Guests overstaying their welcome
Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 1:40 pm
I think we will have to mark down 2016 as a bad year, for bookings as well as for some rather difficult people we have had stay this year.
We currently have a group of guests staying who have been with us for a week but are due to leave tomorrow. We rarely say that we will be glad to see the back of guests, but this current lot have been very demanding and negative since they arrived last Tuesday.
It unfortunately began when they did not text us as they had promised, in order to give us an indication as to their general arrival time.
Last week we had some amazing weather here in the NL. Around 25'c, clear skies, actually perfect weather for them as they had come to do a lot of biking whilst here.
They decided to rent bikes when they arrived. I had explained via email that we could arrange this for them and if they reserved them through us then they would not have to put down around €300 security deposit as the shop staff know us (it's worth it for us, as we receive 20% commission, which is quite alot on a week's rental, and gives us quite a bit of extra income over a year).
They agreed to rent them via us. I said that I would go with them to the store so that the staff are aware that they are our guests (for the deposit waiver). The store is a few minutes' walk away and we always do this so that the shop knows that it is OK to release the bikes to them.
I met the grandfather walking outside quite early last Wednesday. I said to him to just let me know when they were ready to go up to the store (reiterated, no rush, as some of them may still be tired from the transatlantic flight). He said that 10 a.m. would be no problem. Well, 10 a.m. came and went and several hours later I saw them all arrive back at the farmhouse with the bikes!
We can understand that some guests want limited contact with the owners of a holiday home (especially if the owner is on site) but why agree to meet someone at a certain time and then decide to go and do it on your own? If they had said that they did not need (want?) me to go with them, I would have explained that the bikes would not be released to them otherwise (you're talking about several thousand Euros worth of bikes).
Actually, they were very lucky to have managed to have walked out with them, and it seems that a junior staff member made a mistake as our village store has tightened up their security procedures recently after 12 of their ATBs/electric bikes were stolen by someone using a fake ID.
We noticed them that same evening trying the locks on all our sheds as they were looking for a place to store their 7 bikes. I had pointed out that there is a storage place for the bikes in one of the car ports accessible to them, but they had parked one of their cars there, so they were now pulling at the padlocks on all the outhouses.
Deciding to assist before they managed to break a lock (we have of course already lost 1 gate this year to guests accessing our neighbour's property), they unfortunately didn't appreciate the gesture.
Me: You can store at least half of the bikes in the shed on the right that contains your dryer and BBQ. You have the key to that...
Man: No, we can just put them in the back of the carport, behind the car.
Me: There is not much room there, as the rubbish containers are in the way. I can move the containers across to the other car port to give you some room, if you want to put them there...
Man (very curtly): No, we don't need you to move them. We are OK. Just leave the garbage containers alone, they are OK there!!
Me, almost losing my cool (a very rare event): Okaaay, no problem.
Man: We don't feel happy that there is no way to lock or secure these bikes....
Me: You can store them in the sheds under lock and key instead.
No response.
So, now getting some very strange vibes from these people and feeling like these guests wanted to be left alone and that they didn't want contact, we kept away, but then the knocks on the door/window started.
First, they asked for more biodegradable bags for the food waste bin in the kitchen. We had left them an extra amount in the kitchen drawer, the location of which I had pointed out to several of the ladies when showing them around the farmhouse, but some people use them more than others.
Then came another knock on the door the next morning.
Irritated lady: Can you unlock the shed so that we can use the dryer?
Me: You have the key to the shed, it's with the black tag. But if someone else has it, no problem, I will open it for you.
Guest, now very irate: No, I need this door opened, because I saw a dryer here.
Me: No, that dryer is not in use, your dryer is over here in this shed, along with your BBQ.
Guest: I have seen that dryer. The plug was not connected.
Me (pushing the plug of the dryer into the socket, switching it on so that the lady could see that it functioned, and still biting my lip all the time): If you go out today, I will switch it off for you when the cycle is complete, as it will beep when it's finished
No reply from guest.
We also told them when they arrived about recycling and that, as it was going to be hot for most of the week, to let us have their recycled waste during their stay. Empty plastic containers which contained minced meat and chicken tend to turn smelly fairly quickly, so better not to let it pile up, we said.
I was then confronted yesterday by several members of their party who each it seemed had something to complain about.
Same lady, still appearing irritated: Can you empty the plastic garbage. It is piling up and is beginning to smell? Also, we need more bio bags.
