Ever Heard of The Ole Bait and Switch?
Well this was the bait. A beautiful home with an advertised view of the lovely Gulf of Mexico.
It has a quaint personal boardwalk that was supposed……
to lead to a beach that looked like this…
..but in reality led to this:
As an added bonus, there was also a fishing pier at the end of our little boardwalk.
Wouldn’t you be thrilled to have your kids splash around in that?
Turns out we are on a BAY not the OCEAN. I could have stayed home and swam in Chickamauga Lake – FOR FREE.
There are details here. Lots and lots of details. Lots and lots of phone calls. Lots and lots of visits to other properties. To keep it simple, I’ll just say that I have to give props to the management company for refunding the majority of our money since it was agreed the location of the house and beach quality was grossly misrepresented. I won’t be happy until we get it all, but that’s an issue that is yet unresolved. Also unresolved is where we will be staying after 11 a.m. tomorrow because we are SO out of here.
I know in the grand scheme of things this little situation no where compares to the plight of the hungry or fatherless. However, I can’t apologize for my own reality. I live a life that only gets one vacation a year for my kids and dadgummit, we want that vacation to have fluffy, white sand and the sound of ocean waves – especially when I rolled all my change to get here.
So I’m wondering, have any of you ever had a vacation from Hades? I think it will make me feel better if yours was worse than mine.
Nothing like someone else’s misery to put your own in perspective.
Y’all are awesome.
I am SO sorry for you. That is truly a bummer and I’d be just as disappointed as you are. Heck you deserve luxury after a road trip with kids, believe me, I know!
Good luck!
OH NO!!
That is terrible
What a disappointment :(
I will pray that you find a house that will kncok your socks off :)
God bless
Kim
I’m ticked off FOR you!! :)
Praying God leads your little fam to somewhere amazing!
I hate this for you but more for your children. Of course, little ones recover more quickly than we adults. As for a worse vacation, yep,been there, done that. We flew to Mexico one time – the plane had a “problem” an hour out and we had to fly back to our home airport, wait for 8 hours with no open restaurant, get back on a plane to arrive at midnight at the “resort.” Dinner was offered to us upon arrival – bologna sandwiches which were on a plate on the check-in desk, open to the bugs. I am not joking about that! The water went off the next day as I was building up a good lather on my hair and stayed off for more than 2 hours. The air conditioning went out the next day. The beds were, literally, marble slabs with a mattress on top. And we were with two couples, one we’d never met. One half of that couple was loud, drunk and crude. Bet you feel better now! Blessings, marlene
Nah I don’t think you should feel bad for wanting your money back either. In the grand scheme of things it is insignificant, as you said, but you shouldn’t allow others to steal and walk all over you!
Sorry you had such a stinky vaca. I have a sad story… we never go on vacation. The one time we did (in the 4 years we’ve been married) we went to Iowa once for a week. And it was just my hometown. In a cramped apartment.
Oh man…you have my kind of luck! Maybe this will make you feel better!
When my family went on a vacation one summer we hit a rock in the middle of the interstate that blew a hole in our gas tank….and we had to push the car to the nearest gas station…which by the grace of God also doubled as a “car maintence” shop…and a hair salon…and a mini-mart….and a bait shop…classy :) Anways…we pushed the car into the lot only to find out we couldn’t get it fixed until the next day. And to make matters worse…the town was flooding due to storms and all the hotels (they were prob. motels…big difference) were full. Our family of five had NO WHERE to go for the night…so we had to sleep in our car. And to make us feel a little safer (because there was a lot of looting going on) the manager of the store locked our car (with us in it) inside the car shop. We eventually got to our destination…and on our first night my dad lost his wallet with all the credit cards and cash in the lake…he forgot to take it out when he attempted to go water skiing!!
Hope that makes you feel a little better!! Things will get better…and one day you will be able to look back at this and laugh :)…one day!!
Say it isn’t so!!!
It’ll be ok. It’ll be all ok.
Can’t wait to see the fine place y’all get put in.
It’s all ok.
