ComplaintsforBretton Woods Rentals, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  03/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I searched Online for a 3 Bedroom, 3 bed Rental Property at Bretton Woods. I found a place through Bretton Woods Rentals. It showed 3 bedrooms and 3 beds. When I arrived the rental only had 2 bedrooms and 2 beds. When I arrived the water was not on and the Wifi password they provided me online was incorrect. They had told me the water was on and the house was ready for rental. I had no cell service upon arrival (not their fault, the place is remote). Because they provided me with the wrong WIFI password and all instructions were digital, I could not contact anyone. My first night I spent scrambling to find a place to use the bathroom and a way to contact anyone. Bretton Woods had an answering service. Of a two night rental, my first night was ruined and my second night we had to have someone sleep on the couch. Mis-advertising the unit to provide three beds and allowing it to show up in the 3 bedroom search profile was misleading. They charged more for a bedroom that could not be used and misrepresented the amount of beds in the unit. The WIFI mistake and water being off compounded their errors and damaged my vacation. Misleading advertising of beds in a unit is huge issue. I have tried to rectify this issue by contacting Bretton Woods Vacation Rental but have not received a call or an email that isnt automated. ***** ******

  Business response

  03/14/2023

  I am very sorry that the guest felt misled; however, the listing clearly states that the home only has 2 bedrooms. This is, verbatim, the wording from  the listings' room configuration section (****************): 

  Master Bedroom: Features a King size bed, TV, and attached bath. Sleeps 2. 
  Guest Bedroom #1: Features a Queen bed and TV. Sleeps 2.
  Guest Bedroom #2: Currently set up as an office. 

  Furthermore, the listing says that there are 2 beds in the house, one king and one queen, with a max occupancy of 4, and further states that "with one bedroom equipped as an office, this unit offers a unique setup of ample space for a family or couples while allowing for a private remote work space." We will strengthen that wording to make sure it's clear, but it is really hard to imagine how anyone could say that the listing is "misleading." 

  It is true that, while we say that water is turned on prior to a guest arrival, that had not happened in this case, due to the fact that it was a last minute booking. However, our staff was contacted and gave him instruction to turn it on - very easy to do, there is a marked shut-off in the utility room. The guest contacted us about the water at 10.17pm; at 10.19, just 2 minutes later, he received these instructions:

  "he shutoff is located in the utility room to the right, at floor level marked with orange tape and some foam. Turn on the water by moving the handle to be in line with the pipe. Rotate perpendicular to the pipe to turn the water back off. Regards, Jon - Bretton Woods Vacations"

  As for the complaint that he received the incorrect wifi password, we have been unable to replicate the issue. We have tested the wifi password that we provided to the guest and it works fine. 

  Given this information, we do not feel that a refund of any kind is warranted. Guests are supposed to read the description of a unit before they book to make sure it fits their needs, the wifi works fine, and while having to turn on the water may be an inconvenience, it is something that takes seconds and that he was given clear instructions on how to do within 2 minutes of reaching out. 

  Customer response

  03/14/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because: 
  Here is why I don't accept the response from Bretton Woods in this matter.

  1) The listing clearly is portrayed as a 3 bedroom unit. It has a 3 bedroom icon attached to it and also comes up in the search for a 3 bedroom. If a rental converts a bedroom to an office, it is no longer a bedroom, it is an office. The listing is purposefully misleading. This is a 2 bedroom with an office. 

  2) The water was suppose to be on, it wasnt. My wife arrived at 7:00 with no cell service because of the mountains and went to use the WIFI password provided. All of the house instructions were digital and there was no instructions for anything in the house. I came up later and it wasnt until after 10pm that I was able to communicate and get the water turned on. It was not simple and along with a bad WIFI password compounded a very tough arrival.

  3) I have the text from Jon that came to me apologizing that they sent the wrong password for the WIFi. 

  These three items compounded into a much larger issue damaging some much needed time off with my family.

     I was angry on Friday night, on Saturday with no call back from the rental company as requested and promised, I got angrier. On Monday I drove home, sent in an email to the owner and still received no response. By Monday I was very angry that Bretton Woods did not feel they needed to reach out. 

     I am going to continue my quest to hold this company accountable. My company is a member of the BBB and I am a proponent of taking steps. I have only ever filed 2 complaints, this being one. In this case, I plan to continue pressing, with my Credit card company, in court, in online reviews until I receive an apology and a partial refund. 

