Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/25/2025

  Type:Facilities Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I planned a sweet valentines weekend for my wife and I staying in a cabin. First of all we didn't get our check in code and when we called to get it we were told the fireplace didn't work which we really wanted on a cold rainy weekend. After arguing about it, they gave us another cabin and when we got there the code box battery was dead so we couldn't get in and was sent back to the original cabin where the fireplace didn't work. There was dog poop behind the toilet in the master bath and the floors throughout the cabin was dirty and sticky. Then after a long day exploring Pigeon Forge we came back to the carbon monoxide alarm going off so we called the office and they were going to send a maintenance guy out to check it but didn't have any idea how long it would take while the alarm is going off. We checked the battery ourselves and it was not dead which meant there was probably a carbon monoxide leak somewhere and they refused to give us a refund even though we told them we weren't risking staying there all night due to a serious health situation that would occur if the leak was there. We left at 7:00 that night tired and fed up with this company. DO NOT STAY HERE EVER!!!!! And we were told we would not get a refund for the nights we did not even stay even though it was 100% their fault. I emailed Matt (the owner) back and forth for a full day after we got back and the best he could do was offer me a gift certificate to stay in a dirty nasty cabin with the same crappy company and of course I declined. He denied any wrong doing on their end whatsoever even though the entire stay had been a disaster. I feel like I deserve a refund for my full stay of 3 nights. Horrible customer service!! Horrible business!!

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/20/2025

   (BTW- this is the final response as they emailed me directly several times and I responded to them every single time. I am simply posting the final response which a re-cap of everything that was said repeatedly to them)

  **** & *******
  Yes the fireplace repair was delayed for parts.
  Yes you received a check-in warning at check-in.
  
  Yes we do all we can to close every repair work order every day.  Sometimes there are repair delays particularly for model specific parts.
  
  Yes it took 1 hour and 1 minute from the time you called our office for maintenance to get there.  That is a very reasonable response time in the mountains, especially after hours.
  You did not have a CO leak. 
  
  Im glad that you can admit your true stance:
                  “Give me a cash refund for a same day, 7 pm checkout, or we will trash you online”.
  
  I did not think I misunderstood.  We unfortunately find that stance unreasonable, and cannot so grossly breach our agreement with the property owner whose home we manage.
  If you change your mind and there is some other way we can satisfy your experience please be sure to let us know.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/20/2025

  
  Complaint: 22984455
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I would never want to stay in a dog feces infested, nasty, broken, unprofessional place like this again. Why would I agree to a gift certificate to this place?? The final straw that made us decide to leave was the fact that at that time, they did not know that it wasn't a Carbon leak, but they were willing to risk it while the alarm was blaring in the cabin. We were not willing to risk it! Too late when we are found dead the next morning! Also, I NEVER  said what he is claiming about "if I don't get a full refund, I will trash you online". That is a complete lie! What I told him was that I had posted my review on several sites and I had already gotten reviews that 2 people had looked and moved on without booking and that it was costing him money to get bad reviews instead of doing the right thing and making his customers feel like they matter more than his money. I deserve a full refund with the nightmare his company costs us. And according to the feedback I am receiving everyone else thinks so as well.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/16/2025

  Type:Facilities Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We rented "Parkview Panarama" just before Christmas 2024. We arrived that evening to find the cabin 59°. The upstairs heater unit worked, the main floor did not. The bottom floor would never get above 70. We contacted the office the next morning. We told them the unit on the main floor would not work. We also told them the hot tub on the outside deck was very low on water, and couldn't use it. The front door lock mechanism needed servicing. Downstairs lights flashing like a disco. TV in the master bedroom would not hook up to the internet to use it. The remote controls needing new batteries for the other tv in the main floor. The master bedroom was extremely cold and had large Carpenter ants throughout. We stayed gone for the whole day in hopes they would come and get everything right. That evening when we got back, a man brought batteries and filled the tub. After he left we realized the heat still did not work for the main floor. We called to speak to a manager. They told us one would not be available until the day we were checking out, two days later. The lady was nice and we told her to please reach out to a manager to call us. My wife and I decided to try the jacuzzi. When we turned it on after filling it up it blew out chunks of black mold. We notified the office the next morning. We decided to leave again for the whole day hoping that they would come over and get things repaired. We found a Drano bottle when we got back. I called the office and they said AC man came and said cabin felt comfortable to him. Main floor unit still broken. Upstairs with 76, downstairs was 70, main floor felt like 65 unless we tried to keep fireplace going. Jacuzzi was not fixed, still broken too. Whoever they have doing quality control for cabins, dropped the ball on this. Cabin should have never been rented out. Manager finally called after checkout and offered a little over $100 back. Been to the Smokies dozens, this is clearly poor management. Pictures attached to prove it.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/23/2025

