Advice - I may be losing my perspective!

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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Mouse
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Advice - I may be losing my perspective!

Post by Mouse »

I have just recovered from another changeover day. This was the family who originally wanted me to accept 11 people in our 4 bed villa. (the extra was a couple with 3 children under eight).

Well thankfully I said no. The 'friends' found somewhere else close by. 'Can they come around to eat with us tonight' said our guest. Yes I replied but you will struggle with crockery and they must respect our neighbours.

Well - the place was in uproar most of the week. The 'friends' visited every day to use the pool with their 3 kids. The noise was horrendous as there were now 8 kids in our pool all screaming at the top of their voices! Sometimes at 10 at night!I was round to them at least 3/4 times asking them not to scream and explaining to guest that we were not capable of hosting so many bodies. Each time she assured me she would speak with them....but I don't think she did. I think she wanted to avoid tackling them about their lack of parental interest/control and prefered me to do it!?
Thankfully the friends were here only for 1 week.

When I went up to clean mid week, both weeks the place was unbelievably dirty......how in such a short time I don't know. I ended up bleaching the kitchen every cleaning day (every 3/4 days) and the walls were so bad with marks that I ended up PAINTING them!!

Now - here's were I need your advice. After all this I have the following damage which I am charging for;
A ruined towel (bleach marks)
A ruined fitted sheet (black wheel tracks from a suitcase)
Cleaning of the BBQ area (outlined on the departure notes)

however......they have also managed to put red fingerprints on the side of the white kettle. I think it must be tomato sauce but I can not get it out and it makes the kettle look dirty. Should I charge for it? And if so should it be the full replacement cost?

I want to charge - and the full replacement cost. But then I am annoyed about the way they treated the house. However my annoyance may be making me a bit petty as the kettle is still usuable...it just doesn't look clean anymore (even though it is)

I actually want to charge them for the time I spent painting the wall to get it looking decent for the next guests....but I think that would be a bit over the top do you think?

Mouse (who has taken a couple of 'quiet life' pills and is calming down)
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Bellywobble
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Post by Bellywobble »

If a wall needed to be painted I would charge for it. They don't need to know it was you that did the painting, the point is that it needed doing. Just charge for the time it took.
If you can't get the marks off, then charge for a new kettle.(Have you tried "vanish"? I find it brilliant for that type of thing.) It doesn't matter if it still works, if it's not fit to be put out for guests it needs to be replaced.
These people clearly did not respect your property so off with their heads! Sorry, meant to say charge them :)
A-two
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Post by A-two »

Mouse,
I just charged $175 for repainting a wall that had been crayoned on. It doesn't matter who does the work, charge the going rate for the job. However, I would only charge 50% of the replacement cost of the kettle. This is because it wasn't new when you gave it to them, therefore, you are only asking them to replace the life it still had in it, not it's whole life, if that makes sense.

I don't see anything extra for cleaning or utilities on your list, both of which will be higher if the extra people were showering and eating there for a whole week. Asking if their friends could pop round one night for a meal is not the same thing as using your house and all its amenties for a whole week. Unless they had your prior agreement in writing for the extra people to be included, I would forfeit 100% of the deposit for that reason alone, but it depends what your agreement states. Ours clearly states that if they exceed the agreed occupancy limits, including day visitors, the deposit is forfeit in full, and since they were happy to agree to that condition, there's no argument.
Last edited by A-two on Mon Aug 28, 2006 8:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

Mouse, I have just had guests in for 2 weeks, our first 2 week booking. The place took longer than usual to clean, and I am considering taking our extra cleaning charge from the deposit, although the lady who does the changeovers says not to. They also smashed quite a few glasses (wouldn't normally charge though), and managed to put a foot through the wicker waste bin.
What is it with suitcases? I noticed quite a few marks on our walls on our last visit, which were probably caused by them.
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vrooje
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Post by vrooje »

To me, the painted kettle and the bleach-marked towel are the same situation. They may both still perform their function, but that doesn't mean they aren't ruined. A hotel certainly wouldn't serve dinner on stained china, wouldn't make a bed with stained sheets, etc. You can't either, so you're going to have to replace the kettle along with the other things you're charging for.

Also, I would most certainly charge for painting the walls. In some cases, I would forgive a ruined sheet or towel (if it were the only thing damaged and the clients had otherwise shown the property respect), but I would always charge for a wall that was so dirty it needed a new paint job.
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A-two
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Post by A-two »

vrooje wrote:To me, the painted kettle and the bleach-marked towel are the same situation. They may both still perform their function, but that doesn't mean they aren't ruined. A hotel certainly wouldn't serve dinner on stained china, wouldn't make a bed with stained sheets, etc. You can't either, so you're going to have to replace the kettle along with the other things you're charging for.
Brooke,
I agree with you, but I still say that Mouse can't charge 100% replacement cost for either the kettle or the towel unless they were brand new, which I would define as purchased within 90 days.

We are asking tenants to reimburse us for the loss of the expected lifespan on a used item that we no longer have. The loss can be calculated as a percentage by dividing the actual lifespan by expected lifespan. e.g. 5 yrs/10 yrs= 50%. The most I charge is 75%, except a chair that went out with the tide within 60 days of purchase, which was billed at full replacement cost.

