Brown Mountain Lodge ,BML, Mr Jeff Shook and Mrs Debra Shook "VACATION RENTAL NIGHTMARE" RENTER BEWARE READ THIS BEFORE YOU WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!! Mooresville, North Carolina

in the Updates section to Ripoff Report #502469.

Mr Shook,

We are very dissapointed this guest was completely unsatisfied with our house.  We are all for an online forum for venting and reporting complaints.

Any vacation property owner will tell you there is usually one or two guests in the busiest season that get upset with cleanliness in mid summer with back to back same day check out and check in's which everybody does to accomodate full week stay's.  A deeper clean and maintenance check is probably in order mid summer, lesson learned.  We had a new cleaning gal earlier this year and frankly we really liked her work and persoanl touches but its entirely possible the her quality fell off just prior to this guests visist.  I went to the house after their departure to evaluate the condition and agree the cob webs in corners and dusty areas and windows that needed cleaning, and sure enough there were specks in the microwave.  The AC cover vents had dust and the grill was not cleaned and the outside frig had mildew stains around the magnetic edge that simply will not come clean.  The sofa needed to have the Oxy fresh cleaning in a few areas and vacuumed underneath.  We did have a few dead bees in the laundry room.  My normal procedure has been to tell the cleaning gal to leave non expired condiments in the frig and toss everything else.  We do take guest complaints very seriously and try to make adjustments and improvements every year.

On the eve of our guests arrival they called to tell me of their displeasure and I offered to come up the next morning to address every concern and to get them happy with the cleanliness and whatever it took.  I couldn't see what they were seeing so I was more than happy to come and offered numerous times. That wasn't an acceptableanswer to them so I offered $100 refund for cleaning or restuarant gift cert, not acceptable.  I called our cleaning gal and she assured me she left the house in good condition and rent ready and was very adamant about that.

A quick summary of this vacation home and improvements for your review:  Purchased in Oct 2000 and remodeling began in 2001.  The upstairs suite is brand new with bath and laundry room.  We expanded the middle bedroom and quadrupled the size of the kitchen and built new cabinets, bar and installed new appliances.  The bedrooms all got new furniture except the futon.  We rocked the fireplace inside and installed the new mantle. We built the covered area outside and rocked around the fire pit and made an area to get out of the weather to be able to be out of weather and still grill and hang out listening to the creek.  To clear the rhodadendron and trees to the creek is just not feasible or to my liking and we built a covered swing down by the creek so parents can watch the kids play in the creek.  The sofa is from the early 90's and was recovered and refurbished but is still a little dated, it still sits and snoozes well and fits the room nicely, it is on the list to get updated in the near future.  The living room and front bedroom windows are the originals and would cost a small fortune to replace which is just not feasible right now.  The washer is new this yr as is the inside frig with water and ice in the door.  The living room TV was up graded to 32" 720p.  The front door was switched out for one with oval opaque glass this yr.  The down stairs bathroom got new tile and toliet and accent lighting.  Sheets, towels, pillows, dishes, stainless stell cookware and every imaginable cooking devise are all kept fresh and fairly new.  We added a couple new bar stools this yr as well.

Ninety five percent of our guests love the house and have an awesome time here.  I have had a few stressful vacations myself and I've had guests that probably had a stressful time.  I've rented homes at higher rates that don't offer anything like what you get here.  These folks drove for 9 hours with 2 kids and 2 labradors and towing a 4 wheeler so I imagine they were a little stressed on arrival, the last 8 miles in here is a state maintained gravel road, pictures of which are on the web site and description.  The thing that gets me is When I offered to come up and address every concern that was totally unacceptable.

Their rate for the week was $1155 or $165 per night and the pet fee for 2 dogs was $140, cleaning fee was $65 and plus NC tax for a total of $1465.  I search the web and I can't find properties that offer what we do that will accept 2 Labs and a 4 wheeler at that rate.

I personally went up to inspect after their departure and agree we had dust and some concerns that needed attention.  Nothing I saw would make me write such a cutting report as what we received.  I did find they either let their dog poop on the floor or worse they left it in the house for spite.

We are repectful owners and do have standards that 95% of our guest are very happy with and write glowing reviews.  We can always find ways to improve so I still learned form this one.  Did these folks get the perfect house-cleaning job, probably not?  Is the house and furnishings exactly what you see on the Internet, YES!  After all this we did make a change in cleaning staff and hopefully with an extra owner clean during the busy seasons I can eliminate guests from having a bad experience like this one.  It's a tough economy I've resisted raising rates or cleaning fees.  We've never increased rates since we opened our home to the public in 2004.  We are in the people pleasing business apparently we failed at this one.