Dear Mr. Obama,
You may not have heard but to my knowledge to date no one has received a reimbursement payment for the BP Oil Spill from GCCF (Gulf Coast Claims Facility). I know you appointed Mr. Ken Fineberg to administer the program, probably because he convincingly promised to streamline and expedite the claims process. Unfortunately, neither of which has happened, the system is neither streamlined or expedited unless you consider setting up a website to let you know nothing is happening qualifies. Mr. Fineberg publicly stated he would get checks to claimants that properly documented their claim within 24 to 48 hours for individuals, and within 7 days for businesses.
I presented a very well documented claim on August 25th and so far have been waiting 23 days. Prior to submitting this claim I had it reviewed in detail by the Santa Rosa Beach Claims office in detail. They actually used my claim to show several other claims personnel in the office an example of a well documented claim. Similar documentation was provided for my previous claims that were presented to BP when they were processing claims for May, June and July. For each of those claims, reimbursement was received within 7 days. To date I have been waiting for a longer period than the total claim period for all of my previous claims with BP. Can someone explain to me how this is a more efficient and expedited claims process?
With all due respect I think we were mislead by Mr. Fineberg. I would therefore like to make the following suggestions, 1) either suspend Mr. Fineberg's salary until such time as payments are made or at least started (We are not being paid so there is no reason that Mr. Fineberg should be paid, especially since it is obvious he is not doing his job up to HIS minimum standards), or 2) turn the claims process back over to BP. They have the experience and a far better record for claims turn around time then Mr. Fineberg.
We businesses on the Gulf Coast have actually had three disasters, the actual oil spill, the grossly inaccurate reporting from the national media, and now this disastrous claims process. Can anyone for a second image if this type of claims process and the delays were still being handled by BP. They would be sitting in front of a congressional panel. When does Mr. Fineberg get his invitation?
Sincerely,
Rick Scali
Easy Street Vacation Rentals
Destin, Florida
Rick Scali Rick Scali is the Owner of Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals in Destin Florida. Whether you are a family looking for a squeaky clean Destin Rental Home with a Private Pool or a couple looking for a romantic getaway in a Destin Beachhouse, Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals will exceed your expectations. Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals has the largest selection of quality pet friendly homes in Destin, Florida and throughout the Emerald Coast. Call us toll-free today at 877.432.7978 or email us at info@easystreet-rentals.com - we would love to welcome you, your family AND Fido to join us at the beach.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Meeting with BP, Mayor Sam Seevers & City Manager Greg Kisela
It was a good day yesterday. Destin Mayor Sam Seevers and City Manager Greg Kisela invited several rental company owners and managers, including Easy Street Vacation Rentals, Newman-Dailey Resort Properties, Resort Quest, Dale E. Peterson, and others, to a special meeting with them and Jay Prothro, the Regional Director of the BP Outreach Program. The purpose of the meeting was to give us property managers a first hand and accurate update on the oil spill in general, the Booming Plan to protect the Harbor and the Bay, and the cleanup plan in the event the oil does reach our beaches. The BP representative also discussed the BP Claims process and offered to be an advocate with our claims process if necessary.
Before I go into the details of the meeting, let me first tell you after yesterday's meeting, how fortunate I think we all are to have the quality of leadership we have in Destin. I have been involved in many cities and city governments in my 20 plus years as a Credit Union CEO (my previous life), and I can say without question we have top notch leadership in Destin. I believe we have exactly the right people, in exactly the right job, at exactly the right time to deal with this nightmare. If I got nothing else out of yesterdays meeting, I got the sense that our city leadership has a firm handle on what's going on, how to protect us, and the guts to make certain we get whatever we need to protect our Bay, the Harbor and our Beaches.
The first bit of encouraging news we heard was that the oil is actually further away from Destin today than it was on Monday. Thankfully the wind and the currents seem to be working in our favor. Will the oil hit our beaches, I don't think anyone really knows with certainty. For two weeks now I have heard that oil will hit our beaches within 72 hours and it's still not here. What I heard at the meeting is that if (and I mean if) the oil hits our beaches we're prepared. The County has beach patrols on four wheelers that inspect the beaches several times a day, every day looking for oil. We have a SCAT team (don't ask me what SCAT stands for) that will validate any oil or tar ball findings. If validated they will call in for the BP clean up teams immediately. They also indicated that the city web site has the latest information on the beach conditions, air quality and other relevant oil spill information and links.