  Thank you,

  ***** ******

  Business response

  03/21/2023

  Dear sir or madam,

  As a follow up to the guest's concerns:

  GUEST CONCERN 1) The listing clearly is portrayed as a 3 bedroom unit. It has a 3 bedroom icon attached to it and also comes up in the search for a 3 bedroom. If a rental converts a bedroom to an office, it is no longer a bedroom, it is an office. The listing is purposefully misleading. This is a 2 bedroom with an office. 

  As clearly described in the listing, this is a 3-bedroom home with one bedroom used as an office. The listing states that VERY VERY clearly, and in multiple locations. When I spoke with the guest, who was aggressive and demeaning and ended the call with the F-word, he told me he didn't read the listing, which is unfortunate. It is not our desire to mislead anyone, but when someone rents a home one also needs to understand that homes are all different and set up differently, and needs to read the description. As I already indicated, this is what the listing description said at the time of booking:

  Master Bedroom: Features a King size bed, TV, and attached bath. Sleeps 2. 
  Guest Bedroom #1: Features a Queen bed and TV. Sleeps 2.
  Guest Bedroom #2: Currently set up as an office. 

  Max Occupancy: 4

  Furthermore, the listing says that there are 2 beds in the house, one king and one queen, with a max occupancy of 4, and further states that "with one bedroom equipped as an office, this unit offers a unique setup of ample space for a family or couples while allowing for a private remote work space." On the other hand, the guest told us via text message "You advertised 5 beds and 3 bedrooms" - that is just factually incorrect, and does not jive with what's stated in our listing or any other advertising. I am not sure where the guest saw the unit advertised as having 5 beds, but it is NOT this unit and I simply cannot fix what is not broken. The unit has 2 beds, one queen and one king, and it has ALWAYS been advertised as such, with a max occupancy of 4.  

  It has to be noted that the guest booked the home for 3 people, and signed a contract stating that there would be no more than 3 occupants. The guest not only is at fault for not reading the description of the listing, but was in violation of the rental agreement by bringing more guests than he booked for. 

  2) The water was suppose to be on, it wasnt. My wife arrived at 7:00 with no cell service because of the mountains and went to use the WIFI password provided. All of the house instructions were digital and there was no instructions for anything in the house. I came up later and it wasnt until after 10pm that I was able to communicate and get the water turned on. It was not simple and along with a bad WIFI password compounded a very tough arrival.

  The instructions  are sent digitally; just like with any digital tool, it is always a good idea to print or download the needed information. The CORRECT WiFi password was provided in an email on 3/9, which according to our system the guest read at 11.16 am. The same password was also in the guest app that we provide, and in the printable welcome packet he received on the same day. The guest also received a text message on 3/9 with a link to this packet. All the guest had to do was print the email or look it up on his cell phone upon arrival - which should not require internet access (most people can look up a downloaded message on their phone without any connections). We have verified that the password provided in ALL of our communications was correct. We do not know why the guest keeps saying that we gave him the incorrect password, but it is the same password that our staff and all other guests have used without any problems. Furthermore, all communication that the guest received included both the door code AND the wifi password, so there is no reason why the guest wouldn't have been able to see it. 

  In addition, most people have access to email on their devices even if there is no wifi - but once again, that is not our responsibility. The area has cell phone reception for Verizon, AT&T and many other providers - but once again, it is not our responsibility to ensure that guests bring the necessary information with them in case they have no cell phone service. As far as turning on the water, it is a very simple step - there is a marked water shutoff in the laundry room, which our team directed him to. All he had to do was turn a lever. The guest did not indicate having any issues doing so. 

  
  3) I have the text from Jon that came to me apologizing that they sent the wrong password for the WIFi. These three items compounded into a much larger issue damaging some much needed time off with my family.  I was angry on Friday night, on Saturday with no call back from the rental company as requested and promised, I got angrier. On Monday I drove home, sent in an email to the owner and still received no response. By Monday I was very angry that Bretton Woods did not feel they needed to reach out. 

  Our staff attempted to call the guest, but as he told us himself at 10.44 pm that he was unable to receive calls on his phone; therefore, to say that we did not call him back is naive and untruthful. I see no records of requested calls being unreturned. He sent us a complaint email on the 13th, when I was out of the office all day, and I responded to it via a phone call on the 14th. During this call, he was caustic and did not even give me a chance to offer a solution; rather he vowed to make my life miserable and hung up with a "F--- OFF". Independent of his behavior, I don't think that having the President of a business call you back within 24 hours or so is "no response," and fits with the pattern of unreasonable behavior demonstrated by this guest. 

     I am going to continue my quest to hold this company accountable. My company is a member of the BBB and I am a proponent of taking steps. I have only ever filed 2 complaints, this being one. In this case, I plan to continue pressing, with my Credit card company, in court, in online reviews until I receive an apology and a partial refund. 

