2 weeks in the life of a holiday home owner

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
KathyG
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2 weeks in the life of a holiday home owner

Post by KathyG »

Can I share my very stressful week, more than a week actually. Guests in for 2 weeks, arrived Friday week ago, the following Monday they report the wifi very intermittent and the dishwasher playing up. It stops halfway through the cycle and they can’t stop or change anything, lots of clicking going on, guests worrying that it might be an electrical fault and may cause a fire….. I send Richard in to find out what’s going on - he lives an hour away. He unscrews dishwasher from worktop, unplugs it from behind, plugs it back in and dishwasher fine. Yay! On Tuesday the same thing happens, Richard goes again and this time leaves his screwdrivers for them to do it themselves. They don’t mention the wifi but Richard has to go in on Friday to cut grass etc so if they contact again by Thurs then I can arrange new router to be collected on way to the house on Friday. All quiet thank goodness. &#128512; But Friday morning when R arrives, they report wifi barely working. R says he can’t do anything now till following Friday (today) as he’s having a family weekend and has a very busy week. R relents and agrees to go to the house (Saturday - R is a hero), collect old router, go to shop and collect new router, only to find that the shop I used last time has shut down so he has to travel another 30 mins to next shop, then back to the house, fit new router then home, has taken him about 5 hrs so far. God knows what this will cost me!

Sunday - guests report that they’re getting error codes on their Volvo, can I recommend local garage? No I can’t, google it with your new router!!

Monday - guests report that the dishwasher has packed up completely now and ask what I can do about it…….all I can do is try and get an engineer to fix it, or get a replacement but R has no time to do that. Guests state that they don’t want to wait in so only want an engineer if he gives a specific time….. All I can do is arrange engineer for Friday (today) the day they’re leaving 8am-1pm window. Dishwasher still under warranty but I can’t find the receipt or even remember where we bought it! Eventually work out which shop and request a copy receipt. After half a day of phonecalls, I have to email their finance department with all the details of said machine as well as a copy of my passport :shock: before I can have a copy receipt, I impress on them that I need it by Friday’s engineer visit or I’ll have to pay 98€ callout fee. By Wednesday I agree to pay the remaining 2 evenings meals for 12 guests….. :shock:
Thursday - amazingly receive copy of receipt which I email to Bosch, asking them to not turn up before 10am when R arrives, and I give them his mobile number.
Today - engineer has not arrived by 12.30 so Mum (fluent French) rings Bosch to find out what’s going on. Apologies but engineer will be there in 30 mins. Engineer does not turn up so by 2pm, Mum rings again, their system is down so they can’t see anything, we’ll ring you back in a few minutes they say. They don’t. :evil: 3pm - The changeover is well and truly finished by now and R just waiting for engineer. Mum rings me with service desk on the other line - apparently engineer turned up at 1pm but couldn’t find the house :roll: and didn’t have the correct phone number so went away again. After an hour on the phone trying to work out what had gone wrong and which number he had, he finally said can’t do it today now, next available slot is Tuesday. Arrrggghhh!!! So new guests today arriving to no dishwasher. I’ve now cancelled Tuesdays visit as I can’t risk that abortive attempt all over again and Saint Richard has agreed to go and buy another dishwasher and fit it on Monday.

I’m totally exhausted and this has been the most stressful week ever since we’ve had the house (13 yrs) - or am I just not dealing with stress very well these days? Eigher way, after many years of dithering about selling the house, I don’t need this stress any more and today’s decision is Sell! Bottle of wine open and 2nd takeaway of the week ordered…..
Kathy
Waterfront location in Le Faou
"My goal in life is to become as wonderful as my dog thinks I am."
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

Sending you lots of hugs and soothing, comforting noises. What a terrible week!

(Something in me suspects the dishwasher may be fine and your guests have managed to upset it??) let us know the outcome.
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Moliere
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Post by Moliere »

zebedee wrote:Sending you lots of hugs and soothing, comforting noises. What a terrible week!

