not even given the choice to think about taking the unit without Air Conditioning or not or think about it for a minute After driving for hours from Pennsylvania our family of expected a rental unit with air Why didn't they have an emergency HVAC technician come on Saturday instead of Monday To me, they just didn't want to pay any extra for weekend service or going to pick up a new Air Conditioning Unit they wanted to wait for it to be delivered Ultimately, my family of needed a place to stay for the night and for the rest of the week and I was not given the option to decline the rental without air conditioning The business did not review the terms and clearly state they had hours to fix an issue and furthermore how long did they know the air conditioning was not working? Was the unit rented the week prior and those renters also experienced no air conditioning? When I asked about a significant refund they should have told me if this was the case instead the business said they had to speak to the owner of the rental unit about a refund and that I was not able to contact them due to privacy issues At this point in time they should have informed me about the hour requirement and they did not Regards,

We have received your request for information regarding a complaint submitted on 8/26/and would like to submit the following response:
The guest was informed of the issue upon their arrival and that it would be fixed on Monday and they accepted the home in the condition it was
described to them at check-in.The owner had the A/C fixed and working on Monday within hours of the guest arrivalThe lodging agreement specifically address' mechanical failures (see below) and the duty of the owner for which the guest signed and returned to the office upon making their reservation
Page 3, Paragraph c.Mechanical failures, including but not limited to air conditioning, heating, plumbing and major appliances, must be reported to AgentIn the event that such mechanical failures are not caused by Guest, Guest will allow forty-eight (48) hours from the time reported to Agent for the necessary repairs to be madeNo rebates will be considered prior to forty-eight (48) hours from time of report
Per the agreement and the fact that the A/C was fixed within the time-frame allowed, the owner is not going to agree to a refund to the guest

We are in receipt of the customer's dispute dated Sept 24th following our response regarding a complaint submitted August 26, and would like to submit this additional information
We apologize for any inconvenience experienced and unfortunate timeline of events; however the HVAC in this rental property was not repairable and required replacementThe owner occupied the unit the week prior and the air conditioning problem developed just before this guest was scheduled to arrive Our office was not informed of the problem or diagnosis until the morning of check-in, August The property owner in fact did pay and additional "emergency" fee to their vendor in order to have the A/C replacement expedited Property listed for rent in Bethany is not multi-listed and so we can only speak

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
I was not told about the policy to have it fixed within 48 hours upon check in.  Furthermore, I was not made aware that I had an opportunity to decline taking the unit without Air Conditioning.  I was told there were no other places available which I find highly unlikely since Long and Foster is a very large realty company and I'm sure there was at least one place in South Bethany or a close area with room for a family of 5 or at least put us up in a hotel for 2 nights until it is fixed.  I have 3 small children so for me on Saturday afternoon in August at check in telling me (3 kids and 2 adults) that I had no place to stay unless I took this unit and in an unfamiliar area I felt this was my only choice because other options were not given to me by Long and Foster staff.  I was not even given the choice to think about taking the unit without Air Conditioning or not or think about it for a minute.  After driving for 5 hours from Pennsylvania our family of 5 expected a rental unit with air.  Why didn't they have an emergency HVAC technician come on Saturday instead of Monday.  To me, they just didn't want to pay any extra for weekend service or going to pick up a new Air Conditioning Unit they wanted to wait for it to be delivered.  Ultimately, my family of 5 needed a place to stay for the night and for the rest of the week and I was not given the option to decline the rental without air conditioning.  The business did not review the terms and clearly state they had 48 hours to fix an issue and furthermore how long did they know the air conditioning was not working?  Was the unit rented the week prior and those renters also experienced no air conditioning?  When I asked about a significant refund they should have told me if this was the case instead the business said they had to speak to the owner of the rental unit about a refund and that I was not able to contact them due to privacy issues.   At this point in time they should have informed me about the 48 hour requirement and they did not. 
Regards,

Review: After talking with [redacted] at my check out she gave me her business card and asked me to send her an email. I sent my initial email on August 12th and then another email stating she had not responded to me on August 20th. It is now August 26th and I have not heard from Long and Foster.

Dear [redacted] (Senior Rental Coordinator and Realtor with Long and Foster Realtors Bethany Beach Office)

Thank you for talking to me regarding my concerns for my recent [redacted] rental from August 2 to 9, 2014. Per your request I am sending you this email. Our confirmation number was [redacted]. Upon check in at 3pm on Saturday August 2nd I was informed by [redacted] the rental unit we had paid for the air conditioning was completely broken. I expressed my dissatisfaction and that this was not acceptable. I asked to speak to the owner of the unit and [redacted] said that was not possible but that she would relay my request for a significant discount in my rental price of $1125.00 for a 1 week rental of the unit due to no air conditioning. She indicated the air conditioning unit was totally broken and that a new unit was scheduled to be installed on Monday August 4th. She did not provide me with the time the HVAC technician would arrive nor the name of the company. I was very upset and she said she would call me to provide an update after she spoke to the owner of the unit but that it should be fixed by late Monday. I stated that per the lodging agreement I rented a unit with air conditioning especially due to my medical condition and this was not acceptable. She told me there were no other places that Long and Foster could put us up in as they were all booked. She did not offer a hotel, did not offer to put in a window air conditioning unit or even offer us fans for the 2 bedroom 2 bath unit. [redacted] did not even apologize for the horrible situation. After traveling 6 hours with 3 young children my expectation, given the expense of the unit, was that it would be fully functional including air conditioning. This is our vacation and it is the beginning of August so air conditioning is required for our family and per the rental agreement should have been provided. I am completely dissatisfied with breach of contract for 3 days without air conditioning, lack of customer service received, the lack of information I received on updates on the situation and overall the inconvenience of an HVAC technician all day on Monday. I prefer to give Long and Foster Realtors the benefit of the doubt and conclude that this is strictly an anomaly! I cannot imagine that you would be in business this long with rentals at this high price point if this was a normal occurrence. However, I want this problem to be resolved and respectfully request that I receive a $500 refund immediately. I look forward to a prompt resolution. However, if you do not handle my concern I will swiftly file a complaint with the Revdex.com in Deleware, share my dissatisfaction on social media, and document this on [redacted] This should not be construed at a threat but rather the recourse for a customer who rented in good faith and was now completely unsatisfied. Please feel free to contact me via email.Desired Settlement: $500 refund

Business

Response:

We have received your request for information regarding a complaint submitted on 8/26/14 and would like to submit the following response:

The guest was informed of the issue upon their arrival and that it would be fixed on Monday and they accepted the home in the condition it was described to them at check-in.The owner had the A/C fixed and working on Monday within 48 hours of the guest arrival. The lodging agreement specifically address' mechanical failures (see below) and the duty of the owner for which the guest signed and returned to the office upon making their reservation.

Page 3, Paragraph 9. c.Mechanical failures, including but not limited to air conditioning, heating, plumbing and major appliances, must be reported to Agent. In the event that such mechanical failures are not caused by Guest, Guest will allow forty-eight (48) hours from the time reported to Agent for the necessary repairs to be made. No rebates will be considered prior to forty-eight (48) hours from time of report.

Per the agreement and the fact that the A/C was fixed within the time-frame allowed, the owner is not going to agree to a refund to the guest