A Lady named Amanda Badger manages several homes that are for rent on the island of Caye Caulker. We rented a home and right off the bat we should have noticed that she was going to be very unhospitable. She charged us to take a golf cart ride to the house and after a while we realized that is was the most expensive golf cart ride that we paid for the entire week. We rented Casa Verde and the house had no Air conditioning which we didnt think would be a problem based on the picures and map that are on the her website. The pictures make it look like you are really close to the water but she actually took the pictures from the very top of the roof because there is no where else in the house you can get that view. So basically it was really really hot in the house and to make matters worse one of the screens were missing from the window so we had to keep it shut to keep all the mosquito's out. She said she would not put the screen back in for us, so even more air flow was cut off in the house. The Pillows were rock hard and there was only ONE floor fan in the house. Later we saw her in town and we said hi and she ignored our group. Actually the only time she was friendly was when we were paying for the room and when we came back to rent bikes because the house is way too far to walk into town through all the mosquitos. But renting the bike brings me to my biggest complaint with Amanda. My last night on the Island I was riding into town to eat dinner and my chain broke on the bicycle and it caught and launched me like superman over the handlebars of the bike. I was very cut up on my shoulder, hand, arm, and leg. I ruined my clothes with blood and had to go to the pharmacy to get medicine and bandages. I went to return the other 2 bike the next day on our way out of town and I explained to her what had happened and she WAS SO HORRIBLY RUDE about the situation. She actually blamed me for the chain breaking and when I told her that I had no intention of paying for the bike she got even more mad and started yelling a bunch of rude questions at me as people were passing by her office on front street... like how fast were you going that it would throw you over the handle bars...were you drunk when you were riding the bike...etc I told her that It didnt matter her bike broke and it hurt me regardless of how i was riding the bike which by the way was not in any way reckless...I told her she was lucky I wasnt an older person because Someone could have been hurt much seriously than I was, but she didnt care at all that i was hurt. All she could do was whine that she was not going to get her money for the bike. She did not even ask a questio nas simple as are you ok. All she could do is gripe that she would have to go get the bike herself, but I told her I was not going to do her any favors and walk the bike back to her house for her.

I would strongly discourage anyone from renting from this website. Everyone Else i came into contact with while in Belize was so friendly and hospitable and willing to give you all the information you ever wanted about anything without hesitation. So you can find a much more friendly person to rent from that will help get you set up with good places to eat and things to see during your visit and if you look around you can find much cheaper places with AIR CONDITIONING.
Caye Caulker Is Such an Awesome place I would hate for your experience with cayecaulkerrentals to put a damper on your time there.



[This message has been edited by aggies05 (edited 06-21-2006).]

Did I miss the beginning of the story? This seems to be the 2nd part of a travelogue.

I apologize... The message did not copy correctly into the box...it is all pasted in now

Aggies..thanks for the heads up!

Myself and a few friends were planning on renting from this same Co. in the near future. Of course we will now do it the old fashion way. This infor along with many old info in the past was very useful to others.
Hopefully we can continue to post personal experience in CC without being edited!

no problem glad i could help.

Hi Aggie,

I was very surprised to read your review. It is most uncharacteristic from my experience. I've had many dealings with Amanda and have never found her to be anything but the consummate hostess, very friendly, easily approachable, helpful and downright delightful.

In reading your complaints I began to wonder (since my experiences have been vastly opposite to yours) if perhaps the lack of air conditioning was the root cause of you becoming so hot under the collar. Or perhaps you were already unhappy having chosen an unairconditioned place and then the bicycle problem set you off.

Have you never rented a hotel room with a problem? Some can be fixed and sometimes you just have to either accept the problem or ask to be moved. One non functioning window screen in an entire house seems trivial at best, yet you carry on about it. The house has ceiling fans in every room so I'm not clear why you only used the floor fan. Maybe you are just someone who needs air conditioning.

I can't see her gouging you on a cart ride fee, that just sounds off. Did she send a cart taxi to fetch you from the airport or water taxi, did it wait with you to check in, then transport you to your rental house? That's more than just a regular ride and the fee would be higher.

I also can't see how the website pictures of the proximity to the water are misleading either. The water is in the distance, certainly not waterfront, though she does have waterfront rentals if that is your desire.

