Is this enough compensation? A $300 refund for an oil-soaked vacation

Fort Morgan, Ala., is a quiet Gulf Coast resort known for its sparkling white sand beaches. Well, usually.

Thanks to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill last year, Anne Hill’s spring break on Alabama’s Gulf Coast wasn’t all she had hoped for. She phoned a local rental agency, Meyers Real Estate, and says she inquired about the state of the beaches before booking a vacation rental.

“They said they were in great shape,” she says.

They weren’t.

Hill explains,

We booked a week’s stay in one of their vacation rentals in Fort Morgan.

The entire week we were there, there were huge machines on the beach filtering out the sand.

There was no way to get away from the machines.

In our 1/2 mile of beach in front of the house, there were approximately 20 to 30 men running up and down the beach all day in heavy machines and ATVs. They would honk or whistle at the girls, who were the only people on the beach.

It made them so uncomfortable they did not venture out to the beach again.

Hill went to Meyer’s office in person and complained. The agency refunded $300 of her rental. But her bill was $1,400.

“I do not feel that this was enough,” she says.

Interesting case. Should the vacation rental agency have known about the beach work? Probably. The deep-cleaning efforts had been in the news for a while.

But are they responsible for it? No.

Hill’s contract would spell out the rental agency’s liability, but I’m relatively certain that a claim might be difficult, if not impossible, under the agreement. I’ve read enough of these contracts to know.

As I review Hill’s grievance, it seems she believes her rental agent may have misled her in order to secure a rental. I think that’s highly unlikely. Only the most unscrupulous agent would do such a thing.

Maybe the agency thought the beach cleaning would be over by the time Hill arrived, but bending the truth to get more customers is no way to run a business. I think this was an honest mistake — and one for which the real estate agent paid by surrendering some or most of its rental fee.

Refunding even more of the cost of her rental would probably entail asking the homeowner for a money. And that’s not going to be easy.

Hill thinks the $300 refund isn’t enough.

What I would like is a complimentary week’s stay in a comparable house for a week this summer. That way they get their money for my first visit, but I can return this summer and have the vacation I didn’t get.

Should the real estate agent offer a do-over of the vacation during summer, which is peak season on the Gulf coast?

It was a close vote.

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  • Mike Z

    @ Arizona “If a property has a private beach then it should be part of it. If the beach is public, you can’t rent something that isn’t part of the property.”

    You are kidding right? Virginia beach is public yet the hotels there capitalize and charge a premium because they are “on the beach” Regardless of the status between private beach vs public, being directly located on the beach IS worth more dollars and DOES attract more business. A motel 6 on a beach is worth what, maybe $100-$200 a night? A motel 6 10 miles inland is worth $40 a night.

  • barbie45

    Chris, I believe you should be involved in this case. This region was begging for support from the public after this catastrophe. Here someone comes to their aid in part,not only by a rental,but contributing to the economy as a whole. I believe the agent misled her. Three hundred does not appear a fair settlement. Yet I do not what would be.

  • Carver

    Arizona

    If a property has a private beach then it should be part of it. If the beach is public, you can’t rent something that isn’t part of the property.
    ————————————–
    Technically true but I don’t think that’s the point. I gew up in the Caribbean. When you rent a beach front home, a large portion of the value is the home’s proximity to a usuable beach. If the beach is not usuable (and usuable means different things for different beaches), the value of the beach front property diminishes.

    And that is fairly common. I rented a room in New York on thanksgiving. I paid a subsantial premium because it was on the parade route. We stayed at the Hilton Paris and paid a premium for rooms facing the Eiffel Tower.

    So access, location, viewability, etc, all factor into the value.

  • Harry

    I am not really familiar with the Gulf Coast area, but if it is anything like the jersey shore then I think $300 is fair.

    If I got a house in Sea Isle City and it turned out the beaches were unusable, it would not ruin my vacation because I could simply drive up or down the coast if I wanted to go to the beach. I think 20% off the price is fair compensation for the added hassel of finding a useable beach.

