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