ComplaintsforHocking Hills Serenity Cabins

• Initial Complaint

  02/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 12/5/2021 I booked a the Timberwolf Retreat cabin from Hocking Hills Serenity cabins for a total approximately $804.16 for 2 days/nights, 2/4 and 2/5. We were going up in until this very day until we got a severe storm andHocking county went under a level 3 snow emergency, which you can be arrested for driving in for non-emergencies. We contacted asking about what to do since most of the counties were out of power and they told us that THEY were cancelling all reservations, not us. A voicemail was left and they replied that there are no refunds. I understand that the company offers insurance to cover if we cancel, but not only are we not the ones cancelling, but this is a weather update only provided to us over the last few hours. Not only is the weather bad enough to not drive there, but they also told us they cannot guarantee the cabin is accessible at all as trees are down In the area and that the power is out. Without power almost none of the amenities be available that were promised. We would be without heat and temperatures are going to be below freezing tonight, dropping to as low as 9°. We are not receiving the product we paid for and that is not by our choice. The policy states that if WE cancel there are no refunds, not if THEY cancel. Their policy also states that there is a $1,000 damage deposit is required when it was not for us. The company is picking and choosing what policy to follow. This weather was not something anyone predicted and the company is cancelling this reservation and all others, as they stated. They lose no money here because it couldn’t have been reserved this weekend by another party since they are cancelling them all. Even if the booking wasn’t being cancelled, then you are providing an inhospitable environment that no one can reasonably be expected to stay in. This company is committing fraud and taking our money and refusing to provide the services advertised for the dates we paid for. A refund needs to be provided.

  

  Business response

  02/25/2022

  Sorry for the delay in response....it's been kinda crazy around here and we've had some sickness to deal with, which complicated things a bit.
  
  Thanks for giving us the opportunity to respond.

  As already stated by Mr. ********, we were made aware, that day, that the stay was not going to be possible for that weekend, due to an ice storm that came through and ravaged the area, leaving thousands without electrical power and trees down.

  Here is the message we sent to him:

  "We, unfortunately, are going to need to cancel all reservations for this weekend.
  I don't see it opening up today and maybe not tomorrow, at this point.
  I did hear from my manager that they would reschedule for no extra charge. It would need to be non-peak dates, to be free, but they would allow rescheduling. That was more than I thought they would do, as everyone was offered the option of travelers insurance when they booked, but hardly anyone ever buys it, even since the pandemic started.
  I will let you know if we get better news, but that's all I've got at the moment. 
  I'm not in the office, but working out of my house, due to the power outage. We, thankfully, bought a house with a generator, but many don't have them here.
  Be safe and stay in touch. We'll try to keep up with everybody, but if not, you can email us here."
  

  There are several misstatements that Mr. ******** made.
  First, the policy doesn't say anything about the customer canceling, due to weather.

  It simply says 
  "No refunds will be given due to weather or for early departure. No refunds in the event of mechanical failure, absence of any item , or for any public utility problems."
  The weather event was beyond our control.
  The guest was offered Travelers Insurance, at booking, in case something came up, but they didn't purchase it.

  As seen in our response. We didn't just cancel the reservation, due to weather, which we would be within our agreed-upon policy to do, but we offered them the option to use their investment for a free reschedule later, which was a goodwill gesture beyond what we were required to do.
  
  The other misstatement that he made was about the Damage Deposit. That cabin doesn't require a Damage Deposit, nor do we ask for it or include the requirement in the policy, as far as I can see.

   We still extend the offer to reschedule, for free, if they'd like to do that, but refunding is not an option, as was stated in the agreed-upon policy.

   Thanks again,

  ***
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  10/12/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We have been customers of this company multiple times but I will absolutely never do business with them again. I will also urge others to avoid at all costs. We have been trying to communicate with them a major bug infestation in the fireplace of a nearby brand new cabin we attempted to stay in over the weekend. After many many calls and no response along with several emails and proof of this huge issue with photos and videos we still can’t get a resolution or even a halfway professional response. When we started a fire bugs started crashing out of every nook possible from the fireplace. Attempted to kill dozens of them and eventually gave up and booked a hotel room for the night rather than sleep with bugs crawling all over the place. They are refuting everything and will not even communicate about paying the hotel fee, refunds or credit to a future booking! Rude at every turn and now refuse to even respond to emails. This company is treating prior customers this poorly.

  

  Business response

  10/22/2021

  Unfortunately, this guests is not telling the whole truth, at best, and is telling some lies, at worst.
  
  The guests checked in on a Friday and checked out and got a motel, without contacting us first, on Friday night.
  They said they are "not staying here tonight and are absolutely getting a full refund"

  The policy states that we are to be made aware of any issues, so we can check things out, but they decided to leave and demand a refund, before we had a chance to even check it.

   They originally told us that they just got there earlier that day and put wood in the fireplace and the "cabin was infested with bugs".

