First time dealing with this outfit - on our trip ...

First time dealing with this outfit - on our trip to OBX last year we finally realized that Joe Lamb Jr manages the largest selection of properties we are looking for (oceanfront in Kitty Hawk). Making reservation and payments went off without a hitch. Hitches started two days before the trip was set to begin. On the way to work I got a phone call from one of the associates that the property we rented recently suffered some vaguely described calamity, and was not available. Was told a voicemail was left to the same effect the day before, couldn't find it. Point #1: if all communications so far were electronic - near-permanent record, easily identifiable, can be checked at one's convenience - why voicemail now? Anybody ever got any comprehensible message via voicemail?.. A decision was made to look for an available substitute. I spent next couple of hours checking out properties still available for rent on two days notice, the list of potentials from the agency arrived in about the same time. This being pre-season a suitable substitute - albeit in KDH, not Kitty Hawk - was found. New rental agreement and financial settlement were handled before the weekend, electronically. Point #2: I was offered a free linen service (smth like 80-90$ value) in compensation of my pain and suffering (declined). Upon arrival I was greeted promptly, issued a set of keys to the house, a complimentary insulated bag with a roll of toilet paper (useful) and JLJr T-shirt clearly designed to induce color-blindness (not useful), and directions to the house which sent us through a part of NC12/Beach Road closed off the day before. Due to the Atlantic ocean chomping off a large chunk of the northbound lane. After we eventually got to the house I called Joe Lamb Jr to tell them not to send anybody else through that part of the road. I was told by the very same person who gave me the directions that they a) knew about it, b) apologized for the inconvenience, and c) hoped that in a couple of days the "clean-up" would be completed (for the record, the road was still being repaired a week later). Point #3: not sharing relevant and actionable information about the road closure. Point #4: sharing non-information about the potential time-table of "clean-up". To sum up:
selection of rental properties=excellent
rental paperwork=adequate
real-time, boots-on-the-ground type information=not so much.