Me (ignoring their irritations): No problem, I will take the rubbish away. Do you have anything else to get rid of? (when I went inside the farmhouse, it appeared that they also had stockpiled around 30 empty wine/beer bottles and had a whole box full of empty pizza cartons and paper as well)
While I was taking all this rubbish off them, the grandfather chipped in (as the temperature had dropped by about 10 degrees since yesterday).
Grandfather: Several of us were freezing cold last night. We need extra comforters (duvets).
Me: We have just split the duvets in preparation for the summer season. They are currently being laundered as we store them clean, but you can put the heating on a little in the bedrooms if you find it too cold at night.
Now extremely irritated lady: Show me how to do that. How do you switch on the heating?
Me: No problem, which bedroom are you using? I will show you how to turn the radiator on. It is the same in each bedroom and throughout the farmhouse.
Me again: (while demonstrating how to turn the knob on a radiator) See, you can feel it getting warm. You won't need it turned too...
Same lady, cutting in and holding up a pillow: My daughter dyed her hair last night and it's got on the pillow. Here's €5 to cover it, which should be enough...
Me: Oh (staring at one of our new pillow cases now covered in a rash of orange), has it gone through to the protector as well?
Both the protector and the cover were ruined.
Me: I will have to check on the replacement cost as we've just bought them. What about the bath towel and the sheets?
No reply.
After giving them back their recycling boxes, empty and washed out as well, and a whole new roll of biodegradable bags, I checked on the cost to replace the ruined pillow and it came to a total of €40.
While they were about to set off to a horse-riding school that we had arranged for them at the very beginning of their stay (the reservation which we had had to change for them later because they couldn't make up their mind who wanted to go riding), I went over and said that we would go half on the €40 cost, as the replacements are sold as sets.
Lady (with a big sigh): I have only another €10 in bills...
Daughter (she with the dyed hair): I have a couple of Euros in coins...
Me: Look, that's fine, (taking the rest off them both, of which now totalled €18 ), we appreciate your telling us about this, as not everyone does.
They have today picked up a further 3 bikes which the owner of the bike store had to come over and tell us about.
They have yet to pay for any of the 10 bikes (over €230 in total), so it looks like we will have to keep an eye on the parking lot tomorrow morning in case they leave while 'forgetting' that they hadn't settled the bike rental bill..
I said to my OH today whether we would (or should) be still doing this in 10 years' time.
We look forward to the guests coming next Sunday. They are on their 4th visit!
We currently have a group of guests staying who have been with us for a week but are due to leave tomorrow. We rarely say that we will be glad to see the back of guests, but this current lot have been very demanding and negative since they arrived last Tuesday.
It unfortunately began when they did not text us as they had promised, in order to give us an indication as to their general arrival time.
Last week we had some amazing weather here in the NL. Around 25'c, clear skies, actually perfect weather for them as they had come to do a lot of biking whilst here.
They decided to rent bikes when they arrived. I had explained via email that we could arrange this for them and if they reserved them through us then they would not have to put down around €300 security deposit as the shop staff know us (it's worth it for us, as we receive 20% commission, which is quite alot on a week's rental, and gives us quite a bit of extra income over a year).
They agreed to rent them via us. I said that I would go with them to the store so that the staff are aware that they are our guests (for the deposit waiver). The store is a few minutes' walk away and we always do this so that the shop knows that it is OK to release the bikes to them.
I met the grandfather walking outside quite early last Wednesday. I said to him to just let me know when they were ready to go up to the store (reiterated, no rush, as some of them may still be tired from the transatlantic flight). He said that 10 a.m. would be no problem. Well, 10 a.m. came and went and several hours later I saw them all arrive back at the farmhouse with the bikes!
We can understand that some guests want limited contact with the owners of a holiday home (especially if the owner is on site) but why agree to meet someone at a certain time and then decide to go and do it on your own? If they had said that they did not need (want?) me to go with them, I would have explained that the bikes would not be released to them otherwise (you're talking about several thousand Euros worth of bikes).
Actually, they were very lucky to have managed to have walked out with them, and it seems that a junior staff member made a mistake as our village store has tightened up their security procedures recently after 12 of their ATBs/electric bikes were stolen by someone using a fake ID.
We noticed them that same evening trying the locks on all our sheds as they were looking for a place to store their 7 bikes. I had pointed out that there is a storage place for the bikes in one of the car ports accessible to them, but they had parked one of their cars there, so they were now pulling at the padlocks on all the outhouses.
Deciding to assist before they managed to break a lock (we have of course already lost 1 gate this year to guests accessing our neighbour's property), they unfortunately didn't appreciate the gesture.
