Left after 24 hours

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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annafern
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Left after 24 hours

Post by annafern »

Hi

I have been renting out for years and manage a few different properties for other owners.

I have had thousands of guests through my books and this has only ever happened once before, but different circumstances.

Its actually my property and one that i spend a lot of time in myself over the last 6 weeks, but not prior to this booking.

I have made it a home from home. It has stunning sea views and recent new balcony, new carpets and re decorated.

Guest arrived about 10pm saturday night. Apperently very bad journey but have only heard this from my neighbours. Incidentally the weather forecast for this coming week is horrendous and Sunday was particular bad.

This Cottage is cleaned by one of my best cleaners who takes a pride in her job and I have always had great reviews.

Guests did try to call my Sunday evening at abut 7pm but i was out of range of signal.

Today at 11.30 they called to say they had checked out yesterday because the property was disgusting !!!

I asked what was wrong and he said there was a terrible smell- cooking fat and he reckons a mouldy smell. I have never smelt anything and neither has my cleaner.

Went onto to say the carpets where dirty! (new carpets but a couple of little stains and ones we have attempted to remove but otherwise the carpet is clean)

Also reckons there were cobwebs and the two tiles in the bathroom floor are coming loose!!!

They have not asked yet, but i am sure a refund will be asked for.

I sent my neighbours round this morning to see what they saw and they have reported the house is immaculate ! It doesn't even look like the beds have been slept in, she even commented how well the bed linen was ironed. But one towel has been used and we know they did arrive at 10pm.

They did say there was a hint of a smell but all the doors where shut (which the cleaner always leaves open)

My T & C's say guests have to be given us the chance to rectify any issues, but clearly these guests have arrived and decided they don't really want their holiday so i have just checked out.

Not sure what to do as i feel this is totally uncalled for and they should have at least given us a call Sunday morning to tell us what was wrong.

What would you do?

:shock:
www.bluelagoon.co.uk www.uniqueholidaycottages.co.uk
I own two websites - Blue Lagoon which I use to market my own holiday cottages. I also own Unique Holiday Cottages - a directory of luxury holiday lets in England and Wales.
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

How strange! How upsetting for you!

I think I would not rush to do anything immediately until you hear more replies on the forum and wait and see what their next move is.
Do you let through an agent? Will there be any public reviews that you are worried about?

(One thing that strikes me is that if a towel has been used, are you sure a bed hasn't??? I would want to be sure in case your next guests arrive and find evidence of a bed with old bedding.)

Can you get to the property soon to see for yourself? It is quite unnerving to hear what the guests say then have to rely on someone else to let you know if everything is ok - can you trust your neighbours to be brutally honest and know exactly what standard you would expect. They may be inclined to try and be nice to you and take your side but that doesn't help you.

My inclination would be to resist any refund. We have had a number of posts recently about people who seem to cancel late or arrive and decide to cut their holiday short for one not very genuine reason or another and it is not a trend that should be encouraged.

Perhaps a short message to say that you are sorry they have left the property early, that you are investigating their comments and draw their attention to the T and Cs which state that they need to give you chance to rectify any problems. Say you regret they did not give you the opportunity to do so and leave it at that.

Try and focus on the positive feedback you have received from other recent guests - it's too easy to be devastated by comments that may not be entirely honest.
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

First off I think I'd ask Paolo to move this to Members Only as you are too easily identified.

The situation does need a bit of thought; right now all I can think of is collecting any relevant background information, such as how long ago the carpet and decorating were done, how long has the place been closed up between cleaning and the guests' arrival, and when were the cooker hood filters last cleaned (if relevant). And anything else that might leave a smell that could be noticeable on entry and before opening any windows.

It does sound rather like looking for excuses to leave, even prior to arrival.

One more thought for the moment - you're very experienced in letting - if your post was from someone else describing their situation, what would you advise them to do? (ie taking a step back and looking from a different perspective).

Hopefully there'll be some better suggestions along shortly.
gardenboy
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Post by gardenboy »

I am sorry to hear about this, I do all my own changeovers (well 99%) & my current guests complained it was dirty when they took it over. I did meet & greet, showed them round & they didn't say anything then.

Anyway, on hearing they thought it was dirty I asked exactly what the problem was. Bathroom floor they claimed had not been mopped & they said it smelt.

When cleaning I hoover with a dyson animal & mop with boiled water so it was clean. No-one has ever complained before in 300 cleans.

Also, to protect myself I do a walkthrough video on my phone - 4 mins worth of floors/cupboards/terrace etc. I watched the video & the place is spotless.

So I've seen the family when I did the pool & nothing more was said, I didn't present the video but would have done if they had made an issue out of it.