Another piece of encouraging news was that Jay Prothro from BP indicated the diagonal drilling, which is our best chance of completely capping the spill, is two weeks ahead of schedule. That means the oil spill should be capped once and for all by early August at the latest. It's never soon enough but there finally seems to be an end in site. He also indicated there are four skimmer boats active in the area now with four more on the way, cleaning up the oil before it reaches our beaches. Quoting Greg Kisela, the city is preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
A great big thank you to the Mayor and City Manager for putting this special meeting together, and for their leadership during this time of crisis. It's very much appreciated. I know we'll all get through this.
God Bless the Gulf Coast
*****************************************************************************
Rick Scali Rick Scali is the Owner of Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals in Destin Florida. Whether you are a family looking for a squeaky clean Destin Rental Home with a Private Pool or a couple looking for a romantic getaway in a Destin Beachhouse, Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals will exceed your expectations. Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals has the largest selection of quality pet friendly homes in Destin, Florida and throughout the Emerald Coast. Call us toll-free today at 877.432.7978 or email us at info@easystreet-rentals.cominfo@easystreet-rentals.com - we would love to welcome you, your family AND Fido to join us at the beach.
Before I go into the details of the meeting, let me first tell you after yesterday's meeting, how fortunate I think we all are to have the quality of leadership we have in Destin. I have been involved in many cities and city governments in my 20 plus years as a Credit Union CEO (my previous life), and I can say without question we have top notch leadership in Destin. I believe we have exactly the right people, in exactly the right job, at exactly the right time to deal with this nightmare. If I got nothing else out of yesterdays meeting, I got the sense that our city leadership has a firm handle on what's going on, how to protect us, and the guts to make certain we get whatever we need to protect our Bay, the Harbor and our Beaches.
The first bit of encouraging news we heard was that the oil is actually further away from Destin today than it was on Monday. Thankfully the wind and the currents seem to be working in our favor. Will the oil hit our beaches, I don't think anyone really knows with certainty. For two weeks now I have heard that oil will hit our beaches within 72 hours and it's still not here. What I heard at the meeting is that if (and I mean if) the oil hits our beaches we're prepared. The County has beach patrols on four wheelers that inspect the beaches several times a day, every day looking for oil. We have a SCAT team (don't ask me what SCAT stands for) that will validate any oil or tar ball findings. If validated they will call in for the BP clean up teams immediately. They also indicated that the city web site has the latest information on the beach conditions, air quality and other relevant oil spill information and links.
Another piece of encouraging news was that Jay Prothro from BP indicated the diagonal drilling, which is our best chance of completely capping the spill, is two weeks ahead of schedule. That means the oil spill should be capped once and for all by early August at the latest. It's never soon enough but there finally seems to be an end in site. He also indicated there are four skimmer boats active in the area now with four more on the way, cleaning up the oil before it reaches our beaches. Quoting Greg Kisela, the city is preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
A great big thank you to the Mayor and City Manager for putting this special meeting together, and for their leadership during this time of crisis. It's very much appreciated. I know we'll all get through this.
God Bless the Gulf Coast
*****************************************************************************
Rick Scali Rick Scali is the Owner of Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals in Destin Florida. Whether you are a family looking for a squeaky clean Destin Rental Home with a Private Pool or a couple looking for a romantic getaway in a Destin Beachhouse, Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals will exceed your expectations. Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals has the largest selection of quality pet friendly homes in Destin, Florida and throughout the Emerald Coast. Call us toll-free today at 877.432.7978 or email us at info@easystreet-rentals.cominfo@easystreet-rentals.com - we would love to welcome you, your family AND Fido to join us at the beach.
Monday, June 7, 2010
"Show Me The Money", they did and more!
I am absolutely flabbergasted, not only did BP pay me for my claim for the month of May they actually paid me extra towards future claims. My claim was for $10,647.00 for loss of rents from April 21 to May 31, but I ended up walking out of the office with a check for $13,000.00. I want to think the extra money was because of my rugged good looks, but for all of you that know me you know that couldn't be the case. What BP did was round up on each of my claims. They had me file a separate claim for each one of the five houses that my wife Debbie and I own, and a separate claim for the 15 houses that we manage for other people. Where the claim loss that I submitted was in the high teens, BP rounded up and paid me $2,500.00. They said I will obviously have additional claims for the coming months so this amount will be towards those future claims.
