Post by Maria Lurdes (Milu) on Jan 12, 2016 15:32:09 GMT
Yesterday we welcomed a family of six from Chile to one of our listings, a 3 bedroom/2 bath apartment in a 100+ year old house.
Background: Guest contacts me about two bookings. January 11-16, then back again January 19-23. A fairly good booking for the dead time in January so I was pretty happy. Normal back and forth from a first time user who jumped into the process without taking 5 minutes to read anything about how it works, etc. so a few questions like "how do I get my deposit back", "is there heat" (put a pin in this question), etc. After a number of emails, the bookings are confirmed. After the bookings are confirmed, I contact him directly to provide my normal info package and we get into more Q and A, answers of which are in the info package that I've sent him, that I keep referring back to. Again, it's dead time, so I'm being more patient with the questions then I normally would, as I need the booking. So I keep answering in a way like "yes, the bus runs all night as noted in the information package that I sent you". "Yes, there is a laundrymat across the street as noted in the information package that I sent you". You get the idea. In one of our many email exchanges a few weeks ago the guest asks why there is only one TV in the apartment, as they need to have two TVs. I tell him that as noted in the description, there is one TV, and that he had a chance to review the description before committing to the bookings. He says he needs a tv in the master bedroom and I will have to get another. I reply to him "do you mean that you expect me to go out and buy a TV for your use for this reservation, when I have clearly indicated that there is one TV in the apartment?". His reply - "yes". I couldn't quite get over the nerve, and told my husband about this. He's much more reasonable, so he says - well, we have another tv in an apartment that is empty, let's just move it over there and make him happy. Fine, we do so. Then the guest contacts me again to say that there flight arrives at 6am and that they will come to the apartment from the airport. I reply back that this is not possible, as other guests will not have checked out until 11am, and then the apartment will need to be prepared for them. We go through the whole song and dance about what they can do, what about luggage, they will be very tired, etc. etc. In the end, I compromise to allow them to leave their luggage in the locked foyer, but I make sure that the apartment is not accessible to them until 4pm by not programming their door code. I also tell the cleaner to not let them in while she is working and that she should call me if they give her guff. So the group arrives in two sets - first set drops the luggage, no problem. The second set arrives and now can't drop the luggage because the first set took the key to the locked foyer. So now I have to get the cleaner to go down and let them in, and of course they bombard her with questions and requests to see the apartment, they are tired, blah blah. I've already warned her, so she holds firm. Fine - now all the luggage is settled and they've gone to explore. It's now about 2pm, and still two hours from check-in. At 2:30pm I start to get calls requesting that they be allowed up as they are tired, cold. I reiterate that the apartment is not yet prepared, and that I will meet them at 4pm to show them around. At 3:30pm I get a call from the cleaner that they are all outside the gate building, huddled and shivering. She's finished, so I tell her go ahead and let them in, I'll be right there.
So now I get to meet these lovely people! So family of six, but there is 8 people. It turns out that one of the couples are local, they are helping them get settled. OR as I like to say, helping them complain. From the moment I stepped into the apartment, for one solid hour, I was in the middle of a moving mass of all eight people asking me question after question. This TV does not work - oh, look, it's not plugged in. VOila! Now it works. Oh, this lamp does not light. Oh, let's check the cord. Hm. Also just needs to be plugged in! (unplugged to accommodate a phone charger they've already connected). Now the issue is heat, as it's cold. I don't feel cold, but I know they are from Chile and area also tired. Feeling the radiators, they aren't ice cold, but should be warmer. I tell them that I'll have to check on why the heat is not working, but that on my own I can't do anything. I will have to call someone. Then they ask about hot water, if we have it. I am now a bit shitty, and I reply - of course we have hot water. It's not legal to not provide hot water in any home. They want to know how much hot water is there, and I tell the that they have an 80 gallon tank, not sure of the liter size, but at least 300 liters. Will it be enough for six people to wash? NOT ALL AT THE SAME TIME I tell them, as the tank will deplete. So they have to stagger the showers, or the first people will get all the hot water and the last people nothing until the tank reheats.
