fourtsixand2
Junior Member
Good Morning ... first time poster here. I have story to tell - I'll keep it as short as possible. Seeking legal advice, or pro bono representation if necessary. I apologize if this post is not in the correct section - I was uncertain where to place it.
I was just married on March 21st. I planned the "trip of a lifetime" to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands to get married and honeymoon. I used a company called HomeAway/VRBO to book our vacation rental home. We were to arrive March 19th and stay through the 25th. The property we rented was to be both our wedding and honeymoon location. As a side note, we traveled with my best friend (minister) and her boyfriend.
Upon arrival, the home was quite misrepresented. The photos from the website didn't properly depict the age of the home, or condition. (The property owner is elder, lives out of state, and is ill - so it is my assumption he has left the property in the hands of others who possibly haven't cared for it as well as is should be) Aside from the cosmetic misrepresentations, when we arrived that evening at the home, it was no less than 90+ degrees inside. The property representative guided us through the home, and at that time we noticed several issues right away with the home:
Home was listed as having 4 AC room units, but only had 3. Of the 3, only 2 worked. (Thus, one room had no AC and another had non-working AC, so 2 rooms were unusable of the 4 listed)
Fans in the kitchen/dining area had no power to them.
Guest bathroom had no electricity.
Fuse panel in kitchen was unsecured and hanging open.
Guest bedroom had flickering lights/fans.
The above mentioned points were clear indicators of a serious electrical issue.
After speaking with the home owner on the phone, he agreed to have an electrician come to the home right away. We were miserable, tired, and sweating and decided the only thing that could give us peace of mind was to drive to Home Depot before they closed and at least purchase some fans. The property representative agreed to wait on the electrician and stay until we returned. (Our other 2 travelers went to stock up on supplies, groceries, and get something to eat)
While at the store, we called the property representative to check on the status. He said the electrician was there and that he would wait for us.
When we arrived back at the home, no one was to be found. We began doing a walk-through to see if the issues had been fixed and we found all the AC units on, all lights on, etc. However, when we rounded the corner of the upstairs hallway, there was a major flood. It was a constant flood. (We discovered it was a roof leak running into the washroom). We began calling, texting, calling again (I have all phone and text records) to report the issue and find out where everyone was. No one would respond. We then began soaking up the water and laying towels out to try and minimize the spread.
This went on for around 30 minutes or so, while I tried calling and texting both the owner and property representative with no response.
Finally, I received a call from the property representative, (who, remember, was supposed to have stayed at the property until we arrived) and I began explaining that no one was here when we arrived, and that there was a major issue with a flood upstairs. At that moment my fiance began yelling that there was smoke, and then "there's a fire!"
I hung up the phone and ran to the thickest smoke, which was in the master bedroom. We both just saw a bright orange glow at the back of the room where the AC unit was completely engulfed.
Thankfully, we were able to get out of the home before it spread into the living room. The fire department put the fire out, etc etc etc.
At that moment the 4 of us were completely displaced, on a budget, somewhere we hadn't been before. The Red Cross was fantastic and was able to supply one room for a few of the nights, but they were unable to compensate most of our displacement costs.
Let me first stress, none of us are looking to take more than what is fair and reasonable in this situation.
Combined, we are out $1,654.80 in unplanned hotel fees (try getting a hotel last-minute in a vacation city during Spring Break - almost impossible!). We had planned on using the fully-equipped kitchen which the home had, to supply most of our meals. So, with that said, we are out all meal expenses (no less than $1,000 we hadn't planned for).
Aside from the displacement/disaster costs, we are out "the trip of a lifetime". We can't look back on our honeymoon and smile. We were frantically searching for a wedding location at 2:00pm the day we were to be married. Thankfully, we were married, and for that we are grateful. But, I can't stress the stress, trauma and emotions that we endured on this trip.
Sadly, we lost our honeymoon and wedding location, memories, and time dealing with the aftermath of this electrical fire. We are incredibly lucky to be alive as we could've easily been sleeping during this fire, but we made it out. Thank God!
I'd like to know your thoughts and suggestions. We are receiving a refund for the cost of the vacation rental, which is great, but I don't feel it's enough. I'm not looking for "pain and suffering" money, but I can't say I wouldn't love to have the opportunity to 'redo' our honeymoon at some point, which we can't afford. We definitely need to get back our losses - how do we best go about that? Any advice or legal offerings are most appreciated.