I know we have all vilified BP, and certainly they deserve a lot of blame, but from my standpoint they have been very forthright. I provided BP with my claims documentation on Tuesday, June 1st and received my check today, Monday, June 7th. I also asked the representative how long will BP do this, and without hesitation he said for as long as necessary. "We are in this for the long run." So if there is any good news out of all of this mess, financially we'll do fine this year. And one other important point, I was not required to sign any document to receive my check that would limit my rights in any way. We were all concerned about that issue. So there you have it, straight from first hand experience.
God bless the Gulf Coast!
************************************************************************************
Rick Scali Rick Scali is the Owner of Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals in Destin Florida. Whether you are a family looking for a squeaky clean Destin Rental Home with a Private Pool or a couple looking for a romantic getaway in a Destin Beachhouse, Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals will exceed your expectations. Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals has the largest selection of quality pet friendly homes in Destin, Florida and throughout the Emerald Coast. Call us toll-free today at 877.432.7978 or email us at info@easystreet-rentals.com - we would love to welcome you, your family AND Fido to join us at the beach.
I know we have all vilified BP, and certainly they deserve a lot of blame, but from my standpoint they have been very forthright. I provided BP with my claims documentation on Tuesday, June 1st and received my check today, Monday, June 7th. I also asked the representative how long will BP do this, and without hesitation he said for as long as necessary. "We are in this for the long run." So if there is any good news out of all of this mess, financially we'll do fine this year. And one other important point, I was not required to sign any document to receive my check that would limit my rights in any way. We were all concerned about that issue. So there you have it, straight from first hand experience.
God bless the Gulf Coast!
************************************************************************************
Rick Scali Rick Scali is the Owner of Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals in Destin Florida. Whether you are a family looking for a squeaky clean Destin Rental Home with a Private Pool or a couple looking for a romantic getaway in a Destin Beachhouse, Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals will exceed your expectations. Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals has the largest selection of quality pet friendly homes in Destin, Florida and throughout the Emerald Coast. Call us toll-free today at 877.432.7978 or email us at info@easystreet-rentals.com - we would love to welcome you, your family AND Fido to join us at the beach.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Chronicle of a BP Claim
Who knows when this Oil Spill nightmare will end, certainly not until BP finally caps the blowout well. As with any disaster there is as much misinformation as information, how much oil is leaking, where is the oil heading, how long will it take the Gulf to recover if ever, who is primarily responsible BP, the drill owner, Haliburton, who knows. I think everyone is focusing on BP, probably because they have the deepest pockets.
Of course I am worried about all of these issues, but I am most worried about how it will affect me, my business and my rental home owners. There is no question we will survive this, but how painful will that survival be. Will our business run out of cash during the off season? How are my Owners, whose houses I rent on their behalf, pay their mortgages without rental income over the summer? Heck, how will we pay our mortgages and fixed operating expenses?
We are fortunate in that we were 80% booked for the summer by the time of the spill, and only had three cancellations since then. One cancellation was a wedding and they decided to change their entire venue, a second were guests from France with in-laws in Texas, and the third was someone who was worried about getting laid off and used the Oil Spill as an excuse to get a refund on their reservation. The most negative affect has been from the worried calls we received from guests with reservations. Because we have a tremendous number of repeat renters, early on we implemented a 100% Money Back Guarantee if the beaches were closed because of the oil. We have not had a cancellation since the policy went into effect and only a few worried calls from those that were not aware of the money back policy.
We have actually had a few new reservations since the oil spill but we're still well below last year's actual and this year's budgeted goals. Typically we're sold out from Memorial Day through the middle of August - not so this year. Initially I thought I would do what I typically did when we had open dates, discount our rates, but then I thought what happens if the oil does hit our beaches and I need to give 100% money back to reserved guests. I am going to need some help!
Two weeks ago I received word that BP had opened Claims offices in our area, one in Ft Walton Beach and another in Santa Rosa Beach. Since it is obvious that sooner or later I am going to need help, this past Thursday I started the process of filing a claim. I posted the comment on Facebook and got some interesting comments, such as I was wasting my time, that BP would make it so cumbersome and require so much documentation that I would give up. That's when I got the idea to document my claims experience on my Blog, Good or Bad experience.
