Vacation Rental Guests - THE WORST

So I recently had my worst vacation rental guest ever. EVER. Like seriously, in all of the years of working in vacation rentals, and this is a hands down most horrible person.

I received a voicemail from the guest upon their arrival. But it was a very difficult message to understand. They were slurring their words and not putting a sentence together. I caught a few short phrases, though I still couldn't understand what they were saying. I understood that he "really liked the condo" but also heard the word "junk" many times. I couldn't even tell if they were really happy or really upset. My best guess is that they were really drunk and if they even remembered making the call, I would find out the story the next day. I purposely did not call them back that night because of this, but reached out immediately the next morning at 10am, as I did not want to be the one to awake an asumed hungover beast too early in the morning.

The next day I left a voicemail stating I could not understand their message, and to please call me back. I didn't even make any guesses to them of what they wanted. I received a text in reply. The text told me to remove the junk by the pool at the resort where he was staying.

The junk he is referring to is a problem. The owner of the restaurant at the resort removed the items from inside his property and placed it out on the patio. It is his chairs, tables, and grills that he used for the restaurant. It doesn't look good, I prefer it not be there, but it doesn't belong to me or the resort. It belongs to the owner of the restaurant, and it is his property.

This was explained to him in a long email. Despite such, he continued to text and tell me to remove the stuff. I replied that I would not continue to have this conversation via text, that I had tried calling him several times and he would not answer, and if he needed more understanding I would discuss it with him on the telephone. After several pleas for him to call, he finally did so.

The "conversation" was instead this customer yelling at me, cursing at me, and threatening me. Enough so that I went to our secretarys desk so she could hear such in case there was ever an issue arising from this. I wanted a witness to hear how this guest was speaking to me, cursing at me, and threatening me.

Once I was allowed to speak, I reiterated what was in the email. That the "junk" did not belong to me, I have nothing to do with what is out at restaurant by the pool. But to try to avoid conflict, I also made it extremely clear (just as was in the email and a text) that I would reimburse his monies and he can move out of the condo. I had even checked with a couple of people and found an alternate unit. However, this person stated they really liked the condo itself and they would not move. I actually encouraged him to move, as I really didn't want a person like this in one of my properties. I was worried they would intentionally damage the unit. They would not consider moving.

We eventually ended our conversation, and I did not hear back from them during their stay.

Well, they finally reached back out again. TRYING TO EXTORT ME. They stated that if I did not give them $400, they would write bad reviews on VRBO and TripAdvisor. No joke. They tried extorting me with threats of bad reviews!! For items they did not want to see outside the restaurant at the resort.

I debated for about five minutes what to do, even discussed it with my partner, and we decided to simply let him write the bad reviews. I will not be extorted. I will not be disrespected and cursed by a clearly bitter and horrible foul mouthed person who was likely drunk the entire time based upon the way he was talking. I have always been proud of our business' ability to work out a resolution for anyone that is not happy. Hell, it is why we named our business REAL SOLUTIONS, it is our primary objective. But let it be known, we will not tolerate such behaviors by an outright scam artist prick.

For the record, here is a copy of the review by the guest that was immediately after this rental:

Review #11131886 “Excellent Location, Excellent Views and Extremely Relaxing”

This condo provided a great escape from the cold and snow and made for a relaxing vacation. The condo description and pictures are an accurate representation of the unit, which we found to be excellent. The views from the balcony are amazing and being the corner unit we had great views of the beach, pool and St.John's. The condo's location was excellent and was just a short walk or safari ride into Red Hook. Kirk was very responsive and extremely accommodating and this was greatly appreciated. We would definitely recommend this condo to family and friends.

Does that sound like a problem condo? Didn't think so. Sounds like I got the most bitter nasty vacation rental guest ever....

I will now turn my attentions back to making people happy, enough sharing of the evil side of vacation rentals (as rare as it may be).