Paolo,
To bleep or not to bleep. That is the question.
Deirdre,
They got 14 days at the price of 10! They rejected independent opinion! They rejected a suitable alternative!
If I were you I would hold my ground and tell them to bleep off. Replace bleep with a word of your own choice.
Regards
Alan
dissatisfied clients
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Alan Knighting
- Posts: 4120
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:26 am
- Location: Monflanquin, Lot-et-Garonne, France
guests
Last year I rented our property in Spain to a couple for 5 weeks in the winter at £100 per week. This included all their bills, sky TV. When they got back I got a nasty phone call saying how much they hated it and how his wife cried whilst there because it was so awful and the photos weren't how it looked on the web (well can't see that, they were exactly how they looked!)
Along his long list of complaints was
dust on the skirting board, couldn't sit outside on the patio set as it was 'dusty' and they didn't see why they should clean it, light in the kitchen was so bad at night the wife couldn't see to cook, loungers were too flimsy for him to sit on (he said he was 19stone) three piece suite needed to go to the tip.......
I was so shocked I couldn't get my brain together to say anything in my defence and afterwards was very angry and upset, he wasn't asking for any money back but he was so hostile, if it was that bad he should have said right at the beginning!!
They paid £7.14 each per night, this was not the ritz and was never meant to be the ritz!!
Since then I have learned that you just cannot please all the people all the time and never never barter on price ! So as Alan said tell them to bleep off
Along his long list of complaints was
dust on the skirting board, couldn't sit outside on the patio set as it was 'dusty' and they didn't see why they should clean it, light in the kitchen was so bad at night the wife couldn't see to cook, loungers were too flimsy for him to sit on (he said he was 19stone) three piece suite needed to go to the tip.......
I was so shocked I couldn't get my brain together to say anything in my defence and afterwards was very angry and upset, he wasn't asking for any money back but he was so hostile, if it was that bad he should have said right at the beginning!!
They paid £7.14 each per night, this was not the ritz and was never meant to be the ritz!!
Since then I have learned that you just cannot please all the people all the time and never never barter on price ! So as Alan said tell them to bleep off
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Alan Knighting
- Posts: 4120
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:26 am
- Location: Monflanquin, Lot-et-Garonne, France
Meishka,
If your web site pictures give an accurately impression of your property this chap was talking absolute rhubarb. People like that probably don't dust at home so their attitude will be, why should they when on holiday?
You agreed on £100 per week for two people, to include all bills? If that is not cheaper than living at home the chap must live in an absolute hovel. He could hardly ask for money back - he didn't pay enough in the first place. I don't think that "beep" would have been included in the words I used when dealing with his "complaints"!
What a generous person you must be. Have you any other favourite charities and are they as equally grateful for your contributions?
PS Your pool picture is still one of the best around.
Regards
Alan
If your web site pictures give an accurately impression of your property this chap was talking absolute rhubarb. People like that probably don't dust at home so their attitude will be, why should they when on holiday?
You agreed on £100 per week for two people, to include all bills? If that is not cheaper than living at home the chap must live in an absolute hovel. He could hardly ask for money back - he didn't pay enough in the first place. I don't think that "beep" would have been included in the words I used when dealing with his "complaints"!
What a generous person you must be. Have you any other favourite charities and are they as equally grateful for your contributions?
PS Your pool picture is still one of the best around.
Regards
Alan
£100 a week for 2 people!Crikey,can I book???Wow,like Fluffy said, it's cheaper than being at home!!!!! Must have been a horrid individual 
www.thepetitmanoir.com
www.thepetitmanoir.com
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Hells Bells
- Posts: 13173
- Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:42 am
- Location: French Alps
- Contact:
Thanks Alan for comments re piccys of pool, I do rather like it meself and couldn't have done it without the help of the forum so I thank everyone for that too!! I know the 'spiders' aren't supposed to like it etc etc for web placings but it is our pool and I just have to have it there!!
Regarding the price one would think that the Costa Blanca is easy to rent out in winter but its actaully very difficult, I suspect its because of the explosion of properties that are out there and renting , too much competition etc and it does appear that that is the going price so if anyone fancys a week in the sun for £100 email me! Having said that I have someone interested for 6 months from October, again seems to be difficult to secure a long let, there are a lot of time wasters out there and this particluar guy was supposed to send a deposit cheque by yesterday but no sign yet........which does bring me onto the ratio of enquiries to bookings, I think mine are not very good and don't really know why unless, as I said before, theres too much competition out there, I know if they have emailed me they have probably emailed 20 other people too, wonder how is the best way to 'nail' them???