Oh no! That is terrible! We stayed at our first bed and breakfast last August. It was beautiful as we pulled in. The room was gorgeous. Then the rain started pouring and the creek turned into a river and then the sides going up to the bridge (the only way in or out) washed away from the sweeping waters. Then we lost power, which took down the toilets and water because the well worked off power. We were supposed to be there for 1 more day, and the owner told us she was almost out of food. But PTL, by the end of the day they had built up the ground around the bridge and we were able to escape. I am not as fascinated with B&Bs that have the name hidden or hollow in them! LOL
I hope you are able to get all of your money back.
the worst vacation we had as family was to visit my in-laws. My daughter thought it was funny that my mother in law always asked for sugar (I know it’s a Southern Thang) so she took a zip lock baggie with some real cane sugar in it. My mother in law called her hateful and she called me worse for allowing–nay, encouraging, her to do that.
My family once rented a condo in the Smokies that was directly next door to a construction site. Very unsatisfactory!
We are headed to the gulf in a couple of weeks and I sure hope our condo there doesn’t turn out like yours. I’m so sorry that you have to move–what a hassle!
Our entire family rented a cabin in the smokies a few years ago. The cabin was okay…The bad thing was that my dad played a practical joke on us all involving saltine crackers(SUCH a long story) then went to bed. This resulted in very late night calls to the rental company which resulted in the police coming to escort our entire family from the property!
After much apologizing from Dad, and some cash thrown in for good measure, we were allowed to stay.
FUN!!!
I think that experience ranks on my top 10 all time maddest moments..lol!
I hope it gets better for you guys….and hopefully no police will get involved!
Hey, ya’ll could just pile in with the Smiths!!
The more the merrier!
Growing up, we only took one real family vacation together. My dad was enlisted in the Air Force so we didn’t have much moolah with five kids and all.
Anyhow, our one vacation was to San Antonio– and we lived in the DFW area. Well, it rained EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Poured buckets in fact, so much so that the manhole covers were shooting up a good 2-3 feet off the ground! The headlights on our van went out… at night… on a hill… in the pouring rain. And that was also the time that I found out my mom was still smoking when she promised all of use that she had quit. Only I thought I was the only one that had caught her smoking– I kept that dreaded secret for 2 years and felt so miserable about it!
But that was then and this is now… a good 20 years later.
Sorry about your lodgings. The house is cute but a bay is definitely not an ocean– BIG difference! Praying for God to give y’all the perfect place to stay tomorrow. :-)
As Forest Gump’s mother told him…”Life is like a box of chocolates: You never know what you’re going to get”. So sorry your “chocolate” was such a bummer.
When our son was much younger, we planned a vacation to Disney World. We loaded up the car and started on the 17 hour drive. That evening we stopped for dinner and before we left I decided that I needed something from the trunk. To my horror, my husband had not put my clothes in the car. They were still hanging in the closet right next to where HIS WAS! I had even pushed all the other clothes aside so that he would know exactly what was to go in the car. The only clothes I had was what I was wearing (I did have shoes and pj’s).
The next day I went to the trunk again to get a bag (Wal-Mart) of snacks and to my great suprise …it was a bag of trash that I had asked my son to “take out”. He thought it was snacks and took it “out” to the car.
I almost rolled on the ground laughing. We forgot my clothes but we made sure that we brought the trash!
We have had so many laughs about this. And…. I got a new wardrobe out of the deal:) Hopefully, you will be able to look back on this vacation and laugh, too.
Have a great vacation. You and your family are well, happy and together. That’s a blessing right there.
“And we know that all things work for the good of those who love him , who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
Oh man…not sure where exactly you are but my suggestion is to look up properties where you are at on vrbo.com…with yall being there…someone with their unit open will probably be more than glad to shoot you a great price…hope you find something great and quick and reasonable :) We have booked our last 6 vacations through there and never regretted it.
I’m sorry. Sounds like a real disappointment. =(
Unfortunately, I can’t do my part in helping you feel better because I’ve never really been on a vacation.
