Being held to ransom!! yet again

From the moment they step through the door your bookings become guests, and their experiences determine whether they ever come back.
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annafern
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Being held to ransom!! yet again

Post by annafern »

This seems to be a growing trend and at the first sign of something being slightly wrong, guests demanding % of money back and if its not done they claim.
We will slag you off through social media
Firstly just for you information. This particular property is not managed by us and we only do the sales side of getting bookings.

Cottage was cleaned by cleansers after last guests, but they didn't do the final finishes, like welcome pack and 1 bed out of 5 wasn't made up and heating not turned on. Cleaners had forgotten the check in was for a different day of the week, so never came to finish off.

Guests (only 3 in party) arrive 4pm Saturday and not until Monday morning did they email me to say there was no welcome pack and 1 of the bathrooms was dirty. My mobile number is on their confirmation documents so I was surprised they just didn't call me.

Cleaners were informed within the hour and they phoned guests offering to come down with the welcome pack and finish the bed but they refused the cleaners offer.

She went round that night with a bottle of wine and chocolates as an apology and could see they were in the Kitchen. They wound't answer the door!

Left this last Saturday and then i get an email saying the whole place was dirty and they had no towels and the bed linen was dirty.

The house i might add was a disgusting mess when they left. Toilet not flushed and what should have gone down the toilet was on towels and walls!!!

One mattress in one of the twin rooms was nearly off the bed and bed linen all over the place. Oh and a stack of used dirty towels which seems a bit odd seeing they claim they had none!!

The owner will be offering a £50 gesture for the none welcome pack and 1 bed not made up (this room was never used anyway) and for the heating not being on.

I am only guessing this will be rejected by them and to follow will be a pack of lies written on Trip Advisor about the property and me!!

I am getting pretty fed up of how social media and reviews are controlling our lives and marketing!!

:(
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amandajane
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Post by amandajane »

This sounds dreadful. My sympathies.

My suggestion would be to write a very dispassionate response to them, answering each of their points and if you have them, say that you have photographs in evidence of the state the property was left in (do your terms refer to leaving it clean?) and also to refute the no towel claim.
I would put in writing that they turned down your attempts to rectify the problem and make amends for what you accept went wrong and I might even suggest - others may know better - that if they post anything untrue on any social media sites that you will refer the matter to your solicitor.


Once again, the fact that they remained in the property for the whole week must carry some weight.

I'm sure people on here will help with an appropriate response if they do post on social media.

Is the welcome pack something they pay for? Mine is a "gift" but I almost never get an acknowledgement!
Last edited by amandajane on Mon Nov 02, 2015 11:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
bessie
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Post by bessie »

Did anyone take photos of the mess they left behind,if so inform them that since they wish to complain about state of the cottage on arrival you will display state of cottage after their stay.I would also say since you refused any offer of assistance and judging by the way they left the cottage what exactly is their own standard of cleanliness.
I'm been mean today but just had this with a AST tenant who left my property in a cess pit and then told me she didn't like dirt and was a very clean person.Big mistake and an even bigger mistake trying to get money out of me.
I really don't know why we should have to accept the sxxx mess some people leave.
Thankfully since I put on my security bond my guests have been lovely infact at times I wonder if anyone has stayed.
Maybe someone will put it a bit more diplomatic but why. :wink:
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Post by e-richard »

annafern wrote:..Left this last Saturday and then i get an email saying the whole place was dirty and they had no towels and the bed linen was dirty.
Sounds like a helpful email on their departure to advise you on the condition of the property when they left :shock:
amandajane wrote:My suggestion would be to write a very dispassionate response to them, answering each of their points ..
I agree with most of amandajane's points including the first half of this suggestion, but disagree with the second half.

As we know from many similar posts on LMH a common theme among irate guests is often issues outside of your control. They had a lousy journey, they fought among themselves; divorce is imminent; they chose the wrong holiday, the wrong country, the wrong time of year etc etc. In a similar vein, one persons definition of luxury is another's nightmare; cleanliness is too often a judgement and not a science.

These guests are convinced that they are in they right and you are in the wrong, no matter what you say. To argue individual points is to escalate the irritation and annoyance (probably on both sides).

I would certainly apologise on behalf of the maid and remind them that she (the maid) did try to make amends, but this was declined. Then simply re-iterate the offer of compensation repeating that it's a goodwill gesture, that you and the owners genuinely feel sorry and that you believe the compensation to be commensurate with the problems encountered and the efforts to make amends.

Also.... that you are not susceptible to blackmail and that according to their T&Cs, TripAdvisor will reject such reviews anyway. Or maybe just say this out loud to yourself, but omit this para from your reply !!!
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edinburgh
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Post by edinburgh »

I'm sorry to hear about it :(

Regarding someone saying they will "slag you off on social media" - let them. Anyone who uses that turn of phrase is likely to post an illiterate rant. It'll be read as the irrational nonsense it is. I can't imagine anyone sensible would take much notice of the sort of person who would "slag you off on social media"
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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

Surely if they have stated that they will 'slag you off' then once you present that as the blackmail attempt it was no review site would accept their contribution?
Yes the welcome pack wasn't there and a bed wasn't made up but if you're a grown up you accept in life that sometimes mistakes are made....there was clearly an immediate solution and the fact they didn't allow the issue to be put right or even open the door to talk to anyone shows they acted unreasonably.

