Little dilemma..

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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Giddy Goat
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Little dilemma..

Post by Giddy Goat »

I have just had some guests at the house on a long let - 6 weeks. The wife, who did the negotiating at the time of booking, managed to get me to agree a very low rate to include utilities and logs. Turned out to be an estate agent!! It hasn't been very cold there, luckily, so they only used the woodburners a couple of times, and I have yet to see what the electricity bill looks like for the period - significant, I suspect; they had various family members coming and going, and we unfortunately have 3 different (large) hot water heaters, and electric radiators.

My little dilemma is to do with the fact that they paid for six weeks - then had to delay coming by a week for a special event. Very fairly, I said that they could stay for an extra week at the end if they wished, since they were our last guests for this year. They didn't take me up on it; so should I (would you) refund them one sixth of what they paid? Or shouldn't I even be asking the question? :oops:
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Big Sis..
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Post by Big Sis.. »

No No & NO :D

As always Gasc your being toooo kind, You had the houses available to them for the week they didnt come...
the fact they didnt use it was up to them but you couldnt have rebooked it.
Then you offered very kindly to add a week onto the end.

Being Estate Agents means they knew they were getting a good deal or they wouldnt have booked...
What if you were renting a house through theyre agency and couldnt use one of the weeks do you think theyd get the owner to give you a refund????

The Electric/Log situation is something that was agreed on so if theyve left you with a big bill[hopefully not] that something youll have to swallow[not literally though MG I know what appetites you goats have :roll: ]
But as theyre staying a week less that should help.

Weve got our first proper Winter Guest in this Xmas
[both houses] and will have to check the electric before & after stay to give us an idea how much to budget,

Its usually fine in the daytime..even sunbathing weather but at night is b......g freezing specially in the houses as theyre built to stay cool in the hot Summers......
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enid
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Post by enid »

Or shouldn't I even be asking the question?
No you shouldn't! After all you could have rented that week if they hadn't reserved it!.
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debk
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Post by debk »

GG, you are a dear... no, wait, that's Joanna... anyhoo, as Ros said, you took the house off the market for these guests. Their decision to come late is their decison. You made a very gracious offer and they declined. "Ponte final!" as we say around here.

Maybe this would help: If you went to a restaurant and ordered a lovely meal, but then could only eat part of it... would you expect some of your money back? The restaurant can't sell the rest of your meal to someone else nor did you agree to a "pay only for what you eat" arrangement. You enjoyed their table, their amenities, their electricity...

OK, it's not a perfect analogy but mine never are. Engineers, you know. :roll:

Beijinhos,
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Paul Carmel
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Post by Paul Carmel »

Think about it another way, If you bought a bag of spuds and few went off before you finished them, you wouldn't take them back expecting a refund.
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Big Sis..
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Post by Big Sis.. »

Paul

Im getting worried now is the the nicotine withdrawal symptoms showing.....
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Post by Guest3 »

GG I agree with everyone. They booked for 6 weeks and they chose to delay the holiday...so no refund due! I'm sure you will be glad of this decision when you get the electric bill!
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Thanks team - appreciate your advice, and since it has been unanimous, I'll follow it!

I'll let you know what the profits were in due course!
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Big Sis..
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Post by Big Sis.. »

Thanks team - appreciate your advice, and since it has been unanimous, I'll follow it!

I'll let you know what the profits were in due course
Does it mean were in for a share out....... :wink: :roll: :lol:
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Ros wrote: Does it mean were in for a share out....... :wink: :roll: :lol:
Or I'll be passing the hat round Ros!
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Big Sis..
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Post by Big Sis.. »

Fairenuffski.... :wink: :roll: :lol:
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Davy P @ CCA
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Post by Davy P @ CCA »

I would take the hard line unless they have been good guests whom I want back and feel that going easy on them might make the difference between their coming back and not doing so. If the latter, I'd at least meet them half-way as a gesture.
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Thanks Davy - they apparently left the house in a good state and were very appreciative, so they might do - worth thinking about; I'll see what the elec and phone bills are like and then decide perhaps?
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Fraise
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Post by Fraise »

Just read all this. GG. you were right in the first place- you know you shouldn't even be asking the question ! You gave them a knock down price anyway and if it HAD been cold your elec/logs budget would be eaten into hugely- you took that risk as you are a kind goat.You are not a charity, no refund, they won't be expecting one anyway. They paid a security deposit and you will be returning that.That's enough :lol:
Happy munching :wink:

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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Thanks Frise! You too!

I'll take a meter reading at the weekend when we are at the house, anyway, to see if October/November is a no-go area for guests in the future, or only if they agree to pay for the utilities on top. Apparently the caretakers say they didn't use many logs, so that's a good thing at least! We'd definitely won't be letting in the (even) colder months, unless we can toughen up our negotiating skills!

Perhaps this calls for a new thread - "Winter lets - yes or no?!"
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