On Thursday May 27th I went to the Santa Rosa BP Claims office (5008 US Highway 98 West). It's a store front with temporary signs indicating it was a BP Claims office. It was the first time I saw a BP logo on anything other than a BP gas station. Seemed odd. When I walked in the front door I was met by a large open area with desks lining both sides and the rear of the room. Everyone seemed to be looking at me. Behind the rear desks in the back I could see one way glass, obviously the supervisor's office, he was probably looking at me as well. Immediately to the right as I walked in was an uniformed Sheriff's Deputy sitting at a desk. He asked me to sign in. He had me enter my name, address, name of my business and my claim number. I told him I didn't have a claim number so he had me enter Requesting Information.
I was the only "customer" in the room so it seemed like the employees were competing for my attention. John Alston shuttled me over to his desk, he may have been some sort of a Lead. He asked me how he could help and I told him I was just interested in information for now, and wanted to know what the process would be. John said the first step would be to file for a claim number, and he asked me to describe my business and what I thought my claim would be. I told him I was in the Vacation Rental business and that my wife and I owned five houses and we managed 16 other houses for other owners. He said I would need to file an individual claim, with a separate claim number for each of the houses my wife and I owned and another claim number collectively for all the houses we managed for a total of six claim numbers. He then gave me the 800 Claims Number and assisted me as I went through the process of getting claim numbers. With my Claim Numbers in hand, John walked me over to a claims processor Gaylord Smith and briefly described my claim to Gaylord.
Gaylord Smith gave me an overview of the claims process and basically said he would need documentation to verify what my 2009 rental income was and then compare that to my 2010 rental income, and I would be reimbursed for the difference if 2010 was less than 2009. I also had to provide my 2008 & 2009 tax returns, and provide county tax records that reflected the addresses of my property and showed my ownership. I provided him with all of the requested information on Tuesday June 1, so now we'll see how long it takes, see if I get the royal run around or what. I can say that I have been impressed with the BP Claims process so far, but the proof is in the pudding. Show me the money, as Jerry McGuire would say. I'll keep you posted.
Rick Scali Rick Scali is the Owner of Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals in Destin Florida. Whether you are a family looking for a squeaky clean Destin Rental Home with a Private Pool or a couple looking for a romantic getaway in a Destin Beachhouse, Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals will exceed your expectations. Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals has the largest selection of quality pet friendly homes in Destin, Florida and throughout the Emerald Coast. Call us toll-free today at 877.432.7978 or email us at info@easystreet-rentals.com - we would love to welcome you, your family AND Fido to join us at the beach.
Of course I am worried about all of these issues, but I am most worried about how it will affect me, my business and my rental home owners. There is no question we will survive this, but how painful will that survival be. Will our business run out of cash during the off season? How are my Owners, whose houses I rent on their behalf, pay their mortgages without rental income over the summer? Heck, how will we pay our mortgages and fixed operating expenses?
We are fortunate in that we were 80% booked for the summer by the time of the spill, and only had three cancellations since then. One cancellation was a wedding and they decided to change their entire venue, a second were guests from France with in-laws in Texas, and the third was someone who was worried about getting laid off and used the Oil Spill as an excuse to get a refund on their reservation. The most negative affect has been from the worried calls we received from guests with reservations. Because we have a tremendous number of repeat renters, early on we implemented a 100% Money Back Guarantee if the beaches were closed because of the oil. We have not had a cancellation since the policy went into effect and only a few worried calls from those that were not aware of the money back policy.
We have actually had a few new reservations since the oil spill but we're still well below last year's actual and this year's budgeted goals. Typically we're sold out from Memorial Day through the middle of August - not so this year. Initially I thought I would do what I typically did when we had open dates, discount our rates, but then I thought what happens if the oil does hit our beaches and I need to give 100% money back to reserved guests. I am going to need some help!
Two weeks ago I received word that BP had opened Claims offices in our area, one in Ft Walton Beach and another in Santa Rosa Beach. Since it is obvious that sooner or later I am going to need help, this past Thursday I started the process of filing a claim. I posted the comment on Facebook and got some interesting comments, such as I was wasting my time, that BP would make it so cumbersome and require so much documentation that I would give up. That's when I got the idea to document my claims experience on my Blog, Good or Bad experience.
