Stan White Realty

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We’ve stayed with Stan White several times in the past, and had no real problems, just some minor inconveniences or things with the homes that weren't as nice as advertised, but nothing major. We kept coming back, so it wasn't anything too bad. But the true measure of a company’s service is not when things go as expected, but when something goes wrong. When Stan White made a mistake, they stubbornly refused to correct it, and at their loss. I will now no longer be their customer and will warn others as well. On the Stan White website, you can search for homes by amenity. For the past several years, I’ve found the pools at the houses we’ve rented to be too cold, even when the air temperature is 80 – 85, the water in early to mid-September is just going to be chilly. Last year, we tried a house with a “solar heated” pool that was literally not a degree different than a non-heated pool. So, this year, I resolved to get a heated pool. The Stan White “FAQ” page says: “Pools that have the ability to be heated will specify this in the amenities, along with the fee that is charged to heat the pool.” Well, most pools cost $200 - $350 to be heated for the week. I made a spreadsheet of all the houses I was considering and their amenities and prices. I found one house that listed a heated pool with no additional fee. I called Stan White to confirm several details about the house and it’s availability for the week I wanted. I specifically asked if it cost more to heat the pool and was told it did not, which matched the website listing. We got to town Friday late afternoon and tried the pool first thing Saturday morning. It was freezing! We figured the heat wasn’t working yet, hadn’t had a chance to “warm up” yet, or that we needed to turn it on somehow. We went inside and tried to go online to look up the Stan White website. The wireless internet password was not posted anywhere in the house. So, we gave up on that and went to another amenity that was promised: a computer with Ethernet internet in one of the bedrooms. The computer worked, but was not able to get online at all. I found the Stan White number and reported the non-functioning amenity, got the wireless internet password (which was annoying- they should have had it posted) and asked how we turned the pool heat on. We were then told it would cost $200 to heat the pool. I immediately went back to my lease and reviewed the house listing (ODV105) on my smart phone (due to lack of internet). It confirmed what I had been told: NO extra charge to heat the pool. I wrote into Stan White customer service and stated the following: 1) The website states that the home has a heated pool 2) The website does not state an additional fee for heating the pool (which, as stated in the FAQs, was supposed to be posted on the listing if there was a charge) 3) The woman at the Stan White office I had called several months before when I made my reservation confirmed there was no additional charge. 4) I reviewed my lease, and while there were options to pay more for optional features like linens, travel insurance, pet fee, etc. there was NO option offered for pool heat. It was never mentioned to me in any way. My e-mail got a reply that stated they were sorry for any “misunderstanding” but they would only heat the pool if I paid an additional $200. I replied with PDF listings showing prices for pool heat at other Stan White beach houses and the FAQ from their website. I got no reply. Finally, on Wednesday, I wrote in to say that I had received no response and was still not satisfied. I got a reply that stated that the charge would be $200 and that it would take about 36 hours for the pool to heat up. I stated that 36 hours from then, I’d be less than 36 hours away from check out! Additionally, I should not have to pay extra for a promised amenity. It was bait and switch, false advertising. Other houses on my spreadsheet would have been a better value had the $200 been stated or written at any point in my research. I declined to pay the $200, and asked what Stan White would do to make things right for me and future renters. They did the following: 1) They updated the website to show a $200 charge. The fact that they made the change shows they made a mistake, at the least (I have screenshots from before and after). This satisfied my need to set things right for future renters who make their reservation AFTER the website changed. It does not help me. We paid a lot extra for a house with a private heated pool and got very little use of it due to the uncomfortable temperature. We wished we had rented other houses if we weren’t going to have access to a heated pool. 2) They offered me free early check in on my NEXT visit. This angered me. First of all, it does nothing to satisfy a loyal customer who relied on the false advertising of Stan White. Secondly, the fact that they had the nerve to assume I’ll continue coming back after being treated this way was galling. They have shown how they react if a customer has a complaint- they stand their ground and tell me that I must have “misunderstood”. By the way, my complaint started on Sept. 4 and when I replied that I still was not satisfied on Sept. 7, Stan White just stopped responding. Terrible customer service from Catherine Dunlevy, who replied once and then left me hanging for a day and a half, and from Jaclyn Myers, who stopped responding on the 7th when I would not pay the $200 hidden fee. I am very disappointed with the treatment I received at Stan White. I feel I was not treated as a valuable customer despite dropping 4 figures with them once a year for 4 years (and previously, had plans to keep coming back each year). I work in customer service myself and have made errors before. I don’t fault anyone for messing up or forgetting to post all the details. But when I do mess up, I make things right for the customer. Stan White made only the most minor offer to make things right for me- free early check in, NEXT YEAR, after I paid another $1200 or so to rent a house from them. It did nothing to help my vacation that I was on last week. Why should I wait another year? And free early check in is not even anything I would ever want or pay $75 for anyway. We drive in from several hours away. We’d have to leave far earlier than we ever do to take advantage of it. Wouldn’t feel much like a vacation if you have to get up earlier than you do for work. As long as I paid my money and didn’t make any complaints, Stan White was fine. But when a problem arose, even though it was demonstrably and clearly Stan White’s mistake, they stubbornly refused to make things right for me, the paying customer. As a result, they’ve lost my business, my respect, and have earned this negative review.

Both homes were as depicted, and the customer service couldn't have been better. Everyone was helpful and knowledgeable.

Excellent and reliable.