USVI-On-Line

Knolmom wrote:Anthony, Anthony where are you? Are you at all familiar with the "local accommodation council" on STT/STJ?
Can we really be "blackballed" for sharing our experiences on this forum? I certainly hope not. A very bad omen if this is true.
I realize that Beverly Nickolson must have her hands full with the adverse event on STT, but perhaps someone could related this "insinuated" blackballing to her.

I have never heard of it. I can't imagine there is such a practice as "black balling" an individual either. Sorry but I have been busy and/or away for several reasons the last few days. I totally get the gripe, but personally I do have to say that I am not crazy about the title of the post - I ask in the guidelines for reviews (which I know this isn't - it is a forum post) that while you can certainly share the bad as well as the good, you don't say things like "Say no", "Don't use", "Avoid" etc. I think sharing the negative experience let's people know how you fell obviousl and they can make those decisions themselves (to avoid a place, service, etc.), and it keeps us all (me and the posters) out of potential trouble and out of the situation of me having to remove negative but legitimate comments due to a title that could be (although rarely is) libelous (and sorry but I will remove things first before spending money on a lawyer - not that I don't like lawyers, I just don't have the money)...

stjohnjulie wrote:dctac, you have a point. I did a brief stint with Destination St. John about 10 years ago and learned a lot about what goes into such a business. We had a ton of houses with a ton of different owners/personalities. Some people were very very difficult to deal with. Some owners didn't want to spend ANY money. They didn't want to replace outdated or worn furnishings. They complained about charges for landscaping and maintenance. It was hard for me to book these villas with a clear conscious. Other people wanted to use their own people for cleaning, landscaping, etc. This really puts the villa company in a spot because they don't have the control they need. Destination St. John, way back when, actually had to drop some of the villas because they had a reputation to protect. I think this was the right thing to do.

We experienced both ends of the spectrum. The most annoying was our stay at a Peter Bay house where there were 6 beach towels for 9 guests. The rental agency told us they needed approval from the owner to give us 3 more towels. WTF! One towel per person is not an unreasonable expectation.

That was only the beginning of the "the owner won't replace this, the owner was suppose to have taken care of that, the owner doesn't want to spend money for whatever excuses."

Things kept breaking down all week long. Very annoying.

That house has a lot of differed maintenance issues, it was very apparent they (owners) didn't want to spend any money on the house.

Anthony wrote:

Knolmom wrote:Anthony, Anthony where are you? Are you at all familiar with the "local accommodation council" on STT/STJ?
Can we really be "blackballed" for sharing our experiences on this forum? I certainly hope not. A very bad omen if this is true.
I realize that Beverly Nickolson must have her hands full with the adverse event on STT, but perhaps someone could related this "insinuated" blackballing to her.

I have never heard of it. I can't imagine there is such a practice as "black balling" an individual either. Sorry but I have been busy and/or away for several reasons the last few days. I totally get the gripe, but personally I do have to say that I am not crazy about the title of the post - I ask in the guidelines for reviews (which I know this isn't - it is a forum post) that while you can certainly share the bad as well as the good, you don't say things like "Say no", "Don't use", "Avoid" etc. I think sharing the negative experience let's people know how you fell obviousl and they can make those decisions themselves (to avoid a place, service, etc.), and it keeps us all (me and the posters) out of potential trouble and out of the situation of me having to remove negative but legitimate comments due to a title that could be (although rarely is) libelous (and sorry but I will remove things first before spending money on a lawyer - not that I don't like lawyers, I just don't have the money)...

Thanks Anthony, I was starting to feel lonely thinking I was the only one who thought the title was a little aggressive.

I feel it's ok to tell everyone about the negative experience, but we all have to take this in context with other people's experiences, many of which had been positive with CV. I've personally had experiences where CV went beyond the call of duty over the past 10 years (which I didn't mention) and the owner I spoke to had a very good relationship with CV. So, life isn't always black and white.....

I would still be interested to hear someone explain CV's 5% surcharge. Like I mentioned earlier, the owner I spoke with said this was a wash, the CV villas had comparable "total" price to competition. Is this true?

stjohnjulie wrote: Personally, I am dying to know who the landscapers were that rooted through your villa. This is so completely wrong and just crazy.

ME TOO. The whole experience was negative, but this was particularly horrifying to me.

And because of this thread, for any future villa rentals I plan to ask the agents if any landscapers or maintenance workers will stop by mid-week. Maybe I'm naive, but I would have never thought of that as an issue before!

Now that I'm home...I contacted Carefree after I learned of this incident and asked for the name and dates that we'd have any visitors. I got the info.

When Cindy came by to see us, we spoke about what happened and that, from what I gathered, a lot of the agencies knew about the incident and were looking into tightening policies.

For me, asking who may come by the house and on what days is now on my checklist.

As or CV, after the hose job I got in 2008 (How I perceived it), I'll never rent from them again.