On Thursday May 27th I went to the Santa Rosa BP Claims office (5008 US Highway 98 West). It's a store front with temporary signs indicating it was a BP Claims office. It was the first time I saw a BP logo on anything other than a BP gas station. Seemed odd. When I walked in the front door I was met by a large open area with desks lining both sides and the rear of the room. Everyone seemed to be looking at me. Behind the rear desks in the back I could see one way glass, obviously the supervisor's office, he was probably looking at me as well. Immediately to the right as I walked in was an uniformed Sheriff's Deputy sitting at a desk. He asked me to sign in. He had me enter my name, address, name of my business and my claim number. I told him I didn't have a claim number so he had me enter Requesting Information.
I was the only "customer" in the room so it seemed like the employees were competing for my attention. John Alston shuttled me over to his desk, he may have been some sort of a Lead. He asked me how he could help and I told him I was just interested in information for now, and wanted to know what the process would be. John said the first step would be to file for a claim number, and he asked me to describe my business and what I thought my claim would be. I told him I was in the Vacation Rental business and that my wife and I owned five houses and we managed 16 other houses for other owners. He said I would need to file an individual claim, with a separate claim number for each of the houses my wife and I owned and another claim number collectively for all the houses we managed for a total of six claim numbers. He then gave me the 800 Claims Number and assisted me as I went through the process of getting claim numbers. With my Claim Numbers in hand, John walked me over to a claims processor Gaylord Smith and briefly described my claim to Gaylord.
Gaylord Smith gave me an overview of the claims process and basically said he would need documentation to verify what my 2009 rental income was and then compare that to my 2010 rental income, and I would be reimbursed for the difference if 2010 was less than 2009. I also had to provide my 2008 & 2009 tax returns, and provide county tax records that reflected the addresses of my property and showed my ownership. I provided him with all of the requested information on Tuesday June 1, so now we'll see how long it takes, see if I get the royal run around or what. I can say that I have been impressed with the BP Claims process so far, but the proof is in the pudding. Show me the money, as Jerry McGuire would say. I'll keep you posted.
Rick Scali Rick Scali is the Owner of Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals in Destin Florida. Whether you are a family looking for a squeaky clean Destin Rental Home with a Private Pool or a couple looking for a romantic getaway in a Destin Beachhouse, Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals will exceed your expectations. Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals has the largest selection of quality pet friendly homes in Destin, Florida and throughout the Emerald Coast. Call us toll-free today at 877.432.7978 or email us at info@easystreet-rentals.com - we would love to welcome you, your family AND Fido to join us at the beach.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Check out my Fan Page
Wow, in less than two weeks we have over 200 Fans on our Facebook Fan Page Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals. My new marketing assistant Jessica Mansfield suggested I set up a fan page but I had no idea it would take off as it did. Apparently there are a lot of folks out there that are interested in clean well maintained pet friendly accommodations here in Destin.
There are other rental companies in the area that take pets, so I didn't think too much about our uniqueness, but apparently at most other places guests are restricted to one pet under 20 pounds. Here at Easy Street we allow any number of pets (within reason, we've had as many as 5 show dogs - St. Charles Cavaliers), any size (our biggest was a lab named "Goliath" 120 pounds brought by Alan Rice family), and any breed (as long as they are not aggressive). What makes our homes convenient is that most of our houses have separately fenced in pet yards that can accommodate multiple pets.
We recently became a sponsor (and a Fan) to Alaqua Animal Rescue here in Destin and Freeport, and we received a tremendous response from their fans. May 2nd (Sunday) we will be an exhibitor at their fund raiser at their Freeport facility. If you're in the area that day, come join us.
Rick Scali
Rick Scali is the Owner of Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals in Destin Florida. Whether you are a family looking for a squeaky clean Destin Rental Home with a Private Pool or a couple looking for a romantic getaway in a Destin Beachhouse, Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals will exceed your expectations. Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals has the largest selection of quality pet friendly homes in Destin, Florida and throughout the Emerald Coast. Call us toll-free today at 877.432.7978 or email us at info@easystreet-rentals.com - we would love to welcome you, your family AND Fido to join us at the beach.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Busy First Quarter 2010
This is my first post for 2010, not because of lack of interest but rather a lack of time. With our new more user friendly web site, more aggressive marketing and adding three more homes (and counting) to our rental program, I have been swamped since the first of the year. I'm not complaining mind you, just more or less of an apology. I promised myself I would post an update at least once a week, and that obviously didn't happen. But here we are with lots to report.
