---  Paper cup in dishwasher:    A renter called us to let us know that the dishwasher was no longer draining and left the dishes "ugly."  The repair guy found that crumbled remnants of a (Starbucks-type) paper cup had plugged up the drain, which ruined the suction pump ... 
Well, a used paper cup belongs in the trash -- not in the dishwasher.  It cost us $225 in repair and service charges.

--- Amount of dishwasher detergent: A renter notified us, "The dishwasher is leaking!"  Indeed, it will do that if too much detergent is used.  (The excessive foam will create an overpressure inside the dishwasher, and foamy water will be pressed past the door seal and drip onto the floor. A teaspoon of detergent is plenty for one load.  Less is better!

---  Strong hand in the kitchen: Replacing twisted appliance knobs is an annoying, recurring, costly -- and sometimes irrepairable -- nuisance.  One thing is for sure, if you cannot easily turn it the same way as you are used to in your home, try the other direction, or try depressing it first -- but don't force it! (This happened not once, not twice, ... but as many as four times just at Bella Vista:  Twice it was a knob on the Jennair kitchen range, where replacement switches with knobs were expensive and difficult to install ... renter did not own up to the mishap; once a stop on a designer bathroom faucet was forced beyond the braking point, an item so rare that a replacement part could not be located ... renter remembered "nothing" ...; and once a knob on the washing machine did not withstand the brutal force applied to it, which case was so severe that we ended up having to buy a new washer ...  Renter: "While we were doing final washing, the knob on the washer snapped off" ... ).

---  Walking through screen doors:  When you are on the deck, at night, it can easily happen that you don't see that the screen door is closed, and you walk back inside right through it ...  Of course, that's the end of that screen!  "But no, the screen was old and fragile!"  or, "it was already broken when we came!"

---  Washing & drying laundry takes time!  If you start with washing your laundry just an hour before your departure time, of course it won't get done!  Renter:  "the dryer is no good -- and so we couldn't leave on time!" Or, another renter outright: "It was impossible for us to do the laundry! Yet, even worse, another renter folded the linens when they were still wet ...

---  Common sense!  Renter: "The water cooker does not work any more!"  "Did you plug it in?"  "Oh, I plugged it into another outlet, and there it works! Several outlets are kaputt!"   "Perhaps you touched and tripped a GFI -- that can happen easily?"  "Oh, that's what it was  ..."  (thus was the summary of multiple e-mail exchanges ...)

---   Plugged toilets: I have never understood why people throw items in the toilet of a rental home that they would never ever throw into their own toilet at home.  "But it's not our fault!" we hear.   

---  Why do we no longer permit children at Bella Vista?  Frankly, it's because their parents fail to keep them in line.  Many of our decor items cannot be repaired.  "But it was only one minute of playing with a ball as light as a balloon ..." one renter stated so convincingly that we ended up not even charging them for breaking a priceless heirloom chandelier.

---  Eye glasses:  If you happen to be among those of us (over "fifty-somethings") and forgot your reading glasses, you might not be able to read the numbers on the keyless entry key pad upon your arrival.  That can happen!  But please, don't blame us for not suggesting to bring your glasses ... !

---  Power outage:  If your car is parked in the garage and a power outage sets on, the garage door opener won't work, and your car is locked in until the power is back on line ...  Please, don't expect us to get a technician out for you ...

---  Locking yourself out:  you shut the door to the hot tub deck behind you, climb into the tub in Adam's and Eve's costume -- and realize that you just locked yourself out...  The dear repeat renters who -- just covered with a small towel -- contacted neighbors and ultimately the Fire Department, reacted graciously with humor to this hilarious scene -- after all, they could have blamed us for not providing an emergency telephone on the hot tub deck ...
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All of these bloopers, some multiple times, and many more, did actually happen.  We all make mistakes.  That's human.  It's understandable.  But what is a lot harder to understand is when a person committing such bloopers would not live up to their mistakes, won't tell us and leave the problem for the housekeepers or next renters to discover, or blame us or the materials or our facilities that they happened, in hope or expectation to get the full security deposit returned ... 
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While there is perhaps still an element of humor in the above occurrences, we did not find any humor in the ones below:

--- Not recognizing the credit card charge on a monthly statement is something that occasionally happens to all of us.  Usually a minute of reflection or a friendly phone call to the number given on the statement will startle our memory.  After all, the vast majority of such unrecognized charges turns out to be legitimate.  But one renter of Bella Vista immediately cried foul with PayPal for "false charges" and also canceled that charge with her credit card company.  It took just one day for PayPal to determine that the charge was legitimate, but their hands were tied until finally, eight months and over 20 e-mail exchanges later, the renter could finally be motivated to get back to American Express to unfreeze the legitimate charge ...

--- Pets: Our housekeeper found ample, unmistaken evidence of a long-haired pet having been in Bella Vista, resulting in a cleaning expense close to $300.  The renter insisted, "it was just me and my wife and our 9-month old baby, no pet ... "