  The guest has already filed a dispute with the credit card company. Even if we agreed to a partial refund, we would be unable to provide it since the guest has already been refunded in full by the credit card company pending their investigation. Unfortunately, the guest has embarked in a "quest," as he says, rather than accepting that he made a mistake by not reading the description of the unit before booking, and then violating the rental agreement by bringing more people than he was allowed into the unit. He has vowed over the phone that he will do all he can to "make our life miserable," and unfortunately he is wasting everyone's time and resources on his quest, rather than accept his role in this and move on, or kindly ask to achieve some level of compensation, which I WOULD have provided, had it not been for the harassing behavior of the guest. 

  Customer response

  03/22/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because: The fact is that the listing states it is a 3 bedroom. I only had 4 guests and that is clearly visible on the camera images that are taken by the Ring camera installed at the property. Unfortunately we could not have 2 of the members sleep in the same bed with each other, so the couch in the living room was the only place for the 4th guest to sleep. The fact that we could not receive phone calls is part of the issue. The rental company provided us with the wrong password. The fact that the water was off, when it was told it would be on is the third issue. This stay was more disruptive than a vacation> We missed dinner the first night because of the internet issue and the water issue. We ate snacks we brought up. The 2nd night we had someone on the couch so when 1 person went to bed, we all went to bed. This was not a fun ski trip. The trip was damaged by the misleading and faulty representation of the owner. He even told me on the call, they took the listing from the recent sale and had not changed it yet. He then told me he had no intent to adjust that.

     As for the claims that I have a quest, thats untrue. I was angry because No one called me back for several days and my emails to them went unanswered. It wasnt until I called them that I got an angry owner on the phone that told me to "Read the fine print in the listing". I told him I was looking for a fair and equitable solution and an apology. At that point he asked me if I could read. That is when I got angry and hung up the phone.

     Im asking that they change the listing so it doesnt show up as a 3 bedroom in the searches and asking they change the listing to only show as a 2 bedroom. I also asked for a $300 rebate on my rental in my 2nd email. Id like a written apology from the owner and a $300 agreement to adjust the listing so it isnt misleading and a $300 rebate to compensate my 4th guest for sleeping on the couch. A 2 bedroom is a 2 bedroom. A 2 bedroom listing is over $400 cheaper than a 3 bedroom listing. This IS a 2 bedroom rental with an office. Not a 3 bedroom. 

  Thank you very much for your time,

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ******

  ###-###-#### cell

• Initial Complaint

  09/15/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I booked via AirBNB from 9/3-6 for $4487.16. What impacted our stay most profoundly was the discovery of rodent feces. While I was cleaning up small piles of what I thought were debris/mud from different rarely traveled to spaces in our stay to keep them out of reach of my young daughter who would not be far behind me, I came to realize that they were from a mouse on our last day. My husband, having grown up in a city, quickly named these droppings as we were greeted by a mouse standing on the counter in the kitchen. This discovery quickly prompted our unpacking of our items and groceries to ensure no critters or feces would be traveling home with us. I then emailed our host as we were leaving. This is where things get profoundly worse. After having my messages be met with thanks for letting us know, but aren’t the views great, I was escalated to Alex, the owner of Bretton Woods management. Alex promptly wants you to know he went to Harvard and is an expert on field mice, and can tell from the pictures I sent that I only had one mouse, and that it is my fault I let him in. This conversation worsened as I explained I felt he was insensitive and invalidating, to which he offered to “mansplain” further, escalating with a level of personal vitriol that can only be described as audacious and brazen. In the end, he concluded that I “wanted money for doing nothing” when I suggested that the cleaning cost or some other compensation and/or APOLOGY be made to me. He then offered me a “hundred bucks” at the end which I declined, explaining that I had left nearly that amount in the envelope marked for his cleaners as I imagined that they had a great deal of work ahead. My concern here is that if ANYTHING goes wrong while staying at a Bretton Woods Hosted Space, you will be blamed and ultimately unsupported. There are health risks to unmanaged rodents at properties and I am inclined to believe that if they will only consider you as the mouse entry point, the problems are greater

