It's not necessarily the person that books it that will be responsible for trashing the place! We think that our problems which started this subject probably stemmed from the lad's mates rather than him.
But, a success. Today, courtesy of our going to the Small Claims Court, we received a cheque from the lad's mum for over £800, the full amount claimed plus court fees. The partner of his dad tells me that his mum had to borrow the money from who knows where but, frankly, I don't give a damn.
It doesn't compensate us for the upset and our own hard work in sorting out the cottage but we have recovered all the extra costs we incurred. I think that it has been a steep learning curve for the lad as well - if nothing else, to understand that when push came to shove all his mates left him high and dry to pay for all the damage!
So, don't let the blighters get away with it. Don't know whether there is an equivalent legal system where you do business, but we've only used Small Claims twice and both times it worked.
John
Youngsters
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cromercrabholiday
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Well, he rang me last night and he sounded a very mature lad for his age and came across as genuine. On his initial enquiry he did not state dates, but just wanted clarification whether we would accept a group of 18 year olds. They're a mixed group of friends all finishing their 'A's and wanted a chill-out holiday in our villa as a package holiday did not appeal to them. As it happens the week and alternative week he wanted in July are booked.
We have had in the past 2 lots of mixed groups of under 21's, and on both occasions I followed the enquiry with a phone call to do a sort of phone 'interview' to assess the level of maturity, we increased the damage deposit and we had no problems. I suppose because of this I am willing to give a group of 18 year olds the benefit of the doubt...you can always get a clue from the email enquiry. It is very difficult not to stereotype groups like this. Our eldest Son (now 26)was a mature teenager at 18 and so were his circle of friends (who grew up with him from the age of 5), so I can put things into perspective. So far, my 'gut instincts' have been good...or maybe we've just been very lucky!
I would not under any circumstances accept a booking from a group of 17 years olds, especially after Patia's post.
John...congratulations! Glad to hear that you've finally got the compensation.
We have had in the past 2 lots of mixed groups of under 21's, and on both occasions I followed the enquiry with a phone call to do a sort of phone 'interview' to assess the level of maturity, we increased the damage deposit and we had no problems. I suppose because of this I am willing to give a group of 18 year olds the benefit of the doubt...you can always get a clue from the email enquiry. It is very difficult not to stereotype groups like this. Our eldest Son (now 26)was a mature teenager at 18 and so were his circle of friends (who grew up with him from the age of 5), so I can put things into perspective. So far, my 'gut instincts' have been good...or maybe we've just been very lucky!
I would not under any circumstances accept a booking from a group of 17 years olds, especially after Patia's post.
John...congratulations! Glad to hear that you've finally got the compensation.
Hi Crystal,
Firstly, I'm glad you found the Foreign Office link useful . . it's certainly something that has to be kept in mind for Spain isn't it.
Apart from that though, I find myself torn between what you say and what John says here. I have a (nearly) 17-year old and I think it does colour your thinking when you have recent experience with the late teens/early twenties youngsters. They're not all mad or bad by a long way, and it seems to me to be a fairly regular cry that they need to 'chill' after taking some of their major exams . . . and who can blame them.
I took one group of 8 early in the year where the organiser and his partner seemed to me to be pretty young, although I never did find out how young since he sounded so sensible on the 'phone that, in rather cowardly fashion, I decided he might find it rather insulting should I ask . . . I know . . . I know! The clincher for me there was that this was a family group, and they were visiting the Father of the organiser who now lives in Spain. I therefore knew they had somebody responsible to turn to close-by, but I still had the worry that he wouldn't actually be staying at our villa, and the youngsters would have the run of the place. There was a fairly major cleaning job at the end, and some rather minor damage but, since our (then) Agent didn't notice it before telling me it was OK to return their deposit and, since it was to a small piece of furniture that we were intending to replace in any case, I let it go.
I wonder if it bears out what John is saying here though, in the sense that it isn't always the mature-sounding person organising the holiday that causes the problem. Let's face it, any such group is likely to be headed by the most sensible one of the lot of them isn't it since the others will instinctively recognise that he's the best one for the job . . . and because he's probably the only one likely to agree to do all the work! If the others then run riot once they arrive, what is he to do though? On the one hand he will feel a responsibility towards the Owner with whom he has corresponded, and with whom he has built up some rapport . . . but on the other his friends (who have never spoken to the Owner) are likely to tell him to stop being so uptight, because they're on holiday.