Since you felt the need to rent bikes versus walk 10 minutes maybe you are just used to more pampering than is provided with a rental. Amanda is a manager, not your private travel agent and the island does have several agents. I would not expect to be led by the hand by someone in her position. I must say however that whenever I have asked for assistance she has been very helpful. If you needed more services then perhaps you should have booked a full service hotel and paid that price.

Everything is prone to failure. A bike can fail. A chain can derail, a tire can go flat, etc. Same with rental cars. Did you call and ask for a replacement or load it on a cart taxi and take it back for exchange? No? Instead you seem to have blamed the failure on her and gotten angry about it. Still as your were checking out you didn't bother to return the broken bike but returned the other two? Expecting to not pay for a rental when all the other days the bike was serviceable is a bit much. Would Avis let you off the hook? Nope. Somehow I have a feeling it was you that started the yelling match as her demeanor has always been pleasant in my experience.

I'm sorry your vacation rental wasn't all you hoped it would be. My experiences with Amanda and her rentals have always been very positive. If you want beachfront, book beachfront. If you want A/C then book accomodations with A/C. If you need handholding on activities maybe an all inclusive in Cancun is more your speed.

i think you didnt read the bit about air conditioning - yes it gets hot there - and the heat can get to you and your patience. My family and friends of the family have rented different places over the past 4 years and we have never and we repeat never had a problem and in fact even when there was a prolem like getting a swarm of bees visiting everything was taken care off remarkably quickly and everything was kept under control which is so non carribean - amanda does not run her business on "island " time or the "what ever -when ever"principle of many island natives - i cant say enough of her business in this amazing little funky island - we have renated many a bike and got them back in tack we have all had a few falls but those big blu crabs at night get awefully ornery - but the best way to stay on that island is in a house and amanda offers a wonderful service and option - i just suggest you check into the best western in aruba next time and leave the real carribean to the rest of us

I can understand the person who had a problem because I had a similar one. I won't mention the restraunt but I ordered lobster in a pasta dish that was full of shell and they told me I still had to pay for it even tho I couldn't eat any of it. Then in the same restraunt, one of the plastic chairs broke and I fell over backwards. They told me I had to pay for the chair! $35.00 for a plastic chair that you can buy all day at Walmart for 15.00 US. Whoever wrote the "tourist bashing" reply to the injured bicyclist must have been someonw who's name starts with a W.....or a good friend of Amanda's. Those bicycles are a wreck to begin with.

I can clearly see the Agent's friends are on board. It is Great when we have members that keep it real. This helps. I have a feeling *socalgal* is Amanda :}

[This message has been edited by state of mind (edited 06-21-2006).]

Geez Amanda! Could you make sure that by Sept you have replaced that screen, gotten a second floor fan, taken out a few trees for the view, shorten the walk and please try to do something about those pesky mosquitos!!!

This does not sound like the Amanda I know. I have known and rented from her for years and she has always been the ultimate professional, even with the most bad tempered guests.

I must agree with SOCAL that perhaps an island such as CC is not the poster's cup of tea. Perhaps a resort type place other than a rental house (which Amanda acts only as the go-between for the owners) would be a better fit.

It is unfortunate that this negative perception was felt by the poster, however there are two sides to every story, and one side should be taken as just that... perception, and not fact.

We also rented from Amanda last year. It went great. I tried to rent from her again this year but couldn't get the houses I wanted. After all that I had the nerve to ask her about the place we were going to stay. Got a nice pleasant answer even though we couldn't rent from her.

This all sounds a little inconsistent to me. She may have had a bad week but in the long run I'd rent from her again.

As far as being on the water, it doesn't take an in depth study of the pictures to see that it isn't on the water. Amanda's map shows that it isn't on the water. Its not that far away but it isn't beach front. The web site has good pictures of all of her places to let you see what is there.

Sounds like there were legitimate issues. Hopefully those can be worked out but I wouldn't hesitate to rent from her again if it suited my purposes.

Dear aggies05

you sound grumpy.

Let me offer a collage of my experiences - I have been to Caye Caulker about a dozen times. Sometimes I stay in various properties that Amanda manages, sometimes I stay with other people. So I feel I have a good feeling of what the island offers, how it matches what I am seeking and who is reliable and professional.

Your comments sound so out of character and I wonder if something else tainted your experience? There is no doubt that Caye Caulker is low key, and perhaps even rustic. But that is the charm, it is why I return to it so often.