An additionional handling charge for going to get the item would also not be unreasonable because that is an out of pocket expense directly connected with the loss. I have never done that, I'm just saying that I think one could.

We very rarely deduct anything because we have such excellent tenants on the whole, but when we do, this is the way it is calculated. It's the fairest to the tenant, whereas if I were to insist on reimbursement of full replacement cost, the tenant could then argue in a court of law that the landlord was getting a windfall gain, which would be frowned upon and I would most likely lose. So it really doesn't make business sense to me to do it any other way.

Just my opinion and yours may differ.
Fraise
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Post by Fraise »

Hi. I agree with Joanna. I would only charge part of the cost of the kettle. I would not have charged anything for the towel or sheet however the wall is quite different, as is the situation of the extra guests ! It is hard for us to judge as we didn't see the wall- did it really need re-painting or just a scrub and touch up? If it really needed repainting JUST through the harsh treatment of this set of guests then you should charge. :roll:
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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

Fraise - good point - all the the walls are freshly painted for the start of the rental period. These walls (2 and a couple of small areas) needed repainting because of the marks and handprints (plus a rather disgusting nose item or two!) from these particular guests. I decided that it was quicker to paint than try and scrub a whole area.
However I have learned my lesson and will be using satin paint in future (easier to clean)

I hadn't honestly thought about charging for the painting or the utilities from the extra visitors but now I can see that it is all extra cost.
I did give permission for them to have their friends over but I didn't expect them to be here about 5 times in that week! Unfortunately my over occupancy clause refers to stay-overs, not day visitors.
Also I gave permission (albeit not for lengthy visits) which was taken advantage of because I wasn't clear in my instruction.
I should have learned from Susan and Alans experiences with 'day' visitors. I will certainly be including a clause next year.

Joanna I think you're right about the kettle only being charged at a nominal cost of the replacement. I felt so petty to be thinking of charging for a couple of fingerprint marks - however as you say Vrooge, a hotel wouldn't use anything stained for guests and niether would I.

So I will charge 50% for the kettle and also an hour for re-painting the walls. I think I will let the 'day visitor' thing go and learn from that experience....or I may casually say that I will not be charging for that even though I suffered extra cost (then I seem reasonable!)

Thanks for all your replies, I find your advice invaluable. Getting different points of view quickly helps me to clarify the action to take (given that be-headings are off the list :lol: )

Mouse
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Fraise
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Post by Fraise »

Oh no- why didn't anybody tell me that beheadings aren't allowed ?? :lol: :lol: :lol: oooooops :oops:
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

Joanna wrote:I still say that Mouse can't charge 100% replacement cost for either the kettle or the towel unless they were brand new, which I would define as purchased within 90 days.

We are asking tenants to reimburse us for the loss of the expected lifespan on a used item that we no longer have. The loss can be calculated as a percentage by dividing the actual lifespan by expected lifespan. e.g. 5 yrs/10 yrs= 50%. The most I charge is 75%, except a chair that went out with the tide within 60 days of purchase, which was billed at full replacement cost
Thanks for this, Joanna - I have only ever had to charge for a broken cafetière glass jug, for which I had to buy a replacement machine - the only other thing that guests did was boil an empty kettle which consequently stopped working and they replaced this themselves. I had never thought about not charging a full replacement cost, but you are right, depreciation needs to be taken into account!
Very useful.
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vrooje
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Post by vrooje »

Joanna, I didn't mean to imply that I disagreed with you. I was just addressing the question of whether or not to charge for the kettle at all. I definitely agree that the age/remaining life of the kettle should be taken into account.

Mouse, I think you're now doing just the right thing! :)
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Post by A-two »

Mouse wrote:So I will charge 50% for the kettle and also an hour for re-painting the walls. I think I will let the 'day visitor' thing go and learn from that experience....or I may casually say that I will not be charging for that even though I suffered extra cost (then I seem reasonable!)
Mouse, that sounds more than fair to me.... 8)

Brooke, sorry, I realize now that I misread your post, thanks for clarifying.. :oops:
Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

Does anyone have any hints and tips for getting marks off walls without repainting? They seem to be from suitcases. We're over there next week, but as we arrive late Saturday night, and leave Wed (and 1st November is a holiday) we won't have time to look for the paint. It was done by the builder, and it's a textured paint.I did try last visit, and got most of it out, but there are now another two marks.
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enid
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Post by enid »

Following my love affair with vinegar for all trhings household I amnow a passioante user of WD40 - removes anything sticky/greasy - try a little in an unseen place.

As usual good advice from Joanna ( I read her posts as part of my training to be more business like next season).I agree with your final decision Mouse and I think I would mention the daily visitors - I'm mad on your behalf :evil:
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Post by gh »

Try a kitchen spray cleaner with bleach, spray it on to a soft sponge or kitchen roll, wipe very lightly and go in different directions, used it myself to remove stains/scuffs at the turn on the stairs.

Hairspray if its a waxy stain, with the same method.
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