Complaint Review: L And N Bender - Nancy Bender - elmstreetretreat.com - vrbo.com/7812

Retraction is by consumer not business

I, Debora G, retract my allegations. There are no longer any outstanding disagreements or negative comments in regard to my stay at her vacation home. Further renters are encouraged to stay at Elm Street when in Napa. With sincerity and well wishes.

In response to Debora Greene's Rip-Off complaint filed 10/27/07 and updated 10/29/07, I submit the following:

These complaints about false advertising and excessive or fraudulent cleaning charges were filed and received by the Better Business Bureau on 8/3/07, Case #19018601. Unlike the internet complaint sites, the BBB investigates the legitimacy of complaints against businesses.

After their Administrative Review of all complaints, the case was dismissed by them and label resolved in my favor We believe your company has addressed the disputed issues and exhibited a good faith effort. My standing with the BBB is listed as satisfactory, and my business practices were found to be ethical.

Additionally, from their determination letter dated 9/6/07, The Better Business Bureau thanks you for your cooperation and the professional manner in which you handled this dispute. If you have any questions or require further assistance, please contact the BBB at (520) 888-6161. The document was signed by Heather Hudson, Dispute Resolution Specialist. Please feel free to phone her office.

All of my e-mail correspondences with Debora Greene were presented to the BBB by Debora herself. They clearly demonstrated that the complaints about false advertising and excessive charges were untruthful- hence, they administratively closed the case showing no fault with our business practices. I would be happy to provide Debora's entire complaint packet to anyone, my responses, her signed contract agreeing to our rental rate and the differential for the July 4th holiday, and all of the communications from the BBB. My e-mail address is nsbender@netzero.com

On September 12, 2007, Debora filed another complaint with the BBB, this time with the Oakland, California office. The complaint was immediately dismissed after the two BBB offices shared documents and information.

Debora filed her internet complaints after receiving the BBB determination giving no credence to any of her claims. I will also be happy to provide my most recent letter to her, dated 10/19/07, addressing her decision to sign a waiver of rights with Rip-Off, which prevents her from being able to retract her complaint. My letter requested an updated report, removing her lies from the internet.

Printing lies is libelous, and individuals and business entities are protected by law against such. It is for this reason I filed a small claims law suit here in Arizona, Case #CV07-028707 on 10/23/07 (court phone (520) 740-3171), which had to be vacated because Debora lives in California. I now have an attorney in California, who will be filing a libel suit in Superior Court in California.

We have had a lot of happy people renting our home since we began renting the beginning of 2006. We have never had any such complaints, and I am in the process of contacting prior renters asking permission to print their happy remarks as testimonials.

As for Debora's allegation that the pool was dirty - she arrived two hours earlier than the arrival time she put on our contract, beating the weekly scheduled pool maintenance. When she arrived and phoned me, he was immediately contacted, and the pool was cleaned shortly. The fact that There was no cleaning service for the pool while I stayed there was found to be another lie, as the BBB phoned by property manager for substantiation.

The pool is about 15 years old, and scheduled for resurfacing Spring, 2008. We have never had any other complaints about it's condition.

Debora's complaint about cleaning fees was found to be another lie. The petty cleaning charges came from her allowing her two large dogs free run of the home, and dog fur had to be removed from underneath furniture, bed linens, etc. This is not normal cleaning, and she was charged for the time needed by my maid service to restore the home to the condition it was prior to her arrival. Her signed Contract also documents the required pet fees, half of which is non-refundable and given to the maintenance man for doggie-cleanup, and the second half is used for any additional cleaning necessitated by the presence of animals. The BBB substantiated this as well with my property manager, who, as point of information, is on-call 24-hours a day, an amenity that most homes do not offer.

This complaint has been disturbing to me, and short of changing our website name, and hiding, we are submitting this rebuttal and trusting that any concerned parties will take a few minutes to substantiate my report.

Submitted by Nancy Bender, January 10, 2008

Please refer to report #281264 for updated information posted on 10/27/07

Please refer to report Report: #281264 for an update on this report