  • Michael K

    @Arizona: “If a property has a private beach then it should be part of it. If the beach is public, you can’t rent something that isn’t part of the property.”

    So it’s okay for the landlord to advertise “Beach Vacation Home” even when the beach is public? But the renter should have no expectation that they’ll actually be able to use a beach?

    If your point is that the property owners shouldn’t be liable for the oil spill, I agree. The liability is BP’s. And it seems to me the property owners have a perfectly valid claim to the GCCF for compensation. The OP on the other hand does not have the standing to submit any claims to the fund.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Mike Z – “Virginia beach is public yet the hotels there capitalize and charge a premium because they are “on the beach”
    - – - – - – - – —
    Your are correct there are premiums such as location, size, etc. for real estate (hotels, rentals, houses, etc.) but has nothing to do with my comments. I was responding to Nancy, who wrote “First, when one rents a “beach property” then the beach should be part of it.” implying that the owner of the rental is responsible for a public beach which the owner does NOT have any control over.

    Example: You rented a house on the beach and there was an invasion of jellyfishes which cause the local government to close the beach. Are you expecting the owner\rental agency\etc. to refund your money for the rental? There is nothing wrong with the rental house. Did the rental agreement includes a section that the water in the lake\ocean\gulf\etc. is going to be a certain temperature?; the sand will only be white fine sand?; the weather will be over a certain temperature?; etc.

    Did the contract that the OP signed was for a rental of a house or was it for an experience on the beach? If it was for an experience on the beach then the OP has standings.

    @ Carver: You are correct that access, location, viewability, etc. determines the value of a premium for a house, a hotel, etc. Nancy commented that that the rental of a beach front property should guarantee a great experience on the beach and the owner of the rental is responsible for a public beach which the owner does NOT have any control over as well as guaranteeing a great experience.

    The rental agreement is for the rental of a house not for an experience on the beach. The OP received a house on the beach (if that is what she actually rented) and had access to the beach. The beach was open and the OP didn’t mentioned any about tar balls, pools of oil lying on the beach, etc.

    There were a lot of the facts that were not disclosed in the article that are important before making a judgement.

    @ Michael K – “So it’s okay for the landlord to advertise “Beach Vacation Home” even when the beach is public? But the renter should have no expectation that they’ll actually be able to use a beach?”
    - – - – - –
    The rental agreement is for the rental of a house not for the rental of the beach or for an experience on the beach. If the house had a private beach then that is a different story since the owner is responsible for the care and maintenance of the beach. In this case, the beach was open and they had access to it. While it was an inconvenience, they could have went to another beach (they did received $ 300) where the clean-up crew wasn’t working.

  • Vivi

    Chris – I have a few questions: Was the cleanup happening at the time the customer rented the house or anticipated to take place thereafter? Did they stay the whole week? Did anyone complain to the workers’ company about their workers’ harassment of the women? Was there a nearby beach?

  • Thalassa

    No, I don’t think $300 is enough, but I also don’t think she should get a free week in the high season. Maybe a discounted rate for the high season?

  • MichelleLV

    I think they are just going for a free vacation…..The oil spill and clean up efforts are public knowledge. I don’t think she was misled. She asked a very subjective question there got a very subjective answer.

    I think 300 dollars was fair compensation in this case where the beach was not up to her standard. Had the house been unusable then that would have been a reason for a full refund. Tell her to get over it and pay for her own summer vacation. If it was so bad, she wouldn’t be asking for another weeks stay.