We had the same problem with towels for another rental property. They only provided one beach towel per guest which in MHO is not enough. You need two minimum.

These days I address that issue with the rental company before we go. Making sure they have enough towels.

Back to the main topic of CV. Here is my last experience with them.

We had a serious problem at Anole (rented thru CV) a couple of years back.

There was a major roach infestation (covering the floors and even crawling on us in bed at night).

It was horrifying and gross. I am used to critters but there was a serious problem at this property that was most likely caused by the owner cheaping out on spraying and pest control. That was CV's explanation: "The owner doesn't let us schedule pest control and contracts with someone directly"

We also had visbile rat traps by the door in the bedroom (again, not unusual but usually not pout in the OPEN). They left lights on downstairs and then locked the doors preventing us from going down to turn them out. There were no working flashlights in the house and no candles. The greeter dropped us off at the house and didn't show us anything. The power wasa out at the house, I saw her flip a switch and nothing happened but she didn't say anything. Being used to light switches that don't work is not unusual so i missed it. She looked annoyed when we didn't tip her and left in a huff.

The railings were wobbly (you absolutely could not lean against them or they would collapse) and the drop was pretty steep. And there were exposed rusty nails where the decorative wooden balls (don't know the word for these is) on the railing.

So when I splipped on the slick tile deck and reached to grab the rail for support I impailed my self on a rusty nail. Fortunately my tetanus booster was up to date.

The gas grill sucked and the furniture was uncomfortable and moldy smelling. The towels were limited.

I called repeatedly throughout the stay to get them to correct the problem and even documented the roach infestation by taking pictures of the hundreds of roach carcasses covering the floors.

It was out of control and by the time the trip was at an end I was a wreck. I couldn't sleep at night because I kept feeling a roach crawling on me. Sometimes it was and sometimes it wasn't. It was gross.

When we went to CV to drop off the key, I literally broke down into tears. I was so grossed out and upset. I had had a very stressful few months prior to our trip to STJ and I had been looking forward to getting away my my husband and relaxing. But the stay at Anole was anything but.

While the villa had killer views I will NEVER stay there again and I will never recommend it to anyone. I know some like Anole and that's fine, but I had a HORRIBLE experience. Being a STJ veteran I can take most things but this was ridiculous.

My complaint to CV yielded a 25% refund of the total cost of my stay and the 5% service charge returned to me, since in fact we didn't get any service while on island. Up until that point I rented from CV EXCLUSIVELY. We rented at least 5 times from them previously (IIRC) amybe more. Essentially I think they did what they could to try and make it right but I never really felt the same way about them after that.

As a result, I have chosen to take my business elsewhere.

As for the 5%, that's just how they do it. I think others are right in the sense that when you do property price comparisons they are cheaper and the 5% just brings the cost up to par with others.

But it really does come across as a little sketchy- since thy are luring you in with a lower base price than other places but then in the long run you MAY pay as much or more as others. (Reminds me of the discount airlines-- sometimes, once you add up all the extra fees, it may actually be cheaper to go with a NON discount airline).

I haven't generally noticed a higher level of service over other companies for that "service charge."

I do know that CV will leave a welcome basket if you are returning to the same property but VIVA and other rental co's have left us a basket of goodies no matter what.

In general I have found the CV mainland staff to be cold and impersonal. The on island staff is generally the opposite. For the most part through several of our rentals, the on island staff were very helpful (until our experience with Anole).

Then again, I am renting a house from them, not expecting to be best friends. We never had a problem with damage to houses. We treat them like our own.

For me the bottom line is there are a LOT of houses out there and several companies on island to rent them. Heck, you can even rent thru owners directly more easily these days than ever.

NO doubt that the owners would love to shift to a model that keeps them from having to pay the on island property management the tons of money that they do. A villa owner recently disclosed that figure to me and I was SHOCKED at how much that monthly fee is. But the mamnagement companies do provide them with a valuable service, since owners can't always be on island to take care of damage and problems that occur.

It's a double edged sword.

Ultimately, as consumers, we share knowledge (good and bad) and people can make their own decisions.

I would like to hear what CV has to say about this particular issue though.

Gromit wrote:We had the same problem with towels for another rental property. They only provided one beach towel per guest which in MHO is not enough. You need two minimum.

These days I address that issue with the rental company before we go. Making sure they have enough towels.

To add to the frustration level, I had chatted with a forum member prior to our visit. They rented a different house in Peter Bay from the same agency and they told me how they didn't have enough beach towels either.

So right before we arrived, I emailed the agency and asked could they please make sure there were enough towels?

I get this long email back that sort of scolded me for worrying about something so trival because "our houses are the highest level of luxury, blah, blah blah...we provide everything needed for a perfect stay (except beach towels)...."

We get to the house and get a lecture from the greeter about how we will be charged $50 for each beach towel that we "misplace".

