What Annoys You The Most!?

From the moment they step through the door your bookings become guests, and their experiences determine whether they ever come back.
bessie
Posts: 585
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2012 3:45 pm

Post by bessie »

My mountain of missing teaspoons somewhere,what do they do with them.
And the guest who managed to completely burn the hob ring to bits and put it back together just long enough for a quick getaway.W hen I asked her about it she said she had only boiled a pan on it ,not mine as they were all ok :lol:
Last edited by bessie on Tue May 17, 2016 6:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Nemo
Posts: 7062
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:15 am
Location: Norfolk

Post by Nemo »

I get the usual glasses broken and the odd plate. I have a breakages book where they can write anything they've either noticed or done themselves if they wish to admit to it. :wink: I'm not aware of guests sticking things back together thankfully!

A couple of weeks ago, I had a guest ring me to say they'd broken the hob; they were very remorseful, so I just commiserated and now have an insurance claim I need to submit. In the SAME week, my other guests told me that three spindles in the outside balustrade had been broken by a relatives visiting dog. They asked me what colour stain I used and said they'd sort it. They did, and very well too, with only a slight colour discrepancy due to newer wood no doubt. I just didn't have the energy to try and organise it at the same time as sort the hob. I think they thought it would save them money; if I'd got a handyman in, it would have cost more. He was clearly quite proficient at woodwork and borrowed a neighbours tools to do it. :)
Bunny
Posts: 3387
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2013 8:48 pm
Location: South of England

Post by Bunny »

Nemo wrote: In the SAME week, my other guests told me that three spindles in the outside balustrade had been broken by a relatives visiting dog. They asked me what colour stain I used and said they'd sort it. They did, and very well too, with only a slight colour discrepancy due to newer wood no doubt. I just didn't have the energy to try and organise it at the same time as sort the hob. I think they thought it would save them money; if I'd got a handyman in, it would have cost more. He was clearly quite proficient at woodwork and borrowed a neighbours tools to do it. :)
OMG Nemo, you are braver than me allowing a guest to do DIY on your property. Thank god he didn't turn out to be a Frank Spencer. :D
Enaid
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:28 pm
Location: Cotes d'Armor, Brittany

Post by Enaid »

We have had the usual - crockery with chips in put to the back of the cupboard. Guests often replace things - so we have a variety of different glasses! The worst breakages were broken bed slats ( the children had been jumping on the bed :( ) and a nasty burn on the new wooden kitchen island (even though we have several glass top protectors).

Our bugbear is when they move everything around, even furniture.

However we have had some good things - we have a bit of a chicken theme (one or two metal chickens/cockerels) and one couple bought a new one as a thank you. Another repaired our 'sticking' patio door (much better than my husband would be able to!).
Bunny
Posts: 3387
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2013 8:48 pm
Location: South of England

Post by Bunny »

Enaid wrote: Our bugbear is when they move everything around, even furniture.
+1

We have an extending kitchen table which seats 6, or 8 when fully extended. Most of my bookings are for 6 guests, so I always leave it as a smaller table because it looks more spacious in the kitchen. After nearly every let, the table has been left extended for me to collapse again. I don't understand why you wouldn't put it back as you found it.
User avatar
Casscat
Posts: 2692
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 10:43 pm

Post by Casscat »

Totally agree about moving stuff - fine, but please move it back to the original location. My main bugbear is the breakages thing. Not because I'm overly bothered about the cost of replacement, but I am overly bothered about where the item was broken and how well the shattered glass or crockery was cleared up. I spent three months at the finca after Christmas and before leaving I threw away any glasses that had dishwasher haze on them and ensured a full deck of pristine glassware. Two sets of guests later I return to one missing tumbler and one missing wine glass. Things get broken - I can live with that - but please report to my managers so they can scour the area for those weeny glass shards that get everywhere and are virtually invisible to the naked eye until you get one embedded in your foot :evil:
Bunny
Posts: 3387
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2013 8:48 pm
Location: South of England

Post by Bunny »

We have two ceiling lights in the lounge with 5 glass shades on each fitting. I had nearly finished a changeover when OH came in and said 'what has happened to the lights?' I looked up to discover two of the shades had been smashed and we were just left with glass rings with jagged shards of glass dangerously sticking out. It must have made one hell of a mess, but I found no trace of the missing glass. There's no doubt the culprit knew they had done it because they had replaced the bulb with one which would not have fitted in the intact shade. As I had not noticed the damage before my OH spotted it , I had doubts whether it was caused by the departing guests or the ones the week beforehand. Although, I suspect the departing guests would have mentioned it if they had arrived to them damaged. So, the lights remained without shades for several weeks and I had to get replacements sent over from Germany at great expense. I was not a happy bunny at a) how in the hell did it happen and b) did they not think to own up to such dangerous damage. :evil:
User avatar
AngloDutch
Posts: 727
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:25 pm
Location: Netherlands

Post by AngloDutch »

Bassman wrote:Putting dirty plates in the MIDDLE of a pile of clean plates, it has happen a few times now! always the same nationality but i wont go into that now :wink:
We've always wondered about that and thought maybe it was the first dishwasher we had which wasn't very good at cleaning if plates were not positioned correctly, or if it was too full (it seems to happen less now). That, or somebody got the dirty and clean plates mixed up. We couldn't imagine that people would actually hide a dirty plate on purpose because they maybe didn't have time to clean it before they left? :shock:
User avatar
AngloDutch
Posts: 727
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:25 pm
Location: Netherlands

Post by AngloDutch »

The top 10 for us:

Guests fiddling with the WIFI amplifier and therefore interrupting the connection to the modem (on our side of the house), and then complaining that the signal is not strong enough for Netflix.