Our web site is doing fantastic, especially our new filtering program that allows guests to indicate what specific house and amenities they're looking for and have it filter to just those homes that meet their criteria. We also added a Specials Section to promote our last minute specials and also list our new homes coming on board, to give them a running start with new reservations. We also added the Virtual Tours to most of our houses (I'm working to have Virtual Tours on all houses), and created the ability to add an unlimited number of photos. Previously we were limited to 15 photos. We also added a link to our electronic guest book, so guests could read ALL of the previous guest's comments. I always thought guests comments were important, this new link now makes it very easy for potential guests to view previous guest comments, and existing guests to post their comments.
The next thing we did was hire a new local Marketing Manager, Jessica Mansfield, smart, good looking and very talented. Jessica was recommended by a friend at the Destin Chamber of Commerce, Cheryl Walker. Cheryl is also the marketing manager for the Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union and a volunteer at the Alaqua Animal Refuge. Jessica's first task was to set up our Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals Fan Page, which she did. Here is a link to the our new Fan Page:
Easy Street Vacation Rentals Facebook Fan Page
We would love to have you as a FAN.
The next project Jessica will be working on is a Customer Survey. We want to know what our guest's think, what they think we're doing right and wrong, how we can improve our product and service. Following that is developing a formalized "Repeat Renter" program and a "Guest Referral" program. We have so many wonderful repeat renters, and new guests referred to us by our many loyal guests. I goal is to create a great reward program that expresses our sincere appreciation for their efforts.
Have lots more to update, but I'll save that for next week.
Cao for now!
Rick Scali
Rick Scali is the Owner of Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals in Destin Florida. Whether you are a family looking for a squeaky clean Destin Rental Home with a Private Pool or a couple looking for a romantic getaway in a Destin Beachhouse, Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals will exceed your expectations. Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals has the largest selection of quality pet friendly homes in Destin, Florida and throughout the Emerald Coast. Call us toll-free today at 877.432.7978 or email us at info@easystreet-rentals.com - we would love to welcome you, your family AND Fido to join us at the beach.
Our web site is doing fantastic, especially our new filtering program that allows guests to indicate what specific house and amenities they're looking for and have it filter to just those homes that meet their criteria. We also added a Specials Section to promote our last minute specials and also list our new homes coming on board, to give them a running start with new reservations. We also added the Virtual Tours to most of our houses (I'm working to have Virtual Tours on all houses), and created the ability to add an unlimited number of photos. Previously we were limited to 15 photos. We also added a link to our electronic guest book, so guests could read ALL of the previous guest's comments. I always thought guests comments were important, this new link now makes it very easy for potential guests to view previous guest comments, and existing guests to post their comments.
The next thing we did was hire a new local Marketing Manager, Jessica Mansfield, smart, good looking and very talented. Jessica was recommended by a friend at the Destin Chamber of Commerce, Cheryl Walker. Cheryl is also the marketing manager for the Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union and a volunteer at the Alaqua Animal Refuge. Jessica's first task was to set up our Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals Fan Page, which she did. Here is a link to the our new Fan Page:
Easy Street Vacation Rentals Facebook Fan Page
We would love to have you as a FAN.
The next project Jessica will be working on is a Customer Survey. We want to know what our guest's think, what they think we're doing right and wrong, how we can improve our product and service. Following that is developing a formalized "Repeat Renter" program and a "Guest Referral" program. We have so many wonderful repeat renters, and new guests referred to us by our many loyal guests. I goal is to create a great reward program that expresses our sincere appreciation for their efforts.
Have lots more to update, but I'll save that for next week.
Cao for now!
Rick Scali
Rick Scali is the Owner of Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals in Destin Florida. Whether you are a family looking for a squeaky clean Destin Rental Home with a Private Pool or a couple looking for a romantic getaway in a Destin Beachhouse, Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals will exceed your expectations. Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals has the largest selection of quality pet friendly homes in Destin, Florida and throughout the Emerald Coast. Call us toll-free today at 877.432.7978 or email us at info@easystreet-rentals.com - we would love to welcome you, your family AND Fido to join us at the beach.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
My Very Own Christmas Story
This is my true Christmas story, it happened this year on December 23rd, 2009.
As many of you know we have 20 something rental homes, some we own and manage and others we just manage for other people. In the 8 years we have been in business this is a first.
Here in paradise, crime is a very rare occurrence, maybe a bar fight by a couple of guys after a night of drinking, or maybe some shop lifting, but rarely something more serious. Well we had our very first "Break In" of one of our homes, and a very unusual one at that.
