Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/21/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On February 19, 2023 I made a reservation through ****, the host of the property was Sovereign & Jacobs. They took my down payment on the rental property that day ( the original property i booked with them). On May 31, 2023 the took my final payment for the rental property ( still the original property i booked with them). When booking through ****, we were not given a copy of their rental agreement. On June 2, 2023 we were supposedly notified that they were switching our rental unit because it was no longer available. The email went into my spam email box. When I went to look at my trip boards on ****, to my surprise my property had been switched without notifying me and mind you the rental they switched me to was cheaper than the original one booked, we have not received a credit back for that either. To me this is semi fraudulent and needs to be investigated by you all. I would like to be contacted by you all concerning this matter, so no one else has to go through this same issue when trying to book an enjoyable vacation in *** *********. Thank you, **** *******- ************

  Business Response

  Date: 06/28/2023

  **** ******* booked a condo with Sovereign & Jacobs through ****. At the time of booking, the guest acknowledges that they have read and agree to the terms of the reservation (including the cancellation policy). Attached is the Vacation Rental Agreement. After numerous correspondences with **** during their investigation, **** ruled that Sovereign & Jacobs is correct and that no refund is required per the terms of the agreement/reservation. Also attached is the written **** resolution confirming that no refunds are due to the guest. The **** case is noted as "resolved" with no further action.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/29/2023

  
  
  

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

  
  

   Complaint: ********

  
  

  I am rejecting this response because:

  
  

  Regards,

  
  

  **** *******

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/22/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Sovereign and Jacobs charged my renter a mandatory$45 damage fee, for any damage incurred at my rental unit. S&J (Sovereign and Jacobs) refused my many attempts for them to come see the damage for themselves, saying that they did not need to. My renter went to file a claim and the response from S&J was that there was no damage. They (S&J) would not give me, the owner, the name of the insurance company, nor my tenant,
  Who paid for the damage insurance. As far as I know, not one claim filed through Sovereign and Jacobs have been approved. The damage done to my unit far exceeds the replacement of my oven, which is $1500. They also deny the staining of my quartz countertops, $9000, broken shower bar, missing items, charged me for carpet cleaning which was never done, refuse to provide me with the new towels and linens I ordered and paid for, changed my mailbox lock without my knowledge or permission,
  refuses to fix the lock on my sliding glass door, left a PVC pipe in the door tract, left me with a torn screen door and after my 3 month renter left, did not have the condo cleaned, which they mockingly denied. All this stemmed from the fact that my husband and I refused to sign a new property maintenance contract that we did not agree with the terms, and was still under contract under the older one. We were told via email, sign the new contract and then we will discuss the terms! Sovereign and Jacobs dropped us as clients without the proper notification. Of course they took the commission on our 3 month renter and are willing to retain our renters and commission for our bookings in June and July. We have no record of the names of our upcoming renters. I’m fearful that they (S&J) will cancel the upcoming renters and place them into another unit, managed by them, and we will lose our revenue. I only have 169 characters left remaining on this complaint form, so I will end it on this note.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/26/2023

  No rental guest of Sovereign & Jacobs at *** ***** ** has attempted to file an insurance claim. There are no known damages to the unit. The photo attached of the interior of the stove (provided by the unit owner) was verified by an appliance repair technician to be an imperfection in the threading. This was not "damage" caused by a guest, has no effect on the use of the stove and does not need to be repaired/replaced as it is merely a cosmetic imperfection on the interior of the stove (unrelated to the guest).  Regarding the quartz countertops, there is no staining caused by the guests. According to many quartz manufacturers, quartz is highly resistant to staining as they are engineered stone. Over time, quartz may need to be polished to reduce calcification where exterior visible stains can collect. The owner confirmed that they have not had their quartz counters polished since installing. In addition, the same housekeeping team has been cleaning this unit regularly (at the owner's request) and agreed that there was no staining from the guests on the quartz countertops. There have not been any charges against the owner account for carpet cleaning or unreceived linens this entire year.  There is no broken shower bar. This appeared to be a poor original installation that maintenance repaired on December 20, 2022 by the preferred vendor of the owner (to which the owner agreed). The **** does not allow a property management company to change mailbox keys without a lease and proper identification. Management has offered numerous times to provide the unit owner with contact information for vendors who are licensed and insured for sliding glass door repairs. There is not guest damage to the sliding glass door. Your screening was damaged from the exterior like many of your neighbors...most likely from a palm boot in the storm that caused damaged to many other units. This is not the fault of the guests and cannot be charged against as such. We terminated the management agreement with the unit owner of *** ***** ** on March 7, 2023. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/02/2023

  
  
  

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

  
  

   Complaint: ********

  
  

  I am rejecting this response because:

  
  

  Regards,

  
  

  ***** *******

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/18/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I was using Sovereign and Jacobs as my rental agent.
  I had a renter break the handle on my microwave back in July 2022. It was cracked but still able to be used. I spoke with *****(rental manager) at that time, who is now gone, and she said she would file a claim under the renters damage insurance. This was the first time I had an issue where a claim needed to be filed. A few months went by and each time I reached out to ***** she said she was working on it. Finally, in December I found out the handle had completely broken off and ***** told me to order a new microwave and submit the invoice for reimbursement. I told her I needed the model number to be sure I purchased one that fit in the space. I found out ***** was gone shortly after but that the new person would find out the status.
  ******* called me a few days later and asked if I would approve a screen repair and also approve them to purchase and install a new microwave. I approved the screen but said I would like to purchase the microwave myself.
  .
  I found out they disregarded my request and purchased and installed a microwave that they picked out without my approval and installed it in my condo! When I emailed about this, they lied and said I had approved the purchase verbally and also the install! Both lies!!!! Then ***** (new rental meander )emailed and wrote:
  
  “As far as filing an insurance claim, the guest's insurance (even in 2022) would not cover a microwave handle replacement for a 10 year old microwave at the time. The claim would be denied as this microwave would be seen as at the end of its useful life.”
  