  Every time this guest called in we addressed his complaints, which were unknown to us about this property until he mentioned them. Our cabins are cleaned regularly, have maintenance inspections regularly and receive monthly pest control treatments. However, sometimes issues arise in real time when the guest is in house. Batter, for example, die without warning. I will address some of the above issues. The hot tub was filled with water just above the jets as is standard and even still, we sent someone to fill it with more water. He then complained it was too cold to use. Even though it was usable from them get go. The jacuzzi tub apparently had a broken motor, Something we had not been told about before. Generally, those motors burn out because people turn the jets on before there is enough water to reach them. Regardless, we had to order a new motor, and get a repair tech to replace it. That wasn't possible to do during this guest's stay, as it was over the holidays. The HVAC repair tech was sent out to the cabin and tested all vents and the heat coming from the vents temped at 100 degrees. It is a multi-level house and the lowest temperature, according to the above comment, was 60. That is in the basement. The rest of the cabin was in the 70's, hardly what one would consider cold. Our HVAC tech said the house was comfortable when he left. Still they were provided an additional space heater, which they weren't using according to our technician. This guest called guest services repeatedly and was told a manager was not available to speak with him but would call him when they were back in the office. He then started calling reservations making the same request and was told that they couldn't help him he had to be handled by Guest Services, he was quite rude during these calls. When he did call Guest Services, he was told his issues were being addressed and was reminded that a manager wasn't available. With every call we did what we could to make him happy during his stay. Our techs show photo proof and times stamps. While he felt no one came to address the heat issue, we have proof that they were. The TV needed a new ROKU stick, we had to order it. Many of his complaints were handled during his stay to the best of our ability. The light fixture was fixed and yet he said it still flickered. Our repair tech didn't see that. Our repair tech for the HVAC sent pics with the temp read for the heat. The front door lock needed a new battery and it was replaced, remotes got new batteries. The guest was offered compensation and ACCEPTED it. It was 10% off of his nightly stay. After speaking with reservations and guest services it became abundantly clear to all of us, that he was going to continue to complain about the same things (even ones that we handled during his stay) that we repaired as he wanted compensation. This happens a lot this time of the year. Guests over extend themselves and then expect us to refund their entire stay and when we say that these things can be fixed, they continue to find new issues and threaten to leave bad reviews until we offer them money. We offered fair and reasonable compensation for the issues he had. Certain amenities not guaranteed with any rental and are subject to change without notice. This is something our guests are told in the rental agreement. And still, we did all we could to fix them and we still offered him reasonable compensation. He accepted this compensation but also with the caveat he would be leaving bad reviews everywhere and that he didn't feel this was enough of an offer. Should businesses be expected to throw money at people who threaten to leave bad reviews even though they accepted the compensation they were offered and they were offered additional services to make their stay right? People who chose to hold a business hostage because of threats to leave a bad review unless they receive compensation OR complain that the compensation they ACCEPTED wasn't enough and will leave a bad review, is not acceptable. What kind of rental company would we be if we opened up our owners to this kind of online terrorism? Especially when we are available constantly to our guests. Seven days a week from 10-8 and on call the rest of the time. We can also be messaged through Facebook and the Guest Portal 24/7. Issues sometimes do arise in these houses in real time with guests while they stay. We do all that we can to correct it. In the case, no matter what we did the guest was not going to be happy and wanted compensation. We are truly sorry he didn't have a better experience and did compensate him.

