Honeymooners & burst water pipe :(

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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debk
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Honeymooners & burst water pipe :(

Post by debk »

What a mess!

30 minutes before a newlywed couple arrived from the States today, I was sitting in the kitchen of adorable Casa Pátria waiting for them when I heard "POP" and then a strange, loud clicking as water began gushing, gushing, gushing out the lower kitchen cabinets.

The strange, loud clicking (which our neighbor heard from inside his house!) was the water meter clocking the huge amount of water filling the kitchen. It was unbelievable. :shock:

The "pop"... well, we're still not quite sure what it was nor what will be required to fix it. If it's a break imbedded in the concrete walls behind the kitchen cabinets.... Aí, aí, aí... Plumber arrives at 9am tomorrow morning.

Thank God, we have another house directly across the lane (an upgrade for the guests) which was empty for the next two nights and half-way clean. I took the guests on the tour of the neighborhood and then sent them off with keys to both houses and €100 for a really nice dinner... and husband and I cleaned and linen-ed the other house like madmen.

The guests are being wonderfully gracious. But I don't think they'll be so gracious if Casa Pátria is still waterless Thursday morning when they have to vacate the house they are in.

The silver lining: I am *so glad* I was there when this happened. Sometimes the house is empty for days and the whole thing would have flooded. Or might have flooded a guest's belongings. Makes me sick to think about it. So I won't.

OK. Now I'm off to call about short-notice availability at some local hotels... definitely NOT the preferred backup plan... oh, my, oh, my...
debk
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Sue Dyer
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Post by Sue Dyer »

Deb, I deeply sympathise. We've had to put guests into a hotel on Saturday night then they headed for home on Sunday with a full refund despite the offer of further nights in the very nice Blue Bell Hotel. :-( (Not so much the heat a problem as no hot water)

We got a brand new boiler (Baxi) in February and it broke down after a month. It had filled up with water and needed totally replaced, that took 4 weeks and had to refund a set of guests.

Second brand new boiler fitted which has ran until Saturday when the ignition has failed. As it is under warranty only Baxi can repair/assess it. No chance of getting hold of them over the weekend so had to wait until yesterday. They were very unsympathetic and told us that our problems are not their problems, they are just obliged to fix it with no obligation. They are coming tomorrow and I know from their previous M.O. they'll look at it then, order parts in and then we.... wait. No amount of reasoning and shouting at them will make them see how unreasonable this is.

I got onto a consumer site which is part of the Office of Fair Trading. I rang and they have suggested I may be entitled to compensation for loss thru Sale of Goods Act, blah blah and have given me a template letter to send. Anyone else had experience of claiming for losses due to breakdown/poor workmanship/crap boiler/being the unluckiest person on the planet? I'm prepared to take this to a small claims court if I'm advised I have a fair case.

Deb, I know exactly how you feel. To say I'm pissed off is an understatement. We've bookings thru until almost October and I've no confidence in Baxi or the boiler anymore. What more can we do? We shelled out for a brand new one and had another since. I'm totally at a loss. I'm having to do contingency plans for Saturday's guests just in case Baxi run true to form.

Deb and I need a virtual group hug please. :cry:
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enid
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Post by enid »

Well here's my share of the group hug for both of you - what a headache - makes my moans seem insignificant. Fingers and toes crossed for you both. :(
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Debk & Sue,

In the long run you will get your problems fixed even if you have to fight tooth and nail but that’s not the point, is it?

The point is that your guests have been disappointed.

Responding to these disasters is not too difficult for me because I live on site and have en-suite guest bedrooms in my own house. How I would otherwise deal with these things I have no idea.

Here’s hoping you have understanding guests – I’m sure they have sympathetic hosts.

Alan
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debk
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Post by debk »

Oh, Sue. Big hug to you. Thank you for sharing. Helps to lighten the load in some strange way, you know?

We, too, had a long (14 month) fight starting the very day of installation of central heat for our main rental. Every guest was touch-and-go because sometimes the heater worked and sometimes not. I couldn't even warn someone ahead of time because the heater might work perfectly for weeks straight and then *poof* start turning itself off at odd times. (As opposed to your situation, our winters are mild and all the guests felt it was a minor inconvenience at most. Else I would never have lasted 14 months without signing into a mental health facility.) Fortunately, once we FINALLY got Mr. Guru from the Manufacturer to show up in Feb 2006 he agreed to what I had been saying: the heater was faulty from day of install in Dec 2004. Switched it out and has worked like a charm ever since. So.... the really GOOD news is that when you finally get a boiler that works well, the relief will be TREMENDOUS. :lol: :lol:

I think I'll avoid the brand "Baxi."