Me: You can store at least half of the bikes in the shed on the right that contains your dryer and BBQ. You have the key to that...
Man: No, we can just put them in the back of the carport, behind the car.
Me: There is not much room there, as the rubbish containers are in the way. I can move the containers across to the other car port to give you some room, if you want to put them there...
Man (very curtly): No, we don't need you to move them. We are OK. Just leave the garbage containers alone, they are OK there!!
Me, almost losing my cool (a very rare event): Okaaay, no problem.
Man: We don't feel happy that there is no way to lock or secure these bikes....
Me: You can store them in the sheds under lock and key instead.
No response.
So, now getting some very strange vibes from these people and feeling like these guests wanted to be left alone and that they didn't want contact, we kept away, but then the knocks on the door/window started.
First, they asked for more biodegradable bags for the food waste bin in the kitchen. We had left them an extra amount in the kitchen drawer, the location of which I had pointed out to several of the ladies when showing them around the farmhouse, but some people use them more than others.
Then came another knock on the door the next morning.
Irritated lady: Can you unlock the shed so that we can use the dryer?
Me: You have the key to the shed, it's with the black tag. But if someone else has it, no problem, I will open it for you.
Guest, now very irate: No, I need this door opened, because I saw a dryer here.
Me: No, that dryer is not in use, your dryer is over here in this shed, along with your BBQ.
Guest: I have seen that dryer. The plug was not connected.
Me (pushing the plug of the dryer into the socket, switching it on so that the lady could see that it functioned, and still biting my lip all the time): If you go out today, I will switch it off for you when the cycle is complete, as it will beep when it's finished
No reply from guest.
We also told them when they arrived about recycling and that, as it was going to be hot for most of the week, to let us have their recycled waste during their stay. Empty plastic containers which contained minced meat and chicken tend to turn smelly fairly quickly, so better not to let it pile up, we said.
I was then confronted yesterday by several members of their party who each it seemed had something to complain about.
Same lady, still appearing irritated: Can you empty the plastic garbage. It is piling up and is beginning to smell? Also, we need more bio bags.
Me (ignoring their irritations): No problem, I will take the rubbish away. Do you have anything else to get rid of? (when I went inside the farmhouse, it appeared that they also had stockpiled around 30 empty wine/beer bottles and had a whole box full of empty pizza cartons and paper as well)
While I was taking all this rubbish off them, the grandfather chipped in (as the temperature had dropped by about 10 degrees since yesterday).
Grandfather: Several of us were freezing cold last night. We need extra comforters (duvets).
Me: We have just split the duvets in preparation for the summer season. They are currently being laundered as we store them clean, but you can put the heating on a little in the bedrooms if you find it too cold at night.
Now extremely irritated lady: Show me how to do that. How do you switch on the heating?
Me: No problem, which bedroom are you using? I will show you how to turn the radiator on. It is the same in each bedroom and throughout the farmhouse.
Me again: (while demonstrating how to turn the knob on a radiator) See, you can feel it getting warm. You won't need it turned too...
Same lady, cutting in and holding up a pillow: My daughter dyed her hair last night and it's got on the pillow. Here's €5 to cover it, which should be enough...
Me: Oh (staring at one of our new pillow cases now covered in a rash of orange), has it gone through to the protector as well?
Both the protector and the cover were ruined.
Me: I will have to check on the replacement cost as we've just bought them. What about the bath towel and the sheets?
No reply.
After giving them back their recycling boxes, empty and washed out as well, and a whole new roll of biodegradable bags, I checked on the cost to replace the ruined pillow and it came to a total of €40.
While they were about to set off to a horse-riding school that we had arranged for them at the very beginning of their stay (the reservation which we had had to change for them later because they couldn't make up their mind who wanted to go riding), I went over and said that we would go half on the €40 cost, as the replacements are sold as sets.
Lady (with a big sigh): I have only another €10 in bills...
Daughter (she with the dyed hair): I have a couple of Euros in coins...
Me: Look, that's fine, (taking the rest off them both, of which now totalled €18 ), we appreciate your telling us about this, as not everyone does.
They have today picked up a further 3 bikes which the owner of the bike store had to come over and tell us about.
They have yet to pay for any of the 10 bikes (over €230 in total), so it looks like we will have to keep an eye on the parking lot tomorrow morning in case they leave while 'forgetting' that they hadn't settled the bike rental bill..
I said to my OH today whether we would (or should) be still doing this in 10 years' time.
We look forward to the guests coming next Sunday. They are on their 4th visit!