Reviews

Review Details

• Review fromKathy I

  Date: 09/28/2024

  1 star
  We had a reservation in Santa Rosa Beach beginning 9/25/24, which was the day before hurricane Helene was supposed to hit the panhandle. Naturally we were concerned about traveling into a possible hurricane. I contacted Benchmark to see if we could reschedule. I had noticed that the same condo was still available the following two weeks. They refused to reschedule or refund. It was our understanding that the governor had asked people to not travel into the area during this time. Although Benchmark will tell you they are monitoring the situation for your safety, they expect you to travel to an area that has a hurricane approaching and no one can predict exactly where it will hit or how widespread the damage will be. I consider that to be unreasonable and told them so, but got no response except to tell me they were sorry that we were disappointed. Also, the condo we rented was basically right on the beach, which made it seem especially dangerous. I will definitely never reserve anything from anyone in the future who uses this company!!

• Review fromLisa W

  Date: 09/14/2023

  1 star
  We arrived on Aug 5 for a one week stay. Aug 6 was the only good day we had, with the exception of the key fobs to the beach not working because of a storm the day before. We called that afternoon when we discovered that the code to the pool bathroom didn't work and received a new code. On Mon., Aug 7 at 7 AM, we were awoken by loud music and banging above us. Renovations had begun above us. The contractors blocked the elevator for their use both Monday and Tuesday. We called Benchmark on Mon Aug 7 and Mikayla claimed no one told them about the construction but would forward our complaint to management. On Tue Aug 8, we were swimming in the pool and looked up to our balcony to see a strange man standing there. He was with maintenance and had come to change out a chair (of which we did not request). He told us someone should have called to let us know he was coming. They did not even though our contract stated that is what should have occurred unless it was an emergency. He frightened my children as they were not expecting someone to enter unannounced! We immediately called Benchmark and spoke with Stacy who was extremely condescending and acted as if our complaints were a bother to her. We explained about the construction again, the unannounced visit from maintenance, the fact that the place was dirty, that flooring was propped up on the wall in the bathroom and that the security gate had been open and broken since we arrived. She claimed our complaints would be sent to management. Wednesday and Thursday mornings we were again awoken at 7 AM to the sounds of impact screwdrivers and loud music. We texted photos and videos to Benchmark and were told someone would reach out to us, but that never happened. We've been calling since we arrived home Aug 12 for some sort of remedy, only to be met with nasty, condescending customer service and claims of never hearing about our complaints, which is a lie! We will never use nor recommend Benchmark again.

• Review fromKeri L

  Date: 05/23/2023

  1 star
  I have rented from this company several times and had no complaints. However, I have never needed to cancel a reservation. Due to a family emergency, I had to cancel my reservation for a rental home. Per the Benchmark Management cancellation policy, a cancellation must be requested in writing 60 days prior to the arrival date for a full refund. My written request was submitted and accepted more than 60 days prior to the arrival date. I received a check on April 19th for my full refund. This check bounced. I received a second check on April 28th for my full refund. This check bounced. I have called, messaged, and emailed several times to no avail to get some help with this matter. I was subsequently told over the phone that a third check was mailed to me; I have not received this check. Now I am owed my full refund as well as $10 in bank fees for returned checks. It is disappointing that after being a customer of this company for some time, they do not honor their refund policy for repeat customers.

• Review fromElizabeth H

  Date: 05/01/2023

  1 star
  I will never rent from this company again. We rented a condo at Tidewater in Panama City, FL 4/14-4/19. Upon arrival the condo was grimy, but not bad enough to complain about. As we continued to unpack and get settled, we noticed that the shower heads were covered in mold/mildew. The shower/tubs also had mold/mildew around the edges where the caulk is. I cleaned the primary bathroom shower head before I thought to take pictures of it to send to the management company. I did send them pictures of the secondary bathroom shower head and the tub/showers. All the utensils, plates and glasses were dirty. The utensils and plates had food on them. We had to wash everything before we ate off it or it or cooked with it. Then we noticed a bright green wrapper on the floor of the master bedroom. We thought it was a candy wrapper until we picked it up and flipped it over and noticed it said, "Lifesty" on it. It was missing the "les" off of the word Lifestyles as this was a portion of a condom wrapper. At this point we were extremely grossed out and it was really easy to tell what this was. It was nighttime so I called the next day to complain, and they told me to send in pictures of the issues and that they could have someone come out to clean again. I refused the cleaning service because we had already cleaned what could be cleaned and didn't think that having another person come out would do any good. When we got home I sent a formal email with pictures documenting everything. I asked for the cleaning fee to be refunded along with one night rent for a grant total of $253.80. I have not gotten a response except to say they sent this to upper management. I followed up again and still no response. We spent over $1000 to stay at this condo and it was more on par with a dingy motel. I am not asking for all of my money back, I am only ask for a tiny bit back due to the unsanitary conditions. Finding a condom wrapper in your condo is NEVER okay!

• Review fromMike D

  Date: 03/24/2023

  1 star
  This company needs put out of business. They are crooks, falsely advertising properties and not being accountable. I can’t believe I did not read reviews before booking a property with them. I booked Place called Beach Daze on Panama City Fl. Listing said 50 yards from beach and sand,when in fact it is nearly 200 yards. I would never have booked this property since my wife is in a wheelchair and I could manage the 50 yards but not 200 yards.. I am filing a lawsuit against them for misrepresenting the listing and not willing to cancel. Also I have numerous emails where they admitted that listing was incorrect, but not their problem. I will file with Chase bank also and see how chase handles false advertising.

