List of complaints a mile long from our latest guests

[Big Sis..]

Thanks for that Joanna,

Im ok now[just had an email from the last guest saying how nice it all was] so that helps.

It wasnt really a guest comment book....It was a large info book that Id compiled[twice] one for each house.If it was I think I should have expected comments good or bad...amd it was in margins etc so cant even rip it out....

Id taken quite a bit of time and got
Where to go info leaflets ,cards for restaurants, directions, maps etc.How far to places...
Also info on the houses.
It just annoys me that it was in this state for other guests to see.

It was just the pettinness really and the bad language,I think Ive narrowed it down to a couple of teenagers who were there with there parents....probably a bit fed up one afternoon....
[after telling myself I wasnt going to think about it>>>>>]

Though I realise its nothing really and if this is all Ive got to worry about I should count myself lucky.

Im normally quite an up sort of person but I think it caught me on a bit of a down.

Of course My friends here at LMH got me past that and Im OK Now.

Going out on the 19th so I will do it again....[even better]

[Giddy Goat]

Following on from Joanna's post.

...or even rescue as many of the unspoilt guest comments that you can, and glue them into the new edition.

I didn't realise that the whole book had been graffiti'ed?

What a shame - the book must have taken hours of time and thought to compile. What sort of upbringing have these kids had, one wonders?

[Sue Dyer]

What sort of upbringing have these kids had, one wonders?

Probably similar to the morons near us who grafitti and scribble over the bus timetables and information so no one can read them.

Oh, I heard a great Charva (or Chav) kids name on the bus the other day. The (young) mother finished her lengthy and descriptive phone call then turned to her son and said "Jack Daniel, time to get off". Dave and I debated whether he has a sister called "Bicardi Breezer" or "and Coke".

[Rocket Rab]

Hi Ros,

Just read your guest book thread, and thought I'd let you know you have my sympathy - in sackfuls! What a mindless thing to do, I know it would upset me no end. You have to dismiss it, I suppose, but it's very hard to do.

[Bellywobble]

As a mother of 3 teenagers, I would like to know if my kids behave badly, so I can murder them! If mine were ever to do something like that ( and any mother knows how stupid they can be) ( not mine, I'm sure they are angels), I would want to know, so I could deal with it.
Is there any way you could, very tactfully ( then build the equivalent of an air raid shelter) mention what they have done?Send photos of the book and ask if it was like that when they arrived, maybe? if it was these teenagers, then they really should be made to have some consideration for others.

[Giddy Goat]

That's a good point - I can't ask my guests which of them 'borrowed' my seriously nice shopping basket, but parents should be informed about what their children may have been up to so they can take the necessary steps to discipline them/ help them understand right from wrong. If that means a polite email explaining that x has happened and you are trying to establish the facts, it's then over to the parents to quiz their little darlings and extract the truth from them. You may never hear the outcome, but at least you have done what you can to ensure that the episode, or a similar one, isn't repeated elsewhere.

[A-two]

Personally, I wouldn't. The damage to your info book is done, it has no monetary value, teenagers don't admit stuff like this, and it's not our job to teach other people how to raise their children. In my view, there is nothing to be gained except upsetting yourself again.

I can only hope that eventually you'll view the whole sorry saga as them having done you a favor. After all, I'm sure the next version of your information book is going to be even more wonderful than the first, and since it will be right up to date, your future guests will certainly appreciate your recent efforts.

Make it a great day!

[Rocket Rab]

Have to say I agree with Joanna on that one - if only because you are likely to get all upset again. Or worse, it might lead to more aggro...

[Rocket Rab]

Blimey, piccy's not very good folks...It's meant to be a rhino grazing peacefully but you need binoculars to spot him (or her). Probably taken at a very safe distance. I can't remember, but I know I was on a horse at the time.....

[Big Sis..]

Thanks to everyone,

I ve decided to ignore it now..............

Its not the end of the world I was just a bit peeved at the time. Iys not really the effort putting it all together[I quite enjoyed it and will again Im sure[& it will be better]
Going out in a couple of weeks so probably be annoyed again also when I see it will probably know who it was by the comments....

If I did follow it up they will know that they got some reaction and it will probably give them a bit of a kick[wish I could give them a bit of a kick ]

Were probably silly giving them this much attention.....

I might be being unkind by saying teenagers ,it could have been be anybody.......

I stuck up for one in the shop the other day as he was waiting to be served the assistant called him up and an old boy who was waiting really shouted at him for pushing in....
he blushed and apologised....and left.....He Didnt push in I said which queue were you in?
Both of them he said[hed stood in the middle] so the assistant said No! I called him fwd thought you were in the other queue...I was in what ever queue...was served first ....he mumbled....
I said I know the lad and he wouldnt have pushed in
He shuffled out muttering.....

I dont want to be that old man[or woman] so lets just say a person did it!!![whos a bit of a twit]

Thanks to everyone whos took the time to post

[Giddy Goat]

Personally, I wouldn't. The damage to your info book is done, it has no monetary value, teenagers don't admit stuff like this, and it's not our job to teach other people how to raise their children. In my view, there is nothing to be gained except upsetting yourself again.

Yes. My comments made yesterday: you're right Joanna. Mid-life moment.

When you come back, let us know if it was as bad as it sounded Ros, but otherwise focus on Volume II.

[Partridge]

Yes, how sad it is that anyone who has brought up kids in the last decade knows that the days of giving 'little Johnny' up the road a clip round the ear has long gone

[annedab]

This was our first summer of renting and everything has passed off without incident (phew!) but I was also pretty appalled by what some people write in the visitors book. We had some lovely comments along with a few constructive, and valid, suggestions which we have taken on board. When we have visited with young relatives we always encourage them to write something, draw a picture....whatever, but one family had let all their children scrawl over several pages with some odd comments - amongst other things, the house was haunted (sorry "hornted") and they were terrified by the ghosts. The final straw for them was that they turned on the TV "but it was all in French so we had to turn it off".
That will be on account of being in France probably.
The adults do not appear to have written anything themselves, although it is hard to tell as these were the parents who e mailed us entirely in text speak and demanded a detailed itinerary for their visit to Disneyland Paris.
Our lovely French neighbours seem to have had a great summer making friends with our guests, organising football tournaments in their garden etc, but they told us that when they tried to say hello they were looked at like alien life forms! Slightly off topic, but the cleaner said that when they left, the basement bar was full of Baileys bottles filled with.....well, let's just say it wasn't Baileys....they refute this as all their children were girls!!!!!! The mind boggles.
That said, we are booked for New Year and already have filled much of the summer. Bring it on!

[Giddy Goat]

Makes you wonder why they went to France, doesn't it Anne! As for the visitors' book - and the Baileys bottles of... !!

Ros, you haven't told us what your visitors book looked like when you saw it - as bad as expected, better..?

[la vache!]

The final straw for them was that they turned on the TV "but it was all in French so we had to turn it off".
That will be on account of being in France probably.

It is a thing that some people disapprove of, but we (amongst quite a few other gite owners) provide UK satellite TV in the gites and it maybe something that is expected now (I don't want to get into the arguements for and against). If you advertise a TV, maybe it would be better to specify that is is French TV only to avoid any confusion.
I sympathise on the neightbour front - we have lovely French neighbours and some guests can't even bring themselves to say 'bonjour', which is really rude, IMHO.