Sand Dollar One - 30A Vacation Rentals — Attraction in Santa Rosa Beach

Sand Dollar One is the worst management company I have ever dealt with. First, they absolutely refused to discuss any policies related to Florida's short-term rental ban. I booked a house with them back in January and paid half of the rental cost up front, with the second half due in April. By March, there was a ban on short-term rentals in Florida, which would have prevented us from going on our trip. I tried to reach out to Sand Dollar One to find out how they were handling the ban and what their policy for re-scheduling/refunding would be should the ban remain in place. First, Sand Dollar did not respond to my emails for days. I continued to send emails without a response. Finally, I received a non-committal boilerplate response that was virtually meaningless. After a number of calls, I was finally able to speak to someone to find out how they were handling the ban and was told that they would offer no refunds but would allow rescheduling for up to a year. So, despite their terrible customer service, I paid my other half and was able to go on the trip.

In the days before I left for Florida, I received three emails from Sand Dollar threatening to charge me a half-days rent if I opened the door even one second before the check-in time. As I was about one hour out from arriving at the house, I received a call from Sand Dollar informing me that the air was broken, it was 79 degrees inside the house, and the front door was "slightly broken." The rep told me they would try and fix the air that evening but could make no guarantees and that the repairman would arrive sometime between 6 and 9 pm- hours after our check-in time. I asked what arrangements would be made in the mean time. The rep quickly ended the call, called back 20 minutes later, and the air was fixed.

So we arrive and the front door is not just "slightly broken." The entire top hinge of the door is broken so the door is almost impossible to close. I and my step-father were the only two people who could close the door. For us to close it we had to go outside, lift and slam the door, then walk around back and be let in the back door. This meant that any time we tried to leave the house, we had to ensure the rest of our family did not have to leave the house as they couldn't close the door and then our small children could freely walk into the street.

Now I notice the golf-cart, which was prominently advertised in the listing for the home and that we paid an extra $800 for was nowhere to be found. Please note, Sand Dollar One Never mentioned the missing golf cart in its earlier list of problems. I call back to Sand Dollar One and they try to pretend that this is the first they are hearing about a golf cart. Next, ,they "call to check on it." I ask about the timeline for door repair- guy will be there soon.

So Saturday passes. No word on the golf cart and the front door is still broken. By Mid-day Sunday, still no word on the golf cart and the door is still broken. So I went to a hardware store, bought the necessary stuff and fix the door myself. Call back to Sand Dollar to let them know the door is fixed and to inquire about the golf cart. They don't even say thanks or apologize for the door and tell me golf cart was being repaired and it will be delivered first thing Monday morning.

Monday morning comes and the doorbell rings. It's the maintenance man there to fix the door. No golf cart in sight. I ask him if anyone told him the door was fixed. He says "nope, they didn't even tell me what was broken."

I am now out of space for this review. But the story ends with, I didn't get a golf cart ever. They had a nice lady named Keleigh call and try to sweet-talk me, but after her one attempt of assuring me she "would make things right" and telling me how "important my vacation experience" was, I never heard from her again. So I fixed their front door, paid $800+ for a golf cart I never got, and no one will return my calls. Thus, I am left to sue them for breach of contact, which I imagine they are banking on me not doing.

Good Luck...

DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY. I'll begin by saying Sand Dollar One does not care about the customer. They will steal from you and not have a shred of remorse about it. If I could give 0 stars I would.

I recently cancelled a reservation for a Sand Dollar One rental on VRBO. We were assured of a 100% refund if cancelled prior to April 6th (the cancellation was completed well before this date) due to that policy being listed in three places on the property's VRBO page. However, we have not received that full refund. Moreover, five different VRBO agents have confirmed we are entitled to this full refund and have sent this case to the Resolution team at VRBO. Despite this, we have received poor service, abhorrently unprofessional behavior (rude email in response to the inquiry, hanging up on multiple VRBO agents, not responding to our communications) and, dare I say, unethical practices.

If you book on VRBO, Sand Dollar One will send you a rental agreement to sign after receipt of payment. Let me tell you why this agreement does not apply to this situation. The agreement was 1.) not provided on the VRBO site, therefore, customers are not privy to the discrepant information outlined in said contract, 2.) has conflicting information to what is listed under "policies" on the VRBO page, 3.) was provided to us AFTER payment and confirmation was made through the VRBO site, and 4.) as a result of #3, was never signed by us.

Despite the cancellation, not only have we not received the full, entitled refund, but we continue to receive emails about signing this contract, which is odd since Sand Dollar One is already aware of the cancellation. I would imagine this is a strategy to bind us and other customers to the separate cancellation policy outlined in the rental agreement, which is in conflict with the one listed on VRBO. Per VRBO customer service, the separate cancellation policy Sand Dollar One has in a rental agreement/contract DOES NOT supersede what is provided on VRBO, who allows the host to decide what that may be. Therefore, since on VRBO, the cancellation policy this company has chosen is "100% refund" if done prior to the designated date (which was done) and in conjunction with the above, we are entitled to a full refund.

I am truly appalled by the actions of Sand Dollar One. Multiple reviews in the past have cited this issue, and still they continue to practice this way. Again, DO NOT BOOK WITH...

First off, if I could give no stars I would. Check out the BBB, this company has a D+ rating.

About 2 weeks before our vacation, I missed 2 calls from Sea Grove, FL, with no messages. Thinking about our upcoming vacation, I called the number. The phone was answered “Hello, this is Colby Shaw.” It was his personal cell phone and he asked me my name. He said he was with SDO and he need to let me know that the rental we had rented in April was now “unfit for market.” He asked me for my credit card information so that he could reimburse my account for the rental amount. He said they did not have any other properties available “at my price range” for the week we needed. He never asked if we would be interested in upgrading our accommodations. I said that I did not use a credit card for this rental and had paid by e-check. I had already at the time of the rental given my card number in case of damage to the property. I was hesitant to give him that information again. So I inquired why the unit was “unfit for market” at first he said he did not know, but after further conversation he said “you don’t want to stay there. I know that the cabinets and countertops have all been ripped out, maybe a fire or water damage.” I asked if they could not just pay me back by e-check like I had paid them. He said no and I gave him my card information. Well he could not get the refund to post and said he would have to call me back in 2 hours. This went on for 2 days with no call backs. I called every time and it was “give me 2 hours while I get this approved.” Finally I said, can you just write me a check and overnight the check to me. He said usually checks take 7-14 days to be written. At our last conversation, I thought it was our conversation, he said he would himself get the check written and call me from the post office in 2 hours with a tracking number and a photo of the check. Did not get a call or text. Called him back and he said that they were going to have to do an e-check, and they were waiting on a signature from the owner. Give them the night and I should have an email with the e-check by morning. Well I did, the e-check came through and I was able to deposit the e-check to my account. He did graciously offer a 20% off our next use of SDO...