Arguement with a previous guest

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
Nightowl
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Re: Arguement with a previous guest

Post by Nightowl »

Highams Park Harry wrote: My sister reckoned on at least three hours hard slog to sort it all out and we agreed a fee of £60 from the guest's damage deposit, I emailed them to inform of that, no reply until last night.
Just being devil's advocate here .... isn't £20 an hour for cleaning a bit ...well....steep?

I agree that they SHOULD pay for the extra cleaning, but maybe their point is that 3 hours cleaning shouldn't cost £60 but about £30.
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Highams Park Harry
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Post by Highams Park Harry »

yes it is steep but that's what my sister charged, she's very busy doing property management and some other jobs and really doesn't want to be spending hours doing extra cleaning, a great deal of it was for the oven and hob which apparently had ten days worth of cooking and spills baked and burnt on to it

we don't have an acutal cleaner as such as we've never needed one before.

perhaps in future I'll have a different rate but the general atmosphere at the time was that they'd really taken the piss and deserved all they got
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Nessie
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Post by Nessie »

Highams Park Harry wrote: we don't have an acutal cleaner as such as we've never needed one before.
Who would normally clean for you then in between lets,have to agree with Knightowl i feel the extra hourly charge is steep, that over 30 euros an hour, my cleaner would die for that.
If you dont have a cleaner could the oven have been an oversight when they arrived. Have to say i think 30 pounds is or would have been a fair deal, will be interesting to see what they do
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Nightowl
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Post by Nightowl »

...and also.. I can't quite accept that 10 days of burnt on anything could possibly take more than about an hour to remove at the worst estimate... I'm not the best of housewives at home (OK I admit it) and my oven is lucky to get a wipe around every couple of weeks or so. I do cook all sorts in it and stuff does get spilled and burnt on but it doesn't take more than a bit of a soak with a wet cloth and some Mr Muscle to get it off and clean again - and I certainly don't have an hour to spare doing it either.

I can appreciate that it wasn't just the oven that needed doing but you said the oven took most of the time... I just don't get it... nothing can get welded on THAT hard in 10 days...

Sorry, Harry, I'm not trying to pick on you, but I think that the reason your guests have been so nasty about this is that they feel you have charged them an unreasonable amount.
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cromercrabholiday
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Post by cromercrabholiday »

I'm in two minds on the last couple of posts. I agree that you should be charging the extra cost, not a fine, for extra cleaning but you can incur premium costs to do so.

When our cottage was left in a state by a crowd of lads, we paid our cleaners double time for coming in on a Sunday. They came in from 7am until noon and it was a grotty job dealing with stale beer and vomit. We did not charge for our own time but did charge our car mileage in having to go there (which was 300 miles at 40p, so wasn't cheap!). We did get all the costs claimed from the renter, but did not feel compensated for the time and trouble that the little buggers had caused.

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Post by la vache! »

I'm interested in the "never needed a cleaner before" Harry! Did the previous week's guests always clean up enough to make the property ready for the next guests? I would charge about 13€ an hour for any excess cleaning charges, which is what my cleaner cost me (including social charges).
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

We don't have an acutal cleaner as such as we've never needed one before.
I am guessing that's because Harry and "her indoors" do the cleaning themselves and not because their place is never cleaned.

Joan normally does our cleaning but if she needs help she has a lovely local lady who will come in at a moment's notice. Her hourly rate is exactly as Susan says - 13€.

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Nightowl
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Post by Nightowl »

£20 an hour equates to an annual salary of £36,400!!!! I know she probably wouldn't normally charge that much but it IS a lot ...if it was poo or vomit then definitely they deserve to pay that much .... but for general dirt and grime it's pushing it....

just my 'umble opinion.....
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Highams Park Harry
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Post by Highams Park Harry »

We live in London sadly and my sister manages the plave for us, she's charges me a flat fee for changeovers which includes sprucing the place up ready for the next people

So anywhere between a light buff and check to sweeping and mopping

She said an hour for the cooker, it's a big five ring range affair, apparently more or less covered inside and out with everything they'd cooked over the stay, sauces and food on the floor all caked on, bathrooms uncleaned throughout, a stain on one of the chest of drawers, baby oil perhaps, that has since resisted being cleaned up, it's a big house and so takes a lot of cleaning I guess when it's left dirty

yeah the rate made me blink but that's what she said, she's a busy girl and clearly didn't feel awfully keen to clean up someone elses crap

we don't have an actual dedicated cleaner was my point

I've have settled this one but th eone thing that galled me was the whole bullying approcah, the legal threat with deadline and the threat of their costs etc etc, if they'd said it was a bit steep, fair enough, but I got a litany of allegations about the condition of the property when they arrived that I cannot believe at all
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LaLuz
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Post by LaLuz »

I would think that the term "unusually dirty" could be open to misinterpretation.

I don't think I'd expect to have to do a thorough clean before I left a holiday rental, especially with a 10am check out.

Neither do I expect my guests to that's why I employ a cleaner to do it between lets. All I ask guest's to do is leave the house tidy and remove their rubbish from the house on departure.

Some guests do go to town with the cleaning but I see that as a bonus (for my cleaner) not a requirement.
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

So anywhere between a light buff and check to sweeping and mopping
Crikey! I sometimes get away with this occasonally with French guests, but rarely with UK guests. I always have to clean the bathrooms, even after French guests (there are always stray hairs, apologies if you are eating your dinner). I had a family of 4 who were in for a couple of weeks who left on Saturday - it took my cleaner and me two hours to clean up the mess - they hadn't touched any cleaning products, or the hoover or mop during their stay and the place was very dirty, there is no way a light buff would have sufficed - dirty fingerprints everywhere! Not to mention re-arranging the furniture and finishing off the washing up they left (yes, there is a dishwasher). I didn't deduct any money from the deposit as sometimes this happens - they might come back and if I deducted any money they certainly wouldn't, nor would they recommend my place to friends. Grandma wasn't there, unfortunately!
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Post by Hells Bells »

La Luz, I agree, and so far my guests have been exemplary, except for an english family with teens. I do ask them to empty the fridge and leave the kitchen area clean though, as that's only basic hygeine that it should be kept clean all week. I would not expect our cleaner to have to scrub the cooker.
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Ju
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Post by Ju »

I guess it depends on what the renters expect, ie what is written into the contract.

We regularly have to scrub the oven, and the BBQ, and the baths ... All we ask is that the dishwasher is loaded and dirty dishes are not left, we do the rest. Even the cleanest of guests have required bathrooms and kitchens to be cleaned and floors mopped; and how many guests are going to vac underneath the beds?

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Post by Hells Bells »

On several occasions last Winter, our cleaner reported that all she needed to do was clean the windows and mirrors. The oven, hob and fridge were all clean. Even the party of men. (No offence intended). Bathroom too.
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enid
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Post by enid »

On several occasions last Winter, our cleaner reported that all she needed to do was clean the windows and mirrors.
This happens to us too - but I see that as a bonus - I agree with everyone else that I hope guests will take away all rubbish and leave our gites clean but I always do my own clean and thorough check for the next guests.
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