(Something in me suspects the dishwasher may be fine and your guests have managed to upset it??) let us know the outcome.
Seconded!

Mols
Jumping is just dressage with speed-bumps.
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

So with all the spare time you’ll have, another trip to Ravenstonedale perhaps? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Good luck with moving on, it’s a decision that’s rapidly approaching here so I may take some inspiration from your actions!
farley
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Post by farley »

This job isn’t very easy is it?
We had a dishwasher malfunction and non arriving technician recently. We ended up putting our own one in the gite whilst the other was away for repair.
Today we have been repairing sunloungers ( the guests didn’t notify us of damage before their departure). We just don’t know how ‘off site’ owners cope with this sort of thing.

Hubby and I have just been discussing how tired we are . I suppose it’s 37 degrees in the shade but our va va voom has well and truly got up and gone! We just can’t do what we did 10 years ago&#128577;
I do feel your pain Kathy , I hope the coming season is less arduous and if you do sell up that your new life is great.
Big hugs
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Cymraes
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Post by Cymraes »

farley wrote: We just don’t know how ‘off site’ owners cope with this sort of thing.
A comprehensive black book of tradespeople in my case. I rely on either the guests or my cleaner reporting issues.
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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

Oh kathy that all sounds horrendous! And even more so when you're at a distance relying on others.
We have both experiences as we're on site as you know....and even then we struggle at times. Holidaymakers just don't seem to get that it can takes days to sort things out.....especially at weekend and in August.
We also help a friend with her house, she lives in London, and again it's all hassle.

I totally understand you wanting to sell. As you know we took that decision last year and put the villa up for sale. This has made taking bookings hard so we decided we would give ourselves June off and hang the money! It is getting to be such hard work now we are getting older.
I hope things happen for you quickly. We are dreading having to do another summer (or 2) next year. The market isnt buoyant here unless you have the right type of place. Yours is so lovely though I'm sure someone will fall in love with it.

Mousie
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SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

Kathy that sounds really tough. I don't know how anyone manages to run a gite remotely and stay sane! You're right mouse about trying to sort things out in August - everyone's away here as well. We're fortunate to have a local town that's a reasonable size, so the chances are we can find someone in a crisis. Also, we discovered (by accident) that we get much better service if we buy our white goods locally rather than going through a cheaper national / supermarket alternative. By supporting the local shops we find they will come out and repair / replace at a moment's notice. Yes, we may have paid more in the first place but it pays off further down the line in that they know us and will help us.
Also, by being on the spot when things do go wrong we can be seen to be resolving it. One summer we had no mains water in the cottage for a couple of days but we did in the house, so we offered our spare bathroom for their use so at least they could have a shower - much more difficult to sort out stuff like that at a distance.
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Sue Dyer
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Post by Sue Dyer »

Sorry to hear of all of your hassles Kathy. We packed in renting Lily Cottage out after our new year guests. It's been wonderful on Saturday afternoons not to dread the "Hello, I'm staying in your cottage and..." calls.

We're enjoying this summer ourselves then Lily will be going up for sale in the next year or so. I hope your sale goes quickly and smoothly.
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bornintheuk
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Post by bornintheuk »

Its just the nature of the business we are in - if something can go wrong, it will.
Having done it for 22 yrs I realise there are better times as well.
Think positive.
What would Plato do ?
Frenchlady
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Post by Frenchlady »

We feel your pain. On Saturday at 39 deg we arrive to do changeover and oven is not working. Family coming in with 4 kids so they will need an oven (although have the BBQ). Decide to get the house turned round asap and then shoot off in afternoon to get a new oven (after discussing with the owner back in Blighty). Left a note for guests as bound to arrive before we return. Purchased oven, got back to house, guests arrived and unpacking food & belongings to kitchen a war zone. Had to hump old oven out and new oven in and connect, sweating now like 2 old pigs. Apologised to guests who had no idea what we had been through that day as we watched the kids eating crisps and melting ice lollies on tables I had just cleaned. Then we departed back to have a lie down. Agree that we cannot do this for much longer. Used to do a changeover (5 bed, 4 bath), come home, have a shower and go out to a fete. Now just come home, bugger the shower and collapse.
KathyG
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Post by KathyG »