  • Chicky

    @ARW: Going to another beach would have been easy if they had been in Gulf Shores or Orange Beach. Just pack up and move down a ways. Fort Morgan, however, is about 20 miles from Gulf Shores, and doesn’t have as much beachfront. There’s a fair stretch between the main beach there and where the beach at Gulf Shores starts where it gets marshy and grassy. The Bon Secour Wildlife Area is located in those marshes. So, to get away to another beach, the OP would probably had to have driven 20 miles. Also, if memory serves, I think the beaches at Fort Morgan, except around the actual fort property, are private. I may be in error there, but I believe that’s the case. The fort, of course, is state property.
    One of the main selling points of Fort Morgan is its more remote location and quiet beaches. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are the main touristy locales, and things get a lot quieter on the Fort Morgan end of the barrier island. I can well imagine those machines made quite a fuss. But I can absolutely guarantee the Meyer people knew what was going on. They own more than one house at Fort Morgan, and had to have received some phone calls. Also, all the rental companies were costantly checking the beaches for condition.
    The rental company obviously had no control over the oil spill, as they have no control if it rains for a week, or if the jellyfish are bad, or the sea is rough. HOWEVER, they KNEW about the oil spill, they KNEW about the equipment on the beach, and they neglected to tell the OP. I suspect they were hopeful the machines would be gone by the time the OP arrived.

  • Michael K

    @Arizona:
    How do you know what was in the rental agreement? How do you know they could have gone to a nearby beach? (And if indeed they could have, why shouldn’t it be incumbent on the agent to offer to relocate them?)

    Why did you ignore my point that the property owners have the standing to submit claims against BP and receive compensation for lost income, whereas travelers have no such standing to submit any claims?

    Do you condone the OP being misled about the status of the beach (if that’s what happened)? Do you condone a landlord advertising “Beach Vacation Home!” (if that’s what happened) if their rental agreement doesn’t protect the traveler in any way against a closed/unusable beach?

    Do you believe the traveler should absorb 100% of the risk (man-made disasters are not travel-insurable) and the landlord should bear 0% of the risk in these circumstances?

  • John M

    Actually, she shouldn’t be going after the rental agency, she should be going after BP, who, has a fund set aside to cover such losses.

  • Christopher Elliott

    @all, the dates of her stay were March 5 to 12, 2011.

  • Michael K

    @Arizona: [Re: beach closures for weather, jellyfishes, etc.]

    I wouldn’t expect the owner/rental agency to be responsible for Mother Nature. The distinctions in my mind are:

    1) There is a liable party (BP) for the oil spill and the owner (and only the owner) has the standing to pursue that party for compensation. No one is liable for the jellyfishes (unless they’ve arrived to feast on tar balls)

    2) Weather and jellyfishes are usually very temporary phenomena that come and go quickly. The oil cleanup was a scheduled long term project.

    3) Natural disasters, severe weather, locusts, etc. are at least somewhat travel-insurable, especially if they are severe enough to prompt a local evacuation advisory.

  • Eric

    Looks like there were tar balls on Fort Morgan’s beach at least a month before the OP went down.

    http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/article/tar-balls-and-mats-plentiful-in-fort-morgan/1204706/Feb-11-2011_7-02-pm/

  • http://nmdfreelance.com Nancy

    @Carver, @Chicky – thanks for having my back. Sounds like you both are familiar with the Gulf Coast.

    @ArizonaRoadWarrior- sorry but you’re way off on the beach not being part of the package; it’s called an amenity.

    To help clarify, the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “amenity” as: (1) : the attractiveness and value of real estate or of a residential structure (2) : a feature conducive to such attractiveness and value

    At a hotel, I don’t “rent” the bed but it’s expected. I don’t “rent” a television but it’s expected. I don’t “rent” a lobby but it’s there. I don’t “rent” a shower but it’s expected. I don’t “rent” a toilet but it’s there. All hotels list amenities on their websites. If it’s at a destination close to the beach, the distance from said beach is generally listed as an amenity.

    The OP rented this house based on it’s being near the beach. People actually take “beach” vacations with the expectation they will be able to use the beach. Again, it’s an “amenity”.

    After reading more responses here, I still stand by my suggestion of giving them an off-peak week. The entire Gulf Coast is beautiful any time of the year. During off-peak, i.e. fall and winter, most vacation rentals are sitting empty anyway so the rental agent probably would be losing money anyway. The seafood’s just as good in September/October as it is in June or July.

    In today’s world, people are posting photos of their vacation pretty much as it happens thanks to Facebook and Twitter. Goodwill in the form of a week in September or October, alongside the photos they post, the tweets they tweet, the status updates on Facebook will go a LONG way towards bringing in more guests. (Frankly, were I the rental agent, I’d make that deal with them.)