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/23/2025

  
  Complaint: 22818304
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1.      My rebuttal to this email is that first and foremost their first sentence tells an important fact within this company's practice. They start by saying"Every time this guest called in we addressed his complaints, which were unknown to us about this property until he mentioned them"The problemthey admitto doingis theydid not inspect and maintain the cabinor they would have known and these problems would not have existed. Even later saying in the same letter they regularly have maintenance inspections and clean regularly, which was the very next sentence. An example is the jacuzzi tub. If it had been regularly clean and inspected it would not have blown out mold clogs when we filled it up and turned it on. The picture was submitted for proof. Then they come over and put drano in it and they apparently then break it, because we were not there when they came over since we were trying to stay gone so they could repair the multiple things that needed attention. When we returned we found the drano sitting out on the tub and we took a picture of this too. We filled the tub back up and then it would not come on. You would think they would have left a note or called us that it was not repaired and a motor was ordered, again proof of lack of customer service manager followup. Anyway, I am very familiar with needing proof of things since I am a retired Police (Chief Investigator). The lies I read in this rebuttal are silly and childish. This company apparently has a history of this as I have now read other complaints and they always seem to have a similar pattern of excuses. This company should have had a manager to call us after we requested one on numerous occasions that we called in to report initial problems and continued problems. They give rebuttals in other complaints, they are not notified by the customers, yet they seem to complain that I was notifying them too much. I think they would hate for me to submit a recording thatthey should have proved how I was never rude and continued to be pleasant up until the last day we were there, I was very concerned and I wanted to speak to a manager. For over 30 years I dealt with the public daily with issues and complaints in doing my job.. You don't have to be rude or use profanity or be in any way mean to communicate. They say they have service 7 days a week from 10a to 8p. Thing is, they have an operator taking calls but they do not have a manager on duty to give customer service to someone that has issues beyond the ability of the operator. The operators are apparently instructed tonotcall the manager with issues which is crazy. This is one of the busiest times of the year and for them to not even have an on-call manager seems to be a very bad decision on their part or then again, maybe there is a reason after all, this business has a history of bad practices after reading the other history. It goes to compare, if someone has multiple complaints, where there is smoke there is a fire. For them to say that customers are creating terrorism is awful. For them to compare a customer to a terrorist, really! The BBB really should consider the rating of this company to call a customer a terrorist. That is a very powerful word to choose. Should the customer address them as organized crime? Clearly a breach of contract and a swindle by Theft of Services.. In Tennessee, if a business accepts payment but fails to provide the promised goods or services to a customer, this is considered a violation of the "Tennessee Consumer Protection Act" (TCPA), which protects consumers from unfair and deceptive business practices; meaning the customer can file a complaint with the state Attorney General's office and potentially pursue legal action to recover damages. So, maybe they do this because they know they should not have rented properties out with these issues and use this to avoid handling complaints and possible legal mitigations. They failed to mention that I drove down to the office to try to speak to a manager and the lady basically said she understood how this could be disappointing. We spent $1501.95 on this and it was to be our Christmas present to our family of four. They state they gave us a refund of 10%. That was $123.33. it should have been $150.39 if it was truly 10%. The manager finally calls us as we are driving back home and apologizes for all the problems. She told usthe only thing she can do is offer a 10% refund. This rebuttal they wrote, makes you or anyone think we can do something about that or that because we only get this 10% means we are satisfied. No, they tell you this is the only thing they will do, so let's make this abundantly clear. When she says this is the only thing she can do, just what else is the owner of the company or whoever is writing this rebuttal really saying here.They say "Guests overextend themselves and expect us to refund".This insinuation that we are poor and others are poor and rent cabins from them is totally uncalled for and very disrespectful. I drive a brand new 2025 vehicle and own a half million dollar home on the beach, this is not about being poor or overextended, this is about facts that the company advertises a product and they are not managing the product and fail by breaching the rental contract of providing said service and dodge the fact they are not managing and renting out properties that they advertise to be in a proper condition. If they would have had quality control managers or inspectors, these simple red flags would have been addressed and the cabin should have not been rented until it was repaired and ready. My wife and I have owned properties and rented them out for beach vacationers before. This was clearly unacceptable. Let's look at their own comments in admitting deficiency. We arrived on Dec 20th to find the house in the 50's, as in degrees. They say they called an HVAC guy, this guy was leaving when we got back about 8pm and this was thesecond nightwe were there. They say the HVAC man tells them the vents were 100 degrees, this is very amusing! They say, he told them all the vents were blowing, clearly not true in temp and they are blowing. The middle floor HVAC unit was never repaired during our entire stay and we checked out on Dec 23rd. So we were there for 3 nights and 4 days. The guy they had to come was driving an old beat up truck hauling a utility trailer and if he was a certified HVAC, I find it hard to believe. I did fire inspections in my career and this was amusing to read to me. Let's point out what they say. "Basement", which is more than a basement, this was a game room and the second living room at 60 degrees. Middle floor, main floor and largest of the home stayed about 64 to 70 and would get 70 if we stood there and kept turning on the fireplace every 45 minutes. The master bedroom was on that floor and that room stayed about 60 because it was not in the main living room. The upstairs was working and it stayed comfortably and set at about 76 degrees where my two children were. Now, I hope they understand, but heat rises, therefore all heat in that house will go up and then it will settle there. I have a picture of the sign in the house explaining to run the lower and middle floor heat and keep the upper floor lower or off. We could not do that because the middle floor HVAC was not working the entire time we were there. The temps were in the 20's outside and windy. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand this problem. Now as for the Hot Tub outside. The water was at a level that it was at the pipe hole of the jets meaning it would shoot water out of the jet just above water line and due to this it did need about 3 inches more water to run safe not to mention since we were very familiar with Hot Tubs, we were not sure if it had a leak, hence, when we called we told them that and decided we would not attempt it until they serviced it and added water. When they sent that person it was the 2nd night to fill it and check it. Something also important to add, if someone rents a cabin in the smokies, they are not wanting to go outside and get into a hot tub in 20 degrees to then later come out of it and go into a house that is 50 degrees to warm up. The whole part of what they say was not addressing the issue correctly. They mention a need for a roku stick they had to order, proof again they fell short of inspection and we did not have tv working the entire stay. They should have gone to Walmart and picked up the new stick if they really wanted to repair it. They failed to mention they themselves told me that they have an internet problem with the house reaching the TV. OK, so they knew they had a problem before we addressed it. I would suggest they provide you their recorded line tapes of these conversations, especially since they claim I was rude. They mentioned "Reasonable Compensation" several times. Remember, we were there for 3 nights and 4 days. That's $500.46 a night to sleep in a cold cabin with broken HVAC, no jacuzzi, no hot tub, broken TV, large carpenter ants crawling all around you, then you had faulty wiring, lock to get in needed servicing, shower was nasty and the cabin could have been a great stay if the company would have been managing the property. I can tell you if I was the owner and paid this company to manage my property then I would be very upset and be looking for another company to manage it. As a customer, my opinion is I don't think anyone comes to the smokies to rent a cabin for this kind of money and would expect this treatment or conditions. My half million dollar brand new home mortgage is just $700 a month more than I paid for this. I get to stay in it 30 days a month. Your reasonable compensation idea is simply ridiculous. Maybe the person who wrote this needs to lose his or her salary for the real reasonable compensation and I am betting this will not happen again. This falls right back into management practices and business policy. If someone would have been doing the right job then the problems would go away. By the way, I never threatened to leave a review on Google, I never mentioned I would contact the BBB. I also have not mentioned contacting the Attorney General's office to enforce the TCPA violation. If the company is truly sorry about this event, then they will do much better than $123.33 as a reasonable compensation.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/09/2024

