Telegraph's Ten-Point guide to guard against disappointment

[Overboard]

I had a lady e:mail me just last month. She had decided not to book at Tully House and rent a place in Washington DC itself. Anway she contacted me out of the blue and asked me if certain things were 'normal', poor soul. They had a terrible time at a horrible place and had taken photos too. Boxes of stuff piled up in bedrooms, ladies mail lying everywhere, junk everywhere, old leaks in toilets. I told her this was certainly not acceptable but other than that what could I do? Where can the lady go to shut down a business like this?

I personally think this was the ladies home and when she has rentals she moves into the neighbours house (as for trash they had to haul it to the neighbours house).

[e-richard]

Still on my hobby-horse of positive PR, with the utmost respect to Overboard, I hope you also told her clearly that this was indeed very unusual, and certainly not normal (her question).

Although, if I were new to the rentals business or a new renter reading this forum, I may think otherwise. See above, see Fluffy's tale of woe also in this topic, see Jimbo's discussion in "When things go wrong", and I might be thinking that horror stories abound

Considering all that, perhaps this Topic, and similar horro stories should be moved into the Members Only area ???

[Jimbo]

Alan Knighting wrote:

I didn’t want to trawl through all of your 358 previous postings ...

Funny you should mention that, Alan. I've been thinking of marketing my collected LMH posts as a drug-free cure for insomnia. With a mug of Horlicks and half a dozen of my latest ramblings, sleep shouldn't be too much of a problem!

Jim (zzzzzzzzzzzzz ...)

[Giddy Goat]

Thought-provoking, Jimbo, challenging, funny - but sleep inducing????

[Alan Knighting]

e-richard,

But before I do, I want to also pick up on Fluffy's comment that "Travel Companies and Listing Sites are in it for the money and nothing else". Well, of course they are. They are businesses whose existence relies on making money and frankly I cannot see why that’s a bad thing.

I’m not suggesting that making money is a bad thing. On the contrary, isn’t making money why we all go to work? I was simply trying to point out that many private owners are motivated a little beyond just making money.

see Fluffy's tale of woe also in this topic…..horror stories abound

Once in eight years is not frequent but the sad thing is that it happened at all. I wouldn’t hide the horror stories; I would make great play on how other owners respond to them.

Tell me something. Where do all these travel companies and listing sites get their properties from? I think they get the majority of them from us, the property owners. Should they not be working in partnership with us for the mutual benefit of all?

Fluffy