   At first, since we haven't previously had any problem with guests experiencing "infestations" there, it seemed that maybe the bugs came in on the firewood they brought.

  We mentioned this idea to them, but of course, they didn't like that..
  Their story keeps changing, even now. At first, there were supposedly "probably thousands of bugs and they had killed "hundreds". They said later that the trash can was full of them.

  Now, they're saying they attempted "to kill dozens"...it keeps changing.
  
  They said after "many calls without a response", which is also not true..
  
  We were trying to decide on how to handle the issue correctly and had contacted the guests, by email, letting them know that we had received their call, which is the way we normally communicate, if there are any issues, so that records can be kept. We did NOT refute any claims or refuse to contact them. We hadn't finished checking the cabins there yet.

  Later, Maintenance sprayed the fireplace with bug spray and checked with the exterminators , who said there's not much they can do. They said that the stink bugs are worse this year, everywhere, than they have been for the last 5 years, so they're probably in other companies' cabins, too.
  

  These guests had decided, prematurely, to leave a smearing review on Google. We told them that if they would remove that review, we would refund their entire stay. They hadn't asked for anything else and wouldn't have been offered anything else, at that point.

  They refused to withdraw their review and they told us not to contact them again, which we respected, and have not contacted them, per their requests. 
  So, the statement that we refuse to respond to any emails is a flat-out lie.

  We try to keep our guests happy, but occasionally, some will come along, who get the cart ahead of the horse and don't call, but rush to do their own thing, which we have no control over.
  
  These guests stayed in two of our other cabins and we don't have any record of complaints, at all, about their previous stays, but they decided to smear us for those, too, apparently, on the Google review.....we can't deal with things that we aren't aware of and we expect the reservation policy to be respected and proper communication to be made, before leaving and demanding things.
  
  

  Customer response

  10/22/2021

  I am rejecting this response because this company continues to misrepresent how everything happened how they responded and how they have handled their customers. If you check every single website that they have reviews they continually and systematically downplay every single negative review in an attempt to belittle or miss represent each customers complaints. I will send every email and every picture from the interactions with this company and the extremely poor experience we had. They did not have any other prior complaints from us because we would not complain about small or trivial things like a cabin being dirty. This is way beyond that kind of problem. They were notified via phone and email more than five times before we ever received a response from this company. I will except nothing less than a refund and there is no chance that I will be removing any reviews. I will happily amend them to say that we received a refund after dealing with the Better Business Bureau but I will not lie to other customers about the experience that they could possibly have with this company. I appreciate your efforts in helping us and I will attach all of these items Monday morning.
  
  

   

  

  Business response

  10/25/2021

  As we already mentioned, this guest has already told us not to contact them, so have not done so, since they asked.
  They did not reach out to us before they left, which is against the company policy, if they expected any kind of refund or anything to be done about it.
  They contacted us after the fact and we responded. They just didn't like our response.

  We are happy to provide our correspondence with them, as well, if the BBB requests it. The evidence that they sent us did not portray a major problem....there were maybe 2 or 3 stink bugs in several pictures....I don't think there were more than that in any picture.

  We've had 5 other guests since their stay....one of those was a 5-night stay, and so far, not one single mention of stink bugs.

  The conditions for a refund were not met, so we will not be refunding the stay. We don't belittle each guest in our response, as was mentioned, but we do respond to accusations and smearing reviews.
  

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  09/09/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Paid $440 to reserve a cabin for a weekend vacation ended up getting a job offer and had to cancel. Told me that they were going to keep half of the money and give me the other half back and they still have not. The guy was very rude and it’s been 29 days I’ve been waiting on the refund.

  

  Business response

  09/09/2021

  Thanks for the opportunity to respond.

  First, we'll address the false statements made by Mr. *******:

  He mentioned that he had paid to schedule a weekend with us. That is not true.

  The fact is that he scheduled a Tuesday and Wednesday, August 31 and September 1.

   

  Second, he said that I was rude in my response.

  The truth is, I was direct, but I wasn't rude, as far as I can see. 
  

  I will be happy to include the email record, if anything is in question.

  We even offered a way to keep him from losing as much money, by rescheduling later. He suggested a weekend in October.
  We let him know that Weekend Dates are more expensive than weeknights, which is what he paid for.
  
  He decided to go ahead and cancel on August 13, which is not 29 days ago....it was 27 days ago.

  We emailed his cancellation notice, with the explanation that it may take up to 30 days or more to refund. 

  He emailed back about it later, and we referenced the cancelation email. 
  
  It will be refunded, according to our previous emails, but we felt that we needed to address his false statements and give a truthful account.
  
  As mentioned, if the email record is needed, I'll be happy to provide it.

  Thanks for your time,

  Rob
  Hocking Hills Serenity Cabins

  740-380-9998

   

   

   

  Customer response

  09/19/2021

   All I want is my refund and the matter will be resolved. Thank you

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