Niggly problems

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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Big Sis..
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Niggly problems

Post by Big Sis.. »

Hi All,

This year we had a few niggles from people about little things....Cutlery not working??? Clock had stopped silly things really...When we went there.... The toaster had broken...no one had mentioned it....The washing machine door gets broke quite often[people not waiting for it to stop properly]

My dilemma is that If I was out there I would check all these things every week of course...
but Paula and her team have quick changovers to do and I dont really expect her to check all the electrical items...

On the notes and in the info book I leave I emphasize that if there are ANY problems to contact Paula or me they have 2 phone nos for her...Paulas 10 mins away .....but they dont bother...usually
I have also asked them to make a note as they are leaving if anything is accidently broken so we can repair it for the next guests..but that doesnt happen either...

I wonder if no one likes to say in case Im going to take the money out of the damage deposit[of course I wouldnt for something small]
Then when the next people come they dont mention it in case they get the blame.

We had a glass ceiling fan bulb break[not expensive but hard to find]...when Paula went round the Dad said he hadnt a clue how it happened it just broke and but it nearly fell on his poor little 11yr old innocent son...
when they left Paula found one of those little powerball things in the lads bedroom?????

Im not bothered about the cost of replacing these things but just want the houses as they should be for each lot of guests..any suggestions.... :?
Vally
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Post by Vally »

I find this very irritating too, this year we have had a lamp shade broken, not a huge problem but it is part of a matching set of 4 so annoying and not easy to replace...we have electric heating and one of the wall mounted fires has a dent in it... and something spilt on the brand new kitchen carpet , which we have only been able to play about with through the season , have to get down to a real clean now... if only they had mentioned it straight away... I don't charge a deposit so it can't be a fear of having to pay in our case. Only thing we have been told about is a chipped tea plate which "we know we have done but we don't know how we did it"
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Big Sis..
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Post by Big Sis.. »

I don't charge a deposit
Oh vally you must must must,,,
doesnt have to be a lot but you must have some comeback...I think it makes them a bit more responsible... :roll: :lol:
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Ros wrote:
I don't charge a deposit
Oh vally you must must must,,,
Well, I don't, don't, don't,,,

For my holiday lets I've never charged a deposit and I've never needed one. For my longer term lets I do charge a deposit but again I've never needed one.

Could it be that the sort of people who holiday in Torrevieja are in some way fundamentally different from those who holiday in Monflanquin?

Fluffy
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Big Sis..
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Post by Big Sis.. »

Hi Alan
Of course its up to the individual....

Are you on site Im sure that makes a difference...
and I dont think its just the rental owners in Torrevieja who charge a deposit.....
I think you will find a large percentage of other Forum users do.

Is there a difference between the Longer lets & Shorter lets of people who holiday in Monflanquin?...[apart from the fact that they stay longer of course :D]

I also charge a deposit to the people who rent our houses in Norfolk.
Last edited by Big Sis.. on Sat Nov 04, 2006 9:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Badger
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Post by Badger »

Oh dear, I'm with Alan, I don't charge a deposit either, but my apartments aren't quite the same sizes as a villa or two!
Even so I have been doing this since early 1999 and can honestly only think of 2 guests I wouldn't want back.
I tend to expect people will treat my place as they would their own and a large portion of my bookings are repeats - .
People always surprise me anyway - sometimes I get no feedback whatsoever then they re- book out of the blue.
Having written this I hope I don't have to eat my words.
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Big Sis..
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Post by Big Sis.. »

Hi Badger,

Theres no Oh Dear! of course its your choice
Sorry if I sounded Bossy...Didnt mean to.
Im just surprised.
I dont charge much only £100 and thats for the keys as well.
Ive only needed to keep the deposit back once in three years. so I cant say weve had a bad lot but Vally was saying that she'd had some damage.
As Ive said before the worst damage that I had was a Marble basin surround that a 'friend' demolished...which of course I hadnt taken a deposit off.....
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

