Cabins of the Smoky Mountains
Venture Group Resorts (?) Is running water an amenity? No cable, internet, phone, running water, etc etc... No refunds?

Let me start to say I'm not unreasonable and I gave them 2-stars because they did "try".

I do think I am justified in requesting compensation for a cabin without advertised amenities. I also feel it's reasonable to ask for compensation for the night without water (this was not a city issue but a property management issue - we were told that no one predicted high water usage over the night). I also feel it's reasonable for us to leave and expect a refund for nights we did not stay.

You can tell by the stars that this is a negative review. To make it short, we saw some other cabins near these that looked nicer.

Summary:
No cable in unit, no internet, no phone, sink did not drain properly, missing lights, no additional linens, remote batteries dead, and apparently no tickets were made on issues (except cable) hence the reason problems were not fixed. We made several phone calls and to their credit, they returned all of them. They also provided compensation for cable and water. We left early and even the employee at checkout and the manager, Ashley, said they would have done the same thing.

Long Story: My family and I checked in and found there was no cable.in fact, the wires were everywhere and I had to reconnect them. No internet, no phone. We reported it and did not receive a reply until the next day. At which time, we were told it was fixed. We called back when it was not AND was told that the cabin NEVER had cable. To their credit, after much fussing, they offered compensation and to move us to a cabin across town with lesser views but we would not be able to move. For those with kids and vacation plans, imagine the headache of uprooting 3 kids in the middle of day (cabin is not available until after 12pm) and moving them across town. Basically ruins a full day. We reported other concerns but they were never fixed (or logged).

To add insult to injury, that night, the water goes out. We called front desk, emergency/night line, etc. No response. We go to the clubhouse at 9:00am (supposed to open) and no one was there until 0920 (person dropping off paperwork but knew why water was out (well went dry).

At 1300, after speaking to another manager (Matt), we were told they would reimburse us for that night. Water was still out when we checked out (two nights early). We handed employee a list of "To-do's" and grievances but manager never received it. Manager said she never got it. We were told manager would call us back.

Four days later, I call. Ashley said there were no tickets for items I reported. She never received my list. She also said I would not receive a refund for nights that we did not stay.

Conclusion: So, to be fair, they did try to rectify some issues. I think it's totally reasonable to leave at this point with so many things going wrong and three small children. The employees also agreed that they would have too. I do not think it's unreasonable to request a refund for a cabin lacking internet, cable, phone, AND WATER. The water is well water and NOT municipal water.

The manager claims this rarely happens. I think a true measure of a company and their customer service is how they happen situations that rarely happen.

On a side note: They never explained why the water was out other than "maybe someone left the faucet on too long". I can tell you, that with that many cabins, they should have had much better reserve capacity than that (to regulations, a faucet would drain at full pressure about 4000 gallons of water in 24 hours). It surprises me there were no level alarms, float valves, or someone checking gauges.

Company: Cabins of the Smoky Mountains
Country: USA
State: Tennessee
City: Gatlinburg
Address: 653 Hidden Valley Rd
Phone: 8652771160
Site: cabinsofthesmokymountains.com

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