A very neat burglar broke into one of our rental houses by breaking a rear window and jimmying a door lock in the back of the house. Once the burglar gained access, he turned on the heater and made himself at home. From the evidence left behind, we determined he cooked a steak and heated a can of baked beans. When he was finished with his meal he cleaned up his mess, including the broken glass from the window he broke, put all of his dirty dishes in the dishwasher, took a shower, neatly folding the bath towel and placed it on the vanity when he was done. Then watched a little TV, took a nap and left. Nothing else was broken or taken.
We discovered the break in the early afternoon of Wednesday, December 23rd, two days before Christmas. We check all of our houses on a regular basis to make sure they are ready for the next guests, or if the house is going to be vacant for a week or so, check to see that the AC is turned off.
During one of these rounds, we discovered the break in and I immediately called the Sheriff to report intrusion. When the Sheriff arrived I described the whole story and told him we had minimum damage, just a broken window and jimmied door, and nothing else broken or missing. The Sheriff suggested that it was probably someone cold and hungry. I told him it was not a big deal, but I mainly wanted a police report for insurance purposes to repair the window and door.
The officer hands me his business card - now this you're not going to believe, his name was "M. Christmas". True!
I asked him, please don't tell me your first name is Mary. He smiled and said, no Matt.
He took done all of our information and said the police report will be ready the first week of January. I am going to keep a copy of the police report and the officer's business card, just to back up my story.
To the person who broke into our home, Merry Christmas and I hope you have a better next year.
That's my real Christmas story.
Rick Scali
Rick Scali is the Owner of Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals in Destin Florida. Whether you are a family looking for a squeaky clean Destin Rental Home with a Private Pool or a couple looking for a romantic getaway in a Destin Beachhouse, Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals will exceed your expectations. Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals has the largest selection of quality pet friendly homes in Destin, Florida and throughout the Emerald Coast. Call us toll-free today at 877.432.7978 or email us at info@easystreet-rentals.com - we would love to welcome you, your family AND Fido to join us at the beach.
As many of you know we have 20 something rental homes, some we own and manage and others we just manage for other people. In the 8 years we have been in business this is a first.
Here in paradise, crime is a very rare occurrence, maybe a bar fight by a couple of guys after a night of drinking, or maybe some shop lifting, but rarely something more serious. Well we had our very first "Break In" of one of our homes, and a very unusual one at that.
A very neat burglar broke into one of our rental houses by breaking a rear window and jimmying a door lock in the back of the house. Once the burglar gained access, he turned on the heater and made himself at home. From the evidence left behind, we determined he cooked a steak and heated a can of baked beans. When he was finished with his meal he cleaned up his mess, including the broken glass from the window he broke, put all of his dirty dishes in the dishwasher, took a shower, neatly folding the bath towel and placed it on the vanity when he was done. Then watched a little TV, took a nap and left. Nothing else was broken or taken.
We discovered the break in the early afternoon of Wednesday, December 23rd, two days before Christmas. We check all of our houses on a regular basis to make sure they are ready for the next guests, or if the house is going to be vacant for a week or so, check to see that the AC is turned off.
During one of these rounds, we discovered the break in and I immediately called the Sheriff to report intrusion. When the Sheriff arrived I described the whole story and told him we had minimum damage, just a broken window and jimmied door, and nothing else broken or missing. The Sheriff suggested that it was probably someone cold and hungry. I told him it was not a big deal, but I mainly wanted a police report for insurance purposes to repair the window and door.
The officer hands me his business card - now this you're not going to believe, his name was "M. Christmas". True!
I asked him, please don't tell me your first name is Mary. He smiled and said, no Matt.
He took done all of our information and said the police report will be ready the first week of January. I am going to keep a copy of the police report and the officer's business card, just to back up my story.
To the person who broke into our home, Merry Christmas and I hope you have a better next year.
That's my real Christmas story.
Rick Scali
Rick Scali is the Owner of Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals in Destin Florida. Whether you are a family looking for a squeaky clean Destin Rental Home with a Private Pool or a couple looking for a romantic getaway in a Destin Beachhouse, Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals will exceed your expectations. Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals has the largest selection of quality pet friendly homes in Destin, Florida and throughout the Emerald Coast. Call us toll-free today at 877.432.7978 or email us at info@easystreet-rentals.com - we would love to welcome you, your family AND Fido to join us at the beach.
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