Steinhatchee Landing Resort Owner Completely Rude

My wife and I live in Orlando, FL and were going to travel to Steinhatchee for the weekend to do some scalloping. We had never been but heard it is alot of fun and that the scalloping in Steinhatchee is the best in Florida. My wife booked a cottage at the Steinhatchee Landing Resort but something came up and we were going to be forced to cancel. The next day she received a call from the resort saying they had double booked the room and could not accommodate us. No problem at all because we had to cancel anyway so it worked out for everyone. The next day my wife gets a call from an insurance company in Gainesville telling her that her personal information (credit card number, expiration date, address and phone number) had been faxed to them from Steinhatchee Landing Resort. The lady was very nice and told my wife she was going to shred the information. I told my wife to call the resort to make sure we weren't charged for the room and to let them know about the mistake that had been made so it does not happen to anyone else in the future. The resort told her she needed to speak to the owner, Dean, and provided a home telephone number to reach him. My wife left a message for Dean and he called back within an hour. My wife explained what had happened with her information and what happened next is still unbelievable to me. He began cursing at my wife and in his rant, called her unstable, lonely, that she must be mentally ill, that she should seek medical attention, asked her what she was trying to pull, and that she must be drunk. Needless to say I was in awe. We were not seeking anything from Dean or the resort, just to let them know a mistake had been made so it didn't happen again in the future. I took the phone from my wife and I tried to begin explaining everything to Dean and he began to yell at me and would not let me get a word in. I politely told him I would take things up with the BBB and the Florida Attorney General's office and he said, and I quote, "I don't care if you take it up with Obama." Needless to say, as beautiful as Steinhatchee is and as much as I love scallops, we will never be vacationing in Steinhatchee.

I am very sorry, though not very surprised, by your unfortunate experience with Mr. Fowler. It is unfortunate for the entire town that his "ranting" is now being distributed beyond the local folk!

I would encourage you to not let this individual sour your sense of this wondeful town or The Landing itself for that matter. My wife and I own a beautiful 1-BR in The Landing, we are not in the rental pool and are actively working to provide the other owners in The Landing a sutable altenative to using Mr. Fowler's rental management ompany, specifically to avoid this type of situation.

Please go to VRBO, input VRBO # 184140 and you'll see our unit, affectionately known as Angels' Attic. There are other units in The Landing which are not controlled by Mr. Fowler and we'll be glad to provide you information on them if you'd like.

I hope you'll find it in your future plans to try the town again, it's very special, very "old Florida", and The Landing epitomizes that "old Florida" ambiance.

Neil Aikenhead wrote:

I am very sorry, though not very surprised, by your unfortunate experience with Mr. Fowler. It is unfortunate for the entire town that his "ranting" is now being distributed beyond the local folk!
I would encourage you to not let this individual sour your sense of this wondeful town or The Landing itself for that matter. My wife and I own a beautiful 1-BR in The Landing, we are not in the rental pool and are actively working to provide the other owners in The Landing a sutable altenative to using Mr. Fowler's rental management ompany, specifically to avoid this type of situation.
Please go to VRBO, input VRBO # 184140 and you'll see our unit, affectionately known as Angels' Attic. There are other units in The Landing which are not controlled by Mr. Fowler and we'll be glad to provide you information on them if you'd like.
I hope you'll find it in your future plans to try the town again, it's very special, very "old Florida", and The Landing epitomizes that "old Florida" ambiance.

Way to go

I hope you will not let one person ruin something you enjoy doing - scalloping! It is sad that this happened to you although you are not the first and I suspect not the last to recieve a tongue lashing from a bi-polar Dean Fowler. This is no excuse as there is medicaton available. Steinhatchee is one of the friendliest places I have ever traveled to. People always wave and stop to ask if you need help. I think you should give the "hatch" another try. Don't let one bad apple rot the basket.

We were ther this weekend. Some of the people were very nice some not so much. They have very little patience for someone new to the area and there ways.I was moving about 4.o knots in the river and had a boat about to run over me and still had one of the locals that live on the river yell at me to slow down. I feel sorry for people who are that unhappy and negative. Other than that had a great time. Roy,s was great!

Mike P. of Orlando you have our empathy.Many of us who own property in Steinhatchee Landing Resort have been subjected to similiar assaults of vulgar verbal abuse by our detestable developer. There are many of us who could back you up in your case to the BBB and Attorney General. This grotesque behavior gives our beautiful community a black eye, diminishes our property values, and is costly to those who are in the rental pool.

