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Business Profile

Hotel Management

SMS Lodging LLC

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Hotel Management.

Complaints

Customer Complaints Summary

  • 1 complaint in the last 3 years.
  • 1 complaint closed in the last 12 months.

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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.

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  • Initial Complaint

    Date:04/12/2024

    Type:Product Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    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 family stayed at their ******************** property in *****, ******* in March 2024. We had many issues with the property that were brought to SMS Lodging and have still not been addressed. I've asked for management or ownership to contact me and have not received any calls or emails back. The property has active mold in one of the rooms and is a health and safety issue. We were unable to use it. The deck boards have not been maintained and as a result, caused splinters anytime we walked barefoot. The outside hoses on either side of the property did not work. The dock has not been maintained and has cracked / sharp plastic that is exposed. These are just a few of the issues that we brought to their attention and there has been no response. Their ******************** property in *****, ******* is marketed as a luxury property but the property is not taken care of and should not be priced as a luxury property. I would like SMS Lodging management / ownership to contact me as soon as possible to address these issues. We paid $7,144.50 for 5 nights (March *****, 2024). I asked for a refund of at least 1 night and they have still not responded to me. The health and safety issue of mold and un-maintained deck and dock need to be addresses as soon as possible for future guests. What I paid and the state of the property is not acceptable and I'm asking for a refund of $1,428.90 which is cost for 1 night.

    Customer Answer

    Date: 04/13/2024

    I heard from ******, areservation representative on 4/12, the same person Ive been asking for a manager or owner to contact me but never heard back.  Heres my reply on 4/12:

    ******,


    Glad to finally hear from you, though I was expecting to hear from management or an owner.  Through our conversations and multiple emails, I had requested a refund of two nights, which amounts to $2,857.80 and never heard back from you.  


    Even with that refund, it would mean we still paid $857.34 per night for a house that we do not believe qualifies as luxury in its current condition.  Not being able to use a larger bedroom due to a health & safety issue of active mold also reduced the value of the home for the time we were there.  And note that water was leaking from the pumps into an electrical solar room which is a hazard and likely that water was flowing under / into that other moldy room.   


    Please let me know when you will be refunding the full $2,857.80 back to me.  


    Looking forward to resolution on this.  


    Barry 

    Customer Answer

    Date: 04/18/2024

    I left a ****** review for ******************** and it looks like they (SMS Lodging) removed my review and is trying to hide the feedback from others.  This is not ethical and I am still waiting for a response to my last email from 4/12/24 and resolution to my refund request.  Email is below:

    On Apr 12, 2024, at 11:20?PM, *********************** <********************> wrote:
    ?
    ******,

    Glad to finally hear from you, though I was expecting to hear from management or an owner.  Through our conversations and multiple emails, I had requested a refund of two nights, which amounts to $2,857.80 and never heard back from you.  

    Even with that refund, it would mean we still paid $857.34 per night for a house that we do not believe qualifies as luxury in its current condition.  Not being able to use a larger bedroom due to a health & safety issue of active mold also reduced the value of the home for the time we were there.  And note that water was leaking from the pumps into an electrical solar room which is a hazard and likely that water was flowing under / into that other moldy room.   

    Please let me know when you will be refunding the full $2,857.80 back to me.  

    Looking forward to resolution on this.  

    *****

    Business Response

    Date: 07/23/2024

    March *****, 2024
    Guest stays at Vacation rental property paying a total of $$7,144.50.
    Guest made various minor complaints about outside hoses, and 3rd party operated operations including shuttle ferry, and Jetski rental, and notal rental, something which we have no control over.

    March 19th,2024
    4 days after checking-out, the guest emailed us asking to speak to someone and threatened to leave a bad review in case we didnt get back to him:

    Who is the owner or a senior manager that I can talk to you about our experience? There were quite a few issues that Id like to bring to their attention and discuss.  if I dont hear back before end of day,Thursday, I plan to leave reviews with ******* TripAdvisor and other online platforms.

    March 20th, 2024
    We contact the guest via email asking how we can help.

    March 27th, 2024
    We spoke to guest who complained about the physical condition of the house, mold,and safety and health concerns. Something he did not bring to our attention,until 4 days after checking-out, despite having access to staff on a daily basis, and using the dedicated ************** during the stay for requests.

    April 4th, 2024
    We inform the guest that we are disappointed that we did not meet his expectations, and that we will review them in detail but only wish that he had let us know during his stay, rather than 4 days after check-out.

    Guest informs us that this is not acceptable and that wants to speak to an owner/manager or he will take further action.

    April 8th, 2024
    Guest leaves voicemail saying he wants refund of $1,428.90.

    April 12th, 2024
    We email guest offering refund of $1,428.90

    April 12th, 2024
    Guest now says he wants $2,857.80

    At this point we stopped communicating with the guest since:

    He didnt complain about his stay in our vacation rental until 4 days after checking out so we had no chance to address the issues when he was there
    He asked for a refund of $1,428.90 which we offered
    He then raised the amount he wanted to $2,857.80
    He continued blackmailing us threatening to post bad reviews and report us to the BBB which he did

    Further,we have a stellar track record of former guests reviews which indicates that the experience the guest is complaining about is not typical:
    VRBO - 6 reviews with a total score of 9.8 rating out of 10 total (Exceptional)
    Airbnb - 43 reviews with a total score of 4.95 rating out of 5 total ( Superhost Status)
    TripAdvisor - 3 reviews of 5 stars and 1 review of 4 stars 
    Google - 9 reviews of 5 stars rating 

    Customer Answer

    Date: 08/06/2024

     
    Complaint: 21568232

    I am rejecting this response because: they have not refunded me anything. SMS Lodging has a 2.3 star rating and similar complaints from multiple guests; a manager or owner never contacted me to apologize or ask how to make it right and improve for the future.  I never blackmailed them and don't appreciate that false statement; just shared the issues and frustrations we had at their property and didn't hear back from anyone for weeks at a time after the feedback.  Followed up multiple times and finally heard back and at that time, discussed a refund.  They have not acknowledged that they had a health and safety issue with mold at the property and am concerned other guests will be impacted negatively.  Had told the local reps *** and another person on WhatsApp) that I talked with about the mold issue and also water and leaking issues.  ** said they know about the leaks and issues and don't want us using the outdoor faucets.  The property has not been maintained and has issues that have not been addressed.  I am willing to reduce the amount and will accept a $1,428.90 refund from them and as long as I receive it in August 2024; am willing to consider it as resolution to this complaint.

    Sincerely,

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

SMS Lodging LLC is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.

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