Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  06/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  I reserved a VRBO in ********, ******* for June *****, 2022 for $1,050. The town of ******** is under a state of emergency due to a natural disaster. The road to ******** is closed to inbound RESIDENTS and emergency services only. The town is under a boil water advisory and restaurants can only serve prepackaged food. I have spoken to the owner of the property and have been denied a refund. She was very rude and hung up on me and there is no reasoning with her. I spoke to the chamber of commerce and the county sheriff's department and have been told that the town is not open to tourists.

  Customer response

  06/23/2022

  My mailing address is
  
  14730 ****************************************************

  Business response

  07/08/2022

  Hello,
  

  My name is ************************* and I am writing in response to a letter I received today from your organization. It is case number 17445960. 
  
  Guest that booked our property via vrbo is requesting a refund. The guest did not cancel their reservation. Because the guest did not cancel their reservation, we were not able to rent the property to other customers or use it ourselves. 
  The guest is responsible for canceling the reservation. 
  
  The guest has been extremely rude and demanding a refund for a property he kept booked. 
  
  I am not familiar with your organization and I am not certain this is the right way to answer, bit the letter I have received doesnt suggest specific way of communication.
  
  Thank you for your help and looking forward to hearing from you.
  
  Regards,
  

  **************************;
  

  
  

  Customer response

  07/08/2022

   
  Complaint: 17445960
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  The owner of this property told us we would not be eligible for a refund if we cancelled our reservation.  She told us time after time that "The town of ******** is open" and "Our property is fine".  We were under the impression that we would be able to access the property for the duration of our stay.  Upon attempting to reach their property, we encountered a road that was only open to emergency vehicles and residents, and that tourists were actively being evacuated.  Per the email that I forwarded to the BBB in my original complaint, the town was under a boil water advisory and also the center of a FEMA natural disaster area.  Tourists were not welcome.  I attempted to contact **** the moment we found out we were unable to reach the property, calls were rejected and texts were not returned.  Trust me, nobody was going to book their property under those circumstances.  I cannot believe the host was willing to put us in the situation that was ongoing at the time.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

   

  Business response

  07/13/2022

  The guest booked our property via vrbo. That means the guest was in full control canceling this reservation. Accusing me of not letting them cancel their reservation is absurd and childish. Again, I do not have control over guests cancellation nor booking as our property can be booked automatically by guests that mach the parameters of the listing like number of guests.
  ******** is not Yellowstone and it is not damaged. I sent the guest all the information and informed them which route to take to reach the property. 
  Also it is not the guests place to determine if our property would or would not have been booked or used by us in a case of cancellation. 
  
  

  Customer response

  07/19/2022

   
  Complaint: 17445960
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  Customer response

  07/20/2022

  "I have included screenshots from the ************************************ on June 18th (the day of my reservation), that tourists are not allowed in the town.  I also included a screenshot of a message from **** stating that they were still awaiting the road to be open to the public.  The road continued to be closed throughout our reservation dates.  

   

  I never said that **** told us we could not cancel.  She did, however, tell me on the phone that if we chose to cancel, we would not be eligible for a refund.  Why would I cancel a reservation when the host told me the property was accessible?

   

  These screenshots have dates on them, which should be enough to paint a clear picture of the real situation.  I hope the hosts do the right thing.  My only other option is to pursue legal action to get my money back"

  Business response

  08/09/2022

  The guest was provided with information for alternative road to our property. Parallel road (east river road) to highway 89. 
  
  

  Customer response

  08/15/2022

   
  Complaint: 17445960
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  OK sure, there was a road around the closure that we could have illegally taken to reach your property.  That road was for emergency vehicles and evacuations.  We were told by law enforcement and other government officials that the town of ******** was closed to tourism.  As law and rule following adults, we were not willing to risk unauthorized travel and potential punishment for such actions.  As host of the property, I was hoping you would understand the concerns of your potential guests.  I am speaking to a lawyer and we have a good case built.  I am willing to settle with you for 50% refund and we can both put this behind us and move on.  

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