We also love going to Steinhatchee and have heard MANY tales like this one about owner of The Landings. FYI, none of the locals like him as he is ALWAYS complaining about something that isn't going his way or doing things to further irritate the locals.

Please don't let this jerk enter into the decision making process about a great little town!

I appreciate all of the support and comments and I truly hope this thread has not detered or prevented any vacationers from traveling to Steinhatchee or the Steinhatchee Landing Resort. I understand that many owners who are not in the rental pool do not want to see their investment depreciate in value or have a "black eye" in the eyes of the many people who enjoy the property.

Since my initial post, my wife has spoken to Dean and received not only an apology, but a complimentary 2 night stay in a 2 bedroom cottage. Although a free stay was never our intention, we do appreciate Dean's generosity and may give Steinhatchee a second chance.

Again, I appreciate everyone's comments and I wish all the owners of Steinhatchee Landing a very busy and prosperous scallop season.

I am glad that you were offered a free 2 night stay however it still does not excuse the rudeness. I am very happy that you will give the Steinhatchee Community another visit and hopefully will not think the town is like the developer of Steinhatchee Landing Resort.

Love to have you back!

wondering if our comment would be posted?

JULY 2009 WE, TOO, WERE THE BRUNT OF DEAN FOWLER'S RUDENESS. OUR A/C DID NOT WORK PROPERLY, HARDLY AT ALL, FOR 3 OF OUR 4-NIGHT STAY. WHEN WE NOTIFIED THE OFFICE THE FIRST NIGHT AN A/C MAN WAS SENT THERE AT 9:30. THE NEXT MORNING WE NOTIFIED THEM IT WAS NOT WORKING AGAIN, WAS COMPLETELY FROZEN OVER, WE WERE TOLD IT WAS THEIR PROBLEM. AGAIN THE NEXT DAY COMPLETELY FROZEN OVER. I THEN CALLED MR. FOWLER ON HIS CELL PHONE, TO WHICH I WAS BERATED. THEN LATER THAT DAY HE FOLLOWED ME AROUND 2 DIFFERENT PLACES AND TOLD ME TO "PRAY TO GOD" ABOUT MY A/C. CURSED AT ME 3 TIMES IN FRONT OF A FRIEND ON HER FIRST AND LAST VISIT TO STEINHATCHEE AND MY CHILDREN WHEN HE SAT IN HIS TRUCK IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE WE RENTED. I ASKED HIM TO NOT SPEAK TO ME AT WHICH TIME HE YELLED AND SPED OFF AFTER TELLING ME WHERE TO GO. THIS IS OUR 14th YEAR RENTING A HOUSE IN THE LANDINGS WITH ABOUT 4-6 OTHER FAMILIES. WE WERE ALSO TOLD BY THE OFFICE MANAGER THAT WE SHOULD JUST LEAVE. WE INFORMED THEM THAT WE HAD PLANNED THIS IN ADVANCE, WE ALWAYS RESERVE THE SAME HOUSE 2 YEARS IN ADVANCE, OUR OTHER FRIENDS WERE THERE, AND WE HAD NO INTENTION OF LEAVING, NOR COULD WE EVEN FIND A PLACE TO STAY AT SUCH SHORT NOTICE. AND THAT WE WOULD JUST LIKE OUR AIR FIXED OR PLACED IN ANOTHER HOUSE AND NOT TO BE TREATED AND SPOKEN TO THE WAY MR. FOWLER HAD DONE. "NOT THEIR PROBLEM". HOPEFULLY ANYONE READING THIS WILL NO LONGER RENT FROM MR. FOWLER'S ORGANIZATION AND WILL RENT FROM THE PRIVATE HOME OWNERS THEMSELVES.

this is just a correction. on line five it should say we were told it was "not their problem". mr. fowler in no way ever said it was their problem. he actually asked me if I thought they did this on purpose, meaning the a/c not working. that's how crazy he is.