• Review fromAudrey G.

  Date: 10/16/2022

  1 star
  My husband and I made a reservation to stay at Beachwood Villas in Seagrove on August 25th, 2022 to celebrate finishing my cancer treatments AND we had not been to the beach together in MANY years. I received an email almost immediately with a conformation number, number of guests, days staying etc. Weeks later I received an email telling me I had a 40 dollar resort credit that I could use on bikes, beach chairs etc. We were looking forward to our trip. October 5th, the day we were scheduled to arrive my husband called to see what we were suppose to do upon arrival since we had not received any other information. When my husband called he was informed we didn't have a reservation. Benchmark stated they called my phone 4 times, sent 3 emails and texted many times. I decided to call them myself since they "said" they contacted me. I asked the lade to tell me what email address the email would have been sent from. I had one email and that was the one I received right after the reservation was made on the 25th so NO E-MAILS. I asked what number the texted would have come from...... NO TEXT, I did the same about the the "missed phone calls" NO MISSED CALLS. I was also told my credit card company declined payment which has NEVER happened to me ever. I called the card company and spoke with Alexandra. NO PAYMENT was declined. Benchmark for some reason gave away OUR reservation. I was VERY angry. I must say that a young lady named Tiffany listened to me and I felt like she really did feel bad but I can't say that for the other employees. I was told I could rent a house but it was only my husband and I plus we were renting a studio because that was in our budget not a house. After the fact, my husband found several reviews that people had experience the SAME THING with their reservations.. THIS IS WRONG. What if we had driven 3 hours to find out we didn't have a place to stay? Not to mentions they point blank lied about trying to reach us.

• Review fromElizabeth G

  Date: 08/17/2022

  1 star

  Elizabeth G

  Date: 08/17/2022

  If I could give them zero stars I would. Upon arrival at the condo, we found the glass shower door hanging by a thread and about to fall off the hinge. To top it off, there were roaches, other peoples hair all over the floor and shower, and dust caked on just about everything. We save up all year in order to take a vacation and we hoped it would be clean. I understand there are levels of cleanliness but this was disgusting. We had to go out and purchase cleaning products and bug spray. We didn't want to sit around and wait for maintenance to come and miss out on beach time. I am requesting a refund for the cleaning fee $160 since little to no cleaning was done at the condo. I should have read the reviews about this company before renting from them. It seems they have a horrible track record with the same issues as far as cleaning goes. I hope other people see this review and think twice before renting anything from Benchmark Management.

  Benchmark Management

  Date: 08/18/2022

  Ms. ********** stated in her complaint that upon arrival, the shower door needed repair and the cleaning of the condo unit wasn't up to standard, however, she did not inform us of any cleaning issues during her stay. Ms. ********** sent our Guest Relations department a photo of the shower door but requested that maintenance come another day to repair it. Our staff rescheduled the repair for the time frame that Ms. ********** requested, which was the following day. We were not contacted by Ms. ********** or anyone in her party any other time during her stay. Four days after her departure, Ms. ********** emailed our staff reporting the cleaning and pest reviews that she stated in her review. At this time, she requested to speak with a manager. Since we were not notified of any cleaning or pest issues during her stay with us, we couldn't properly address the issues reported. Ms. ********** responded and stated that she did not report the issues because she didn't want to wait on our staff while on vacation. It was at this time that she requested the cleaning fee and two nights to be refunded.
  
  In conclusion, since Ms. ********** and her party did not notify our office letting us know there was an issue with cleaning or pest service until after her departure, we are not going to provide Ms. ********** any refund or compensation.

  Elizabeth G

  Date: 08/18/2022

  This company is very unprofessional and lacks the basic customer service skills as stated in the several other reviews. I reported the issues immeditely. At the very least, a refund for the cleaning fee of $149 should be honored. It seems as though they do not follow cleaning guidlines and skip cleaning on their properties. We were not comfortable letting strangers into the condo while we were not there, that is the reason for not reporting any problems. Instead, we bought cleaning supplies and tried to remedy the dirtiness ourselves.
  I would advise anyone thinking about renting from this company to find an alternative.

• Review fromMelanie M

  Date: 06/15/2022

  1 star
  I am requesting a refund from Benchmark 30A Property Management Company and/or owner of A Lovely Day in Santa Rosa Beach where we stayed on May 11-15, 2022. The original reservation was made on VRBO through royal destinations management company. That company cancelled the reservation two weeks before our trip. The new company(benchmark) never created a new reservation through VRBO as they were suppose to do. They have been horrible to deal with, all grievances are listed below. When we arrived: - Toilet brush in toilet bowl in bathroom by the kitchen - dirty tissues in sink on 2nd level king bedroom bathroom - air at 78, very hot in house - mildew in downstairs shower(pictures attached) -black mold in vent in room on floor with kitchen (picture attached) - no blender after being told there was one two days earlier Things we were told we would have and then had no access to: -bikes, golf cart, garage(game room) and elevator(all of which we were expecting to use) Misc: - Friday afternoon there were bees in the downstairs apartment bathroom - cleaners showed up at 9am on 15th when check out is 10am When responding to my BBB complaint which was everything above they said they handled the bees that were on the patio.....they don't listen or read what their customers have to say, the bees were inside, had they read my complaint they would have seen that. And they offered my a 10% discount at a future stay. Why in the world would I want to stay at another one of their properties?!? When I declined their response to my complaint they never responded. HORRIBLE customer service, I feel sorry for the owners who use them to manage their properties.