Vacasa — Local services in Shallotte

573 - Heavenly Sunshine - (Sept. 4 - 11, 2021) OK... 1st- I want to say that the "local" employees of Vacasa are wonderful people and very friendly and professional. This review is not against them in any way. (I do not like the main number that is located somewhere out West, where they have no idea of the Holden area and previous structure and support). Now onto the review: We were notified that the house was ready via a call and text message. Went to pick up the keys and there must have been 30 people in the parking lot. I went in, got the keys and papers and all was good. We got into the house, and then it all began. There were 8 bags of dirty sheets, towels, etc...on the landing (even though linens and towels were not provided to us... which we knew about). These bags remained throughout our 7 days. As everyone settled into the bedrooms, everyone started calling my name (as "I" had handled the reservation). Well, 2 rooms were not cleaned, or quickly cleaned. (Garbage on the floor). I checked my bathroom, and the water would not drain in the sink. I called and local Vacasa sent someone out immediately to handle. Ok... all good. Little things started to be discovered... all the ceiling fans were dusty, ,and 3 wobbled and made thumping noise. Also, the AIR FILTER by main furnace / ac return was completely plugged, and looked like it had not been changed in a year. I called again... Well, within 15 minutes a wonderful professional supervisor was on the scene (Jessica), and an employee. Jessica and her employee proceeded to handle this, and also replace the air filter. Kudos to Jessica for prompt and professional support. Still reading? Sunday morning...discovered NO HOT WATER on the 2nd floor. Called Vacasa again. A gentleman came out...checked that the breaker had tripped, and the hot water tank was leaking, and shut itself off for safety. He handled and checked back a few hours later, and we had hot water again. Now for the almost funny part. Vacasa called and asked me if it would be ok for them to replace this hot water heater on Friday morning. I reluctantly said "OK", and from 9:30 a.m. to 12:15, I lost beach time on my last day. I'm sure doing it after we checked out on Saturday, this could / should have been done prior to the next renters coming in. OK... last part. So the house is very nice, location on beach is perfect, parking is great, neighbors were fun and pleasant. I have been coming to Holden since 2005 (minus a few years), and everyone LOVES this beach and people. Looked on the website to check the rates for 2022 for this house and number of others we have rented. THE PRICES FOR 2022 HAVE MORE THAN DOUBLED FOR THE PROPERTIES!!! This location has always been family friendly, and available for the average working class...but it appears no longer for a number of the houses under Vacasa. I'm hoping that enough people bring this to Vacasa's mgmt.'s attention. On a closing note... we consider Holden Beach our little sanctuary for peace and quiet....to enjoy company of friends, family, and new...

After unpacking our linens bag to make the beds in the house we rented, I pulled down one of the comforters in the room my two small children were going to be sleeping in and found dried urine and blood stains on the back of the comforter. Understandably, I was appalled. I called the emergency line and was told by the gentleman that this was not a problem he could handle and that he would have someone from the office call me back the next day. Luckily I had clean blankets from home I had packed for the kids for the car ride as we live states away. I waited fifteen minutes after the office opened the next day and informed the lady who answered of my problem and was transferred to housekeeping. The lady from housekeeping told me she was sorry but her sister would have to come get the comforter and take it to a laundromat and would deliver it back the next day. I was still livid, as there was a card on the counter stating the house had been cleaned and inspected when we went in. I asked “Don’t all of the comforters get laundered between guests?”’ And her reply was that if I wanted her to be honest, no- they simply didn’t have time to do that. At this point I was absolutely disgusted. The idea that they allowed God knows how many unsuspecting people to sleep with dirty bedding for who knows how long was astounding to me. Especially considering that renting a beach house is a very costly expenditure for a week. I asked to be transferred to the manager and spoke to a woman named Linda who proceeded to tell me that while it was unfortunate and housekeeping probably should have reported the dirty bedding , sometimes in life unpleasant things we don’t expect happen and I shouldn’t let it ruin my week. She had the audacity to make some sorry analogy to a car cutting me off while driving on a highway... unpleasant, but sometimes unavoidable. At this point I was semi speechless. Again, I almost put my children to bed under a blanket stained with blood and urine. I could not fathom how they could feel like this was some mildly annoying inconvenience. After I reiterated how unacceptable the entire conversation had been , she gave a meager apology and said she would have someone come to clean the comforter. I said I wanted ALL of the pillow shams, quilts and comforters laundered. They were able to accomplish this by the evening, but it took two phone calls, and over twenty minutes of explaining why them leaving bedding stained with visible blood, urine and who knows what other microscopic human fluids for my kids to snuggle into at night was a problem for me. I will NEVER use their rental office again, and if you are brave enough to, I recommend you ask if your bedding was cleaned prior to...

I'll give the full story as I've been waiting for my refund to process before writing this review:

On Friday 12/3, my wife and I spontaneously decided to rent a house at Holden beach for a few days since the weather looked good and we wanted to take our daughter for a few days of family time.

I called Vacasa and booked over the phone. Then gentleman who helped me was extremely professional and informative.

Around 2pm, we decided "Why not head down today if we can?"

I promptly called back and added Friday 12/3 in so we could check in that night. I was assured repeatedly on the phone that the key would be left in the box for an after hours check in, even though it was only a couple of hours before they closed when I spoke to them about adding an extra night.

After 2.5 hours of driving, we arrived at the Vacasa office at 8:20pm to find no key in the box (although there were two other keys for other visitors).

I called the service line and was told that they would have someone there within five minutes and that she would call me back or have them call me. Five minutes seemed like a stretch to me, so I gave it some extra time and finally called back thirty minutes later after hearing nothing.

Speaking to different person, she assured me she would reach directly out to a manager and that the person I originally spoke to "submitted a request".

About 20 minutes after that conversation, Yvonne texted me asking "Have you heard from the manager? I have not been able to get in contact yet." to which I replied "I have not heard from anyone."

Probably 15 minutes later, sitting there stranded with my pregnant wife and three year old daughter, we were forced to drive 2.5 hours back home as we had our dog, and there were no pet friendly places in the area with vacancy.

When I spoke to someone the next morning about cancelling my reservation, I was told: "Sorry, the office manager was unaware you added the extra night."

Unaware? I verified TWICE upon reservation before adding the night. And yes: it was last minute but I was assured there would be no issues.

Instead, we basically had a 5-hour cruise in the middle of the night.

After speaking with different people who also stay at Holden, apparently Vacasa is a nightmare to deal with (and the reviews speak to it).

I highly recommend NOT using Vacasa, and going with one of the other rental companies for your...