  Type:Facilities Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I booked a 5 BR cabin based on their advertisement and pictures. I got there and there were so many issues, broken items, fifth, and misleading things. They offered to refund a cleaning fee and $150. I still have not seen that refund. I called the second morning I was there. They offered to send somebody out to clean and work on items but these maintenance issues were not quick fixes and we had 11 people there and all of our stuff and we had things planned for vacation. This was not something I wanted to deal with while on vacation.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/23/2024

  Good morning and Merry Christmas!

  Yes our staff is familiar with ******** stay.  
  ****** reserved a 5 bedroom Gatlinburg cabin we manage called Gatlinburg Lodge.  Her group stayed in the home from 11/27 - 12/02.  Gatlinburg Lodge is our most affordably priced 5 bedroom property.

  Three days into their 5 day stay ****** phoned our office with a long list of complaints about the cabin.  Some of her complaints were minor housekeeping concerns - stain on comforter, dirty baseboard, dirty window.  Some were decorating concerns (suggestions) - need more mirrors, not enough dressers to put clothes in, needs another hvac unit, needs another light over the kitchen table, tv's should be wall mounted.  Some items ****** reported were maintenance concerns - one theatre chair broken, grill needs replaced, broken outlet cover, toilet is loose, bathroom sink drains slowly, kitchen chair broken, shower door off track, could not get arcade game to work. 

  Our guest services team immediately offered service for those concerns (not the decorating suggestions).  ****** declined service and demanded to speak to a manager. 

  Our guest services manner phoned ****** in regard to her request.  He informed ****** that we were normally unable to issue a refund without the chance to service a concern, but that we would follow up on her concerns.  After ******** checkout, our staff did send the owner's maintenance company to service the property.  Some maintenance issues were corrected and confirmed and our staff phoned ****** back offering a full refund of the home's housekeeping fee $145 and a 5% refund of $163.  ****** threatened an attorney and ended the call. 
  Unfortunately, we never had the chance to service any of ******** concerns, so offering her any refund after the stay was in the interest of good customer service.  It is an exception to the lodging policy and the agreement with our homeowners whose homes we manage.  Our guest services office is open each day from 10 am until 10 pm for anything guests need, and someone is always available by phone 24 hours a day.  If it's a big enough concern to demand a refund, then we need the chance to legitimize and service the concern.  Our staff works hard to be accessible to all our guests, and would of been happy to send housekeeping or maintenance up to the cabin, or even relocate or upgrade ******** group.  We did not get that opportunity.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/05/2025

  
  Complaint: 22653756
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 

  I probably should talk directly to the person that responds on here because  things that are said don’t get relayed exactly right. I did not reject the offer when I spoke with the manager. I actually told her thank you  I also told her I didn’t feel like it was enough and to speak with someone about splitting the total spent by refunding another $1,000. I felt like that would be fair. I thanked her and felt like for the first time that we could possibly work this out. I did tell her about disputing the charges because I had not heard back from anybody but as soon as we hung up I put that on hold with my credit card company.   Somehow that conversation got turned into me rejecting the offer and trying to steal a vacation. It appears that this is just a way to get out of refunding the amount that we discussed on the phone. It would be nice to talk to somebody and get this resolved instead of going back and forth and dragging it out for weeks.  

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ******

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/06/2025

  Im not sure what better communication we could offer ******, than a personal phone call from a manger.  The first information we had about ****** disputing her charge was during our most recent effort to satisfy her concern - when our manager reached out to her personally on the phone.

  On that call, ****** told our manager she "already disputed her credit card charge" effectively negating our ability to provide her any partial refund. 

  Additionally, she advised our manager that the full refund of her cleaning fee, a 5% refund on the nights she stayed, and a full refund of the night she supposedly did not stay was not enough, and she "wants $2,000". 

  Even her latest response on this platform says her dispute is now "on hold" hinting at the fact she will initiate the dispute again, if she does not get the refund she wants.

  Please understand, we did not hear from ****** until the last day of her stay.  Our staff was never able to offer service, or a relocation, or an upgrade, or a refund.  Now without any of those opportunities - apparently all that will satisfy ******** experience is a free, or now - potentially half free stay.   We want to count ****** among our thousands of happy guests, but she has handicapped our customer service experience every step of the way. 

