Below is a letter that we sent to Alex, and others at Outer Beaches Realty. Instead of writing a review that would include most of this we thought it best to share with potential renters our experience.
Alex:
We wanted to write to you and let you know how dissatisfied we were with your Beach Haven rental property. Your description of Beach Haven as a "Signature Elite" home is very misleading. There are many nice features to this home: the open concept and updated kitchen, dining and living room layout, the pool, outside deck areas and easy access to the beach are all well represented in the pictures on your website. Unfortunately, we found many of the bedrooms to be lacking not only in luxury and quality, but cleanliness. There is no excuse for dirty sheets (urine stains, crackers, hair, etc.). Your sticker system only works if your staff actually change the sheets - in one case there was a sticker on the bed but once the covers were pulled back there were Chez It crackers in the bed. Most of the mattress were old, thin and extremely worn - in one bedroom you could see two large indentations in the mattress when you walked in the room. The pillows were poor quality and the sheets extremely thin and worn - luxurious is not a word I would use to describe them. Numerous lights didn't work; there are issues with many electrical outlets on the top floor; lights flicker and either pop or dim; a number of lamps were without working bulbs; light bulbs were missing from vanity fixtures in the bathrooms. Upon arrival we had 8 drinking glasses and a total of 6 wine glasses for 9 guests. The home is poorly maintained with peeling wallpaper in many places throughout the home; ceiling paint that doesn't match the rest of the ceiling, and a strong mildew or cat urine smell in at least three bedrooms on the second floor. The house was poorly cleaned when we arrived, but thanks to Beth and the woman behind the front desk additional glasses were brought to the house, additional cleaning was completed, and the carpet cleaners came the next day, which took care of the odor for a couple of days, but it did return to those rooms by Wednesday and our kids had to relocate bedrooms. Again is this how you define "Signature Elite" home? We have rented homes in the Outer Banks on three previous occasions and rented homes in other states and countries. Each time the property matched the description and met or exceeded our expectations. Unfortunately, many aspects of Beach Haven did not meet our expectations. Including the property in your "Signature Elite" collection is a serious misrepresentation. The doctored or use of a filter on the photographs posted on the website helps cover-up some of the homes flaws, but what is most distressing is the poor maintenance and dirty, unsanitary conditions throughout the home. The website write-up admits to a "facelift" and the "filter" on the photos misrepresents the actual quality of the home to your customer. Your website states "Signature Elite" homes are the "best of the best" in every category of home and have been selected based on outstanding amenities, decor and condition listing Beach Haven as a "best of the best" is not a truthful statement.
You should also be aware that we left a message for Bill to call us on Monday. We were told by staff that he wouldn't be able to return our call until Wednesday because he was at another office! By the way, he never did return our call. When someone is paying over $12,000 for a rental you would expect some level of customer service. Certainly a phone call that day or early the following day, but being told by your staff that he couldn't return the call because "he's at another office up north" is an insult and poor customer service. It shows a serious lack of concern for your customer.
We hope you find the attached list helpful as you prepare for your next renters we left this with our keys upon check-out. We are sending you this email because we wanted to make sure that you were aware of our concerns, as no one from the Hatteras office bother to call us back or even ask any questions about the note. Your employees stated that they depend upon the renter to report issues otherwise they are not aware of problems. We understand that to a certain point, yet the home was basically poorly maintained and your cleaning staff obviously cut corners or extremely short staffed - even the "inspector" should be able to easily see the poor quality of the home - missing light bulbs, dirty sheets, odors, etc. We also found it strange that there was no "book" about the home. Many of the houses we have rented in the past contain helpful information for the renter, for example how to use the audio-visual equipment (this would have been extremely helpful especially in the living room); list of places to eat; nearby attractions, etc. read more