Catch a fish and someone will cook it for you. Need some help - they are there with a smile. Do things breakdown, yes, but this is not a resort complex it is treasure in a 3rd world country. My experiences have been pure of heart and professional at all times. If I had a property I would ONLY want Amanda to run it. She is simply excellent and I have been globe trotting for 4 decades.

Might I suggest that the next time you need some R&R that you enjoy a cool Belikan or some fresh juice, hop into a hammock and work on a true Caye Caulker attitude. If you do then you will feel so much better.

Mark

Amanda enjoys an excellent professional reputation on CC. She is not the owner of the homes she manages. She simply manages the rentals.

"Rude" or "unhospitable" would not be words anybody on the island would believe could be used to describe Amanda.

Maybe aggie needed to go to SP or Cancun instead? Sometimes that happens. Good people come to CC sometimes thinking it has all the amenities of Cancun and are disappointed when they find out that it is really a fishing village. Other people find the fishing village scenario to be utopia.

Different strokes for different folks.

I understand that things fail, and no I do not expect to be pampered. In fact that is why I chose the accommodations that I did instead of something else. However I don’t think comfortable pillows and fans in a house with No AC is too much to ask, or The house itself was clean and simple as I expected, but it was all the little things that were not taken care of. And I don’t care what any thinks the only place those pictures of the ocean were taken was from the roof. So yeah I thought from that view that it was closer than it was. However up until my experience in dealing with Amanda at the end I could let all those little things go. I was over all satisfied with my experience, but when I had an accident due to the failure of the equipment that I rented from amanda and I was Very cut up from it and ruined the clothes I had just bought in town, and had to buy medicine and bandages from the pharmacy which cost me more than than the 35 US for the bike. I was very surprised that not only was she completely unsympathetic about what had happened when I went to return the other bikes (which I paid for), she did not even ask if I was ok. She only asked me a bunch of rude questions. She actually tried to blame me for the bike breaking. She told me it wasn’t the bikes fault that the chain broke. I know damn well that is wasn’t my fault either. So I guess it must have been Amanda’s for renting me a bike with crooked handlebars, and a chain that needed to be greased and tires that leaked air. As I was leaving she had the nerve to yell at me from her balcony on front street as people are walking by “how much had I been drinking---and how fast was I going to be thrown completely over the handle bars.” 2 Very inappropriate questions for a business owner to ask in injured client. However not that it makes a difference because I would have still been thrown from the bike but I was sober and riding the bike normally at the time. SO yeah I think the way she handled the situation is very rude. I don’t see how any one could see that as differently. And for the person that mentioned AVIS. I know for a fact that if I was injured in a rent car from AVIS because of mechanical failure that I would fully entitled to sue the company. All I really wanted from my situation was to not pay for a crappy bike that hurt me and not be berated on front street. This is not a good way of doing business. Anyone that expects a person to pay for service that injures them has no clue what customer service is or word of mouth. And everyone that has had god experiences with Amanda, I am not trying to say that you didn’t. I am only saying that my experience was unprofessional and rude. I also never said that I didn’t enjoy my trip. I had a great time. I love Belize and like many other people this was not my first trip to the island. I did not let this experience ruin my trip. I just think other people should know how it turned out for me.

Oh and Socal, I mean Amanda, If you have something to say----do you really have to pretend to be someone else.

Aggie, seems you are quite uptight and jump to alot of conclusions, ex; How do you know for sure SOCAL; is Amanda. You made such a deal on the pillows, We live here and I have to bring pillows from the States because most all pillows you buy here are lumpy, you just cant get around it. Bike chains break all of the time, its the salt air. Sadly people get hurt here. Your uptightness and wanting to exploit a person and ruin their business etc. well its very telling of who you really are.
Amanda works hard and does her best, usually for most folks its good enough, for some folks nothing is good enough.

One more thing socalgal no doubt is short for southern california gal, seems strange even if Amanda used a pin name she would think of that as she is English.

I didn't mean to detract from your obviously unpleasant experience, aggie. If you felt bad because of the incident then you felt bad because of the incident. No one should take that away from you. You have a right to feel however you feel. I am sorry that your experience was not all that pleasant but do not let that cloud your sense of adventure and please do come back again.

What is your point Cooper? That aggie is not really an aggrieved customer and is really someone out to make mischief for Amanda? What would aggie stand to gain from that in your opinion?

[This message has been edited by Caulker Resident (edited 06-22-2006).]

Aggie,

You are so right. Amanda does need to be put in her place. Let's put her out of business.

