- Report: #1090168
Complaint Review: Robert Haight - Malibu California
Reported By:
BeingScammed2013 -
San Jose, California,
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Confirmed
Why?
Robert Haight
20458 Pacific Coast Highway Malibu, 90265 California, USA
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
Robert Haight, Robert Bruce, [email protected] Homeaway Property Owner 930281 Blamed Me for Plumbing Failures, Blackmailed Me, Then Took My Deposit! Malibu California
I was an innocent traveler trying to stay in a wonderful vacation home in Malibu at the beach for one week with my teenage son before he goes to college. This was our last Summer fun in early September, 2013, rented a homeaway.com property 930281 from the owner named Robert Haight, also goes by Rob Bruce, and his email is [email protected].
There were so many problems from the start with this owner, beginning with him "accidentally" tearing up my deposit check when he first received it in the mail, and then he said that maybe I tore up the check prior to sending it to him. Now why would I send him half a check when trying to book my dream vacation?! He played games like this from the very start.
His Malibu home shows so many signs of distress and has major plumbing problems! Kitchen sink faucet was leaking our 1st night, got all our stuff on the counter wet! And NO napkins or paper towels to clean up because he provides no supplies in his large home, only a few hand towels that we wrapped around the base for 7 days...he said he'd repair it AFTER we left. Our 3rd day, the master bath showerhead spewed water out all sides when simply moving the arm to direct the flow. The connector fell apart and from then on, we couldn't use the master shower. We couldn't do laundry the whole week because the washer was broken, bathroom faucets had slow drips, toilets took 3 attempts to flush. Bath towels and blankets were stained with rust, the furniture is very stained, smells very old and dirty.
We were still meticulous and responsible in his home. After we left, he actually blamed me for his plumbing problems! OMG, he said I broke the sink and shower! Are you kidding me?! Plumbing breaks only when it is old and worn, otherwise you need tools to pry it apart! He had no time to check and repair anything between all his guests and now he's trying to blame me for all this! It gets worse, he then threatened to hold my deposit until I gave him a minimum 4 star review! He even told me what to say, "pointing out only the good parts of the experience". He acknowledged the "real problems" we had in many emails and now wants to cover it up with a fake review. Unbelievable!
It took weeks to receive my deposit back, long after his rental agreement that states "within 2 weeks after checkout" and even after California rental laws allow. When I finally received my deposit back, he only returned $50! I gave him $500 for the security deposit and I was so clean and neat in his home and he took $450 of my deposit to pay for his plumbing problems! I am absolutely stunned. His house is falling apart and he can't afford the upkeep. But to take advantage of a Mom and her son like this is so unacceptable!
If he treats his vacation guests like this, I can imagine how much he is scamming his realty clients. Therefore, I had to report this crook so that everyone knows the truth about Robert Haight. The address of the vacation property is 20458 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90265. Just in case he removes his homeaway ad because of my negative review, beware of ever renting from this man or at this property address.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
More Lies From Robert Haight
#2Author of original report
Sun, September 18, 2016
This was so amusing to see the response from Robert Haight this year, and how he continues to lie about this incident 3 years later. I was a very good vacation renter, took great care of his home and only had to call Robert repeatedly because everything was broken in his home! I have so much proof of his blackmail and fraudulent tactics, in his letter he said he will only give me my deposit back if I wrote him a 4 star review. Whoa! But I kept writing 1 star reviews so he kept removing his VRBO and Homeaway listings and creating new ones so my negative reviews would not be visible. He did that 3 different times, I have all the different ad numbers. He was such a dishonest man and a year later, someone else stayed there and had a similar experience with him. They emailed me and asked how I handled getting my money back. I told them I had to threaten small claims court on him. In my small claims court letter, it stated for him to bring all receipts of the plumbing parts and repairs over the years for the plumbing in question, and only after that did he finally give me my refund. Not sure how their story ended but I would be very careful to ever rent from this man or even trust him in his real estate ventures. If anyone wants to see the proof I have, the letters and emails between us that confirm my report, I have them all and I am more than happy to share the truth about this man and his negligent business practices.
Robert
Malibu,California,
USA
No problems in 34 years, 1 in last 3 years?!!!
#3REBUTTAL Individual responds
Thu, April 14, 2016
I would hate to be ripped off. I would never rip someone off, ever. I have never ripped anyone off. This report written by Laura Collins is FALSE. It is misleading and NOT ACCURATE.
I have lived on the westside of Los Angeles since 1968. I went to all the local schools and am very blessed to be able to live and compete in this area of the world. In 1973, I was the winning Captain of the L.A. City Champion Varsity Water Polo Team. In 1997, I bought my first beach house in Malibu.
I started selling Real Estate in 1979. During that time I have been blessed enough to represent over one hundred properties. I had sold over 100 million dollars worth of property, never one problem.
Then I rented a few nights in one of my beach houses to Laura Collins, a single mother from Northern California. BIG Mistake. First Complaint!!
Needless to say, Laura was quite a challenge. Everything was wrong for her. She called me every day. There was always something wrong. She was impossible to please and very nasty as well. She made so many problems it would take me hours to list them all here. The most pressing problem was praying she would leave!! After she checked out, I found two plumbing fixtures competely broken.
When I deducted the money to pay the Plumber for replacing the 2 fixtures, she raised such a stink that I just sent her ALL her money back, and then I find out that she has lied about the circumstances in this report. Now I ask you, one fixture broken in a week is one thing but two broken in one week, that shows you the kind of person she is. Let her prove that I did not return her deposit. I have proof she got all her money back. I have her signature on the refund checks. Case Closed.
When hearing about this False statement, all of my former clients said they would be happy to give me a great referance. Many of the following have already referred their friends and relatives to me over the years. Here is a partial Client List.
1. Adam Levine and Maroon Five- one of the best Rock Bands ever, plus Adam stars on theTV Show "the Voice". 2. Jim Sheridan- The Academy Award Nominated Director of 'My Left Foot' and 'In the Name of the Father' 3. Barry Watson- best known for his part in '7th Heaven'. 4. Mr. Henry Cisneros- Former Cabinet Minister for President Bill Clinton and 5. Kirk Cameron- best known for his staring roll on the 1980's sitcom 'Growing Pains'. In conclusion: No problems for 34 years, then one complaint, then no other complaints in the last 3 years, you all can make up your own mind and CALL me if you need a grat realtor!!!
