Bachman Tree House Figure Eight Island

Thank you Mike, You are always Welcomed to stay at the Tree House. It is a very special place

Alison, It was a delight having you & your family. I trust you will return so that we can have a chance to meet in person. I met part of the family but you had left earlier.

I Had to figure out what made the musty odor that you were smelling. There had been a leek early in the Spring but it didn't leave an odor. The contractor made sure that any wet material was removed & the area was allowed to dry out before closing it up. The odor that you were smelling was caused by the "King Tide" which is a much hider than usual & a much lower than usual tide. The Tree House is located on a high bluff just above the sound/wetlands. It sits as close as one can get to the wetlands. So on the low tides when the marsh is exposed & there is a bit of a breeze up off the marsh it will cause a musty odor in parts of the house. I know this might not seem plausible but it does happen when there are very low tides. I am sorry that it had to occur while you were staying at the Tree House. I wish you would have said something to me while you were staying at the house. I would have explained it. Once you go out the front door & walk on the deck towards the sound/ marsh you would have realized where the odor was coming from. As for any insects; The house is treated by Economy Exterminators ,professionally sprayed, twice a month April thru October. Then Nov. to March only once a month. I checked the house before you arrived but it is in a wooded area at the beach & insects do come & go. I try very hard to keep the home "insect free" but that is pretty impossible. I trust that it didn't spoil your vacation.

Susan, Thank you so much for reviewing the Tree House & you experience vacationing on Figure 8 Island. It is most helpful. Best Always, Bunnie Bachman

Figure Eight Island is a private island so it never gets crowded even in peak season. Though it seems remote it is only 4 miles to shopping, post office, grocery stores, restaurants, etc. Once your on the island you do not want to leave. The Tree House is a very special retreat, you have to best of both worlds, super ocean views & just across the street from a beach path for a walk on the white silky sand or surf fishing. Then you have a boat dock in your back yard for Kayaking,Paddle Boarding, clamming, crabbing, etc. Come find out about NC Best retreat. You will never want to leave.

Dibbert family arrived on Friday & did not contact me concerning any of the problems. I wasn’t notified until Wednesday evening when my son dropped off a new beach cart, that the WiFi was not working. Concerning the WIFI/internet, there was someone there to make the repair by Thursday midmorning. The repair person did find that the internet booster was unplugged which would cause reception issues. I arrived at the Tree House on Thursday mid-morning to check on the Dibbert family and found the ice maker at the bar area was not working, several electrical out let not working. This was due to a circuit breaker that had flipped off. No one had mentioned anything to me. The 2 outlets by the sofa have been replaced & are working correctly. The repairs & replacement of all bathroom fixtures, faucets & shower heads are scheduled to be repaired or replaced. The wallpaper has been replaced. The fluorescent light bulb in the bathroom has been replaced. This has corrected the bad lighting. I feel most of the problems the Dibbert family encountered, would have been corrected quicker had they contacted me about problems they were encountering. Also to dress the seating for a family of 8; there are 8 chairs at the dinning table plus 3 additional seats at the counter/ bar. My guests have my contact information, and I am always a call or text away. I have contractors, an electrician & WIFI/Internet repair people on call to repair or replace anything that needs attention. If I’m not notified that something is not working, then I cannot make the necessary repairs needed. I trust that I have addressed all the concerns. Sincerely, Bunnie Bachman

I will answer to EACH item that the family had a problem with.Thank you for letting me respond. 1) Listing stated it had a hot tub. There was not one. When we asked the host, she said there has never been a hot tub. 1) There never was a hot tub & it was NEVER listed as having a hot tub. 2) On Friday the evening of check-in, we noticed multiple roaches in and outside the house. We immediately notified the host. She stated that an exterminator was not available until Monday. After they sprayed on Monday afternoon, the problem was much worse on the inside of the house. While watching TV in the main room at night, we would see multiple roaches on the walls and ceilings, many of which would be dead or partially dead on the floors the next day. 2) Roaches, they never notified me concerning the problem of Roaches until Saturday early morning. When I arrived the father, Ted, said his daughter saw a couple outside Friday evening. I told them the house was under a Pest Control contract & was treated every two weeks. It was the weekend & I could not get anyone to come out until Monday. I did bring a number of Roach traps & placed them in every room & hallway. The exterminators showed up Monday morning. I was over to the house a day after the exterminated left & did not see multiple roaches crawling around or dead ones. As far as the home being cleaned; it gets a deep clean before the season starts & then is cleaned every time a rental family leaves. Once at the end of each month it gets another deep clean. I have never had a complaint about the house not being clean. Overall, the house seemed like it had not been cleaned in a while. 3) There were torn sheets and stained towels. 3) Ted called/texted me that some one had a torn sheet. I immediately brought over a new set of Safra sheets & pillow cases. They showed me a very small hold in the bottom part of the bottom sheet that tucks under the mattress. I understand that even that is not acceptable & I did replace the sheets & pillow cases. They also showed me that 2 towels that each had a very small rust/iron spot. I know that should not happen but the island water does have a high iron contant & sometimes leave a very small iron/rust spot. I gave them new towels. I also told my house keeper to make sure that NO towels had rust/iron spots on them again. 4) There was a generalized mildew smell in the bedrooms with mold/mildew stains on the ceilings in multiple bathrooms. Could be related to host not allowing thermostats to be set below 72 degrees. 4) There is NO generalized Mildew odor in the house. The bathrooms ceiling do not have mold or mildew on the ceilings. The family never mentioned the temperature in the house being too warm. I do not restrict a family from changing the temperature. The controls are not locked & they can change the temperature when ever they want to. I do suggest that they keep the temperature around 72 degrees but they are free to change it at any time. 5) VRBO was fantastic in assessing for health and safety issues and helping resolve our dispute with the host over a partial refund 5) VRBO has been most supportive in this situation. If anyone looks at the REVIEWS from families that rented before & after Ted Kincaid they will see that they all gave the Tree House 5 stars reviews. It seems very strange that the other families did not have all these problems or complaints. I will rest my case!! I will ask anyone who is thinking of staying/renting the Tree House to please feel free to come & check it out before making a reservation. If that is possible. family seemed to have several problems which they did not mentioned. They first mentioned that the 6 burner gas cooktop did not work & they had to go out for breakfast. When the truth was they could not figure out how the get the 6 burner gas cooktop to work even though there are directions on how to use the cook top. You turn the individual handle for each burner to "Lite" once there is a click, click & the gas lights you turn the temperature down to where you want it. They also asked where the salads spinner was. I could not tell them exactly because people do not put things back exactly where they fine them I looked into a couple of Cabinets & found the salad spinner. I also brought them a brand new salad spinner so they would have a couple salad spinners to use. Before I could leave the driveway they texted me wondering if there were any bread/cutting boards. I told them they could find them in the cabinet over the double ovens. I personally feel that the family has an "MO" of making many complains which are not exactly factual just so that they can receive a refund ! For any one thinking of renting/ vacationing at the Tree House PLEASE read ALL the reviews. Thank you for letting me respond to the Family review. Bunnie Bachman