Verified review
2/10 Terrible
Hannah R.
12 July 2021
Disliked: Cleanliness, communication, location, listing accuracy
Absolutely filthy - terrible owner response- NOT COVID SAFE
I booked this location because I needed a place for my family to stay for a wedding in the Austin area. VRBO and the owner (Michael) stated there were extra precautions being taken for cleanliness and protection with the COVID situation.
Because of wedding events we didn't get into the property until late evening and found the house was ABSOLUTELY filthy. There was layers of dust, pet/human hair, dirty fingerprints, food left in the fridge, old pee on toilets, dead bugs, etc.
It was obvious it hadn't been cleaned in weeks, perhaps months. I tried to make it better, went out and bought cleaning supplies and new bedding from a local Target, came back and spent several hours trying to make it live-able and safe. With COVID, I was very concerned for my family's health being in those conditions!
However, as we scrubbed I realized that I would never get it safely clean. I ended up having to secure lodging at an area hotel and moved my family out in the middle of the night, during a rainstorm. It was an exhausting and horrible experience.
I messaged Michael about the conditions, how we had attempted to clean it and then had to leave because of the terrible conditions. I asked for a refund due to the circumstances.
Michael didn't answer until a day later, and he then rudely refused any refund, told me I was wrong about the house condition (I took many photos that proved otherwise) and then proceeded to blame ME for not contacting him to have his cleaners come out again and clean it for us -- in the middle of the night!!
I was astounded by his response!! As a business owner and a professional, I would never treat a paying customer this way. I not only paid him hundreds of dollars for the filthy house, I then had to pay hundreds more to find new lodging and it added an extremely stressful and exhausting element to our trip. I would NEVER work with this owner again, it turned out he lives overseas and has probably never set foot in this property.
When I sent the photos to Michael and said I would have to leave a poor review, he had his partner, Gabby, reach out to me. She wrote a nice message and offered a refund of the “cleaning fee”, however, after that message they have since completely ignored me and never responded again and did not refund ANYTHING.
This was a terrible experience and I am concerned that VRBO would allow something like this to be offered through them. With COVID precautions, EXTRA cleaning is supposedly being done in order
Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2021