    First rule of customer service – if you do a good job, the customer tells very few people. If you do a bad job, they tell at least ten people and it increases exponentially as those people pass it on. Additionally, this is a rather well read column. Does Meyer really think there won’t be repercussions to this?

  • MichelleLV

    another note now that I know the dates….The Alabama gulf coast water is cold in march but very nice in the summer. I don’t even think those dates qualify the Spring Break up charge. Asking for a free week in Summer is over the top. Summer prices are at least twice the price of winter prices.

  • Thalassa

    From what @Eric just posted, it seems to me that the traveler could have easily discovered the actual condition of the beach, and the fact that machinery would be there. So I agree – no more refund for you.

  • James

    Any answer she got from the rental property should have been taken with a bucket of salt. Of course they’re going to tell her the beach is great! She should’ve tried to get a 3rd party opinion. It’s great she supported the area in a time of need, but she could’ve arranged for a discounted property and rolled the dice!

  • http://www.thetravelinggiraffe.com Crissy

    I was a bit on the fence for this one. We don’t know exactly what the agent knew about the beach clean up at the time of the booking, so it could be an honest mistake. $300 seems a little low though. But she absolutely does not deserve a credit for a full week – she did have the use of the house, and if things were so bad she could have left early, which makes a statement about the conditions. When you stay the whole time then you lose rights to how much you get back. She does sound like she’s looking for a free trip though with what she is asking for.

  • bodega

    Chris, when did she call to make her reservation for her March stay?

  • Michael K

    @Thalassa, @Eric: Please read Chris’s original article more carefully, he provides the exact same link.

    And at the risk of stating the super obvious, if the actual condition of the beach was well known, the vacation rental agency should have known about it and been up front and volunteered it (even if the OP hadn’t specifically asked them, which she asserts she did).

  • carver

    @arizona

    The rental agreement is for the rental of a house not for an experience on the beach.

    ———————

    I respectfully disagree. A “beach front rental” commands a premium because of the very reasonable expectation that one will have usual and customary usage of the beach. If that fact changes it should be disclosed to any potential renter so that an informed decision can be made.

    Incidentally, temporary, nature made issues such a jellyfish are part of the usual beach dynamics.

  • Michael K

    @Nancy:
    I agree with all your comments in spirit, but I think you missed the part this was a spring break trip (i.e. the OP is very likely a student who would have academic obligations after Labor Day).

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Chicky – “Going to another beach would have been easy if they had been in Gulf Shores or Orange Beach. Just pack up and move down a ways. Fort Morgan, however, is about 20 miles from Gulf Shores, and doesn’t have as much beachfront.”
    - – - – - – - – - -
    Unless the beach frontage at Fort Morgan is less than a half-mile long, it is hard for me to believe that the whole beach was fully occuppied with cleanup equipment.

    Since they had a car (either a rental or their own), what is the big deal to drive 20 miles to another beach IF they truly wanted to experience the beach.

    Based upon the news articles generated by the local media posted on the Orange Beach blog, the additional cleanup (the removal of tar balls\chips that ‘recently’ washed up on the shores) of the Fort Morgan beaches was scheduled to run from January 2011 to February 2011.

    @ Michael K – “Weather and jellyfishes are usually very temporary phenomena that come and go quickly.”
    - – - – - — – - – - – —
    Weather such as hurricanes isn’t termporary. I used to go to the Bahamas on a regular basis for deep sea fishing. One time (August), a hurricane was a week away from the island but they closed the public beach due to the strong waves.

    @ Michael K – “The oil cleanup was a scheduled long term project.”
    - – - – - — – - – - – —
    There were people using the beaches in Fort Morgan back in June, July and August 2010. Based upon the media articles, it seems tarballs washed upon the beaches in the late fall\early winter 2010 and this cleanup was to remove them. It wasn’t pools of oil but chips of oil and it wasn’t a long-term project like starting from June 2010.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ James – “Any answer she got from the rental property should have been taken with a bucket of salt. Of course they’re going to tell her the beach is great! She should’ve tried to get a 3rd party opinion.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – -
    I agree with you. I don’t ‘trust’ any sales person that is why I get their promises\statements\claims in writing, I do research on my own and get a second opinion.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Nancy and Carver: The beach was opened…it wasn’t closed. A person might had to walk away from the clean-up equipment to find a spot that the clean-up equipment wasn’t being used.