  Business response

  09/15/2022

  This complaint is full of twists and misrepresentations, so let's start with the facts.
  The guest spent 3 nights at one of our properties, a historical home in the White Mountains, surrounded by forest and meadows
  The guest signed our agreement, which includes that no refunds or adjustments of any kind are made unless our team is informed of an issue as soon as it occurs and our team is given a chance to fix the issue.
  AFTER the guest departed, she sent us this message via Airbnb:
  "Hello, Just following up as we make our way home. While we had a nice stay on many counts, we had a couple of concerns. We saw a mouse and mouse droppings on the counter. It was quite concerning, and a bit overwhelming given our young child. I have taken some pictures as we found them congregating near oven mitts. Thankfully, no food was ever left out sans crumbs it seems."
  Our team member Rachael responded "Thank you for bringing this to our attention, we will be sure to notify our maintenance department. We are happy to hear you enjoyed your stay. Holden Frost House is unique and the views are amazing!"
  To this, the guest responded with what essentially amounts to an extortion threat: "I’m a bit surprised by this response. I had hoped to resolve this more fully with you before leaving a review."
  Given the direction this had taken, after some back and forth with Rachael, I stepped in and wrote this to the guest:
  "Hi ****** - Alex here, one of the executives. Rachael informed me of your concern and I am here to help. First things first, I can tell you from the picture that there is no evidence of anything more than one mouse - one mouse will leave as much as 100 small feces a day [her picture shows maybe 6-10 droppings]. We live in the mountains, and a single door left open for just a minute while bringing bags into a home is an invitation for any of a number of small critters to come in. They are extremely small animals and, particularly this time of the year, they start looking for warm places to shelter in. I have 2 young children as well, and they are very keen on leaving doors open so we often deal with a small intruder as well. What you are perceiving as "an affront to your observation" is not at all such; it's simply a reaction to a fact of life - when you own OR rent a home in the mountains, sometimes a small field or most likely deer mouse will come in, and we deal with it. We are not there with you to ensure that you keep the doors closed and clean up if a mouse comes in - we have to rely on your report and act accordingly. Our staff checks for excrements during their visits, and there are traps in every home that we use for monitoring, as well, to help us catch any stragglers. Other than that, we have to rely on your report to be told of any problem. Please note that it is also our policy, which you signed off on, that "no refunds or considerations are given unless we are notified of problems DURING your stay and our staff is given an opportunity to address these concerns or rectify any issues." It is not fair to us NOT to give us an opportunity to address, but then come out with a threat that implies we didn't take care of something that we weren't even made aware of."
  I then called the guest. The guest told me she wasn't interested in an explanation, she just wanted money back. During this call, she was rude and condescending, and kept repeating over and over again how she is an Ivy League trainee/professor and teaches her clients how to speak to others and that my email (which you can read above) was outrageous and unprofessional. I have copied it verbatim so you can see for yourself if it really is outrageous and condescending. However, what I do find outrageous is the guest's insinuation that "Alex promptly wants you to know he went to Harvard and is an expert on field mice." First and foremost, I am not an expert on field mice, but living in the North Country, I do get to deal with them quite a bit - they are a part of our lives, just like bears and moose. I am often reminding my own kids to keep the doors closed so that we don't get any mice inside our home, and she did not take kindly to my suggestion that she do the same. Most importantly, however, the only reason I told her I went to Harvard is because she kept telling me over and over again about her Ivy League connections, while talking to me like I was an imbecile. It doesn't seem like a very unreasonable response to let her know I also had my own Ivy League connection, which I also told her I found to be completely irrelevant to this conversation.
  In summary, and most importantly - this guest is requesting a refund. However, Airbnb already reviewed her request and denied it because of its baselessness. Most importantly, however, I need to address her accusations:
  a. ****** said that her "concern here is that if ANYTHING goes wrong while staying at a Bretton Woods Hosted Space, you will be blamed and ultimately unsupported." First of all, we cannot support someone who does not request support. There was no mouse when she arrived, and she did not report it until after her departure. How could we have supported her? The proper support for a rodent problem is to alert maintenance and make sure it is promptly addressed, which is exactly what our staff did. And in addition, I already mentioned that the home is already on a regular pest prevention and control program, and that by far the most reasonable explanation is that a mouse came in during her stay - definitely not something we can prevent. However, the most important guest is that this guest did not want support - she just wanted money, and that is NOT something we support in any way, unless we are given a chance to address the problem or it's a problem that cannot be addressed.
  b. The guest also says " There are health risks to unmanaged rodents at properties and I am inclined to believe that if they will only consider you as the mouse entry point, the problems are greater." However, our properties do have an active rodent management program. What she failed to consider and understand, in spite of my attempts to explain, is that NO PREVENTION PROGRAM can ever prevent a mouse the size of a quarter from coming in if you leave doors open for even a few minutes. That's just something we don't have a way to change.
  What the guest describes as "mansplaining" was simply an attempt to be honest, open and truthful. We will NEVER be able to guarantee that a mouse will not come into a house or that a bear will not try to attack a dumpster. However, we do have active pest control programs and bear-proof dumpsters, as well as caring and attentive staff ready to respond as soon as a guest asks for help, which this guest did not do. But this guest was interested in understanding, finding a reasonable compromise or in resolving - she was simply after money, and that is not something we stand for. 

