Arrived at the property 3 hours before check-in and while unit looked clean (beds made, tidy on the surface), we found huge plate of old food in the oven, dirty dishes in the dishwasher, rumpled used sheets in the linen closet, and crumbs on the dining table. Tried to contact owner by text but no immediate response. Sent pictures of the issues by text. Tried calling owner but no answer and voice mail box was full so couldn’t even leave a message. Finally got a text response indicating that the cleaning people hadn’t been there yet and he’d text us when they were finished, so we left our bags in the unit and left until check-in time. We never received text from owner, so we returned at check-in time and none of the issues had been addressed. Texted the owner again and again no response. Tried calling but still no answer and voice mail box still full so we couldn’t leave a message. Ghosted and stuck without lodging we had to find a hotel late in the day. Informed owner by (unanswered) text that we were not going to stay at the unit and wanted a full refund; we couldn’t be confident of what had been cleaned and what hadn’t at this point (think Covid-19). Once settled in our hotel we went to the VRBO site to try to contact owner. Got a response this time where owner insisted they texted back and we must not be receiving texts (we got the earlier texts, so there’s no reason for us to believe we wouldn’t have received additional texts). Owner indicated that cleaning people had indeed been to the unit and missed those things, and that he’d send the cleaning people back. Owner offered to credit cleaning fees and insisted he’d get the issues fixed, but how long were we supposed to squat in a dirty unit? When would the cleaning people actually arrive? Who knows. We were no longer interested and tried to call VRBO, but VRBO’s customer service is nothing more than a series of FAQ’s and a toll-free number. Called the number and after a lengthy wait on hold decided to forget it for the night. Went into VRBO next day and was unable to cancel the reservation. We’d informed owner we expected a full refund but he refused. We had to file a dispute with the credit card company and hopefully we’ll get our money back. Lost a day of vacation, incurred extra expenses and effort, and owner doesn’t seem to know what’s going on with their own unit. Totally not worth the effort.