  • Michael K

    @Arizona: “Weather such as hurricanes isn’t termporary. I used to go to the Bahamas on a regular basis for deep sea fishing. One time (August), a hurricane was a week away from the island but they closed the public beach due to the strong waves.”
    —-
    You’re still dancing away from the core issue: The bulldozers on the beach were there to clean up a man-made problem for which BP is liable to the property owner (and not to the OP).

    As for your side point about week-long hurricane closures: if you’re talking about a swimming ban because of high waves, that is not remotely comparable to the OP’s predicament (inaccessible beachfront, large vehicles, excessive noise). If you mean a full beachfront closure because of waves making landfall, then a beachfront home would not be a safe place to stay. Either way, not comparable situations.
    —-
    @Arizona “…it wasn’t a long-term project…”
    —
    So in your mind a 2(+) month project is not “long term” and is comparable to a hurricane?!

  • Michael K

    @Arizona: “Since they had a car (either a rental or their own), what is the big deal to drive 20 miles to another beach IF they truly wanted to experience the beach.”
    —
    Maybe they did exactly that (do you know otherwise?)

    How much would the rent have been for an otherwise comparable house 20 miles from the beach? What is the big deal if they get credited back the difference?

  • Carver

    2Arizona

    Since they had a car (either a rental or their own), what is the big deal to drive 20 miles to another beach IF they truly wanted to experience the beach.

    ——————————————-
    The big deal is to experience the beach from a beach front property. If they wanted to drive 20 miles away, they could have paid less for a proprety that was not advertised as beach front.

    Having grown up in the Caribbean, i can tell you that there is a fundamental difference between being on the beach where you can take a quick swim whenever you want, as opposed to having to drive to a beach. It’s like night and day.

  • http://www.cockam.com ajaynejr

    A little too late for me to make this comment which is a bit tangential.

    Resorts in the affected Gulf Coast region could have gotten tons more bookings had they advertised and graciously given a “full refund for the unused portion upon request”.

    So many more vacationers would have then taken a chance on having a nice clean beach and occupancy would be that much higher on those days and locations where the beaches were not spoiled by oil.

    This would be a one way street; the resort could not choose to cancel the guest’s stay.

    As things actually turned out, many vacationers did not book at all as opposed to take a chance that the beach would be clean.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Michael K – “The bulldozers on the beach were there to clean up a man-made problem for which…”
    - – - – - – -
    Bulldozers were NOT on the beach for the removal of tarballs. Tarballs are picked up hand, by fork rakes or by beach-cleaning machinery. You can do a Google search (equipment to use to clean up tar balls on the beach) or go to youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tptxdMn5Oh8) to see the beach-cleaning machinery that are used to remove tarballs.

    @ Michael K – “As for your side point about week-long hurricane closures: if you’re talking about a swimming ban because of high waves, that is not remotely comparable to the OP’s predicament (inaccessible beachfront, large vehicles, excessive noise).
    - – - – - – - – - – -
    Using your logic, my hotel was on the beach thus ‘promising’ me the amenity of swimming in the ocean therefore the hotel should have given me a refund of my money since I couldn’t go swimming in the ocean.

    In the case of the OP, the beach was accessible and open. ATVs and other off-road vehicles are allowed on the beach; they can be just as noisy as a beach cleaning machine that is used for tarballs.

    @ Michael K – “So in your mind a 2(+) month project is not “long term”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – -
    No…long term project in construction and IT is considered one year or longer. The shoreline of Mobile Bay is 100-mile long (which Fort Morgan makes up a portion of the 100 miles). According to the news reports by the local media, the cleanup of the tarballs on the Fort Morgan portion was going to take four weeks to complete.