I walked over to the basket, point to it and said "there are only 6 towels."

The greeter refused to address this. I pushed and then he made some excuse about how the towels were in the bedroom. I had everyone go check their rooms. No towels.

Then I called the office and was told they needed the owners permission to give us the towels. Two days pass, no beach towels.

Then after, I got bitchy, they dropped off two of the cheapest, crappiest towels ever that turn our skin different colors the first time we used them.

That house was for sale in 2007 and is still for sale when we were on island 4 weeks ago.

(The grill didn't work, the interior stove only half worked, the kitchen stuff was total crap and one hot water heater broke at the same house. It is just easier to joke about the towels)

PA Girl-- knowing what those houses rent for in Peter Bay, the last thing you should have to worry about (least of all ask for) are towels!

As the VP of Caribbean Villas I want to thank the several guests and on island managers for calling me to discuss this forum. I appreciate your support.

I understand that the people in this forum would like a response from our company but from a legal and business standpoint we are choosing not to comment on this forum. We believe in complete confidentiality of all our guests and will not comment on a guest or their experience in a open forum as we choose to deal with them directly.

I would, however, invite any of you who have concerns and/or questions about Caribbean Villas' business practices and policies, to phone me directly. I welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you have. You may contact me at caribvilla@aol.com or call me at 800 338 0987 EST.

Diane
Caribbean Villas

Caribvilla, I think that is a good policy for you to cease from discussing your clients online.

Stepping away from any specific company, I feel posters who use language like "Say no", "Don't use", "Avoid" etc." are perfectly fine. Most people have enough intellect to weigh the advice given with other research and certainly will not avoid something based on one person's experience. At the same time I can certainly read between the lines and hear a person tell me to avoid something. It is immaterial, whether they spell it out, or imply it. It would be a shame to silence people who have had negative experiences. It isn't all rainbows in St. John or anywhere else.

But, you are the boss here, I am just throwing out a different perspective on a thread that doesn't have any negative or positive affect on me personally. I just appreciate the person's right to say it.

xoxo

xoxo

caribvilla wrote:As the VP of Caribbean Villas I want to thank the several guests and on island managers for calling me to discuss this forum. I appreciate your support.

I understand that the people in this forum would like a response from our company but from a legal and business standpoint we are choosing not to comment on this forum. We believe in complete confidentiality of all our guests and will not comment on a guest or their experience in a open forum as we choose to deal with them directly.

I would, however, invite any of you who have concerns and/or questions about Caribbean Villas' business practices and policies, to phone me directly. I welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you have. You may contact me at caribvilla@aol.com or call me at 800 338 0987 EST.

Diane
Caribbean Villas

Diane, can you please comment regarding the 5% service charge, this is an issue of interest to many on the forum.

Thank you for asking about our 5% service charge. I will take this opportunity to answer your question.

There are several companies on St. John that do have a 5% service charge. To name a few: Suite St. John, St. John Ultimate Villas, stjohnvillas.us, along with several wholesalers. Other companies have other operating fees such as non-refundable security deposit waivers and/or booking fees. Every management company on St. John or elsewhere has operating expenses and these types of fees cover these types of costs.

Caribbean Villas both markets and manages properties on the island of St. John and Tortola. For the homes we market we are obligated to charge the same rates and fees that the island managers require. For the homes we manage these homes are located all over the island of St. John and each villa has different operating costs and expenses associated with check-ins, cleaning costs, supplies, staff, etc.

Every business whether it is located on St. John or in the Continental US has their own business model and it is up to them to decide how to operate their business. These decisions are well thought out and implemented accordingly. When a company does this hopefully the company will be a success. We understand not everyone will agree with our policies and procedures but it would be our hope they would respect them.

Diane
Caribbean Villas

If I am paying a 5 % premium, I would expect better than average service.

I don't get the mgt cos blaming the owners to guests for not enough towels, pest control, whatever, and then NOT just taking care of the guest (getting some quick exterminating done, providing more towels, beach chairs, pool chaises, a WiFi router, or whatever the guest needs that is not at the villa or not working). I might not return to a particular villa for many reasons but I would certainly rent a different villa through a management company that took care of me - regardless of whether or not an owner had laxed out about maintenance and amenities.

I always thought that the mgmt companies work for the owner. If a guest calls to report a problem, the mgmt company handles it according to the wishes of the owner. It sounds like some owners allow/authorize the mgmt company to make repairs, others do it themselves or ask the company to use their own vendor. The owner is ultimately the one who decides what gets repaired or not, by who, when, and makes decisions on upgrading furnishings, providing towels etc. I think the key is to try to find a mgmt company that has a good working relationship with their owners and holds the owners to keeping the house to a certain standard. So maybe those are the types of questions to ask when renting -- who manages the maintenance, when were the furnishings last updated, does the owner restrict use of towels etc.