  Customer response

  09/16/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because: This response is inaccurate.  I imagine I was googled for my CV after this correspondence, and so my own academic background is added to defend his behavior and disclosures.  I would also add that I have been offered a small refund from his business which I declined…for someone only interested in money, that is fascinating… I have also been offered a more considerable refund from AirBNB which I have explained I will only accept if there is a training and pest remediation for this host.  I have now been assured that there will be consequences for this owner, and so beyond their own due diligence, I am grateful that AirBNB will hold them to account and refund me appropriately.  I would advise anyone seeking a property rental to not consider these managed spaces.  Behavior such as this is unacceptable and fortunately, quite unusual in most dealings with management companies.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ******

  Business response

  09/16/2022

  I have nothing else to offer or to add this persons deceitful complaints. I'm not even sure why she would think I like to volunteer my college education without reason, or why that would matter, and I have already provided the actual text of our written communication. The guest was in fact offered a small refund for her inconvenience even though no refund was needed. She refused the refund saying it wasn't money she wanted, but every other action she took said otherwise.  I do have witnesses to my conversation and if the guest continues to make false statements in a public forum we may decide to take action as needed. We do not deny that a mouse made its way into her home during her stay, but once again, it's not the first time that a mouse makes its way into a mountain home, and it won't be the last. That's why there is a pest management program in place. The guest refuses to listen to reason and there is not much I can do about that. We will not refund her stay as she asks because a mouse made its way into the house, most likely because she left a door open (we should add that the guest has pets with her). She claims she doesn't want money but seems to believe that money is the only solution, so there's a bit of a contradiction there.  Since she claims that Airbnb will be handling this, there is no further action needed. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I booked a stay at a 'Bretton Woods Vacations' (BWV) property through Airbnb for 2 nights. the total was $941.01. The purpose of our trip was to attend my sister's wedding. Shortly before the wedding, myself, my husband and several family members became ill with Covid-19. As a result, they chose to cancel the wedding and elope. In an effort to be honest and abide by quarantine guidelines, my husband and I chose to cancel our Airbnb stay. We reached out to the host, BWV, directly first. We told them what had happened and asked how we should proceed with cancellation due to the fact we'd never had to cancel an Airbnb reservation before. They told us to cancel through the Airbnb app, so we did. At that time we were refunded just the cleaning fee and occupancy taxes/fees of $248.72. We knew a short notice cancellation meant we were risking them strictly adhering to the cancellation policy and not refunding us much, if anything, but we thought that given the circumstances and covid guidelines (and the fact that BWV had several other units available for that timeframe) that it wouldn't be too much to ask for at least a portion of our money back. Boy were we mistaken... from both Airbnb support and BWV we received a response of "no, we're not giving you any more money back" The fact that this business feels entitled to keep nearly $700 for literally nothing is mind boggling, and actually somewhat of a hardship for myself and my husband at this time.

  Business response

  06/08/2022

  As the guest stated, this booking was made through Airbnb. All cancellations and refunds are governed by Airbnb's policies. Airbnb reviewed the case and determined that there was no exceptional circumstances applicable in this case, and that while the guest would have been eligible for a COVID-19 exception, Airbnb determined that the guest was unable to submit any evidence of having COVID and was not eligible for additional refunds other than what they had already received. Therefore, the standard cancellation policy applies, which is non-refundable. There is nothing "mind-boggling" about a business following equitably and impartially the cancellation policies stated at booking - this happens for any type of lodging, airline ticket, etc. In this case, it wasn't just one business but TWO businesses, both determining that the guest was not eligible for a refund - just like they wouldn't have received a refund of their non-refundable airline ticket had they chosen to cancel a flight the day before departure.  Upon booking, the guest received communication reminding them of the strict cancellation policy and encouraging them to purchase Trip Insurance that would cover them in the event of an unforeseen circumstance. The guest chose not to protect their Trip with trip insurance, and we have no control over that, nor are we in the business of determining who should or should not receive an exception to the policy. For that reason, we make it very clear that policies are firm and followed strictly, and guests are reminded that they DO have the option of purchasing trip insurance if they are concerned about the policy.

  It should further be mentioned that we do not own the homes in our rental program; they are privately owned homes which owners put in our program. We are bound to contractual obligation and expectations, and these include the adherence to cancellation policies. Once a booking is within the non-refundable booking window, the owner is expecting payment for making the home available to the guest, and as much as we would like to be able to please everyone, we do not have the authority to arbitrarily change that or refund the guest. 

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