My family and I decided to rent a beach house on the New Jersey shore for 1 week. I called Arthur Rure Agency for the booking because I had previously used them.
The first experience with them went well. The house was very nice and extremely clean. This time was another story!
I first went to their web site to find the house to rent and to see the availability. I wanted to rent the house from 7/31-8/7. On the web site is showed that it was available, so I called and spoke with Barbara at the agency.
She confirmed that the house was avilabale for that week. She told me what I had to send them for a deposit and that they would fax me a lease once they received the money.
When I called to see if they received my deposit (they never call you unless they want something) I spoke with Lauren. She said she would fax me a copy of the lease and an inventory list.
Apparently when they were entering the information into their computer system, they found that the property had already been booked! They had double booked us!
She told me that the property was available from 6/26-7/3. I told her I had to see if my incoming guests could re-arrange their schedules and if my kids could miss camp.
I told Lauren that I wanted to be compensated for the inconvenience. She took a small amount off the price (over $3000 to rent for 1 week).
I said fine and we booked the house for 6/26-7/3. Lauren faxed the lease (no inventory list) and I signed it and faxed it back. They subsequently misplaced the lease (a signed contract) for a week.
I called them and they told me to re-fax it to them (they eventually found the first fax). I faxed them another copy and sent out the balance of the rent.
When we arrived at the property, the house was very dirty. The bed sheets were filthy, the towels were dirty, there was hair in the tub, there was a half eaten cookie under the kid's bed, there was a dog biscuit behind the dresser, there was dust in all of the air condition vents, there were crumbs under the couch cusions, one of the ceiling fans was hanging by a thread, the outside light did not work, we had 1 less tv than it showed on line, etc...
This was not what I paid for! I called Lauren immediately. When I told her these things she said "you rented the house sight unseen". She was not helpful at all! She became confrontational!
She said the cleaning lady was there earlier. I told her to send her back out. She said no! She said she was coming out to see for herself.
When she got to the house we showed her the dirty air vents. She said she did not see the dirt. When we showed her the cookie and crumbs she said the cleaning lady does not move furniture.
When she saw the hair in the tub she said she does not know how it got there. I know we didn't put it there! When I showed her the broken ceiling fan, she simply said "don't use it".
She tried to turn it around and make it our fault. I told her she was incompetent from day one and she said "have a nice week" and left.
I called and talked to the owner of the agency. He said all the right things, but really did nothing. He kept telling me he was going to fix the fan, get me the other tv, and have the cleaning lady come back to the house. None of this was done!!! (he did supply us with pool passes at a nearby hotel).
I told him if my staff ever treated our customer's this way, I would have fired them. Again, he made false promises that never materialized.
When we were leaving the house, we left the dirty towels and sheets (we had cleaned them so we could use them) so the "cleaning lady" could get them and have them cleaned and the next victim would not have to deal with this. We did not overly clean the place (that is the "cleaning lady's" job) We did not break anything! We did not leave the house worse then when we arrived!
Now they are saying we left the house dirty and that part of my security will be kept. I explained why we left the towels and sheets. They did not want to hear it. I again asked why the cleaning lady was never sent out as promised, and again they had no answer.
Basically, they got my money and that is all they care about. I feel Arthur Rue Agency is deceptive in it's on line practices and they are extremely, almost laughably, incompetent!
If you are thinking of renting in Seaside, I would advise you to stay clear of them! I plan on taking a few trips down there to let as many people know how they treat their customers!
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