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/07/2024

  Type:Facilities Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I reserved a cabin for my honeymoon on 9/21/2024. The unit was not at all as described. The description on the American Patriot website described the unit as “a newly built luxury cabin”. When we arrived it had a terrible musty smell, dust was caked up on the tv and furniture, the shower head was nasty, there was mildew in the grout of the shower, there was toilet paper remnants on the floor around the toilet, there were streaks down the side of the toilet bowl, the floor was soft (possibly rotted) at the exit to the shower, there was mud all on the bottom of the door exiting the bedroom to the front porch. The listing for the site says there is an upstairs area and had nice pictures of the upstairs area. However, when I received the final confirmation just before arriving, it stated that though there was an upstairs it was not part of the rental and was not accessible. The listing also pictured a hot tub with a gazebo covering, but the hot tub was just on an uncovered deck and the hot tub cover was covered in leaves and debris which would have gotten all in the hot tub if use was attempted. This rendered the hot tub completely unusable. The listing pictured a lovely outdoor fire pit area. This area was completely shut down and covered up rendering it unusable. I tried calling the only number on their website several times but only got voicemail. I left 3 messages about the state of the cabin which they claimed to have never received. We left and checked in to a hotel for 2 nights and then found another cabin (from another company) for the remainder of our stay. When I finally did get someone from American Patriot on the phone I requested a refund and was refused. They offered to show us some other cabins. I told them that by now we had already found other accommodations. See the pictures of what they advertise versus what is actually there. Note that the confirmation says there is no upstairs included. We are out $1402 from this unethical company.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/09/2024

  This note is in response to Robert ********* complaint about a home we manage called Trident's Creek. 
  It is a lovely veteran owned property that can be viewed here:  

  ****************************************************************

  While we don't agree with Robert's assessment, we regret he was not pleased with his choice of accommodation.  We only wish he had provided our staff a chance to address any concern.  We are always happy to provide guests the service they need.

  We work hard to be accessible.  Guest services is open until at least 10 pm each night, Reservations until 11, and 24 hours a day we have someone available for emergencies.  
  We cannot be sure where Robert "left three messages".  We have a guest portal for every cabin where service can be requested form the portal, we are available by phone 24 hours a day for emergencies, and we of course have chat and email too. Accessibility for our guests is not an issue. 

  The upstairs of the home is newly bult addition to the property.

  The fire pit is in perfect condition, cleaned and covered, ready to be enjoyed. 

  Most mountain homes have well water.  Much of it is hard, calcium filled water.  Tastes great, but leaves calcium marks on things like shower heads.  

  The hot tub is the same hot tub on the same deck that is featured in the listing.  It is true however that the featured nylon tent over the hot tub is seasonal and not there for guests in the winter. 

  Unfortunately, by the time Robert contacted our office he had already disputed his credit card change. 
  Plus, we have not way of knowing how long he stayed there.  We had no way to service any concern and no way to refund him once disputed.  

   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/11/2024

  It is true that our accounting department will fight disputes that do not qualify for a refund. 

  Sometimes the credit card company does side with us when we furnish the stay history and the copy of our cancellation policy.  The credit card company takes their fees both coming and going.  

  It is unfortunate that Robert did not deal with our staff to begin with, but instead chose to check out without notice, against the terms of the cancellation policy, and rely on the dispute for his refund.  We would of loved to service his concerns or even find him a cabin closer to town and more to his liking.  We were not given that opportunity and cannot now reward a refund to Robert on a same day cancellation without notice.  Again, we manage privately owned homes and have a responsibility to not only our guests but also our homeowners.  No lodging companies allow same day cancellations without a refund. 

  The guest services number is included in all the correspondence Robert automatically received in his confirmation. It is also posted in the cabin and in the guest portal.  Our reservations office is staffed from 8 am until 11 pm each day as well and of course can also transfer calls to our guest services department.  Additionally, our office is here in Pigeon Forge conveniently located in the center of the tourist area just up Wears Valley Rd.  We offer online chat features, chat thru the guest portal, and email access to our office.  We cant be sure where Robert "left three messages", but we maintain longer hours than any rental company in the Smokies and have some accessible 24 hours a day every day.  we work hard to be really easy to get hold of. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/11/2024

   
  Complaint: ********
  
  I called every number I had and they went to the reservation line. This business has many other complaints and poor reviews with the BBB.  I will never do business with them again and will encourage everyone I can to do the same. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Robert *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/03/2024

  Type:Facilities Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I rented a cabin from American patriots getaway on Aug 15-16 and 17 2024. There were 5 of us cousins. The place was real nice. But there ended up being problems. On the 16th we woke up to no water. Now that meant no toilets. So I called and told them what was going on. They said they would have someone out to fix the problem. He came out and couldn’t fix it so they sent another person. Remember 5 women and no toilets. They a real nasty storm hit. The basement flooded. My daughter was down there sleeping. When I called her up she said there was at least an inch of water. So the man that came out told us the retaining wall needs to be fixed. The we were down 1 toilet. I talked to Becca and she told me they could only give us 20% of the cost. Like 230.00. Well I told her no. We paid over 500.00 a night. They didn’t seem to care about what we went through. I’m hoping you can help us make them understand that 20% just isn’t enough. We couldn’t go out because we couldn’t shower. Please help us with this. Thank you ******* **********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/11/2024