Oh dear me Lisa, that’s not what I envisioned for you following me to the Gulf. Our view was spectacular and the sand glorious—I’ll stop there. My sister did pay an arm and a leg for THE VIEW of the GULF~
A few years ago, we went to Galveston and our teens ran on the beach only to find HUNDREDS of dead jellyfish washed ashore. AGHAST!!!
I’m praying you’ll find something AWESOME tomorrow a.m.
Ugggghhhhhhhh!
How aggravating!!!!
I hate that your vacation started like this!
Hope y’all find a place on the gorgeous white sand and have a beautiful view of the gulf!
Lisa I just want you to know I got nauseated for you when I looked at those pics. Your son #1 had sent me a pic yesterday and told me he couldn’t find a shell to bring back to me since there really wasn’t any beach but I had no idea how bad it really was. Hope you find the perfect place today.
Just remember my flooring ordeal. If you stay persistent you will get ALL your money back.
Love you guys,
Tammy
Hi Lisa- As I read your post-I kept thinking that this sounds familiar-I then checked out your older post and found your post about Hotel Alabama…wow! that was just last month…perhaps you are being trained to do reviews of “vacation” spots – so that others will not have to experience false advertisement…or perhaps you will have the opportunity to open nationwide vacation spots…places where we can rely on the integrity of the proprietors…
My husband and I don’t go on vacation so I don’t have a “worse” experience to share with you.
I pray that the Lord will bless you and your family on this vacation.
Be Blessed
Debrah
Okay, at the risk of sounding like… “Oh, poor me.” We have never taken a family vacation. So, I’d take just about anything. However, if I thought I as getting one thing out of my vacation and got something else… something not so good, I too would be a little upset. Glad you are getting somewhat compensated.
That stinks. I’m so sorry that happened! I hope they get you on a great beach really quick.
You have to post a picture of the new site when you get there!
Oh DEAR!
Our worst vacation, and we have had several doozies, was out to Las Vegas/Arizona. Some highlights were:
Both girls at the ER for ear infections.
The Boy threw up on the curvy road to the Grand Canyon.
Husband had food poisoning from a buffet.
Elevator dropped several floors suddenly and opened mid floor and we had to climb out…with a stroller!
Oldest Girl wanted a better view of The Hoover Dam, so she climbed up on a wall and almost fell in. No kidding, we have it all on video!
Our pool was freezing cold, so I am sorry to say we snuck into another hotels pool.
Best thing about that trip was we paid extra to change our plane tickets so we could fly home early! Best money we have ever spent!
Hope you get everything straightened around!
Where are you on the Gulf??? I have the perfect place to go…. St. George Island! We have the perfect house there! It is rented this week! Perfect family house across from the beach, private pool, house is set for kids, and families! My college kids are working there as kayak guides and also doing childrens camps this summer! I am sure they have houses open! If you are close, let me know and I will call my girl that handles my rentals and she will fix you up!
Aw Boo! I am praying for blessing to fall upon you in bucket fulls!
I have been following this story via Twitter and am praying that all is working out now. I am so sorry to hear it..I know that there are several houses near us that are sold as “on the beach”…but they are quite distance from it…and not as luxurious as they sound. I also know, however, that our great state has many beautiful properties on soft sandy beaches. I pray you found one.
susan
Lisa,
This is Jennifer (jenmom – roomie for San Antonio). Where are you guys? Are you in Florida? Cause girl you could stay at my house (for free) and go to the “real” beach in Fort Myers or Sanibel!!
Sorry about the bate and switch! Hope the rest of vacation gets better.
girl, I’m so desperate for a vacation I think I’d even happily take that! Yucky water and all! Who needs an ocean!
Oh Lisa, I am so so sorry for you guys, especially the kids. The area you are visiting has been my least favorite so far though I’m not sure why really. It’s just so out there. Just like your top picture posted of the beach, you can look both ways and see only 10 people. Most people would love that but I guess I am a “people watcher” and need something entertaining……..maybe when I am 50 I’ll go back.
Hope you guys get a better place to stay with a much better view…..keep us posted.