I've had a family abandon the house early 2 years ago. They threatened a bad review (unfounded) but I never heard from them again.
gh
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Post by gh »

Yes members area for this.
Annafern it's always a shock to receive complaints and not to take them personally. Though we do and it gripes.

I had a similar situation with a guest not long after we began renting, he emailed a picture of a cobweb. This was our French rental which is at least 200yrs old where cobwebs come back almost instantly after clearing. Mailed him explaining this, then other silly things were mentioned lizards insects OH can't stay here; back and forth it went until he called.
Do you know who I am? I wanted to say Why? have you bumped your head do you need medical attention? I didn't was quite professional through gritted teeth.

He did ask for compensation I said that I would not compensate for a cobweb lizard or insects seen during a stay at a country Farmhouse.
He was a partner in a city law firm. Bluff and buster on his part + high maintenance OH. They did stay on and the son left a nice note in our visitors book, super cool outdoor shower :-)
Turns out he was a partner in a law firm.

You trust your cleaner you know your rental I would stick to my guns should a refund be sought.
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annafern
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Post by annafern »

Thanks for all your replies!!

To answer some of your questions.

I rent out the property myself and don't have an agent.

I have had confirmed this afternoon by the cleaner that every bed was sleep in. She is so particular that she knows exactly how she made up each bed and the slightest misplacement of bed linen, throws and cushions, she knows they slept in each bed!! Does that not tell you something.

I totally trust my neighbour, they are honest and very out spoken.

Carpets where new at the end of last year!! There is only carpets in the bedrooms and upstairs as its a seaside location so all living areas are solid floor- sand can be an issue!

I will be there on Friday for another weeks stay. The place has not been locked up at all as i spend any week that was vacant and more!

Cooker hood was done at the beginning of the year. I don't fry food but off course i don't know what guests do, but seeing that i am now there over 70% of the time i don't feel thats an issue.

Yes, as we all know people can write bad reviews, which is totally unfair, so I am worried about this, although I am tempted to take it off the market totally !!

I really don't care who see's this post, as hand on heart, i know that property is perfect and the cleaner is the very best.

I don't live near any of my properties that i rent, so I have to rely on good cleaners.

My stance on this is to wait and see what happens next and any correspondence at this stage has to come from them.

Anna
www.bluelagoon.co.uk www.uniqueholidaycottages.co.uk
I own two websites - Blue Lagoon which I use to market my own holiday cottages. I also own Unique Holiday Cottages - a directory of luxury holiday lets in England and Wales.
Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

As they did not give you any chance to investigate their complaints or put things right for them, I think they have forfeited any rights to a refund.
Bunny
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Re: Left after 24 hours

Post by Bunny »

annafern wrote: My T & C's say guests have to be given us the chance to rectify any issues, but clearly these guests have arrived and decided they don't really want their holiday so i have just checked out.

What would you do?

:shock:
I wouldn't worry too much or do anything. I'd wait and see how they play it. They chose to leave which is their choice. IMO, their reasons are nothing to do with your cottage. It sounds to me that other things are going on with their lives. Bad journey, horrendous weather set to continue all week, who knows what else, but nothing that you have said above would justify leaving IMO, unless there really is a bad mould smell (and that seems unlikely). "Disgusting" seems a very strong word for the description of the complaints which all sound fairly minor to me.
rammy100
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Post by rammy100 »

+1 with bunny. I wouldn't do anything at all at this stage other than wait for them to contact you and see what they say.

If they do make contact then wait at least 24 hours, preferably longer imo, before you reply. It's not urgent so take your time, you've done nothing wrong so don't fret over it.
Here we go again........
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

annafern wrote:
I really don't care who see's this post, as hand on heart, i know that property is perfect and the cleaner is the very best.
No, but those looking to post replies, but with their own business to protect, might be reluctant to say what they think in a publicly accessible forum.

If the carpets were laid over 6 months ago there shouldn't be any residual smell from them.
Same with paint - the smell of some types of emulsion can be unpleasant (disgusting? No.) but it last for days, no more.

My thought with the cooker hood was that if it has washable filters they do tend to hold the smell of fried food - I can pick up on this but have a very sensitive sense of smell, plus I'm trying to find it IYSWIM. I'd hardly call it "disgusting" and I get used to it and dial it out very quickly. It's the only way I can think of that any cooking smell might linger for any length of time, and it's an unrealistic complaint. We wash our filters at most changeovers just by sticking them in the dishwasher with any other stuff, simply because it's simpler than trying to remember to do them on some fixed time period!

The question on how long it had been closed up was just down to the natural build-up of smell in the absence of circulating air - fixed within minutes of opening up. If it hadn't been used for say a week, I'd expect a slightly stale smell - so what?

