Travelers: If you are considering renting, read this: beware misleading listings, and an inhospitable owner. I lost a lot of money to both of these.
My wife and I work 12+ hour days and needed a change of scenery so we decided on a rental. We required working wi-fi, because we needed to work every day. Not fast wifi, just wifi. Seeing some negative reviews about wifi at this property, we double-checked by emailing the owner. He replied “the internet is working” and “the previous issues were fixed.” So, we booked 1 day before our scheduled arrival time, a full 3 nights, which cost a lot of money.
Upon arriving, the internet was non-functional. Email wouldn’t load. Even google.com took 5 full minutes to load (!!) We notified the owners. They told us to reset the router. No luck.
BTW we are both well-versed in internet diagnostics. I confirmed that there is “technically” internet, but at speeds that are NON-FUNCTIONAL by all standards (even if it’s 1995). So, the owner’s wife got on the phone with the internet service provider, who said it would take 48-72 hours to get a technician out to the property (past the length of my stay).
We politely told the owner that we could not stay, as wi-fi was the only amenity we needed, and we had work online at 8am. We left a mere 2 hours after arriving (arrived, debugged internet, left) and offered to pay for cleaning fees.
Here is where it took a turn: We asked for a refund and the owner outright refused to even listen to us. I was shocked by the tone of what should normally a pretty routine conversation. One might wonder if I was demanding unreasonable speeds. I was not. Or that I’m lying.... I’m not. Obviously I wanted my trip to work out.
Fellow travelers: You may inquire about the wifi, and they may say it’s fixed. It may NOW be, since the provider, Frontier Communications, may fix it. If I were you, based on the lack of transparency / hospitality of this host, I would demand evidence of an accredited speed test before booking if you also have to work.
Take caution with all aspects of the listing: Need the hot tub? Need the toilet to flush? If something is not as described, you’re out of a lot of money, like I am. Take extreme caution when booking this home. I learned VRBO does not protect travelers from falsely listed amenities. They rely on the honesty of hosts. So us travelers can only rely on reviews.
