Guests complain re fleas and expects moñey back

From the moment they step through the door your bookings become guests, and their experiences determine whether they ever come back.
Bunny
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Post by Bunny »

rosebud wrote:I really don't want stress - I would rather 'roll over' I am thinking of offering 20% back.
Rosebud, I can totally understand why you want to put this one to bed as quickly as possible. However, would it really be too stressful to at least just ask her for any evidence before you consider your response. After all, if damage is done to our properties we are required to provide photographic evidence and receipts in order to make deductions from deposits, so I do feel it should work both ways.

Your response sounds fine to me, but I have previously responded too quickly and caved in, and in hind sight actually caused myself more stress in the long run when I've kicked myself for letting them get away with it.

Try to just forget the threat of a bad review and remember that at the moment, you are in control and you can still back down at any point if you find it becomes too stressful to bear. But at the moment, I don't think you've anything to lose by just politely and in the same sympathetic tone as above, asking for more information about why she believes the bites were suffered inside your property. If you ask for evidence you might find she suddenly backs off and you've lost nothing.
rosebud
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Post by rosebud »

It takes about 10 days or 2 weeks for eggs to hatch and develop into new fleas (the eggs can also stay dormant for months and spring to life when they detect CO2 or vibration). If there was an undercover animal staying, it would have dropped eggs, not live fleas.
Very helpful - thanks ...

Jenny
amandajane
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Post by amandajane »

I'm not sure you should admit that a dog might have been smuggled in! It gives her something to hook into. Otherwise I think your letter sounds just right.


Have you considered offering to donate £x to a charity of her choosing, as a goodwill gesture. I don't know how much your 20% figure comes to but I would think of £25 /50 to a charity.

Then , if she does decide to post a review you can respond with
"I'm sorry that Mrs Guest had problems whilst staying at Rosebud Cottage. We have never allowed pets in the property so it is most unlikely that flea bites were the cause of any rash. Unfortunately we weren't given the opportunity to put matters right during the stay but have offered to donate a sum of £x to a charity of Mrs Guests choice as a gesture of goodwill. Sadly this offer has been declined". ............or something. I'm sure someone on here could word it better.
annedab
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Post by annedab »

rosebud wrote:but then I remembered - on the flight home - that guests who stayed just before the Easter weekend, had first booked - then later asked me if they could bring a dog. I said sorry no pets (clear in my listings etc) They said they would make other arrangements. Now I suspect they smuggled the dog in
Is there any way that you can find out if they did bring their dog (neighbours etc)? If you can be certain that they did, then maybe you should be asking them to foot the bill for any refund you decide to offer. Plus any additional cleaning costs of course.
Regards

Anne

If there's no such thing as co-incidence, then why is there a word for it?
amandajane
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Post by amandajane »

I'm not sure you should admit that a dog might have been smuggled in! It gives her something to hook into. Otherwise I think your letter sounds just right.


Have you considered offering to donate £x to a charity of her choosing, as a goodwill gesture. I don't know how much your 20% figure comes to but I would King of £25 /50 to a charity.

Then , if she does decide to post a review you can respond with
"I'm sorry that Mrs Guest had problems whilst staying at Rosebud Cottage. We have never allowed pets in the property so it is most unlikely that flea bites were the cause of any rash. Unfortunately we weren't given the opportunity to put matters right during the stay but have offered to donate a sum of £x to a charity of Mrs Guests choice as a gesture of goodwill. Sadly this offer has been declined". ............or something. I'm sure someone on here could word it better.




Sorry for double post. I think it happened because I was editing when Anne posted.
Last edited by amandajane on Fri Apr 15, 2016 3:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
GillianF
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Post by GillianF »

I like amandajane's suggestion.

If you admit a dog may have been smuggled in and if the guest did suffer some sort of bite and truly believes it was fleas in the property she'll think "See! I was right." If she is trying it on she will have bullied you in to agreeing to something that didn't happen.

The idea of donating to charity may appease her without her gaining anything. If she refuses (or even accepts it) and then leaves a bad review amandajane's suggested response to it will make her look very small and mean.
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Post by kevsboredagain »

I once rented a house that had fleas in the carpet, which was very thick piled. There were no animals involved, unless the previous tenants had some but we all started getting flea bites in our ankles and found them living in the carpet. We treated it with flee powder and looked for somewhere else to rent.

