I had a twelve hour film shoot with a fifteen person cast/crew size and I cannot recommend this location in good conscience to anyone.
My experience with the owner and Giggster's handling of my issues and complaints has deterred me from using this platform or trusting their listings.
I've listed my reasons below but for context my team and I scouted this location two times, and was in constant communication with the owner for the 2 months between the time I paid for the reservation and the shoot date. Despite all that preparation, the owner and the location had a direct negative impact on our production. All issues below were communicated to Giggster with evidence and the delays in reviewing the dispute meant I didn't receive a comprehensive response to these issues for three weeks.
1. This is not a safe location. Active wasps nest by the only door we were allowed to come in and out of. It was not there during any of the previous scouts. Much of the indoor furniture was filled with spiders and spiders eggs sacs, crew members had a running tally of how many they had to kill. It was hotter inside the home than in the 92 degree July heat outdoors even before we set up any lighting. The AC is not equipped to handle anything more than a few people, it is not central and there's a few fan units sprinkled throughout the home.
2. This listing is incredibly misleading. The AC is listed as an amenity, but the owner is charging me for AC usage. The dark wood floors are Vinyl, which wouldn't be much of an issue except no where in the listing or location agreement does it mention that the owner requires shoe coverings for every person to be taken on and off at the door to protect the floors, or to not wear shoes at all. The listing says only the Master Bedroom is off limits, when we asked for access to a few of the other (available) rooms we were denied even though we communicated ahead of time that we'd want to use them for non-filming purposes. The listing mentions furniture/decor for use, but it doesn't mention that there are many pieces that aren't usable without additional fees.
3. The owner is extremely unprofessional and directly cost us more time and money on this project. The AC wasn't on when we arrived, we weren't told about AC charges until less than 24 hours before our shoot. The owner asked we load equipment in and out of the garage, but caused further delays when we found he was parked there during the shoot. The owner would not let us move large portions of his decorations and furniture and despite emails with a written agreement that he would be responsible for removing/storing them, did not move the list of items he agreed to move in time. When we got to set, none of it was done and we had to spend extra time waiting for him. At the end of the shoot we had wrapped but the owner expressly asked that I stay to help put items back we were not responsible for keeping us longer than necessary. The owner also came into our production half-dressed asking if he could take a shower in the only bathroom he had given us access to so we couldn't do wardrobe or makeup changes during that time. The owner communicated all of the above additional rules and charges after I had made the payment and most were only communicated to me less than 24 hours prior to our shoot, but none are mentioned in the location agreement or the house rules section on the listing. To add insult to injury after a miserable time dealing with this location and the owner I received an additional charge claim from the owner for over 50% of what I already paid to film there in overtime charges, AC charges, and a quote for a dry wall patch that I have photographic evidence he damaged more than how it was when we left it.
I give the location and owner two stars because looks wise it was still decent for our horror film, just a nightmare to work with.
And I give Giggster one star.
I've been in contact with Giggster for 2 weeks on everything written in this review and received no response to any of my concerns and issues above. I never even received confirmation that the dispute was received until I sent a follow-up email three days after my initial complaint, the owner wasn't even notified until two more days after that. Awful handling of the situation, awful mediation, pointless to have gone through Giggster if they don't take disputes, safety and misleading listings seriously.
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