How to compensate angry visitors?

From the moment they step through the door your bookings become guests, and their experiences determine whether they ever come back.
alexia s.
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How to compensate angry visitors?

Post by alexia s. »

A friend with a house nearby telephoned me last night, in the middle of an intense storm here on the Cote d'Azur. Tenants had arrived in the afternoon & were complaining that the house was flooded. I accompanied his parents to the house, where we found water ankle deep at the front door and water flooding in from a ventilation opening in the bathroom. One of the tenants was baling out water..... not surprisingly, they had asked for their money back, but refused to go to a hotel. They wanted to stay there and have compensation.
Today, the sun is out, and they should be happier..... but they are going to ask for some refund.
What would you do? I suggested a partial refund plus a couple of bottles of wine, but how many days refund should they be given?
I have advised my friend to contact his insurers, but in the meantime would like to know how you would all deal with this.
It is a public-relations problem at the moment, and I would like to prevent its becoming a legal problem.
Best,
Alexia.
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tansy
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Post by tansy »

Alexia - are they British/American or what?

We had some Americans that blocked the loo and flooded the whole house...we didn't know at the time it was them that had caused the problem nor did they...but with all the action I got going - i.e. cleaning team over - myself & my husband and the plumber all within matter of 2 hours they were suitably impressed and were eventually very calm about the whole thing - this was water coming out the loo as well!!

I sent them to the local restaurant and told the owner not to let them pay - we picked the tab up....I also took a huge big bunch of flowers over the next day when we went to check everything was OK - I think if you fuss around a lot and show that you are doing everything you can to make amends they should accept it wasn't your fault.

However reading between the lines I think you may have a difficult family there who thrive on this sort of thing...want the holiday but don't want to pay! Our lot didn't even suggest money back.
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Ju
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Post by Ju »

Difficult one this. I think Tansy's approach of the restaurant and flowers is a good one, but it does depend on the guests.

The other thing that has to be considered is the contract for the booking. There should be some sort of clause in it saying that the owner cannot be held responsible for "acts of God" ie problems due to the weather.

I would think a partial refund as a good will guesture would be a good idea.

Ju
alexia s.
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Post by alexia s. »

Tansy,
They're German (I don't think this matters). The problem is both the freak weather and the faulty construction of our friend's house, which dates from the seventies and was a "cheapie" - I'm caught between my friend, whose partial liability is fairly clear, and the tenants, who were (so I am told) very aggressive about it but who had every reason to be disappointed. If it were my house I would deal with it differently - but then, if it were my house it wouldn't have faulty construction (husband=architect, thank heavens)! Thanks to you & Ju for the advice.
Best,
Alexia.
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

The least I would do is offer to refund that day to them. If they were really upset I would ask them what they would consider a fair compensation - how much upset did they think they had suffered? I think once you are talking on the same side of the table rather than in opposition to each other, they will soften.
Paolo
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A-two
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Post by A-two »

I would also be very disappointed to find myself bailing out before I had even unpacked, but there's no need for anger and they must like the place, or they would have taken up the offer to go to a hotel. Sounds like they might be trying to get a windfall.

If everything is now under control and the sun is out, personally, I would leave them completely alone for the rest of their stay, and hopefully by then, they will be more relaxed, having had a brilliant holiday despite the bad start. Then none of this will be a problem anymore.

Once, we had the glass in the patio door shatter ten minutes before our visitors arrived (the cleaners did it). It was VERY embarrassing to say "welcome to the house, but please stand over there while we spend the next few hours with a very noisy industrial wet and dry vac to clean all this up!" They were very understanding, never asked for anything.

I left an extra bottle of wine on the day, and refunded another $100 with the deposit as a gesture of our appreciation, calculated on the basis of the time they had lost. Essentially, they had a three hour delay to the start of their holiday, rent was $400 a day, so I gave them 25% of one's day's rent. Given that your visitors helped bail out, but it was all over by the next morning, I would not offer more than a day's rent. If they are not happy with that, then maybe they are just not very happy people.


