Bel Mare #304

To begin, some of the problems encountered by the guests were greatly exacerbated by the combination of record crowds in OC this season, a severe labor shortage throughout the region all summer, and the request for services occurred on the weekend (June 19 and 20). 1. TV not working – was due to Xfinity disconnecting the owner’s account erroneously. The owner attempted to contact Xfinity, once after midnight. On the after-midnight occasion, Xfinity dropped the call after the owner had waited for more than 1 hour. With a disconnected account, 60+ years of IT/networking experience was made moot. TV service restoration took almost 2 days (+/-). When service resumed, the owner provided his personal account access codes to maximize guest satisfaction. NOTE: The property manager and the owner did not have to be “convinced” to help. The following property manager’s communication log and record of vendor work orders was produced to underscore our “concern.” Note: this log does not include the owner’s log: PHONE THREAD #1 352-509-6363 (Guest) 6/19/21 6 txts 7:15am – 11:34pm 6/19/21 4 phone calls 7:44pm – 11:38pm 6/21/21 13 txts 10:47am – 6:22pm 6/22/21 1 phone call 10:44am PHONE THREAD #2 302-383-9426 (Guest) 6/19/21 7 txts 7:15am – 11:34pm 6/20/21 14 txts plus pics 10:47am – 11:33pm 6/21/21 7 txts 12:53am – 12:54pm a) 5-Star Plumbing 6/21/21 (Monday order) and 6/25/21 (job done) – 4-day delay due to excessive local demand for A/C unit repairs. b) Atlantic Appliance Repairs – 2 response calls on 6/22/21 (they were closed on 6/19 and 6/20). Repaired: disposal and dishwasher – unjammed; and fridge – required new parts. 2. No vacation time had to be lost by the guests. It is our policy to ALWAYS tell guests they DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT FOR TECHNICIANS because technicians ALWAYS have lobby and door codes for all the properties they service for us. 3. Garbage disposal and dishwasher malfunction – Atlantic Appliance Repairs was sent to the apartment to repair the refrigerator. While there, they determine that the disposal was jammed, which caused the dishwasher to stop. When the disposal was unjammed (took few minutes), both appliances worked properly. A discussion with the cleaners revealed that the disposal was working on June 19th and no one had been in the apartment until the guests arrived at 3pm June 19th. Draw your own conclusion about how and when the disposal got jammed. 3. “The toilets were dirty when we arrived, and the rest of the apartment was cleaned mediocre.” This is partly because the property had been unoccupied for 14 days prior to June 19th, the toilet seats were left closed, and mold can form in unattended toilets in Ocean City quickly. 4. Regarding comments about the décor: the guest(s) saw 37 photos of the apartment before they rented it. 5. House Rule Violation: If furniture is moved and not returned to its proper place, a minimum non-refundable fee of $125 or more will be charged to the booker's credit card. 6. Linens Rule Violation: Upon departure, guests must strip linens, tidy up the bed cover and pillows, place used linens in the linen bag(s), and leave the bag(s) inside the apartment near the front door for pickup. Failure to tidy up the stripped beds and place used linens in the bags for pickup will incur extra charges. 7. Finally, the tenants left the apartment “filthy” – a quote by our cleaners. They charged us $175 extra to clean the apartment. We have photos. RELEVANT FEES Cleaning fee $145 (Paid by guest) Excessive cleaning fee $175 (Paid by iTrip) Furniture rearrangement violation $150 (Unpaid) Net amount due from Guest $180 Limited Damage Waiver Insurance Policy $95 (Paid by guest) The insurance policy will cover the $180 net amount owed to iTrip Balance Due from Guest $0 Refund to tenant $145. iTrip did everything possible to rectify the tenants’ issues.