  Good afternoon!  Our guest services team has reached out to ******* personally and successfully addressed her concerns.  Thank you. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/12/2024

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 22223288, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* **********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2024

  Type:Facilities Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Our stay was 5 nights, July 5th thru July 10th. Upon arrival the property owner was at the cabin. We both noticed that the grass was very tall. The owner said she would have someone come out that night to mow. The yard was never mowed the whole time we stayed. The cabin was advertised has having playground equipment. We have 3 small children and this was a selling point for us. They were never able to use playground nor were we able to use the fire pit because of the overgrown grass. The cabin says it sleeps 12. It doesn't tell you that it only has seating for 3 in the living/entertainment area. It has one piece of furniture in the living area, a couch that seats 3 unless u want to sit at the kitchen table the whole time. It was advertised as having 3 full baths. One only had a bathtub, no shower. When we first arrived the cabin smelled like kitty litter. Upon inspection of the cabin, there was trash in one of the closests upstairs, a human tooth in the kitchen window, and a yellow jacket nest on the porch. I called the office at American Patriot several times about these issues. They brought out a can of spray for the smell. The owner came out and removed the human tooth. Nothing was ever done about the yard. They came out as we were packing up to leave to do something about the yellow jackets. I have pictures of everything. There were no rocking chairs. There was so many things that were falsely advertised about this cabin. It was absolutely the worst place we have ever stayed. I asked them for one third of our money back, I think that is fair since we didn't have access to everything that was advertised. I have pictures to back up everything that I have said.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/01/2024

  This note is in response to Complaint 22003306.

  The homeowner of this property was handling some of the maintenance including the lawn.  Our findings for the most part agreed with the complaint.  We no longer manage the home, and have contacted, and compensated this guest by phone. 

  Thank you. 

  ****

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/02/2024

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 22003306, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ************** ****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/03/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Check in June 28 - June 30 paid $686.67. When we arrived to the cabin we noticed that the hot tub was not working. We called and they said they would send maintenance out. They showed up the next morning but nothing was fixed. We had to call again, because they obviously weren't going to update us. They sent out another maintenance guy and he resolved the issue early that evening. They only refunded $45 and stated that they could give us a 25% discount for our next stay. I declined the discount and asked for a refund instead. The pillows in the cabin were stained and the stairs were steep. My daughter actually fell down the last 4 steps and scraped and bruised her legs. It states that they are supposed to check to make sure everything is in working order, but obviously they don't. If they know that the issue was going to take so long to fix they could have moved us to a different cabin. This is the first and last time that I will use them.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/23/2024

  This note is in response to a complaint filed by ********* ****** in regard to her stay at Altitude Adjustment - a privately owned home that our company manages in the Smoky Mountains.   The home is a lovely two bedroom two bath cabin that sleeps 6 with two King suites, in-room jacuzzi, and firepit.  It can be viewed here:   ****************************************************************

  ********* reserved the cabin during our summer sale on June 8th for a 2 night stay checking in on June 28th.  She paid a room rate of $459 plus taxes and fees. 

  The only complaint from ********* during her stay was about the jets on the outdoor hot tub on the porch.  She phoned into our office at 4:58 PM on 07/28 the day of her check-in.  The hot tub had just been cleaned and serviced that morning after checkout.  A hot tub repair company was scheduled by our office, whose first available appointment was the next day.  The hot tub repair company visited the cabin and completed the repair less than 24 hours later by 3:42 PM.  ********* and her guests stayed both nights in the cabin.  

  For the night the outdoor hot tub was not working well our staff processed a refund of $45.10  - roughly 10% of the room rate and provided a 25% discount code for *********** next stay.  Had ********* checked out of the cabin, then we could of additionally refunded her the night of the 29th, but we cannot refund that night when she stayed.

  Thank you.

   

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/24/2024

  
  Complaint: 21933941
  
  I am rejecting this response because: If the hot tub and been cleaned and serviced as they said. They would have noticed it wasn't working. I am also attaching a copy of there refund page that says everything is checked to be in working order before arrival.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ********* ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/31/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We reserved a cabin in pigeon forge for our family with this company. when we arrived, the cabin had obviously not been cleaned. No vacuuming and dust was everywhere not to mention the back I closed porch was at least a seasons worth of outside debris, the worst part was the pull out couch down stairs had a toddler sized black stain on it that couldn’t be cleaned. I called customer service the rep was annoyed sounding and told us they could send a cleaner out or if we wanted we could move cabins at an upcharge of whatever was available. The two choices were a smaller cabin 30 minutes into gatliburg, not where we wanted to be. Or one that was 1700 dollars more than we paid for the original cabin. The rep was very firm in saying there would be no refund and we could either accept the up charge or they would send a cleaner out. I explained the items we felt needed cleaned either needed replaced. The rep was not helpful she stated she could maybe get someone out with a mattress pad or something the next day. This is not acceptable because this is the location where my children would be sleeping. I spoke with the supervisor Doris and she was less firm but more polite and willing assist. She stated the same things the previous rep did. She did call her manager to see what could be done. They moved us to the smaller cabin that was further away without a upcharge. In my opinion this was pacifying and not fixing the issue.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/15/2024

  This note is in response to a complaint number 21781985.