I'm not sure if this is a possibility in this case?

We also had low flying mosquitoes last year in Spain and all had bites on our ankles. Nothing to do with fleas in that instance.
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Post by Hells Bells »

I wondered if the rash on the neck was due to a streptococcal throat infection, but it wouldn't explain the rash around the ankles, and it doesn't really look like flea bites.
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Post by AndrewH »

salmoncottage wrote:...If you can be sure the bites are a one off then perhaps you can suggest she check her own luggage and 'unsubtly' suggest a counter claim for deap cleaning following her departure....
Oh, nice one! I.e. "Leave your fleas at home next time!" Perfect material for a response to a bad review!
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Post by Ecosse »

Flea bites on ankles don't fade quickly... like Ben McNevis, we found out all about fleas the hard way when our cats suddenly got infested and it took a couple of months for the marks around my ankles to completely disappear. Could you therefore ask her to send photographic evidence of the flea bites? This could have a double benefit (if there is such a thing in this case - you have my sympathies) of seeing whether she's lying or not, and, if you choose to approach the guests who you suspect of smuggling a dog in, of providing evidence of their wrongdoing.

I also agree that if you had an infestation sufficient enough for her to suspect flea bites, she would have seen some fleas... we certainly did.

In terms of getting rid of the little b*$$£rs, hoover, hoover, hoover and also use a good flea spray from the vet (supermarket brands usually aren't potent enough) after hoovering. Wash all bedding on a hot cycle, too. I wouldn't bother with one of the 'bombs' that you can get from the vet - we tried that first of all and I can't say it was very effective. The good news is, that while it is a worry while the fleas are alive, they can't reproduce without their dog (or cat) host, so the infestation will end once the current fleas die.

Good luck with it - you've been let down horribly by someone, either the guest suspected of smuggling a dog in, or, if the woman who complained isn't telling the truth. I hope it's resolved, soon.
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Post by Sam V »

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rosebud
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Post by rosebud »

Bitten guest was most offended by my letter and has not taken up offer of £100 back.

The guest (called Saffron) wrote a very angry reply to me which suggested she was 'unhinged' She seemed to be particularly upset by the offer of money back
as a'goodwill gesture'
A day later I wrote the most placatory two sentence reply I could come up with and have heard nothing since. I sincerely hope that is the end of the matter.

My housekeeper popped round to check the current guests were okay. No mention of bites thank goodness.

She is also going to ask neighbours if they were aware of any dogs in my cottage!

Anyway many thanks again for all your feedback....

P.S I have learnt that cat flea bites are worse than dog fleas but dogs can carry cat fleas. Also that foxes carry many fleas - they sometimes pass through my garden
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Post by russellt »

rosebud wrote: She seemed to be particularly upset by the offer of money back
Well, that's a lesson I'm happy to learn. Won't fall into that trap!

8)

'Unhinged' made me laugh. Very matter of fact. We've all had one or two, haven't we? :D
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Post by AndrewH »

rosebud wrote:Bitten guest was most offended by my letter and has not taken up offer of £100 back.

The guest (called Saffron) wrote a very angry reply to me which suggested she was 'unhinged' She seemed to be particularly upset by the offer of money back
as a 'goodwill gesture'
I think I know why the guest was offended. Making a payment "as a goodwill gesture" is a stock phrase often used by lawyers and others, to make it clear to the recipient that no liability is admitted, but that the payment is being made only out of the kindness of your heart (and to shut you up). For those aware of the special meaning behind this phrase, it can come across as saying: "I know very well that you are talking a load of nonsense about flea bites, but I will send you £100 to make you feel better."
Bunny
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Post by Bunny »

I wouldn't worry if a business like phrase upset her. I think 'a goodwill gesture' is crucial in not admitting liability. If a refund had been made in full without the phrase, what next? The bites have turned septic, I've had to take another two weeks unpaid leave, I've needed to employed childcare, and have incurred additional medical expenses, all of which I require you to cover! Why take the risk when there's absolutely no hard evidence that it was definitely flea bites from the cottage.
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