Thank you, all of you for your sympathy! I know you've all been there too and yes you're right Farley we can't do what we did 10 years ago, everything's just getting harder and harder and we don't have the stamina that we once did! :wink:

I've recovered somewhat from last week but still in the same mindframe of selling - we had spent the last year having made that decision anyway but then got seduced by the house all over again in May. We're going over again next week so must be mindful of how I feel right now because it's likely to happen again..... :roll:

I think we need a new chapter in our lives and I think a lot of us 'old' LayMyHatters are in the same position. It's been a fabulous road (mostly) and we've been lucky to be able to be in the position to have a 2nd home.

Mouse - I thought you'd already sold yours!
Greenbarn - I think a trip to Ravenstonedale might be on the cards but I expect it'll take years to sell the house - what to do about bookings I have no idea as we keep changing our minds!

Bookings are definitely getting harder to come by so another reason to get out of the market too.

Saint Richard did fit a new dishwasher on Monday and so far not a peep out of the guests. :D :D :D
Kathy
Waterfront location in Le Faou
"My goal in life is to become as wonderful as my dog thinks I am."
KathyG
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Post by KathyG »

Thank you, all of you for your sympathy! I know you've all been there too and yes you're right Farley we can't do what we did 10 years ago, everything's just getting harder and harder and we don't have the stamina that we once did! :wink:

I've recovered somewhat from last week but still in the same mindframe of selling - we had spent the last year having made that decision anyway but then got seduced by the house all over again in May. We're going over again next week so must be mindful of how I feel right now because it's likely to happen again..... :roll:

I think we need a new chapter in our lives and I think a lot of us 'old' LayMyHatters are in the same position. It's been a fabulous road (mostly) and we've been lucky to be able to be in the position to have a 2nd home.

Mouse - I thought you'd already sold yours!
Greenbarn - I think a trip to Ravenstonedale might be on the cards but I expect it'll take years to sell the house - what
Kathy
Waterfront location in Le Faou
"My goal in life is to become as wonderful as my dog thinks I am."
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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

Kathy....sadly not. Been on the market for 16mths and had 3 people interested who then couldn't get finance.
Its a nightmare out there....agents are, in the main, the pits even though they will earn 5% plus tax. In fact I could start a whole new thread!?

Regarding bookings; last year, for this summer, I told everyone who enquired that if we had no interest by January I would take bookings then.
Luckily 2 enquirers (5 wks in all) decided to trust me and wait....so I was thankful for that. So I got July, August and upto Sep 21 booked quickly. I then blocked out June.
However it's so hard; as you say Kathy bookings aren't that easy to come by.

This year I'm putting my 2020 rates up and taking bookings as normal. This is because 95% of the viewers are wanting to rent it and I doubt I'd be so lucky again.
I will block out the main weeks that are easy to sell incase a buyer wants to use them. If we do get a sale then it will be sold with bookings. I'm past caring.

Mousie
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KathyG
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Post by KathyG »

Oh it's so difficult isn't it! I really haven't got the energy to go chasing bookings anymore. I've got nothing for next year, having turned 3 away who wanted to book back in April/May. We'd decided to sell this time last year, then had an about turn but too late it seems, we've missed the boat, I would normally have 5-6 weeks by now and like you I'm past caring but haven't even worked out whether we could survive without bookings for a year in the hope that it sells in that time......
Kathy
Waterfront location in Le Faou
"My goal in life is to become as wonderful as my dog thinks I am."
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