A dispute was filed and was settled in the van owner's favor.It was determined that the guest was filing false claims in order to gain financially.Please read below for details:"As a host I offer excellent customer service and my van is in immaculate condition. Please read all of my other reviews.It is very disappointing that this guest filed a false claim and posted an untrue review that will undoubtedly hurt my business. As hosts, we work very hard to ensure great customer service and a great experience for our guests. At the same time, we are taking the risk that somebody might damage or even destroy our investment. Because of these uncertainties, rules and regulations are in place. Romain did not fallow any of these rules.In order to respect the perspective of this guest, I would like to note that there was a language barrier and English was not Romain's first language. Perhaps this was part of the trouble. I don't have any other way to explain or justify what he did.My van is in immaculate condition, and I provide the best customer service possible. I go to great lengths to make sure my guests have a luxury experience.After being extremely attentive to Romain and his issues, I am very surprised that he filed a complaint. I went to great lengths (even cutting my own trip short) to help him even though he repeatedly broke rules.Just to clarify what really happened, Romaine broke nearly every rule that both myself and Outdoorsy put in place to ensure the safety of the renters and the integrity of the van.It is illegal to sleep in a car outside of a state or county campsite in Hawaii. Because of the proposed local regulation of van rentals, I require that my guests pre-plan their vacation and let me know where they're going to be. I want to ensure that my guests are following all rules and not contributing to the problem here in Hawaii with illegal camping. I also would like to know where people are staying for safety reasons. The roads in Hawaii can be very harsh, tires are easily damaged and vehicles will get stuck if you don't know how or where to drive. Additionally, much of the island does not have cell phone coverage. For all of these reasons, I require that the van renter have a plan.Romain showed up the day of the rental and had not booked any campsites and did not have any plans. Because of this, I was already very hesitant to let him take the van, however he insisted it would be okay.I also require that the renter go through the proper departure checklist and training. Romain showed up 4 hours late for pickup (which wasn't his fault due to extreme weather and canceled flights) but I could not wait because the road to my house was being closed due to floodwaters. The night that Romaine arrived, Hawaii was experiencing the worst storm in 40 years. A driver on my road almost lost their life due to flooding. This was a serious storm and I repeatedly reminded Romain about hazardous driving conditions and the need to go through the safety features as soon as he arrived at the airport. I waited 3 hours but he did not make it. The van was left at the designated drop off spot at the airport. I provide this service so that guests do not have to Uber anywhere. I asked that Romaine please call when he arrived at the van so that we could do the departure checklist via zoom or FaceTime. He never called and did not complete the training. Even the next day he never called or answered the phone. I reported this to Outdoorsy because I knew that he was going to damage or break things without having proper training. When he finally called, I explained the systems of the van but he didn't seem very interested. He was more interested in getting on with his vacation. I told him that the van is custom and that systems are not always intuitive unless you are trained on them. I mentioned that things would probably break if he did not know how to use them properly.This is exactly what happened. He broke, lost, or could not figure out how to use multiple systems. Because of this, he probably texted over 50 times. Each and every single time he texted, I answered within 2 minutes and also offered to meet him and deliver items he had lost or broke and explain the systems in person but he kept expressing that he didn't have time. As a host, I don't know what else I could have done.At some point he reported the gas cap missing. I believe that he lost the gas cap because it was present prior to his departure. Despite this, I ordered a gas cap from O'Reilly's that was 5 minutes away from him but he stated he was too busy to pick it up. I let him know what might happen if he drove without a gas cap (i.e. check engine light, vapor release, the smell of gas, and gas spillage). He later texted and told me that they were lights on the dash. I explained to him that that was expected since he decided to forgo replacing the gas cap.A couple days later he called and said the tire was going flat. Because I am a well-prepared host, I have all kinds of emergency equipment in the van, including an air pump. It is very common in Hawaii for people to drive on lava roads and pop tires. The roads in Hawaii are very harsh because they are made from sharp lava rock. It is strictly prohibited by renters to drive off designated roads, but I suppose he did it anyway. It is very clear in the Outdoorsy rental contract that the guest is responsible for any tires that they damage.Despite being unresponsive and not following my rules, I was very helpful at every step of the vacation. I bought a tire, I offered to meet him to put it on, I bought a gas cap, I offered to meet him to go through the systems, but he repeatedly stated that he and his family were too busy and didn't want to ruin their vacation.This renter did not follow any of the rules, did not respect my requirements, and did not respect the systems of the van.My van is an exquisite condition. This is my investment and I would never allow it to be in disrepair.I offer free trip planning services, my van is fully equipped with everything that one would need for an awesome vacation from beach gear, to fishing gear, to all your linens, all your cooking utensils, solar lights, rugs, tents, beach chairs, snorkel gear, etc. Additionally, I offer an interactive inventory spreadsheet so that you can find whatever you need within the van. I go to great lengths to make renting my van a luxury experience. I put a lot of time and effort into customer service and to ensuring that my van is the ultimate vacation experience.After spending so much time and money to make sure my van is well maintained, well equipped, and that my guest has a great experience, it would be ridiculous to think that I would not maintain my van or deliver it to the guest in poor condition.You can see that I am a great host and that my van is in perfect condition by reading the other reviews that have been posted.I take this very seriously and I am disappointed that Romain tried to file false claims.I am happy that outdoorsy was able to review the documents, the text messages, and the other evidence in this case. Despite all of the hassle with this guest, I am pleased that Romain was not able to damage me any further financially."Paige B. - Owner