I was just married on March 21st. I planned the "trip of a lifetime" to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands to get married and honeymoon. I used a company called HomeAway/VRBO to book our vacation rental home. We were to arrive March 19th and stay through the 25th. The property we rented was to be both our wedding and honeymoon location. As a side note, we traveled with my best friend (minister) and her boyfriend.
Upon arrival, the home was quite misrepresented. The photos from the website didn't properly depict the age of the home, or condition. (The property owner is elder, lives out of state, and is ill - so it is my assumption he has left the property in the hands of others who possibly haven't cared for it as well as is should be) Aside from the cosmetic misrepresentations, when we arrived that evening at the home, it was no less than 90+ degrees inside. The property representative guided us through the home, and at that time we noticed several issues right away with the home:
Home was listed as having 4 AC room units, but only had 3. Of the 3, only 2 worked. (Thus, one room had no AC and another had non-working AC, so 2 rooms were unusable of the 4 listed)
Fans in the kitchen/dining area had no power to them.
Guest bathroom had no electricity.
Fuse panel in kitchen was unsecured and hanging open.
Guest bedroom had flickering lights/fans.
The above mentioned points were clear indicators of a serious electrical issue.
After speaking with the home owner on the phone, he agreed to have an electrician come to the home right away. We were miserable, tired, and sweating and decided the only thing that could give us peace of mind was to drive to Home Depot before they closed and at least purchase some fans. The property representative agreed to wait on the electrician and stay until we returned. (Our other 2 travelers went to stock up on supplies, groceries, and get something to eat)
While at the store, we called the property representative to check on the status. He said the electrician was there and that he would wait for us.
When we arrived back at the home, no one was to be found. We began doing a walk-through to see if the issues had been fixed and we found all the AC units on, all lights on, etc. However, when we rounded the corner of the upstairs hallway, there was a major flood. It was a constant flood. (We discovered it was a roof leak running into the washroom). We began calling, texting, calling again (I have all phone and text records) to report the issue and find out where everyone was. No one would respond. We then began soaking up the water and laying towels out to try and minimize the spread.
This went on for around 30 minutes or so, while I tried calling and texting both the owner and property representative with no response.
Finally, I received a call from the property representative, (who, remember, was supposed to have stayed at the property until we arrived) and I began explaining that no one was here when we arrived, and that there was a major issue with a flood upstairs. At that moment my fiance began yelling that there was smoke, and then "there's a fire!"
I hung up the phone and ran to the thickest smoke, which was in the master bedroom. We both just saw a bright orange glow at the back of the room where the AC unit was completely engulfed.
Thankfully, we were able to get out of the home before it spread into the living room. The fire department put the fire out, etc etc etc.
At that moment the 4 of us were completely displaced, on a budget, somewhere we hadn't been before. The Red Cross was fantastic and was able to supply one room for a few of the nights, but they were unable to compensate most of our displacement costs.
Let me first stress, none of us are looking to take more than what is fair and reasonable in this situation.
Combined, we are out $1,654.80 in unplanned hotel fees (try getting a hotel last-minute in a vacation city during Spring Break - almost impossible!). We had planned on using the fully-equipped kitchen which the home had, to supply most of our meals. So, with that said, we are out all meal expenses (no less than $1,000 we hadn't planned for).
Aside from the displacement/disaster costs, we are out "the trip of a lifetime". We can't look back on our honeymoon and smile. We were frantically searching for a wedding location at 2:00pm the day we were to be married. Thankfully, we were married, and for that we are grateful. But, I can't stress the stress, trauma and emotions that we endured on this trip.
Sadly, we lost our honeymoon and wedding location, memories, and time dealing with the aftermath of this electrical fire. We are incredibly lucky to be alive as we could've easily been sleeping during this fire, but we made it out. Thank God!
I'd like to know your thoughts and suggestions. We are receiving a refund for the cost of the vacation rental, which is great, but I don't feel it's enough. I'm not looking for "pain and suffering" money, but I can't say I wouldn't love to have the opportunity to 'redo' our honeymoon at some point, which we can't afford. We definitely need to get back our losses - how do we best go about that? Any advice or legal offerings are most appreciated.