Personally I think I'd be fighting fire with fire and whilst apologising and offering a goodwill gesture would then counter that it also cost the same amount, or more, to deal with the horror left after their departure. I wouldn't let anyone that left s£$t on towels to get away with it...no matter what they threatened. Disgusting behavour!

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Orsonthecat
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Post by Orsonthecat »

Mouse wrote: Yes the welcome pack wasn't there and a bed wasn't made up but if you're a grown up you accept in life that sometimes mistakes are made....
Personally I think I'd be fighting fire with fire and whilst apologising and offering a goodwill gesture would then counter that it also cost the same amount, or more, to deal with the horror left after their departure. I wouldn't let anyone that left s£$t on towels to get away with it...no matter what they threatened. Disgusting behavour!
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Post by PW in Polemi »

Oh Annafern, that's awful behaviour and a horrid situation to find yourself in. Those poor cleaners, to find and have to deal with that. Hope they took photos as evidence.
I agree with Mouse - apologise, offer a goodwill gesture with one hand and then (more than) take it back with the other as compensation for the state the property was left in.
As for the threat of a bad review, IF it ever happens, you've already got the proof of an attempt at blackmail, which should sink a bad review before it sails.
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Post by Cassis »

If you're worried about a review on TripAdvisor, you can and should advise TA of the blackmail attempt in advance. They have a facility for owners to do this.

If they are taliking about social media I wouldn't worry at all - only they and a handful of their friends/followers/pet cat will see their bilge on FB/Twitter and they'll all forget it five minutes later.
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Post by Bunny »

Is it me, but £50! compensation for a few minor issues seems excessive and inappropriate in this case. To my mind the only recompense would be to provide the welcome pack, make the bed and put the heating on. There should be no option for a guest to be able to refuse things in exchange for monetary advantage instead. The most they are due IMO was an apology and the bottle of wine and chocs for a bit of inconvenience and a cold house for maybe 1 hour. Really sorry for you Annafern that you are having to deal with this, especially when the owners seem to be giving in too easily. Perhaps you should refer them to a case where a guy has been ordered to pay £50,000 compensation for posting a fake 'slagging off' review.
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Post by Nemo »

Cassis wrote: If they are taliking about social media I wouldn't worry at all - only they and a handful of their friends/followers/pet cat will see their bilge on FB/Twitter and they'll all forget it five minutes later.
Not quite true. Anna's right to be concerned about social media; it doesn't take long for a business to be completely slagged off in front of thousands, if you know where to post. However, forewarned is forearmed.

I've just realised you've posted this again in the open forum. I would not post it here but only post in the members section. These are sensitive issues that personally, I don't want the public reading about how we as owners handle things behind closed doors.
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Post by Marks »

Why do we all run scared of these threats? Our son is deputy GM in a 150 room hotel. On TA it has 90%+ excellent and very good reviews. His opinion is to let them carry out their threat and then respond factually and without emotion. The same with 'social meeja' let them do their worst, it will not make a jot of difference to bookings and if their friends are like them who would want them anyway? It's just the modern equivalent of "I'll go to the papers" they rarely do and even the Daily Wail wouldn't be interested.
Some guests just need a sympathetic pat. On the head. With a hammer.
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Post by teapot »

who will read the social media slag? Only people of their following so you wouldn't want any of that social economic group so what's to lose?

Compensation, yeah right, not a nickle but I may send them an egg slicer from Poundland!

The more freely compensation or any remuneration is awarded the more common this will be. just ignore them and they will go away.
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Cassis
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Post by Cassis »

Anna's right to be concerned about social media; it doesn't take long for a business to be completely slagged off in front of thousands, if you know where to post. However, forewarned is forearmed.
You can't stop them posting and if you start replying to tosspots like this on FB and Twitter you'll just prolong the agony and make it a bigger issue than it needs to be. Ignore it (as already said) and it'll go away, because it's a non-issue for anyone except that one person unless you fan the flames.
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Post by brightmike »

I think "dispassionate" is the key word.

It is very easy to get upset by some guests and write back to them in an emotional state.

At the end of the day it is a business, it doesn't matter what kind of people they are. Just reply that you are sorry for the things that went wrong.

On social media / reviews I look at the totally i.e. 90% of people gave 5* and a couple of people gave you 1* and a terrible review. Perhaps contact a couple of nice guests to request a review to get your ratio up.

If you do reply to reviews or social media again keep it dispassionate. Apologise for what went wrong. People that read your response will not expect things to never go wrong but they will expect you to deal with it is a professional way, which it sounds like you have done.
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