Consider Sunset condos, best location in Steinhatchee w/ pool and docks. Minutes to the mouth of the river and the Gulf. Each unit has a spectacular view of the Gulf and evening sunsets. MANAGEMENT IS VERY FRIENDLY.

the wears - ocala florida wrote:

JULY 2009 WE, TOO, WERE THE BRUNT OF DEAN FOWLER'S RUDENESS. OUR A/C DID NOT WORK PROPERLY, HARDLY AT ALL, FOR 3 OF OUR 4-NIGHT STAY. WHEN WE NOTIFIED THE OFFICE THE FIRST NIGHT AN A/C MAN WAS SENT THERE AT 9:30. THE NEXT MORNING WE NOTIFIED THEM IT WAS NOT WORKING AGAIN, WAS COMPLETELY FROZEN OVER, WE WERE TOLD IT WAS THEIR PROBLEM. AGAIN THE NEXT DAY COMPLETELY FROZEN OVER. I THEN CALLED MR. FOWLER ON HIS CELL PHONE, TO WHICH I WAS BERATED. THEN LATER THAT DAY HE FOLLOWED ME AROUND 2 DIFFERENT PLACES AND TOLD ME TO "PRAY TO GOD" ABOUT MY A/C. CURSED AT ME 3 TIMES IN FRONT OF A FRIEND ON HER FIRST AND LAST VISIT TO STEINHATCHEE AND MY CHILDREN WHEN HE SAT IN HIS TRUCK IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE WE RENTED. I ASKED HIM TO NOT SPEAK TO ME AT WHICH TIME HE YELLED AND SPED OFF AFTER TELLING ME WHERE TO GO. THIS IS OUR 14th YEAR RENTING A HOUSE IN THE LANDINGS WITH ABOUT 4-6 OTHER FAMILIES. WE WERE ALSO TOLD BY THE OFFICE MANAGER THAT WE SHOULD JUST LEAVE. WE INFORMED THEM THAT WE HAD PLANNED THIS IN ADVANCE, WE ALWAYS RESERVE THE SAME HOUSE 2 YEARS IN ADVANCE, OUR OTHER FRIENDS WERE THERE, AND WE HAD NO INTENTION OF LEAVING, NOR COULD WE EVEN FIND A PLACE TO STAY AT SUCH SHORT NOTICE. AND THAT WE WOULD JUST LIKE OUR AIR FIXED OR PLACED IN ANOTHER HOUSE AND NOT TO BE TREATED AND SPOKEN TO THE WAY MR. FOWLER HAD DONE. "NOT THEIR PROBLEM". HOPEFULLY ANYONE READING THIS WILL NO LONGER RENT FROM MR. FOWLER'S ORGANIZATION AND WILL RENT FROM THE PRIVATE HOME OWNERS THEMSELVES.

Sorry for the rudeness. There are private homes in the Landing that rent and you would not be subjected to this type of treatment.

abc123 wrote:

<quoted text>
Sorry for the rudeness. There are private homes in the Landing that rent and you would not be subjected to this type of treatment.

thank you so much! we're already looking into that. We still love The Landings, just not the mistreatment by Mr. Fowlness.

Mr. Fowler was probably upset because his incompetent employees were not doing their jobs if a customer had to call and complain to him about problems directly. He probably would be equally ticked off to find them posting all this crap about him. He is getting what he pays for by hiring trailer trash bimbos, very little work and plenty of drama!

I dont know if you have met his employees but they are no-where near "trailer trash bimbos" as you say. There has been many of times that i have had to stop one of the staff members ask questions about the area, need them to bring something extra to the units, or for whatever reason it was; and everytime they were very kind and willing to help in whatever way they could. Im not sure if your pin-pointing it on to certain people you may know. But I have never had any problems with the staff being rude and i guess i haven't meet the staff you have because none of them seemed to be "trailer trash bimbos". I will always suggest traveling to the steinhatchee landings to family, friends, ect. For i thought the people were very kind and very friendly.

A Little Birdy wrote:

Mr. Fowler was probably upset because his incompetent employees were not doing their jobs if a customer had to call and complain to him about problems directly. He probably would be equally ticked off to find them posting all this crap about him. He is getting what he pays for by hiring trailer trash bimbos, very little work and plenty of drama!

Its un-real the things that people will say about other people when they know the name behind the comment is confidential. Try putting a name behind it if your so confident in what you are saying.......

I experienced no real problems with the staff, pretty much only Mr. Fowlness. The office manager did say to me on my second time complaining about the a/c that it was not her problem, that I should call Mr. Fowler, then the problems began.