I unfortunately won't be able to review the actual property as we didn't make it that far in the…read moreprocess.
I requested a reservation through their website about a certain property and Sharon was quick to respond, even after hours, to tell me it was unavailable. We e-mailed a couple more times and she was neither rude nor friendly, but more direct and short. When I had decided on another house to rent, I again requested a reservation through their website.
After waiting 2 days to hear from them, I contacted them via phone. Sharon couldn't find my 2nd reservation request though I have a confirmation in my e-mail for it. She also couldn't find any correspondence we had had, but did say she remembered me.
It was rocky making the reservation brand new because I didn't have a calendar in front of me, I had assumed she would be able to pull up the reservation. My initial reaction was "Oh shoot, I don't know them off the top of my head, is Friday the 5th?" and her response was "Well I will need to know. [the dates]." (Obviously.) I was doing my best without any help of a calendar.
Once we hashed out the dates, she gave me a run down of the payment policies and asked me to give her the name on the card, which was my partners. She then asked me "How old are you?" Which threw me because I was ready to give her the card number instead. Don't tell my partner, but I'm not sure of her exact age without doing the math, so I stumbled in telling her and then thought to just tell her my own age, which I don't know either without doing the math and I was honest in telling her that. To me asking an age is like asking a weight, I don't know the answer to either without some thought and a little bit of math. We went back and forth about my age because it made her "uncomfortable" that I stuttered and stumbled and that I couldn't just spout out my age; she just wanted to know if I was over 25, to that I could have just said "Yes I am." Or she could have asked for my birthday and done the math herself. She treated me like a child, telling me on 3 different occasions I would need to bring my drivers license, to which I had to keep responding "I'm going to have to drive up there, so I will have it." Side note: their policy is if you aren't over 25 you can't rent and if when you arrive you are not of renting age, they won't let you in and they also won't refund you any money. I could think of a better way to spend $500 other than to give it away and get nothing in return, so why would I lie about my age?
Despite her rude skeptical attitude I continued with the rental process because thankfully she wouldn't be rooming with us, so my dealings with her were about finished.
I received the rental documents and realized she had put them in my partners name (who is also over 25) and to help clear the air and make sure there was no more rude skepticism when we arrived (because that would start our vacation off even more poorly than the reservation process had) I e-mailed her explaining that she would find the age I gave her on the phone was incorrect because it was my age and not my partners, but that I would make sure we both had our drivers license on us and even gave her both our birthdays to ease her "uncomfortableness" about my hesitation on the phone.
This is her response:
"Yes, I was skeptical because of the things you said. First, you should have told me you were not Candace. That in itself is off putting to me. Then when you were not sure of your own age, and stumbled when I asked you, that was even more than off putting. I have learned through many years of experience in this business that when a prospective tenant is not respectful of our policies, they are also quite often not respectful of our properties during their tenancy. I hope that you will prove me wrong."
I originally corresponded with Sharon from my personal e-mail which comes through with my first and last name, and introduced myself when she picked up the phone as myself, so my using a credit card with a different name was plainly obvious had she been listening when I said who I was.
Her whole e-mail was made to make me feel like a child "First, you should have..." and to be passive in telling me I'm disrespecting her policies (when I hadn't) and basically calling me a hoodlum who's going to destroy her property is outrageous and poor business. We've rented houses for many years and leave each one cleaner than when we found it, we are overly respectful of people and their belongings. I own a small business which involves visiting people's homes, their safe personal place and my partner runs a law firm. We are respectful, laid back, low key people who wanted to BBQ in the great outdoors and have a quiet swell time. I don't need to prove anyone wrong during my vacation.