On an on in this vein. I finally go, telling them that I will check back with them in one hour about the heat, and if it's still not working I will bring space heaters until we figure things out. By the time I walk four blocks to my house, they are already on whatsapp to say the apartment is still very cold they are freezing, when will the heat come on. I now already have a call in for repair, and they are on the way. I tell them that I'll prepare the heaters and bring them, but I have to go find them I don't have them in my car ready to go. They must give me an hour and until then, turn on the electric fireplace to the warmest temperature and sit in the livign room. Within 30 minutes my husband is there with four space heaters. He then goes over where they must be plugged in to avoid tripping a breaker. We re-emphasize that this is an old house with old electricity and heaters are super energy sucks. They must not move the heaters to other locations as it will trip the breakers. They all nod and say yes, we understand. Back home, word from technician that there is faulty switch, he repairs it and tells us it will now heat, take some time for the radiators to warm up. We relay the information. They call back in ten minutes that it's still cold, but now another problem. They have lost electricity. Why? BECAUSE THEY MOVED THE HEATERS all to the living room and flipped the breakers. Back we go to the basement (not guest accessible) with another warning to please not move the heaters as the electrical capacity is too much if they are anywhere other then where we place them. These people are not uneducated, by the way, and the language is not an issue as the kids all speak English. Not perfectly, but enough for comprehension. Finally at 9pm they concede that the heat is on and a comfortable temperature.
First thing this morning I text them to check how the heat is, are they still comfortable? The reply - the heat is on, it's not perfect but it's ok. I tell them to then hold on to the space heaters, and use them to keep the apartment as warm as they want it, please just turn them off when leaving for the day. Ok, they reply. Ten minutes later they text back - new problem! We have no hot water. We have two people to shower. I go over again the capacity of the tank, remind them what we spoke about yesterday and tell them they have to wait now, there is nothing more to be done.
The dilemma is this - these people are NEVER going to be happy. They are now going to find fault with every single thing. I can feel it in my bones. Not knowing if another apartment that is more modern will make them happy, but since we have another apartment available that is bigger, newer, more expensive too, I send them a note on Airbnb offering to move them to another apartment at no additional cost, as I am concerned that this apartment is not a good fit for them. So what do I do if they say no to my offer? I want very much to have them go away, but I don't want to cancel them, and I worry that if they move they still will not be happy, as they are miserable gits OR if they stay where they are they will drive me insane.
Ugh, sorry for such a rant! Am I missing some magic step that will make this family be happy or is this is a no-win situation?
Background: Guest contacts me about two bookings. January 11-16, then back again January 19-23. A fairly good booking for the dead time in January so I was pretty happy. Normal back and forth from a first time user who jumped into the process without taking 5 minutes to read anything about how it works, etc. so a few questions like "how do I get my deposit back", "is there heat" (put a pin in this question), etc. After a number of emails, the bookings are confirmed. After the bookings are confirmed, I contact him directly to provide my normal info package and we get into more Q and A, answers of which are in the info package that I've sent him, that I keep referring back to. Again, it's dead time, so I'm being more patient with the questions then I normally would, as I need the booking. So I keep answering in a way like "yes, the bus runs all night as noted in the information package that I sent you". "Yes, there is a laundrymat across the street as noted in the information package that I sent you". You get the idea. In one of our many email exchanges a few weeks ago the guest asks why there is only one TV in the apartment, as they need to have two TVs. I tell him that as noted in the description, there is one TV, and that he had a chance to review the description before committing to the bookings. He says he needs a tv in the master bedroom and I will have to get another. I reply to him "do you mean that you expect me to go out and buy a TV for your use for this reservation, when I have clearly indicated that there is one TV in the apartment?". His reply - "yes". I couldn't quite get over the nerve, and told my husband about this. He's much more reasonable, so he says - well, we have another tv in an apartment that is empty, let's just move it over there and make him happy. Fine, we do so. Then the guest contacts me again to say that there flight arrives at 6am and that they will come to the apartment from the airport. I reply back that this is not possible, as other guests will not have checked out until 11am, and then the apartment will need to be prepared for them. We go through the whole song and dance about what they can do, what about luggage, they will be very tired, etc. etc. In the end, I compromise to allow them to leave their luggage in the locked foyer, but I make sure that the apartment is not accessible to them until 4pm by not programming their door code. I also tell the cleaner to not let them in while she is working and that she should call me if they give her guff. So the group arrives in two sets - first set drops the luggage, no problem. The second set arrives and now can't drop the luggage because the first set took the key to the locked foyer. So now I have to get the cleaner to go down and let them in, and of course they bombard her with questions and requests to see the apartment, they are tired, blah blah. I've already warned her, so she holds firm. Fine - now all the luggage is settled and they've gone to explore. It's now about 2pm, and still two hours from check-in. At 2:30pm I start to get calls requesting that they be allowed up as they are tired, cold. I reiterate that the apartment is not yet prepared, and that I will meet them at 4pm to show them around. At 3:30pm I get a call from the cleaner that they are all outside the gate building, huddled and shivering. She's finished, so I tell her go ahead and let them in, I'll be right there.
