Renovated House - Walk to Beach, Boat Launch & Fun!
Pocasset Vacation Rental - ID 41747

While we find the situation regrettable, we would like to adequately respond and detail the situation with the facts. We care deeply about customer satisfaction and are excited to share our home with others. 

This year we lovingly restored our 1930s home with all new interior paint, refinished hardwood floors, a new stair runner, and all new furniture, linens and home items. We appreciate the guest's acknowledgement of five-stars for the listing which reflects our honest, accurate and clear description of our property. 

When the guest originated the rental inquiry, they requested several special accommodations not normally offered by short term rentals (STRs) – such as the use of scent-free cleaning products, extra-washing of linens with special detergent, and non-standard check-in/check-out times. We understand how hard it is to find a vacation rental that would accommodate these sorts of specific needs, and being new to the STR business, we remained flexible and agreed to these requests. Extra time and effort was spent cleaning the property using scent-free products and the property was made available as agreed to in signed STR agreement, with zero dog odor.     

When the guest arrived, they departed after only 30 minutes, demanding a full refund due to a claimed pet-odor. We were in immediate contact throughout the first day via phone, text, and email and throughout the week. Ultimately, because we are reasonable people, we agreed to a generous partial-refund, offered as a good will gesture (outside of required terms per the STR agreement).   

This situation was very unfortunate and we believe the relevant facts are important: 

1) The home was cleaned to high standards and in accordance with the STR agreement. An inspection was done by the homeowner and no pet odor was identified anywhere in the home. We do recognize that the cleaners had turned off all AC units prior to the guests arrival on a nearly 90 degree humid day - something we will amend moving forward. We proactively shared as many details about the house in writing, including additional photos, but never once represented that our 1930s home is allergen-free. We discussed the guest's fragrance allergies in length but nothing was once mentioned about dog allergies. We could never and would never guarantee a nearly 100 year old home is a 100% allergen-free or pet-free environment. 

2) Regular communication through multiple channels occurred with the guest over a one-month period, including the check in day when the guest raised concerns and the days that followed. In total, 34 emails, 45 text messages, and 4 phone calls were conducted between us and the guest.  

3) We, as a good faith gesture, refunded nearly half of the rental fee despite the fact that the guest chose to vacate the property after 30 minutes without asking for or giving us a chance to cure the concern thereby breaking the STR agreement. The signed agreement clearly stated "no refunds or cancellations after final payment is made" and that "The Homeowner assumes no responsibility beyond the agreed to cleaning practice." Furthermore, we found it disheartening that after providing a good faith refund, the guest, in writing, questioned our ethics and business practice "to steal money from other families." 

4) Not only did the guest ignore the terms of the STR agreement, they also did not follow the rules of the house which were provided electronically and in hard copy. They opened utility closets noted as no guest access, and left perishable food in the refrigerator and urine in one of the toilets.show moreshow less