Guests who seem to think that a 4 p.m. arrival is OK if you arrive in our village around that time. If their journey was shorter than expected, why not just try and see if you can get into the property at 2 p.m.? And those that think that a 10 a.m. departure means not leaving any second earlier than 10 a.m. (after all we have paid to stay until 10 a.m., haven't we)?

Guests who allow their toddlers to nibble everything from books to drink coasters

Guests who unplug the power socket extention bars in the bedrooms and disconnect all the clock radios, because they need to charge their iphone, laptop, tablet, etc directly from the mains socket.

Guests who knock on the door and ask for more loo rolls when you've already placed 8 in the property before they arrived.

Guests who step in something nasty while out walking and then wipe their shoes on the inside doormat and/or rugs in the bedrooms.

Guests who complain that the fridge/freezer doors should be switched to open from left to right. Then, when you finally do that, the next guests who then complain that the fridge/freezer doors should be switched to open from right to left.

Guests who complain that the ventilation system is too noisy when they have themselves switched the extraction level to '3'.

Guests who on departure have the heating turned to full and all the windows open.

Guests who complain that there is not enough room to sit around the dining table when they have replaced the dining room chairs with the much larger chairs from the sitting room.
Last edited by AngloDutch on Wed May 18, 2016 8:44 am, edited 2 times in total.
Bunny
Posts: 3387
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2013 8:48 pm
Location: South of England

Post by Bunny »

AngloDutch wrote: Guests who unplug the power socket extention bars in the bedrooms and disconnect all the clock radios, because they need to charge their iphone, laptop, tablet, etc directly from the mains socket.
+1
We have 8 plug sockets in each bedroom, yet they still unplug the clock/radios. I stuck stickers on the plugs saying 'please do not turn off'. They still got unplugged, despite me checking that the alarm wasn't set. I've given up, so if they want to use the clock they have to set the time for themselves now.
Ecosse
Posts: 812
Joined: Thu May 29, 2014 10:40 pm
Location: Saint Gervais les Bains, France
Contact:

Post by Ecosse »

People complaining we're not value for money, because other than soap, we don't provide toiletries. What did they expect for 47€? If they want that, they can go up the road and pay 70€.

The vast majority of our guests 'get' us. For the others, perhaps we should offer a special '23€ Hotel Upgrade Package' where we hand them a bottle of shampoo. :twisted:
User avatar
Casscat
Posts: 2692
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 10:43 pm

Post by Casscat »

Bunny wrote:
AngloDutch wrote: Guests who unplug the power socket extention bars in the bedrooms and disconnect all the clock radios, because they need to charge their iphone, laptop, tablet, etc directly from the mains socket.
+1
We have 8 plug sockets in each bedroom, yet they still unplug the clock/radios. I stuck stickers on the plugs saying 'please do not turn off'. They still got unplugged, despite me checking that the alarm wasn't set. I've given up, so if they want to use the clock they have to set the time for themselves now.
You provide clock radios? Most people use their mobile phones as alarm clocks these days don't they? Dispense with the clock radios and let them fiddle around with plugging their devices into sockets as much as they want! :D
Bunny
Posts: 3387
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2013 8:48 pm
Location: South of England

Post by Bunny »

Casscat wrote:
Bunny wrote:
AngloDutch wrote: Guests who unplug the power socket extention bars in the bedrooms and disconnect all the clock radios, because they need to charge their iphone, laptop, tablet, etc directly from the mains socket.
+1
We have 8 plug sockets in each bedroom, yet they still unplug the clock/radios. I stuck stickers on the plugs saying 'please do not turn off'. They still got unplugged, despite me checking that the alarm wasn't set. I've given up, so if they want to use the clock they have to set the time for themselves now.
You provide clock radios? Most people use their mobile phones as alarm clocks these days don't they? Dispense with the clock radios and let them fiddle around with plugging their devices into sockets as much as they want! :D
I don't use my phone because I wouldn't want to set the alarm on holiday, but I do like to be able to see the time when I wake up during the night without having to pick up a phone. I used to provide battery operated clocks in all the bedrooms but they all got stolen and I got fed up of replacing them so regularly.
User avatar
Cymraes
Posts: 519
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 3:31 pm
Location: North Wales

Post by Cymraes »

Bunny wrote:
We have 8 plug sockets in each bedroom, yet they still unplug the clock/radios. I stuck stickers on the plugs saying 'please do not turn off'. They still got unplugged, despite me checking that the alarm wasn't set. I've given up, so if they want to use the clock they have to set the time for themselves now.
Solved that one with one of the clock radios that "phones home" and sets the date and time itself :)
Sunbeam
Posts: 198
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2015 5:24 pm
Location: Spain

Post by Sunbeam »

gitemontjoly wrote:People complaining we're not value for money, because other than soap, we don't provide toiletries. What did they expect for 47€? If they want that, they can go up the road and pay 70€.

The vast majority of our guests 'get' us. For the others, perhaps we should offer a special '23€ Hotel Upgrade Package' where we hand them a bottle of shampoo. :twisted:
That made me lol :-)
Post Reply