So now I get to meet these lovely people! So family of six, but there is 8 people. It turns out that one of the couples are local, they are helping them get settled. OR as I like to say, helping them complain. From the moment I stepped into the apartment, for one solid hour, I was in the middle of a moving mass of all eight people asking me question after question. This TV does not work - oh, look, it's not plugged in. VOila! Now it works. Oh, this lamp does not light. Oh, let's check the cord. Hm. Also just needs to be plugged in! (unplugged to accommodate a phone charger they've already connected). Now the issue is heat, as it's cold. I don't feel cold, but I know they are from Chile and area also tired. Feeling the radiators, they aren't ice cold, but should be warmer. I tell them that I'll have to check on why the heat is not working, but that on my own I can't do anything. I will have to call someone. Then they ask about hot water, if we have it. I am now a bit shitty, and I reply - of course we have hot water. It's not legal to not provide hot water in any home. They want to know how much hot water is there, and I tell the that they have an 80 gallon tank, not sure of the liter size, but at least 300 liters. Will it be enough for six people to wash? NOT ALL AT THE SAME TIME I tell them, as the tank will deplete. So they have to stagger the showers, or the first people will get all the hot water and the last people nothing until the tank reheats.
On an on in this vein. I finally go, telling them that I will check back with them in one hour about the heat, and if it's still not working I will bring space heaters until we figure things out. By the time I walk four blocks to my house, they are already on whatsapp to say the apartment is still very cold they are freezing, when will the heat come on. I now already have a call in for repair, and they are on the way. I tell them that I'll prepare the heaters and bring them, but I have to go find them I don't have them in my car ready to go. They must give me an hour and until then, turn on the electric fireplace to the warmest temperature and sit in the livign room. Within 30 minutes my husband is there with four space heaters. He then goes over where they must be plugged in to avoid tripping a breaker. We re-emphasize that this is an old house with old electricity and heaters are super energy sucks. They must not move the heaters to other locations as it will trip the breakers. They all nod and say yes, we understand. Back home, word from technician that there is faulty switch, he repairs it and tells us it will now heat, take some time for the radiators to warm up. We relay the information. They call back in ten minutes that it's still cold, but now another problem. They have lost electricity. Why? BECAUSE THEY MOVED THE HEATERS all to the living room and flipped the breakers. Back we go to the basement (not guest accessible) with another warning to please not move the heaters as the electrical capacity is too much if they are anywhere other then where we place them. These people are not uneducated, by the way, and the language is not an issue as the kids all speak English. Not perfectly, but enough for comprehension. Finally at 9pm they concede that the heat is on and a comfortable temperature.
First thing this morning I text them to check how the heat is, are they still comfortable? The reply - the heat is on, it's not perfect but it's ok. I tell them to then hold on to the space heaters, and use them to keep the apartment as warm as they want it, please just turn them off when leaving for the day. Ok, they reply. Ten minutes later they text back - new problem! We have no hot water. We have two people to shower. I go over again the capacity of the tank, remind them what we spoke about yesterday and tell them they have to wait now, there is nothing more to be done.
The dilemma is this - these people are NEVER going to be happy. They are now going to find fault with every single thing. I can feel it in my bones. Not knowing if another apartment that is more modern will make them happy, but since we have another apartment available that is bigger, newer, more expensive too, I send them a note on Airbnb offering to move them to another apartment at no additional cost, as I am concerned that this apartment is not a good fit for them. So what do I do if they say no to my offer? I want very much to have them go away, but I don't want to cancel them, and I worry that if they move they still will not be happy, as they are miserable gits OR if they stay where they are they will drive me insane.
Ugh, sorry for such a rant! Am I missing some magic step that will make this family be happy or is this is a no-win situation?