Management Co. Question

**villiageidiot** · 23-05-2005, 05:52

Hi all,

I have been a lurker here for some time. I just returned from my Florida Vacation. I had a problem with the management company and needed to ask a question.

Last Saturday, we arrived at our villa. We dealt directly with the owners who live in the UK. The key for the villa was in the lockbox. Upon opening the door to the villa, the key broke off in the door. Luckily, I got the door open. I got the broken piece of key out of the door, all we needed was another key. I could not get a hold of anyone at the management company till Monday. Is it common for management companies to be closed on the weekend? It seems that in a business when most of your customers are checking into the homes you manage on Saturday, you should be available to help people on Saturday. My problem is, if I did not get the door open, we would have had to go a hotel till Monday. The first two days of our vacation were ruined because we could not leave the villa because we could not lock the door.

On Monday, I finally got a hold of the girl at the MC. She said she had a spare key and would bring it by. She arrived with the wrong key. I told her we had plans to go to Daytona that day and were not going to be inconvenienced again. We left the through the garage and she said she would get a new key and it would be in the lockbox at the end of the day. We got back that night and found that she had called a locksmith to the house to 'inspect' the lock and make sure it is not damaged. The locksmith said the key broke due to excessive force which is not true. I barely even got the deadbolt open before the key snapped. She charged us $85 for the service call!!! Is this a common practice for a management company? Seems to me that if she had a spare key, she could merely try the lock herself to make sure it is not damaged. It was not damaged. All she did was tick a family off!!!

**Carla** · 23-05-2005, 06:25

Hi

I'm very sorry to hear that you had such an unfortunate start to your vacation, but as you say at least you did manage to get into the property.

No, it is not usual at all for an MC to keep a guest waiting like this in an emergency situation. One of the conditions that owners have to fulfill for their license is to have 24/7 emergency call out. Not being able to lock the property on leaving is definitely an emergency, as far as I am concerned, and the problem should therefore have been handled immediately. I know that had similar circumstances happened with any of my guests then my MC would have been round straight away to solve the problem, regardless of the fact that it was a weekend.

Did you call the owners in the UK and let them know that you were having problems with both the key and the response from the MC? I appreciate that this doesn't help you now, but if any guests get a tardy response from the MC in your situation, or in any other real emergency, then it is always a good thing to let the owner know as soon as you possibly can, so that the owner can assist, and move things forward from their end, for you.

Things do go wrong with facilities on occasions, and generally at inopportune moments too, but we all want our guests to be happy and for any problems to be resolved as quickly as is possible.

**villiageidiot** · 23-05-2005, 06:54

Hi Carla, thanks for replying. I had my laptop with me and I emailed the owners in the uk. I was hoping they might have a home or cell phone number for someone who could help me. The owner called me on the villa phone to apologize. The owners have been great. I just wanted to know if it is normal for the MC to be unreachable on the weekend. I am going to send the owners a message and tell them about our experience and the condition of their home. The home was beautiful, but let's just say it could have been cleaned better. They are nice people. Hopefully, they will find a new caretaker for their home.

**Carla** · 23-05-2005, 08:07

It is definitely not normal for the MC to be unreachable at weekends. They should always be available for genuine emergencies such as yours.

I am sure that your owner will appreciate all feedback, positive and negative, that you can give him/her about your experience at the villa.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by villiageidiot
I just wanted to know if it is normal for the MC to be unreachable on the weekend. I am going to send the owners a message and tell them about our experience and the condition of their home. The home was beautiful, but let's just say it could have been cleaned better. They are nice people. Hopefully, they will find a new caretaker for their home.
[/quote]

**LiesaAnna** · 23-05-2005, 11:39

this is terrible!
we have never had any problems with opening the doors when we have stayed in villas, but we have had trouble actually getting the key out of the lockbox! very frustrating, i like the idea of it tho,

sorry for your troubles tho Rob and i hope it doesnt put you off villa renting again!
(am sure it wont[msnwink])

**stabard** · 23-05-2005, 15:05

We have a number for our MC which can be called 24/7 in the event of an emergancy like yours. I would be very upset if they kept my guests waiting like that. The only time we have had to call the locksmith out was when WE locked ourselves out [msnembarrased] Owners - who'd ave em!

**Lynnes** · 23-05-2005, 15:53

Our MC would have gone straight to the villa, no matter what time or day it was. She rings the guests on the day they arrive or the next day if they get in late, just to check everything is OK. We also ring them in the first couple of days.
We would also have had a bill for the locksmith not the guest.

**blott** · 23-05-2005, 16:12

I think we've had about four new locks on our Florida home (although it could be five) and we've always paid to get the lock changed when guests have got keys stuck in it. We've also got a MC that wouldn't leave guests trapped in our home for 48 hours of their holiday because they were unable to lock up properly! And no, it's definitely not normal to make guests wait that length of time for a spare key - that would be dealt with immediately!

I think you need to report back to your home owner the good and the bad about their home so that they can take any issues up with their management company that need to be addressed. If the owners are nice people, as you said, I'm sure they'll appreciate your taking the time to do this for them so that they can make sure that what happened to you doesn't happen to any more of their guests. I'm sure that, like all home owners, they want their guests to have a great experience in their home.

The test is not what went wrong (sometimes even in the best maintained of homes, things do), but how quickly and efficiently it was fixed that counts.

**bellaepovera** · 23-05-2005, 17:29

You are very right in complaining the MC was not there for you all weekend. They should be on call 24/7. I think you being charged the $85 service call was un-called for and I am sure the owners will agree and refund your money.