For context, we sold our house and have been traveling most of 2021 living in rental properties so it's reasonable to say we know what we are talking about when we describe this as the worst property manager and worst maintained property we've encountered - hands down.
Check in was smooth and easy so we thought we were off to a good start. The house looked decent enough when we arrived so continued settling in. That evening we discovered that the oven didn't work properly so we called the office but it was after hours. We also discovered there was no cable service for any of the TVs and a toilet had a slow leak (water on the floor). We tried calling three different numbers for Thomas Beach Vacations (TBV) with no answer and no way to leave a message. We drove to their office the next morning to find the entire staff were on vacation from Dec 23-27. This should have been information passed along at check-in unless you don't want to deal with renters in a house in serious disrepair.
We continued trying to contact anyone from TBV without success in hopes of discussing more deficiencies in the house: glass storm door with broken closer so the door slammed shut, missing overhead light with exposed wires in a bedroom, filthy carpets, broken furniture, ceiling fan with very loose blade (2" wobble) that made a terrible screeching noise when operating, cockroaches, a lamp with a note taped to it instructing users to use the plug to turn it on and off, half full soda bottle between mattress and wall, torn screens, mold on tub knob, broken toilet paper holder, and a disgusting vacuum with enough hair on the brushes to make a small wig.
Finally the emergency phone number was turned back on and we were able to leave a message. We identified the three most pressing problems: leaking toilet, malfunctioning oven, and TVs with no service. When TBV (Lisa) finally returned our call, it was clear she was put out that her vacation was interrupted. We needed to repeat the three most pressing problems since she was unaware of the message we left on the emergency phone number. Upon taking our information, she abruptly hung up with no mention of what we should expect in the way of remedy. I immediately called back but the phones were again turned off. Without notice, a plumber came to fix the leaking toilet (very nice and professional), and a short time later, again without notice, a technician came and fixed the oven (also very nice and professional). We waited around the house (not getting to enjoy our vacation) assuming that a technician would come to work on the TV. No one ever came.
We called several more times over the course of several days leaving messages asking that someone call us back to fix the TVs and to address other problems with the house. In the two weeks that we were renting from TBV, we only received the one return phone call despite countless attempts to contact them. In addition, it is obvious in hindsight that the only repairs they were willing to make were those that could have damaged the house (water leak and malfunctioning oven) but none affecting our safety, enjoyment, or comfort using their rental. We learned from the supervisor on duty at check-out that a work order for the TVs was never submitted by TBV.
We stopped by the office to check out and were surprised people working there - our experience during our 2-week stay suggested otherwise. We spoke with managers/supervisors Laura and Teddy and recounted the events described above. We got a mix of sympathy and excuses and in the end they refunded a small amount of money to help offset our disappointing rental experience. Their reason for their lack of communication was phone service problems (for two weeks?). They had no explanation for the state of the house. Teddy stated we was going to go check things out the day we checked out. I asked that if he found that things were not as bad as we described, he should call me back and tell me where we were overly critical. We got no return call.
Finding a rental home in disrepair is bad enough but dealing with a property management company as unresponsive as Thomas Beach Vacations is inexcusable. There are lots of choices when planning a visit to North Myrtle Beach. I highly recommend that you choose a different property manager and that you avoid Aqua View at 326 54th Avenue North, North Myrtle Beach, SC all together. read more