Regards,
Joanna
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tansy
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Post by tansy »

Alexia...I'm afraid it does matter - each nationality has a different way of viewing things....the Germans are very precise, always on time , everything works and is very clean...so for some Germans to arrive after a very long drive from Germany to Cote d'Azur to the weather not working and the house leaking...not at all wunderbar

But I would agree - let them calm down and at the end of the holiday see what they feel...but one days refund seems to me as a very fair offer - another point to perhaps mention if they continue to be difficult - in view of the refusal of the offer re hotels - it is difficult for access into the house for repair work whilst they continue to have their holiday...

French practical
British don't like to complain
American fairly laid back
Swiss very particular
Dutch incredibly clean


Any one else got thoughts on the traits of Nationalities as our guests?
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Sue Dyer
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Post by Sue Dyer »

I must be the exception to the rule for the Brits.. I do complain. pleasantly but assertively and state what I think is reasonable action.

We often stay in Ibis Hotels in France and have twice taken them up on their "if we can't put it right in 15 mins your nights stay is free" claim when the hot water has gone off and wouldn't be back on for several hours. Maybe something that couldn't be helped but if that is their policy I'll sure take them up on it.

I once had 4 different rooms in a grotty hotel in Glasgow my husbands work had booked us into. Each one had something broken or missing. The place was due a refurb. We ended up in the 5th and final decent'ish room. At dinner everyone was complaining.... to each other of course, not the hotel management!

I think the offer of a refund for that day plus say wine is fair and I'd certainly be happy with that.
Stu
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Post by Stu »

Kill them! Bury the bodies under the patio....



No? Ok...wine & flowers then...
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vrooje
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Post by vrooje »

Alexia,

I'm interested to see how this turned out!

It's hard to know why someone overreacts to an incident without knowing more about them. It could be that they're the type of people (litigious sorts) who try and get everything for free. Then again, perhaps they're ordinary people who had a horrible travelling day before they even arrived at the house, and the flood was the last straw. I know I've had days like that. (I have quite a story about one, too, but it's rather off-topic.)

Last year, just as we were purchasing the rest of the house from our partner, one of our clients had a disappointing stay. This was due to two things: 1) terrible weather, and 2) the fact that our partner had (without permission and without our knowledge) removed a lot of furniture from the house, and stripped one of the bedrooms almost bare! Among other things, she had taken the dehumidifier out, and the room was so damp that it was uninhabitable, especially with all the rain.

They were British, and perhaps it's because they didn't want to complain, but they were so incredibly nice about it! They did tell us they had had a hard time of it, but only after they returned home, and even then they were very, very polite. They didn't ask for a refund, but we felt so badly that we offered one -- we gave them 30% back with their deposit. Of course we can't control the weather, but because of the nature of our relationship with our partner we should have predicted that she would strip the house.

If the family had told us immediately about it, we could have fixed it while they were there, so that was unfortunate. If they had told us about it right away I'd imagine they would have been much more upset, and perhaps demanded a full refund; but tempers would surely have cooled by the next day, especially with a gift of wine and flowers!

Cheers!
Brooke
A-two
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Post by A-two »

Stu & Syb wrote:Kill them! Bury the bodies under the patio....
:lol: Which I guess explains the buzzards flying overhead at your gites.......

Joanna
Stu
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Post by Stu »

OOPS! Found out.......

:lol:
alexia s.
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Post by alexia s. »

"I'm interested to see how this turned out! "
Brooke, I know that they asked for a 20% refund, which is 2 nights (they are here for 10 nights). Personally, I would give it to them and be happy not to hear about it again but I think that our friends are going to offer them 10% (1 night) - I'll let you know what happens. It is slightly more complicated than I thought at first because it turns out that the pool is advertised as being heated...... but because it costs so much to do so, it never is heated!
You won't be surprised to know that our friends are new to holiday renting (& didn't ask my advice on their advertisement wording).
There will be a steep learning curve.
Best,
Alexia.
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tansy
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Post by tansy »

ohhh la la!!! head down and keep quiet I think Alexia...why do people do it? It's got to be what's written on the packet...as simple as that.

Any way good luck with it all...but do let us know the final outcome...Germans can be quite stubborn!
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

I would be pressing for more than 20% if I rented a place at this time of year that was supposed to have a heated pool! That is quite a misrepresentation.
Paolo
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