  
  So basically the renters insurance is useless if you rent through them because they get to decide whether your damaged property is worth filing a claim for!!!
  
  They deducted just under $500 from my reimbursement check and listed it as "multiple repairs". No itemization and no receipt has been provided. No information about the microwave. I don't even have any information as to the brand, model or quality of microwave they decided to buy and install and charge me for without my permission.
  
  I have sent numerous emails about these issues to S&J since last month, and have cc'd the owner (***** *******) and VP (****** ****) in these emails, to get more information, and still have not received a follow up response.
  
  One final issue, sorry for the long email. I decided to use my own cleaner in December and January since S&J wasn’t doing a very good job. I had received negative feedback from renters about cleanliness. However, they have yet to reimburse me for the cleaning money collected from the renters for these last two last cleanings I have paid for and they have ignored my requests for reimbursement.
  
  I don’t know what recourse I have. I am not going to be using S&J moving forward.
  
  Please let me know if you have any advice or suggestions.
  
  Thank you
  
  **** *********

  Business Response

  Date: 04/27/2023

  We reached out to the unit owner on February 8, 2023 (twice)
  via phone and voicemail regarding the need to replace the 11-year-old microwave
  that had failed in her occupied rental unit. A subsequent email was sent on the
  afternoon of February 8, 2023. 
  The unit owner called the emergency answering service at 8:30 PM on
  February 8, 2023 and left a message. On February 9, 2023, 2 Sovereign &
  Jacobs employees (including one supervisor) called the unit owner. Verbal
  consent to purchase and install a replacement microwave was provided as the
  rental unit was occupied.  Management
  promptly called maintenance to purchase and install a working microwave which occurred
  the next business day.  The renters in
  the unit were so grateful. The management contract
  with the owners' states that: Equipment and Furnishings: The Owner agrees
  to maintain the Premises, including furnishings, in high quality, rental
  condition and to maintain a complement of equipment. The Owner agrees the
  Management Company may replace missing and no longer usable items and charge
  Owner’s account for such costs. All information regarding the microwave (make, model, serial number) is in the unit owner’s unit, to include owner’s manual for guest use.
  
  Regarding the cleaning fees aforementioned, these cleaning fees
  have already been refunded to the owner's account and the owner will receive at the next regular fund
  distribution (mid-May 2023).
  
  For the record, Sovereign & Jacobs terminated our management contract with the unit owner in writing on March 7, 2023.  The unit owner did not honor any previously booked reservations.
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/29/2023

  
  
  

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

  
  

   Complaint: ********

  
  

  I am rejecting this response because:

  
  

  I was told a claim was being submitted under the damage insurance of the renter for the cost of the microwave for 5 months and then someone decided after 5 months it was too old to submit and I was charged for the item that was damaged by a renter. They were dishonest about filing the claim from the beginning. I do not agree with them getting to decide if a damage claim is able to filed. It should have been filed and the insurance agency should have decided whether it was a covered item or not. Also, I never gave verbal approval to have them replace it and I have an email saying that Sovereign and Jacobs would pay for the replacement due to the confusion. That was obviously not honored. I also have documentation of proposed insurance fraud when I received an email in December saying they couldn’t remember which renter broke the microwave in July and they would file it under another renters insurance. This whole process has been a waste of my time. I fired them last fall and didn’t even have a current contract with them when they claim to have terminated our contract. 
  I have yet to be reimbursed for cleanings done months ago so I hope their statement saying they will reimburse me in the response is sincere.

  Regards,

  
  

  **** *********

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/03/2023

  The microwave in the owner's unit has been replaced with permission from the unit owner (2 witnesses including a Supervisor). The microwave was past its useful life and a guest's damage insurance policy would not cover failed appliances at no fault of a guest. A guest could not "rip off the handle" of a microwave. Therefore, we could not make a claim against the guest's insurance policy for multiple reasons. The unit owner (on numerous occasions) requested that we try to file a claim against the guest's insurance policy, but we could not.  The owner is required to keep all appliances in good working order while a unit is occupied.  As previously stated, the cleaning fees have already been released to the unit owner.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/06/2023

  
  
  

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

  
  

   Complaint: ********

  
  

  I am rejecting this response because:

  on July 18, 2022, *****, the rental manager at Sovereign And Jacobs,  notified me via text that *****, the Condo Cleaner, noticed the handle on the microwave was broken. She text me a picture that the bottom part of the handle had broken off. I called her, and she told me she could file a claim with the damage insurance of the gas that I just checked out under their ****** damage protection. Over the next six months, multiple correspondences, which I have included, show that the claim was supposedly being processed.

  when **** left, I was told I would be responsible for replacing the microwave, even though on numerous occasions, I was told the claim would be submitted and I would not be responsible. They even were going to file the claim under a different renters insurance. I included all of the correspondence. 

  
  

  Regards,

  
  

  **** *********