mns2k

Meeting with a Medicare insurance person on Saturday (turning 65 in January). See what the cost is for additional insurance. Golf Sunday morning. 6:45 tee time

Tadashi

Looks like we get one more nice day tomorrow (Friday) then rain all weekend. Sunday says high winds and rain. Guess I better find my car cover too

dean

I think I may spend part of my weekend tormenting the owner of the house I rented in Maine. Not only was the place a dump, but the owner has attempted to screw me out of my security deposit.
She claims that my mother's miniature poodle - who is only slightly larger than the average squirrel - totally ruined a rug. I've never known the dog to urinate indoors at anyone's house. But even if she did in this case, I could dispense more urine with a single squeeze of an eye dropper than what she produces. All three rugs in the place were small rubber-backed throw rugs like those you'd find on the floor in a bathroom and cost around $10 each new at Walmart. These particular rugs looked as though they'd lain there untouched since the Bay of Pigs invasion.
I'm writing the money off, but I intend to get it in back in the form of entertainment.

The owner's email sent to me last night:

"Hello Dean,
Regrettably, we are unable to return your pet deposit. The concierge reported pee on the rug
Which she tried. To scrub out. however, when she went in to clean on the 20th, the odor was still very powerful. Although, as you say, the cottage was fairly clean, the rug will need to be replaced. it is for that reason that we take pet deposits. this is the first time we have not been able to return one."


My opening salvo that I sent off to the owner this morning (the internet can be a wonderful playground):

Ms XXXXXX,

That is quite odd, especially in light of the fact we were prevented from entering the premises at our scheduled time because your "concierge" told us that the previous renters had, in her words, "trashed the place".
Frankly, upon entering and observing the overall condition of the interior, I became quite bewildered as to what means she could have possibly employed to determine the place had been "trashed". By some form of divination, I'll wager.
Odder still, is the fact that I checked the place myself thoroughly just prior to leaving for home and neither saw or smelled any indications of "pee". And I find it doubtful that my mother's four pound, eight-year-old, miniature poodle, who is completely housebroken, is capable of the extent of damage you claim.

In any event, I will be reporting my rental experience along with the details of my exceedingly unfortunate and disappointing stay at your cockroach and earwig infested "cottage" through the XXXXXXXX website, as well as through various internet fora and other avenues. Your coastline catastrophe really should be condemned. As it, the patio, the dock, along with the numerous wood railings surrounding the patio and the dock are in an advanced stage of dry-rot and disrepair. Not to mention the cracked walls, wildly sloping floors, and the numerous doors and windows that do not open or close properly because the entire structure is collapsing in on itself.

The condition of the bathroom and the "shower" were no better. The toilet didn't flush adequately, the condition of the "shower" was nothing short of abominable, and the ongoing problems with the non-functioning drains in both the shower and kitchen sink all made their own distinct contributions in achieving the overall atmosphere of a tent city in Haiti.
And all of which made for rather unsafe conditions, particularly for a disabled person like me.

My disability issue aside, a week's stay at a homeless shelter catering to heroin addicts on Detroit's skid row would have made for a more pleasant vacation with better functioning facilities and with far more amenities, of which I possess little doubt. I can only speculate as to how your little shanty-on-the-shore would be regarded and how it would fare in an onsite inspection by the Maine Department of Public Safety. I'm guessing the answer would be poorly.

Additionally, I grew up in the Spruce Head area and I rent a home there in the summer nearly every year. I'm very familiar with rentals and the going rates in the area. Charging a thousand dollars a week for such a dilapidated and dry-rotted shack which is devoid of amenities is unconscionable and bordering on outright thievery, in my opinion. Then to have the effrontery to require renters to provide their own bedding and further demand that they replace any items used during their stay - while paying an exorbitant fee for the "privilege" of living in such squalor - must require, at the very least, a total cluelessness about the worth of what you're attempting to rent, or a substantial lack of ethics. You pick.
In leaning toward the latter, you may be able to scam the occasional inexperienced tourist, but there are far superior homes offering much more in the way of amenities, cleanliness, and comfort which can be rented in the same area at approximately the same rate. And I intend to make that clear to any potential renters I encounter both online and off.

And finally, to ensure that at least a portion of the money out of which I was fleeced in this inequitable exchange for a week of misery and mudflats gets to its proper place, I will be making inquiries with the Maine Revenue Service as to whether the seven percent rental tax I was charged by you has, in fact, found its way into their coffers. I will also be making similar inquiries with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue to ensure they, too, are getting their fair share of the booty.

Have a nice day.

Lainey

Ah the poison pen letter!

Love it!! Let us know how you make out!

dean

Thanks. As I said, I'm writing the money off as a loss. The owners are from your neck of the woods. I think it's my duty as a good citizen to ensure that they pay the ME rental taxes they collect from renters as well as the MA state income taxes they owe on the money they're hauling in from this shanty of theirs.Their only outlay is for electricity and for their "concierge" cleaning person who shows up to sweep the floors and empty the garbage at the end of the week.
The whole "concierge" pretentiousness of hers kills me. The place is a sty.

Lainey

Did she have great marketing on the place, or fake pics on a web site? I'm guessing it didn't have any AAA diamonds?

I found the writers for the tourism industry quite able to "slightly" exaggerate the pluses of a place/attraction then we'd get there and , . Found that to be the case both in Niagara Falls and in Prince Edward Island. Maybe it's those Canadians? (Sorry Emil)

dean

The owner did all the posting, writing, and picture taking on one of those rent-it-yourself websites. Much of the description was lying by omission, although there was quite a bit of exaggeration in the description as well - referring to it as "a restored '50s cottage". The only "restoration" I could see was that someone had painted the dry-rotted cedar shingles on three sides of the place, probably within the past ten years. The pictures of the outside were taken from long distances and at high tide. What wasn't shown or mentioned was that the shack is situated near the end of a long cove, so when the tide goes out one gets a scenic view and the lovely aroma of the mudflats for close to twelve hours a day.

S2KRAY

We are as ready as we can be. Coastal residents are evacuating and everything is boarded up. Cape May Lewes fairy shut down as well as the beaches and parks. Got the Jeep gassed up in case we have to leave but we are hoping to ride it out. Beer is on ice and the wine rack is full. Be safe everyone.

jukngene

Good luck, Ray. You're certainly welcome to come stay at our place if you have to evacuate (just bring the beer. I have plenty of wine and booze!)

Lainey

Dean, when we arrived at the cottage across from the beach in PEI, we found there were cows residing right behind us. We did have the pleasure of "cow smell" one evening. Windows closed!

Gene assured me that the cow smell is the smell of money.

There are always surprises on vacations!