Oak Island Accommodations

Can I give negative stars? I am the person who 100% will give stellar reviews when warranted and think long and hard before giving a negative review. We understood that in the midst of a pandemic and then the island being hit by a hurricane that there would be delays in responses. As we were trying to figure out two weeks prior to our planned vacation whether or not we could even take it, we could not get a call, email or anything back from OIA. Finally, I figured maybe they would answer social media, which they did, telling us that others had to be answered first. Didn't help us much in choosing whether or not we needed to purchase plane tickets for some members of our party. Because we are resourceful and self-sufficient, we looked closely at the Oak Island evacuation orders and figured we would be okay. We finally got confirmation from OIA and we planned our trip, packing as much as possible, not aware of what might be available on the Island. The morning we were to check in, we got an email stating that each member of our party had to sign a waiver that we would not hold OIA responsible if we got COVID. We would not receive the code to the house until this was completed. Considering we were already well on our way, the waivers were signed under duress. Were we supposed to turn around and head back on a 12-hour drive? Once we arrived at the house, code in hand, the code didn't work. By the way, we were supposed to check in at 3:00 originally and then told to check in at 4:00 and we arrived at 4:15. We did not get into the house until almost 6:00 PM and the staff member who came from OIA was nothing short of nasty and rude and appeared to be bothered to have to come out to open the door for us. We never did get a code that worked. We loved the house itself (except for the dusty and gross air vents, gross outdoor shower that wouldn't lock, again, fixed with our resourcefulness, and the hose that needed special mental skills to figure out how to work) and it was nice to have the linens provided. However, on all previous visits with other rental companies, we were provided with a welcome package to include information such as when to put out garbage, wifi password, etc. We were provided with nothing and had to wait for the offices to open Monday morning for these. Monday we called because of a running toilet. We were told that someone would come and turn off the water. That was the last we ever heard. Nobody ever came to fix it, and we ended up with only one bathroom anyway for 7 people. Now, the next issue isn't necessarily the fault of OIA, but should have been disclosed. It turns out that where our rental house sat, when it rained, garbage floated down the street and to get to the beach, you had to wade through water that had been standing and smelled horribly. The water was so deep that if you didn't have an SUV, you needed to stay at home. Finally, the day before we were to leave, we were sent an email stating that our checkout time was now an hour earlier. That was enough. My husband did call and tell them that we would not be leaving earlier. Regardless, the linen company arrived at 8:00 am to change out the linens. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. PERIOD. AMEN. We will be back to Oak Island, but will NEVER use this company again. NEVER.