The Worst VRBO I Have Ever Checked Into (and then escaped soon after)

First and foremost, NEVER STAY AT THIS HOUSE. (31 reasons below!)

Love that black mold!

As our group of friends and families came from all over the country for our annual reunion weekend, excitement was running high.

Then, we opened the door to this rental and our hopes for a nice stay were crushed. THIS PLACE IS NOTHING LIKE THE PICS IN THE LISTING. I will enumerate the issues below, but I wanted to state this right now: WE ESCAPED THIS PLACE A HOUR OR TWO LATER AND LUCKILY BOOKED ANOTHER RENTAL IN FLAGSTAFF.  We have the images to back up all claims.

Where to start? There are so many issues. 1) HEALTH ISSUE ALERT!  Black mold growing in the downstairs ceiling. Absolutely disgusting. There was a stench of mold and mildew that had an immediate effect on people with asthma. Two members of our party are asthmatic and were having difficulty breathing. There is another spot where the paint in the ceiling is bubbling. Mold + crack in another part of ceiling. 2) Main table to eat in kitchen bows. It 's like a slight letter U. 3) Fingernail clippings left on floor near stairs on upper level. 4) Dog piss on multiple pieces of furniture and on carpet. 5) Furniture on patio was filthy and broken. 6) For some reason, owner has installed washer and dryer outside next to the hot tub. Never seen that before.  7) 5th bedroom is actually the master bed closet with an air mattress. 8) Handle on sliding back door is broken and comes off quite easily. 9) Shower stall in master bedroom has dirty tiles and mold/mildew. 10) One bed had stain plus pubic hair sitting on it. 11) Bedroom with bunks does not have a TV, the wires are still sticking out of wall. 12) Upstairs bedroom has big fan in wall with outside exposure. The owner just leaned a board over it, hoping you won't notice. 13) Pool table located in an absolutely filthy garage. You wouldn’t want to spend 5 minutes in there. 14) Wood shavings plus other crap just laying on the floor. 15) Cracked bathroom sink and round baby toilet seat installed on oval toilet. Nice touch! 16) Multiple dirty chairs in house. 17) Front driveway had some sort of rusted crusty BBQ appliance just sitting out there. 18) All gutters overflowing with pine needles. 19) Wood deck paint is flaking away with pieces of broken furniture just sitting out there. 20) Various amounts of junk/trash on patio. 21) Corner of hot tub broken, wood frame exposed. 22) Garbage, old lamp, and linen just left on counter in laundry room, plus used bandage on floor. 23) Linens left in washer and dryer. 24) Dried paint drips on tile floor. 25) 2 different handles on closet door. 26) Fridge door missing shelf rail making it impossible to store food there. 27) Smoke alarm guts hanging off of wall, don't even know if it works. 28) Another hole in another bedroom wall, possibly for a TV? 29) Termite damage evident in window frames outside. 30) Exposed square hole in ceiling in laundry room. 31) Large gaps under backyard fence which causes concern for any guests with dogs.

VRBO was immediately contacted. First talked to James and then "supervisor" Ahmed.  We actually emailed them about 12-13 pics.  They contacted the owner and he said he would just send over a cleaning crew. As you can see from the multiple problems, that was just part of the problem. This was the same cleaning crew that owner said had just finished before we arrived. We politely asked for a full refund. VRBO was amazingly unhelpful in this situation.  They are on the side of the owner, not the guest.  Sad to say, the guest is a 2nd-rate citizen in the VRBO world. The owner Glenn collected $2,844 for this stay that never happened.  His refund of $250 is absolutely insulting. To add more insult to injury, VRBO threw $120 at us for our trouble. Only $2474 more to go! (Also this is the only VRBO/AirBnb I have reported to the local county health department/code compliance.)

Dog Piss!