Here is my idea:

Sandals Belize

13 Acres of pristine North Caye Caulker beach front complete with 120 1 Bedroom encono-condos. You get a fluffy bed, with fluffy pillows, a great view of the reef, and AC and a TV with 300 channels and a restaurant and a tour shop and a gift shop and dive shop and a 18-hole golf course and an amusement park and a parking lot (for the Avis golf carts) and pollution and sewage and a bunch of A**HOLES. All yours for $180US per night or $399,000US to own.

Are you in?

Your opinions are yours, and you have the right to post here (I think). I disagree that you should come back to Caye Caulker, surely a real Sandals Resort would better suit you.

P.S. Sandals Belize will offer bicycle lessons so you can learn how to ride a bike.

P.P.S. It didn't take long, but it looks like the tone of the message board is right back to normal

Touche, Knickerbocker!!! Well said!!!

Now, when do we break ground on those condos????

To Caulker Resident. No I dont think Aggie wants to hurt Amanda in a manner of seeking her out. we all know people who cant seem to find much satisfaction in things. One of the resons I have no desire to live in the states is that their are soo many folks who put so much importance on THINGS. I am sure Aggie had a bad experience. I have met tourist here who have been hurt, badly hurt. broken leg, stingray stings, and most lately a charming young woman who was mugged. These people still smile, still go on with their vacation, mostly chaulk it up to whatever. Aggie sounds like a unhappy person.a chronic complainer, yet as I dont know her this is just an opinion.

I don't believe SOCAL is Amanda. Methinks Amanda would use a more appropriate handle, such as "Bloody Bollocks"...

"First person" accounts are incidents that the boarder who is posting has experienced personally. The post is usually along these lines ... "this is what happened to ME." Good, bad or ugly, I think those would be acceptable posts. It is an individual reporting a specific incident that occured to that same individual.

Posts that are not first person accounts such as ... "so and so is a witch" should not be allowed. Those are plain and simple slander.

Cooper, thanks for your well thought out response. Obviously aggie got banged up along the way somehow and is furious. The incident is certainly regrettable but it doesn't make Amanda a bad person. Neither does it make aggie a bad person.

Amanda is a professional with an excellent reputation and aggie the customer has needs that weren't met.

I sincerely hope they can kiss and make up.

[This message has been edited by Caulker Resident (edited 06-23-2006).]

First off I never said I had a bad horrible time on my trip. I never let anything ruin my time. In fact once I got patched up I still made it back in to town(walking of course) to eat dinner and go to I&I. I hada great vacation, and plan on returning to belize and have told many people how wonderful the country is.

My only intention was to inform other travelers of my experience.

I am very disgusted at all the rude comments I received. I think it is more than fair to post my expereince for future travelers without my accident being made fun of.

Let just keep in mind that I was injured and then treated rudely. I am not mad about the bike breaking and all that---I understand that things break. The only problem I have is how i was treated. A simple I'm sorry would have done just fine. However that is just about the opposite of what i got.

Aggie, Don't expect any less than people making fun of you because they refuse to take the blame for anything bad that happens on the island. If something bad happens, it is always the fault of someone else. You have to remember that the only thing CC residents like about tourists is their money. The whole of Belize is pretty much that way. When your money runs out, you are no longer their "friend". You will only be wasting your breath trying to warn someone. There is a certain "click" on the island and if you aren't in it, you are no one. If you ARE in it, you can do anything to anyone who visits and they will only blame the victim. I too learned that the hard way. This board only welcomes and accepts good reports. If you have a bad experience and want to warn someone new, you will only be the bad guy because no resident on CC will own up to it. You will not get an apology OR your money back.

I'm not a resident, or even a visitor, yet. However, to the complaint.

Go bang up a Hertz rental car and see how far that company is willing to pay the damages, even if it is mechanical failure. Could Amanda have been more sympathetic? Perhaps, but do you really want someone to bandage your booboo and kiss the ouchie? If that sounds unsympathic, I am. Resort owners and even rental property managers only have so much responsibility as to the moods and pleasantness of your stay.

Now, to my own experiance in dealing with Amanda; The other night at about 2am I sent an Email inquiring about accomodations. The next day at work I had her response at about 9am. I was impressed.

We're going to be down there in February, somewhere. If everyone is half as prompt in responding, I'll be happy.

(now I'm going to unstick my nose out of someone else's business and go post a question or two of my own)

Kash

[This message has been edited by Kash (edited 06-24-2006).]