  ***** reserved a duplex we manage called Starry Starr Night in the Golf View resort outside of Pigeon Forge.  When her group checked into the cabin they called the office to complain about cleaning issues at the property. Our guest services representative offered to send housekeeping to investigate and remedy any concern. The guest declined housekeeping and asked to relocate instead.  Had they given us an opportunity to address their housekeeping concerns at Starry Starry Night we would of gladly had houskeeping touch-up and  - if that spill was on the mattress at Starry Starry Night - then we would of also replaced the sofa mattress.  There was plenty of time.  Their call to our office came in just a half hour after check-in time at 4:30 PM, long before going-to-bed time.  

  When the guest declined any service, our guest services representative reminded them that we manage privately owned homes, and we could not relocate without the chance to investigate and service the concern.  Guests are allowed to upgrade if their vacation plans change, and our staff member offered them those options.  The guest refused an upgrade. 

  Our staff member then obtained permission from management to make an exception, and relocate & upgrade the guest without any additional charge, despite not having the chance to investigate or service their housekeeping concern.  Our staff phoned the guest back, and the guest was relocated to a larger home outside Gatlinburg called License to Chill. 

  License to Chill is normally sold at a higher room rate because it is a three bedroom home.  Their original property reserved was a two bedroom duplex unit.  The rate was deeply discounted in License to Chill in order to accomplish the cost-free move the guest requested.  
  Although not directly across the street from the community pool like Starry Starry Night,  License to Chill  has membership access to all 3 Chalet Village recreation areas which include multiple indoor and outdoor pools, tennis courts, pickleball, exercise room etc.  

  The guest finished their stay without complaint in License to chill and are now filing a complaint with your agency for a full refund.  We cannot offer that.  The homes we manage are individually owned.  We cannot refund the already deeply discounted rent they paid for License to Chill for a reported issue at Starry Starry Night.  Additionally, our staff did just exactly what the guest asked them to do - relocate them without any upgrade cost.  

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/02/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Rented a cabin for the New Years weekend. Arrived at the cabin and did not have heat 80 percent of our stay. Repeatedly complained about the conditions without heat and this was not fixed until the last day of our trip. Members of our party had to purchase blankets to stay warm in the 50 degree temperature inside the cabin. Company provided subpar space heaters that couldn't be used because they would trip the breaker circuits. Customer service was impolite and at times hostile and rude. After seeking a resolution we were offered less than 10% percent of the 3000.00 paid for use of the cabin. Company refused to apologize or offer any other resolutions for the inconvenience caused.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/05/2024

  This note is in response to a ******* ********** complaint. 

  ******* ******** was not a guest of record with our company.  Our office reached out to ******* yesterday with the information you provided and she informed our staff that she was guest of our guest. 

  ******* stayed with our guest of record ******** ******* in a privately owned home we manage called Heavenly Daze.   You can see it here:  

  ******** rented the cabin from Dec - January 1st and paid a total room rate for the three nights of 2292.30.  

  Someone from the cabin called for a concern about the cabin's hvac system not heating well the evening of 12/29.  HVAC repair company was scheduled for the next available appointment which was the next day. the HVAC company ultimately had to return to the cabin three times for repair.  Here are the HVAC notes:

  Dec 30 - Upon arrival, found heat set to 'emergency heat'. Turned system to regular 'heat' and checked operation. System working properly when we left, guest was there & acknowledged. Dec 30 later in the day - Found nicked wire in tstat wiring. Repaired wire. System was working when we left. Guest was there and acknowledged. Dec 31 - returned yet again this morning. Returned and exchanged wiring and found contractor bad for the auxiliary heat. Installed new contractor. Checked operation. HVAC working fine and guest was there to acknowledge.

  HVAC unit is split. Not kicking on. Needs a hvac tech to come check. Split unit is located in the crawl space. Guest said they didn’t need batteries for anything. sb:12/31 905a per d&v : Yesterday, Doug went here 2 times! Each time he left, the Heat was working. The 1st time, he found the Emergency Heat on, so he turned Regular Heat on, and the system started heating. Guest was there and they acknowledged that. The 2nd time he went, he tightened all wiring and then the heat started working. Guest was there then also, and acknowledged it was heating. He will return this morning (leaving now) to return and investigate. This is obviously an intermittent problem because when he leaves, he leaves there with the heat working. Today, he will look over everything again, it could possibly be a loose, or broken wire, or bad connection between air handler and condenser 

  ********** group started asking for compensation and a partial refund on the 30th. Here are those notes:
  

  Guest is very upset that their heat isnt working. I called D&V HVAC and he said when he left it was working.  D&V asked to have guest call him, got back on the phone with guest to let them know...they said thats fine and then proceeded to say that at this point they need compensation. i let them know that i would put their name on the board for a supervisor to call. she said she felt like i was blowing her off. i let her know that at this point there is nothing more *i* can do for her since im not a supervisor so i cant discuss compensation with her and when the HVAC tech left the heat was working. she was very upset and asked for my name and told me that they do HVAC so they know what they are talking about and its not THEIR job to fix the heat. she then proceeded to tell me that she was upset about the air hockey table which maint told her is broken and has been broken and no one told her that and she said to make sure it was notated as such

  Guest called back.  I offered half refund.  They say no that's nowhere near gonna cut it.  I told them that's all that I can offer obviously they can speak with a manager tomorrow, but said that they have already posted bad reviews on fb and wherever else, and that they put in a complaint with the better business bureau and that to leave them without heat was illegal and they'll take us to small claims court.  I told her I can't talk with her if she is threatening legal action, and that I would have to end the phone call.  She said she'd come to the office.