What a bummer! My only real vacation from hades was when my new husband was put in the hospital on our wedding night because of a kidney stone and we didn’t make it to Gatlinburg, TN for our Honeymoon! Hoping CA is better! We leave saturday, and currently I have a sick boy! Pray for good health to fly on saturday!
That stinks! Hopefully your next house will be fabulous. :)
Hi Lisa! I read your blog several times a week. If you are near Gulf Shores area; we have used two real estate companies that are wonderful there. Excellent care each time. One is Kaiser Realty; the other is Meyers Realty. They have been great with us. God bless!
Joy Williams
Oh, I reckon I can top your holiday!
Do you want the one where I was robbed at gunpoint, stood on two sea-urchins and got headbutted by a giraffe,
or the honeymoon where I suffered a suspected brain hemorage (turned out to be something far more interesting and less serious!),
or the time when I hired a holiday cottage, lost the keys 200 miles away, drove over a golf course and snapped off the car bumper driving over a low wall,
or, or, or……
I have given up on holidays! It is less stressful to stay at home…! :)
The Broken Man
http://theblogofabrokenman.blogspot.com/
I’m pullin for ya friend! Your story trumps mine. We usually stay at my Dad’s on the beach but next week we are going somewhere new. I wonder why I’m feelin a little paranoid???
Kelli
last year i went to a beth moore conference with my two bffs. i flew down from Beantown, and then we made the six hour drive to the conference.
after the conference we made our way to the hotel, got lost, and arrived about an hour later than we should’ve. there was a long line of people and the manager was crying. the hotel was under construction. the rooms were over booked. the city had no more rooms available. and all of us checking in were LIVID. the rooms were without sheets, beds, curtains, shower curtains, towels, etc etc etc. walls were bare. we had to step over rolls of carpet when getting to the elevator.
one group of women were sent to a nearby hotel, but they arrived and realized that the hotel was more of a brothel… so they promptly returned to our under-construction hotel and DEMANDED a room.
they got one. a room without towels and blankets, because the women who checked in before us confiscated the items that their room was lacking. they’d picked the room bare.
we finally got a room, adjacent to an unfinished room with the adjoining door unhinged. had to lock the doors of BOTH rooms to stay secure.
dust covered ev.ery.thing. and we could hear one of the attendants walking a mom/daughter through our hall knocking on doors (at 1:30 AM) to see if there was a room available. i stepped on a screw at some point in the night.
needless to say, we didn’t get any sleep.
Oh, Lisa I feel so bad for you :(
we are going to the gulf of mexico too these weekend we are staying at south padre island I didn’t know the gulf was close to you for us its a 2 hour dirve and if we go more south it gets prettier down there its a 6 hour drive,
I hope you get all your money back and end up in a nice beach for your child that is what every kid looks forward to the beach :(
you are in my prayers,marina
Um, ok, yeah, once I went to visit a boy, a cute boy, a cute missionary boy, in Prague, and, um, well, it didn’t go so well. and I still had three weeks to go.
If you are the least bit interested in the rest of the story/bored on the beach, you can read it here
http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2008/02/young-dumb-and-redeemed.html
Untilmately, you know, God got the glory. But at the time, yikes. Humiliation station.
I HATE that you’re experiencing this in my home state (or at least until I get to move BACK to my REAL home state of TEXAS!). That’s just too bad. Hmmm…bad vacations.
Well, there was the Disney Cruise where my very sullen 15 year old refused to leave the stateroom THE ENTIRE TIME WE WERE AT SEA.
Or
Our first stay at a bed and breakfast that, incidentally, was in downtown Memphis and was a beautifully restored Victorian surrounded by RAZOR WIRE. Oh, and there was a frat party going on in the basement.
Or
The drive through “scenic” Arkansas that sent my four-year-old-at-the-time’s breakfast flying ALL OVER the car, and then found her shrieking out of the “quaint rustic cabin” when we finally got there, due to a full regiment of daddy long legs that had taken up camp INSIDE. Oh, and later she grabbed the (large and very expensive) camera when she wasn’t supposed to and, of course, broke it.
Ah yes…good times. Good times indeed.
May the fun in your vacation be fully redeemed.