    @ Carver: Sometimes life gives you lemons and you can make lemonade instead of being a sour puss. They did receive a refund of $ 300…when I went to the rental company website and it seems to be the difference between a beachfront rental and a non-beachfront rental. You can sit in the rental house and pout or they could drive to another beach and have fun. We have been to theme parks where a ride was closed due to maintenance. We have been to state parks where trails were closed or another amenity was closed. We didn’t ask for a refund…we roll with the punches.

  • Michael K

    @Arizona: “Bulldozers were NOT on the beach for the removal of tarballs.”
    —
    Whether that’s true or untrue, how is it relevant to anything I wrote? Again: “The bulldozers on the beach were there to clean up a man-made problem for which BP is liable to the property owner (and not to the OP).”

    Which part of that do you disagree with? Do you dispute the media accounts that bulldozers were on the beach for the oil spill cleanup? Do you dispute that the oil spill was a man-made problem? Or do you dispute that BP (and possibly also related parties) are liable for the direct impact and the cleanup impact?

    =====
    @Arizona: “No- long term project in construction and IT is considered one year or longer.”
    —
    Relevance? You compared this incident to a hurricane. I don’t see the point of your assertion unless you contend that it’s normal for a hurricane to last for a year or longer.

    ===
    @Arizona: “Using your logic, my hotel was on the beach thus ‘promising’ me the amenity of swimming in the ocean”
    –
    Not at all. Again, the distinction is weather vs. a man-made disaster. Secondarily, a hurricane isn’t scheduled in advance for a 4-week period (and the bulldozers were apparently there longer than scheduled).

    Using your logic, is the owner/agency free to double dip and collect from GCCF for the bulldozer/cleanup impact and collect from the OP as well for the same timeframe?

    ===
    @Arizona: “You can sit in the rental house and pout or they could drive to another beach and have fun”

    This is a curious comment given your earlier criticism (“the OP should have complained the first day instead of waiting until they got home”)

    Unless you have inside information, I presume you have no idea whether the OP complained the first day, or pouted all week or drove elsewhere to have “fun”. And I fail to see how it detracts from the OP’s complaint one way or the other.

  • Carver

    @Arizona

    I think you are diverting from the main question. The OPs reaction(s) are not the issue. The question is whether the travel provider delivered and if not is a refund is due and if so how much and why.

    Whether the OP sat around and pouted or drove to another beach and had fun is completely immaterial to whether the travel provider delivered as promised.

    I maintain that if you advertise beach front property, then you must disclose any adverse conditions on the beach that dimishes the beach front experience.

  • http://nmdfreelance.com Nancy

    You know what? I just re-read the OPs original “complaint” here. She didn’t say the machines were cleaning up anything to do with the BP spill. She said there were large machines “filtering the sand”. I can’t believe this one slipped past me.

    All along the Gulf Coast, pre-spring break or about that time frame, roughly once a year the individual cities will do a lot of “cleaning o’ the sand”. This might be dredging as it’s been a particularly wet winter and the beach eroded. This might be just filtering to clean out the muck that can accumulate over the winter. It could just be it needs a bit of “fluffing”.

    Whatever the reason, this filtering is planned months in advance. I don’t think this had anything to do with BP at all but was regularly scheduled maintenance of the beach.

    If this is true, then the rental agent KNEW when it would be done. This isn’t something that’s decided on the spur of the moment nor is it a project that one can schedule on short notice. This is a project that is planned months in advance.

    Chris, please let us know how this is resolved. I’m curious to know about a rental agent being caught with their hand in the cookie jar and how they manage to squeak their way out of it.

  • Michael K

    @Nancy: If you check the local news report that Chris linked to in his original article, the title is “Tar Balls and Mats Plentiful in Fort Morgan”. The article (dated Feb 11th) quotes BP saying that “barring any delays, ‘beach cleanup operations are on schedule to meet our goals of [...] early March in Fort Morgan.’”

    So, yes, this was known at least a month in advance, and yes, it had everything to do with the oil spill (unless one disputes the news report and the quotes attributed to BP).

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