We're just to the west of Fluffy. We do charge a deposit - apart from any other consideration, we're not on site, there is always the little matter of the telephone bill; we say that there is no charge for local calls (or in-coming of course) but otherwise of course, there is. You only have to have teenage daughter of guest having bust-up on phone with boyfriend in, um, Coonabarrabran and...... :shock:

Hasn't happened yet, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Deposits have been discussed at length quite recently on another thread. For any newbies to the forum:

viewtopic.php?t=699&highlight=damage+deposits
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Vally
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Post by Vally »

I generally wait until something happens before I change my way of doing things, I think I am still in " hotel" mode when it comes to " wear and tear"
I never charge a booking deposit in the hotel , though I do for the cottages and I always have the money prior to arrival ...apart from this week when they booked late and paid me half-way through.... but for the hotel I do now take a cc with all their details and I do process it if there looks like being a problem, this only because I had 1 no show last year and the card would not work, lesson learnt ,I now make sure the card does work!
This is a continual learning curve you can never have too many ideas thrown into the pot even if you don't use them they are all worth consideration.
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Big Sis..
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Post by Big Sis.. »

Hi Vally,

Your right of course and hope you didnt think I was nagging you .....
I must admit when others said that I must charge a damage deposit early on I was a bit sceptical....but its like the key return..they get their £100 key/damage back as soon as I get the keys[and by that time Paulas checked the houses......you think they would send them pretty quick , but no sometimes have to nag for weeks...so if I didnt have any money of theirs they probably wouldnt bother at all....

I wouldnt keep it back for odd bits & pieces though...just main things....
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Ciapolin
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Post by Ciapolin »

Our terms and conditions currently say we ask for a deposit, but to be honest I hardly ever take one, and when I have it's been more hassle than I want to pay it back. We have now decided not to ask for one unless we have a very young family (following our only bad experience so far where everything had to be cleaned from the usual through to curtains, rugs and sofas and the apartment had to be practically fumigated!).

To be honest I'm not sure I will bother even then.
Carole-Anne
Cascina Ciapolin
www.piedmont-holidays.com
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Carole-Anne, that's called living dangerously! You probably won't ever come unstuck, but it's like any insurance policy, it's simply a sensible precaution.
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Ros,
Is there a difference between the Longer lets & Shorter lets of people who holiday in Monflanquin?...
Probably not, except that my longer lets are not to people who are here on holiday. They probably feel as though they are on an extended holiday but in fact they are here on a short term business contract or they are here making up their minds whether or not to buy. With the longer lets I use a full formal contract and formal contracts include such things as damages deposits.

I’ve spent a lot of time holidaying on the Costa’s and now I live and supply holiday accommodation near Monflanquin. Without wishing to upset anyone, I think there is a fundamental difference between those who typically holiday on the Costa’s and those who typically holiday in a place like Monflanquin.

Another fundamental difference, perhaps the fundamental difference, is that I live on-site.

Fluffy
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Partridge
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Post by Partridge »

I tend to think people can have accidents or lose things whoever they are and wherever they holiday. :wink:
Don't waste energy on things you can't change.

Costa de la Luz apartment rental
www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/S5386.htm
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Hanorah
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Post by Hanorah »

We recently found out we had a problem with the shower but 3 sets of guests never mentioned it despite speaking to them on the phone several times whilst in resort. I always phone to find out if I can do anything to help. I think they had wrongly assumed it wasn't very good because it relies on solar power. Turns out there was a problem with the pipes that was solved within 2 hours when they were replaced. Finally one guest told me after he returned after I specifcially asked if we could do anything further to improve the villa and he mentioned we could benefit from a new shower. I was mortified that for at least 3 lets (6 weeks) it was not working as it should and I knew nothing about it. I am now in the process of updating my info pack I send prior to arrival to say everything should work well and if it doesn't they should contact me at once so I can resolve it for them. I thought that was just common sense but it appears not. I obviously have guests that are far too polite for their own good.
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