Location: Chatam County, GA (Tybee Island).
I and the wife booked a 3 night stay at a bed & breakfast inn for $1660, with a room for us and a 2nd room for her parents. We were immediately assaulted by fleas jumping on our legs. I told the owners on site with a captured flea in hand, who reacted by immediately denying it, saying they could have us leave, and calling us liars or that we brought the fleas on us. One owner followed me to the room to confirm, but only spent a minute and did not receive any on him before he left.
I knew this was going to become ugly, so I and the wife went back into the room and recorded video evidence of fleas landing on us as we walked. We absolutely could not risk our health, so we left and verbally told the owners, who did not respond.
I followed up with an email to the owners detailing this and sharing the video for a paper trail of events, and demanded a full refund for breach of “hotel duty of care laws”. They responded by saying they would have an exterminator come out and verify if there are fleas or not, and only if there are will they refund us. They also threatened to sue us for defamation and withhold any refund should we share the video of the fleas or leave a review of what happened.
What are my options? Currently I have a credit card dispute opened but thats it. I also live 5 hours away in SC.