Having done the 40 euros odd extra charge on top (which a lot of other properties do) and discarded that, now do the same price with everything included (and the meet/greet with the keys) because I believe people only really want to pay one price I still don't feel I have the 'edge'
sorry for long post if you have all fallen alseep!!!!
Regarding the price one would think that the Costa Blanca is easy to rent out in winter but its actaully very difficult, I suspect its because of the explosion of properties that are out there and renting , too much competition etc and it does appear that that is the going price so if anyone fancys a week in the sun for £100 email me! Having said that I have someone interested for 6 months from October, again seems to be difficult to secure a long let, there are a lot of time wasters out there and this particluar guy was supposed to send a deposit cheque by yesterday but no sign yet........which does bring me onto the ratio of enquiries to bookings, I think mine are not very good and don't really know why unless, as I said before, theres too much competition out there, I know if they have emailed me they have probably emailed 20 other people too, wonder how is the best way to 'nail' them???
Having done the 40 euros odd extra charge on top (which a lot of other properties do) and discarded that, now do the same price with everything included (and the meet/greet with the keys) because I believe people only really want to pay one price I still don't feel I have the 'edge'
sorry for long post if you have all fallen alseep!!!!
Discounts and stroppy guests
It seems to me that people looking specifically for discounts are those who generally try things on. The first poster's guests sound like a typical example of people who complain in the hope of some sort of discount - perhaps on the basis that if they achieve one discount, they can acquire another!
There are actually professional complainers out there. I knew of a solicitor who always complained about holidays on the basis that he would usually get some sort of compensation - presumably with the backup that his status would intimidate, implying he would go to court if not satisfied! What a creep.
I'm glad 'drearyogre' didn't offer any compensation, and don't worry about the legal threat. People are too lazy to follow things up, as the legal process is lengthy, expensive and there's no guarantee they will win their case. (Plus they would have to pay costs if they lost.) Holiday Law cases are dealt with by a Judge in chambers with a rep from the complainant and holiday provider. They will only rule compensation if a case is valid, and the amounts are not over-generous, unless someone has a very strong case.
I would recommend, however, that all property owners put everything in writing (preferably sent recorded mail) to prove they have tried to satisfy any concerns. It wouldn't hurt to write a letter outlining what you understood to be their complaints, and your response, to send to the disgruntled guests. Although it would be very hard for them to prove there was a smell (perhaps that's why they chose that complaint?) it would be equally hard to prove there wasn't, so outlining your offer of an independent inspector would immediately show them to be unreasonable in refusing.
A final comment re Meishka - if a property is too cheap, it might a) attract the 'wrong sort' of guest and b) give the impression that it is not worth its rental, even if it's a palace! If you put the price up, you might discourage some punters (perhaps a good thing!) but the increased price would compensate for less bookings.
There are actually professional complainers out there. I knew of a solicitor who always complained about holidays on the basis that he would usually get some sort of compensation - presumably with the backup that his status would intimidate, implying he would go to court if not satisfied! What a creep.
I'm glad 'drearyogre' didn't offer any compensation, and don't worry about the legal threat. People are too lazy to follow things up, as the legal process is lengthy, expensive and there's no guarantee they will win their case. (Plus they would have to pay costs if they lost.) Holiday Law cases are dealt with by a Judge in chambers with a rep from the complainant and holiday provider. They will only rule compensation if a case is valid, and the amounts are not over-generous, unless someone has a very strong case.
I would recommend, however, that all property owners put everything in writing (preferably sent recorded mail) to prove they have tried to satisfy any concerns. It wouldn't hurt to write a letter outlining what you understood to be their complaints, and your response, to send to the disgruntled guests. Although it would be very hard for them to prove there was a smell (perhaps that's why they chose that complaint?) it would be equally hard to prove there wasn't, so outlining your offer of an independent inspector would immediately show them to be unreasonable in refusing.
A final comment re Meishka - if a property is too cheap, it might a) attract the 'wrong sort' of guest and b) give the impression that it is not worth its rental, even if it's a palace! If you put the price up, you might discourage some punters (perhaps a good thing!) but the increased price would compensate for less bookings.