As many of you know, I work for a couple of vacation rental companies out here in Sunriver. I’ve mentioned several times in the past about all the damage from parties and other weirdness from guests. The biggest problems have been from college students renting our houses for huge parties, and then when we inspect for damage, they deny anything ever happened and that we’re not doing our job, that we’re picking on them, etc… .
Generally, we don’t even rent to folks who sound too young, or have an obvious university address and we have a good feeling they’re going to trash the place. But occasionally a new reservationist will let it slide or won’t be paying attention, and the homes get booked. Then, after they depart, we inspect the home, and find it totally damaged and trashed, they deny it ever happened, we’re picking on them, and that it was like that when they got there, but generally their actions speak for themselves.
This last weekend (the three-day Memorial Day weekend), it happened again. Since I don’t work front desk hardly at all any more like I used to, I didn’t catch the booking. But anybody who knows Eugene knows that if the address is within two blocks of Campus (address slightly changed to just some random house number, but that’s the same general location), then it’s probably a college student, and if they’re renting more than one house, there’s going to be a party. There was a party indeed, and based on the fact that there were kegs, beer cans, wine stains in the carpet, puke next to the now green-watered hot tub, excrement, and each of the houses had about 25 bags of garbage, they were obviously big parties.
So the front desk manager has to make the calls, telling the woman who booked the property, who signed the paperwork saying they’d pay for damages, that there was serious damage to the house, her reply was basically “Well how was I supposed to keep track of everybody?” And she’s balking at payment.
I don’t have a problem with parties, but I do have a problem with people who don’t own up to what they did wrong. Everybody’s done something crazy in college, but I have NO respect whatsoever for people who don’t own up to it. If they would just admit their wrongdoing and pay up, they’d probably be welcomed back next time (when they’ve graduated, of course).
What gets me, too, is the people acted like it was totally out of their control. But as an alumni of the University of Oregon, I can get into Facebook, and looking through there, this was obviously pre-planned (you need a Facebook login to check this out).
As it stands right now, according to our front desk, there is about $1000 worth of time, labor, and repairs between the three houses they rented, and we haven’t gotten the bills back from the carpet cleaner yet. They had to be fully deep cleaned, all the carpets totally professionally cleaned, and many little repairs had to be done to each house.
It just bugs the living crap out of me when people totally trash a rental home like this. I know it happens all over the place, and certainly isn’t a Sunriver-exclusive thing, but what this people don’t seem to realize is that they’re trashing somebody’s home. How would they like it if we came to their house, trashed it, threw garbage all over, and then puked, peed, and crapped all over their floors after we spilled our booze? Yeah, that’s what I thought…
Am I the only person who went to college and didn’t get himself drunk and stupid?
</rant>
Comments
No, you’re not. Sometimes, I feel the same way. It’s unfortunate that these things happen, but it’s even more unfortunate that these people won’t own up to what they’ve done. I can understand exactly how you feel. I hope everything turns out for the best. 🙂
This is what lawyers are for. See, they are handy every now and then.
Jake, that’s why this is “utterlyboring.com” and not “wildandexciting.com”… because of your absolute refusal to get “drunk and stupid” in college. I mean, come on… what’s the college experience without waking up wondering where you are and what happened to your clothes?
🙂
Burton, I remember babysitting you when you were drunk and stupid in college. I still remember playing chicken with the tubby bastard next door, and when you were really drunk, you’d crank up the Nine Inch Nails and dance around like and idiot.
To me, it was FAR more enjoyable to witness that sober, as I doubt you remember any of the whacky crap you did — but I sure do 😉
Having teens in the house and been one, I think it’s basically that they have no (or little) concept of anything that doesn’t affect ME and MY stuff.
It’s not their stuff, why should they care that they ruined somebody elses good stuff?
Jake, I think you need to post the Rental Princess’s name and address on this site. She can get dragged kicking and screaming to the grown-up world by the rest of us. Let there be no doubt, these kids DO know better, they just believe (incorrectly) they can get away scot-free with stuff. Post her name and address (and phone if you like). I bet she pays up right-quick when faced with being exposed. 🙂
Their not homes, their houses.
Darn it… I tried to edit that post before it got sent… change both the of the ‘their’ to they’re. This why me no in spelling bee.
I’ll have you know, Jake, that I never blacked out or vomited (save once, after I moved out of the dorms.) Not that I’m innocent of all charges, buddy… just straightening up the record, that’s all.
Hey, Burt — I never said you did, so I don’t know what you were straightening up.
Lets face it boring commentary to go on and on and on . Like you fessed up to all you have done, give me a break. It was wrong but who made you the judge and executioner?
This is my site, who gives a rip, so I guess that makes me judge/executioner automatically 😉
Actually, “who gives a rip,” yes, some of us HAVE happily fessed up to all we have done, easy to do when there is not much to fess up to. 😛 Not all of us have held big drunken house parties, wrecked rented houses, left vomit in a hottub, etc. Not all of us selfishly sh*t upon everyone else when we were younger — some of us DID actually give a hoot, DID actually exercise restraint and behave responsibly.
So yeah, I’ve lived through the teens and 20s, and I was able to get through it without wrecking other peoples’ stuff. It can be done, and it’s not even that hard to do. Do I think that makes me qualified to have an opinion on this matter? Sure, why not? What makes me (or Jake) any less qualified than anybody else? Nothing. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time… pretty basic principle that’s been around forever! At some point kids do grow up and realize that they are responsible for their behavior. It isn’t a fun lesson to learn, but news flash!!! everybody has to take their lumps and learn it sooner or later. 😉
Was not a comment to Bailey, yes we all have to take responsiblility and they have to learn from experience, but none of us are perfect to be abe to judge anyone else.