Just some thoughts . . . I don't think there are any answers. You're probably right that we just have to continue to go with our gut instincts. Maybe a call to one, or better still two, sets of parents might help though, impressing on them that deductions will be made from the Security Deposit where necessary . . . or possibly setting a limit on numbers for such groups. I do find that, generally speaking, groups of 8 are more problematic than groups of 6 - maybe the greater the number then the greater the chance of the frivolity spiralling out of control.
Patia
Firstly, I'm glad you found the Foreign Office link useful . . it's certainly something that has to be kept in mind for Spain isn't it.
Apart from that though, I find myself torn between what you say and what John says here. I have a (nearly) 17-year old and I think it does colour your thinking when you have recent experience with the late teens/early twenties youngsters. They're not all mad or bad by a long way, and it seems to me to be a fairly regular cry that they need to 'chill' after taking some of their major exams . . . and who can blame them.
I took one group of 8 early in the year where the organiser and his partner seemed to me to be pretty young, although I never did find out how young since he sounded so sensible on the 'phone that, in rather cowardly fashion, I decided he might find it rather insulting should I ask . . . I know . . . I know! The clincher for me there was that this was a family group, and they were visiting the Father of the organiser who now lives in Spain. I therefore knew they had somebody responsible to turn to close-by, but I still had the worry that he wouldn't actually be staying at our villa, and the youngsters would have the run of the place. There was a fairly major cleaning job at the end, and some rather minor damage but, since our (then) Agent didn't notice it before telling me it was OK to return their deposit and, since it was to a small piece of furniture that we were intending to replace in any case, I let it go.
I wonder if it bears out what John is saying here though, in the sense that it isn't always the mature-sounding person organising the holiday that causes the problem. Let's face it, any such group is likely to be headed by the most sensible one of the lot of them isn't it since the others will instinctively recognise that he's the best one for the job . . . and because he's probably the only one likely to agree to do all the work! If the others then run riot once they arrive, what is he to do though? On the one hand he will feel a responsibility towards the Owner with whom he has corresponded, and with whom he has built up some rapport . . . but on the other his friends (who have never spoken to the Owner) are likely to tell him to stop being so uptight, because they're on holiday.
Just some thoughts . . . I don't think there are any answers. You're probably right that we just have to continue to go with our gut instincts. Maybe a call to one, or better still two, sets of parents might help though, impressing on them that deductions will be made from the Security Deposit where necessary . . . or possibly setting a limit on numbers for such groups. I do find that, generally speaking, groups of 8 are more problematic than groups of 6 - maybe the greater the number then the greater the chance of the frivolity spiralling out of control.
Patia
I've been reading through this and gaining good advice! I thought you might be interested in this article on the bbc site today, it was about Spain..
Stags should pay for embassy help
Spain is a popular destination for hen and stag parties
Britons on stag and hen parties abroad should be charged more often when they call on UK diplomats to bail them out of trouble say MPs.
....
"Where our nationals have landed themselves in trouble as a result of their own irresponsibility, the FCO should not hesitate to charge them for its services."
Full article here....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4924822.stm
I'm sure we'll end up facing this problem to some degree, as in Chamonix it is just impossible not to rent to large groups of men, that's a big part of the clientele.
It's a popular stag destination too, though we chose a place is quite a way from the bars deliberately to discourage stag parties...
People's experiences have given me a lot of food for thought and I'll talk about it with the agent, so thanks, everyone, for sharing
Stags should pay for embassy help
Spain is a popular destination for hen and stag parties
Britons on stag and hen parties abroad should be charged more often when they call on UK diplomats to bail them out of trouble say MPs.
....
"Where our nationals have landed themselves in trouble as a result of their own irresponsibility, the FCO should not hesitate to charge them for its services."
Full article here....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4924822.stm
I'm sure we'll end up facing this problem to some degree, as in Chamonix it is just impossible not to rent to large groups of men, that's a big part of the clientele.
It's a popular stag destination too, though we chose a place is quite a way from the bars deliberately to discourage stag parties...
People's experiences have given me a lot of food for thought and I'll talk about it with the agent, so thanks, everyone, for sharing