Cobwebs? In a rural part of England we're quite pleased if we don't spot a cobweb while showing guests around when the property was meticulously cleaned a few hours ago. That's how quick the local spiders are. We all know the difference between cobwebs due to lack of attention in cleaning and cobwebs due to the very recent activity of industrious spiders.

Everything screams of looking for something to complain about and only finding trivia - and it sounds like they've looked really hard. Where's their evidence? Was the place so "disgusting"that they couldn't sleep in it? Apparently not.

These people are trying it on, they decided they wanted to be elsewhere for reasons that almost certainly have nothing to do with how the property was presented, and they may well have decided this before they arrived - where have they gone at such short notice that is so much better, or have they abandoned their holiday to return home (and if so, why........? ).
That's all conjecture, we won't know the answers.
The facts: you know the property was cleaned and prepared to a standard that has more than satisfied numerous previous guests.
The guests chose to leave citing issues which they have not shown you or you representative - and the smell must still have been there the day after arrival for them to choose to leave - they have not given you the opportunity to either make good or agree that the property was not acceptable and could not be made good within an agreed timescale (and we can only guess at the reasons for that.......), they have not made any effort to substantiate their complaint or justify their course of action in leaving. To put it bluntly, they're taking the piss or - worse - acting in a manner that it would not be wise to suggest in a public forum.

It might be an idea to ask them to confirm by email that they have vacated the property and cancelled their holiday, and ask for confirmation that you can therefore attempt to re-let the property in order to mitigate their losses (fat chance of course), and if you are successful you will be in a position to offer some level of refund; otherwise you will only be able to make a small repayment to cover unused utilities. That should more than cover any possible legal requirements I'd have thought - although IANAL.

But I'd wait to hear from others here for a good cross-section of thoughts and advice.
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teapot
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Post by teapot »

It's the same old story isn't it?
Guests make it their business to become judge, jury and executioner. That is a kangaroo court and any enquiry demands the evidence to support it and in fairness someone to represent you in the fact finding mission after all it's so serious they "Have to leave" but not serious enough obviously to want to point it out in person.
HelenB wrote:As they did not give you any chance to investigate their complaints or put things right for them, I think they have forfeited any rights to a refund.
Ditto if it's in the T&C's
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

teapot wrote:It's the same old story isn't it?
Guests make it their business to become judge, jury and executioner. That is a kangaroo court and any enquiry demands the evidence to support it and in fairness someone to represent you in the fact finding mission after all it's so serious they "Have to leave" but not serious enough obviously to want to point it out in person.
HelenB wrote:As they did not give you any chance to investigate their complaints or put things right for them, I think they have forfeited any rights to a refund.
Ditto if it's in the T&C's
Ditto whether or not it's in the T&Cs. Any court would expect the guests to act in a realistic manner. IANAL, of course.
gardenboy
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Post by gardenboy »

good ideas above - my alarm bell rings when a non conventional booking comes in - ie, non family. If they don't normally live together & decide to go on holiday together it's going to be stressful, if they have a big fall out they will look for problems to get some compensation.

I have had families come with kids bfs/gfs & the partners have been sent home early. Its a family holiday & anyone upsetting it is out.

So now when I see a tag along I video every last detail as potential defence.
brightmike
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Post by brightmike »

I think you need to deal with the current issue and then look at the complaint dispassionately to see if you can improve things for the future.

I think you said the property was renovated 8 years ago. Since the guest is claiming misrepresentation, are the photos from that time or are they current? Not trying to be negative but just trying to think like a guest. When I check in a guest I point them towards my feedback notepad and ask they write what they honestly think, positive and negative. This has been really helpful and has allowed me to make improvements.
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annafern
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Post by annafern »

There was nothing wrong with the Cottage. It was renovated 8 years ago but also went through a mini facelift 18 months ago.

Carpets are only 18 months old (15 months when he stayed) and soft furnishings in the lounge were updated then and that what it says on the details. All photos are currect.

I do take feedback and take it very seriously and the 3 feedback forms that were filled in by 3 sets of guests directly before this booking give Excellent on every item including cleanliness and decor.

And in add in a comment box where i ask, how can we improve on things they have said ' nothing needs improving the place perfect'

So you see he has no grounds what so ever and its simply a case of a holiday booked in August, weather bad, 4 kids nothing do and moaning.

End of story!!!
www.bluelagoon.co.uk www.uniqueholidaycottages.co.uk
I own two websites - Blue Lagoon which I use to market my own holiday cottages. I also own Unique Holiday Cottages - a directory of luxury holiday lets in England and Wales.
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