Hang in there!
debk
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debk
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Post by debk »

En-suite... Alan, now THERE's an idea. Wonder how the honeymooners would enjoy bunking with our 10 year old son and new puppy?

Ah, I needed a chuckle. Feeling much better now!
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Post by Guest3 »

Deb, what happened to you would be our worst nightmare, especially now at the start of the high season as most hotels are fully booked (and our groups are usually families of up to 9 people). We don't have any alternative accommodation to offer, so I couldn't even think about what to do in such a crisis!
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Bellywobble
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Post by Bellywobble »

Gosh, what awful stories! Hugs all round, I think.Hope everything turns out OK.
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debk
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Post by debk »

Thanks, Kayley, muchly appreciated.

Yes, Crystal, reading your note I realized I should also be thankful that this is just one couple. I did check and, thankfully, one of the local hotels that I would recommend is indeed available at, gulp, €295/night. Horrible as that is, it's a last-minute special and actually very good news because most everything is booked with "RockinRio" starting here soon, on top of high season.

Gads, imagine if I had six people to put up... :cry:

I'm feeling much better though, thanks to LMH!
debk
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Debk,
En-suite... Alan, now THERE's an idea. Wonder how the honeymooners would enjoy bunking with our 10 year old son and new puppy?
I think "her indoors" would have a question or two if there was a 10 year old son around. Actually so would I except at the age of 70 I’ve forgotten what causes it.

Most people like the fluffy towels and they all love the Burmese kittens because they’re cuddly.

Fluffy
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Post by la vache! »

I'm so sorry for you both, I do hope you manage to get things fixed OK and don't lose out financially. It is a nightmare - but you are both doing everything possible and scenarios like this happen unfortunately - it is impossible for everything to be 100% all the time, especially electical appliances ,and utlilities!
If I were a guest in that situation, I would really appreciate all you are doing. I think that most people are aware that things can go wrong and you are very much in he hands of other people in that instance. Good luck to you both in getting everything sorted!
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Sue Dyer
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Post by Sue Dyer »

Thanks all.

I'll keep you posted when the ****** from Baxi comes tomorrow, if he turns up :twisted:

Lucky the chip shop woman has my keys. The whole village knows my boiler saga. I'm expecting to see it in The Northumberland Gazette this week. Ah, worse things happen I guess.... Only 8 years left on the mortgage then I can wave the rentals bye bye if I want.
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Post by cromercrabholiday »

Alan Knighting wrote:
Most people like the fluffy towels and they all love the Burmese kittens because they’re cuddly.

Fluffy
Burmese - half dogs. Our elderly one is wandering round the house complaining about the service, must check the food bowl. The younger one has grown bigger than any we've had before and is completely stupid. He loves his belly being tickled (not chest), whereas a mog would take your hand off if you touched him there. The only problem is that he has a predeliction for using the stair carpet as a scratching post.

John
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Post by Nightowl »

ooh Deb, Sue, what horrible luck....that's my worst nightmare scenario... we are not on site at our house so something like a water leak would just gush and gush... doesn't bear thinking about.

Well I hope getting it all fixed isn't as much of a headache as it all sounds ... another big hug....
Nightowl
Forever going one step forwards and two
backwards......
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Post by A-two »

Debk, you poor thing! Hopefully by the time you read this the problem will have been solved and not proved to be worst case scenario. If not, and you can't put off the new arrivals that would displace honeymooners from accommodation they are now occupying, then you have found them great alternative accomodation, so problem is solved. Well done.

Strangely enough, it's probably bothering the honeymooners a lot less than it's bothering you. On our honeymoon, we couldn't have cared less if the world fell apart. Remember that feeling? We wouldn't have noticed even, or if we did, we took it in our stride and just laughed.

You're working all the miracles you can and none of this is your fault as I'm sure they appreciate. Don't beat yourself up, but if it helps you feel better, and since they are from the US, feel free to offer them a 10% discount on my place for any available week between now and their first anniversary. The honeymoon that keeps on giving.... :-)

Hugs

Sue,
Not forgetting your problems, I too sympathise and offer the same as above. I would be tempted to insist they repair the old boiler and install a new one, so you have 2 boilers this time around, with the extra one as a back up! Seriously, I actually saw two identical boilers installed in a new house here last week, and when I asked why, I was told that one was a backup, which tells me something about how reliable the builders think the boilers are these days! Personally, our backup is a generator, which I had thought put us a step ahead of most, but given the above, I fear we are now relegated to the poor man's version of what the real high flyers are doing! Your cottage looks gorgeous. Yep, it definitely deserves two boilers courtesy of Baxi.

More hugs
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