  Guest called back demanding an email confirming the refund amount I had offered by the end of the day or they would be in the office.  I'm asked- the amount that I offered and you declined? She says yes the half a night. So i repeat the $382 that you just declined you would like an email sent confirming that amount and that you'd like to accept.  I emailed guest what was offered, but have not processed anything until management reviews their compensatoin.

  Our team hates when anything goes wrong at the cabin.  We want every guest to have a perfect stay with all mechanical systems working correctly during their time in the cabins.  You can see by the service history we worked hard to resolve any complaints during their stay. 
  

  We especially hate that an HVAC professionals like ******** and ******* were inconvenienced by a repeat HVAC problem.  That must be very frustrating for them to know what's wrong but not be able to get it fixed.  It looks like our staff was in agreement with ********** group about the inconvenience, and already offered and processed a substantial refund of $703.40 and a free night on a future stay back on January 15th.   Refunds to credit cards come out of our accounts immediately, but can take 7-10 business days to show up on the consumer's accounts.  It just depends on how quickly their bank processes those items to online statemetns.

  Hopefully that refund squares our accounts with *******.  
  

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/05/2024

  I want to also add that we are not HVAC professionals like they stated. My father, who was there with us, had a HVAC company and suggested the guy check a few different things but that was the extent of that. We never once attempted to fix the HVAC system on our own. My father is 70 years old and was already under the weather at the time our trip. Not having heat made his condition worse and when they returned home he was sent for chest xrays and confirmed pneumonia. Also, the $2200 total cabin rate they are stating was paid was the amount was after the refund of $702. We were only offered a half a night refund initially. Once a supervisor called my daughter in law after we left, she offered the $702 and free night. My daughter in law accepted this offer only because at this point, we had argued with several customer service reps and were told that's the max refund they will give us. 

  I apologize for all the additional notes I have added. I wanted to try and convey the amount of times we had to call to even get someone to come check the HVAC system. We were constantly being told we turned emergency heat on when it was in fact the first maintenance guy that came out who stated he would have to call HVAC. He is also the one who told us that the cabin rental office was aware that the air hockey table didn't work and had made no attempts to fix it prior to the last couple of rentals. The air hockey table was one of the main reasons we chose that cabin. My grandsons were very disappointed it didn't work. 

  Happy to send over any additional information that is needed. I can provide medical bills for my father as well. Thank you!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/13/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I booked Mountain Celebration for May 14-18 2023. The cabin was absolutely beautiful. Plenty of room and just relaxing. Noticed the first night that neither the outside or inside fireplace worked. Not really a big deal due to the weather being beautiful, but still would have been nice to be able to use one if wanted. Once our trash bins were full, noticed that they weren’t being emptied. I did take a survey after checkout and was emailed in response to the survey explaining I should have called guest services to have trash emptied and to fix the fireplaces. Noted for next visit. However, it wasn’t till June 9, 2023 that I noticed a charge to my bank account from American Patriot Getaways. I then checked my email and saw that I was charged for “damages” done to the bath tub. They uploaded photos in the email. When reviewing the photos, there were tons of bright red “scratches” on the back side of the tub. Maintenance stated they scrubbed the tub, but couldn’t get all the red off so they painted over it. This took them two hours. Dated the 19th of May and the accounts coordinator approved it on the 22nd of May. While looking at the photos, it is clear that there is no way anyone could get to the back of the tub to scratch it (the left side of the tub was too close to the wall). I called and spoke with ****** and she said, the damage was done to the front of the tub and I asked her to explain why the back of the tub was in the photo. She said, “no one can even get back there to take a photo.” My point exactly. Then continued to state that that damage was done to the front of the tub. And I explained that the photo was clearly the back of the tub and it is completely clear because the faucet is mounted to the back of the tub. ****** stated, “sometimes when taking photos, the photo gets flipped.” Even if the photo was flipped, you still can’t flip the faucet being mounted to the back. Now i am waiting a week to see how they rectify charging me for damages I did not do.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/28/2023

  The charges were due to red marks on the bathtub believed to be during the guest's stay. The housekeeper who cleans each time indicated they were not there prior to the guest's stay and were very visible. However, due to the Mrs. ******** surety that the problem was not due to their party, we are going to give her the benefit of the doubt and refund the charges for the work done at the property. This work was done by a subcontracted maintenance provider separate from our company, and we will be covering the cost of their service for the red marks. The credit of $130 will be posted to her credit card on file. 

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/10/2023

  The customer was refunded.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/10/2023

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ******