I wish these people would just never go on holiday!!

[Brightlightmoon]

This is just a rant. I'm so sick of people!

I work in tourism (holiday rentals) and I'm sick of (unfortunately, mainly Brits) threatening legal action for absolutely EVERYTHING!

They book a property without aircon, it doesn't say anywhere on the listing that there's aircon nor have they mentioned any desire for aircon. They arrive, notice there's no air con and go fucking ape shit, threatening us in emails and text messages and phone calls, demanding all of their money back immediately or they're going to drag us through the courts. Same situation for anything else you can imagine - a washing machine breaks during their holiday (it happens, they don't break down on a schedule!), so they deem the property to be unfit for rental and not in line with the advertisement. We try and arrange for it to be fixed or for a new one to be fitted as soon as possible, but if we can't have it all done and dusted within half a day of their complaint, in come the threats and demands for full repayment.

I love my job, I love it so much, but fucking hell this type of shit gets to me.

Trip Advisor has done this!!

Well I have a reverse unfortunately. In 2018 we booked a beautiful villa via AirBnB in the South of France. It was absolutely stunning but the owner took a substantial deposit and then told us that she had a cat there.

Fine but a bit surprised, but this cat was extremely elderly and vomited and had diarrhoea regularly, which I had to clear up, which at one point caused me to slip on an outside step at 11.30pm and strain my ankle.

It took a lot of my time and I asked her directly for some money back. She wouldn't budge and said we knew there was a cat there when we booked. Needless to say, AirBnB ruled in our favour and refunded 50% of our costs within a week.

I wonder if this year is particularly bad for complaints because so many people have built up there holiday expectations after 2 years of lockdown. They look back at previous holidays through rose tinted spectacles.

Holiday homes always have their quirks. Personally, if I wanted total uniformity and reliability then I would stay in one of the huge chain hotels.

Staying rural anywhere means you have to be prepared for things (including washing machines) not always working as expected. It is part of the adventure.

That explains my shit Chutney.
The shit review matched the shit Chutney.

I think part of the issue is that costs of holiday rentals have risen disproportionately compared to peoples incomes.

There are doubtless good reasons for this such as higher utility bills and staff costs, but the net result is sometimes self catering costs roughly the same as a hotel, so people have hotel level expectations.

Lilacpoppy Ah right, so far in 15 years we've only had the issue once or twice, no one else has said anything. Usually people with babies look for a heated pool, which usually go up to 27-28 degrees max (unless it's a very small pool) but can get higher if the renters use the pool cover at night to trap in the heat. The heat outside probably makes a difference over here, if its 40 degrees then you want the water to be refreshing so probably not so much an issue.

Since Covid we've had a lot of people who clearly only ever used to go to hotels as their expectations are very off. Somehow despite the descriptions of the properties they expect free amenities top ups throughout (like loo roll etc, most people leave 2 per toilet to get people started) and laundry services etc so that's been a tough one at times. This year especially though there have been some very vicious people, unfortunately mainly Brits, I'm not too sure of the reasons why though. French clients are, contrary to popular belief, overall super chill. Swiss and Dutch are usually pretty chilled out as well. We've had issues with Germans in the past but nothing very serious.

I also think a lot of people don't realise that prices are higher in July and August and higher near the coast. You can get a wonderful 4-5 bed villa for £3k about 20 minutes from the coast in May/June but that same place might be £5k in July and August. I see it a lot on other threads, people saying "if you paid £3k you got ripped off, our place was bigger and we paid £1,5k" but they dont seem to take into account that they went in May and were 40 mins from the beach. I would always recommend to people that they come here in Spring if they can. Prices are more affordable, staff everywhere are happier, it's still hot but not 40 degrees and everything is quieter. September isn't the best time because everyone is dead on their feet!

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4604278-holiday-cottage-right-to-feel-annoyed
What do you think of these complaints, OP? Reasonable or not?

That's babies, not children, isn't it?

26-28 is pretty normal for heated swimming pool temperatures; if people need something higher for a reason (eg baby/toddler) surely they should check in advance?

Though I'll agree that leisure pools in the UK are often warmer than their counterparts elsewhere; I've always assumed it was a cultural thing more than anything else and linked to ambient temperatures. So I can understand that cooler pools will feel cold if you're not used to that.

As a flip side as an Australian in the UK I often find pools here too warm and I never feel refreshed after a swim, it's too much like a bath. And because of the temperature they need a lot more chlorine:

Funnily enough I was reading that one this morning! (If it's the one I'm thinking of). Bear in mind this is all based on French holiday lets where it's a lot busier, not the UK.

• Pity about the entry code not being correct but good that it was solved so quickly. (Sometimes owners change them randomly mid-season and forget to tell us. I always check before arrivals but some owners simply don't answer you)


• Crumbs under the sofa, not great but easily missed if the cleaner has another 3 houses to clean within the changeover period. Not good but not the end of the world.


• Crumbs in the cutlery drawer. This is a tricky one as often that task is reserved for a deeper clean that the owners need to agree to (and pay more for, which some don't want to). We ask our cleaners to check every time regardless.


• Toilet not working, definitely annoying, certainly as it's the toilet for an entire floor where her kids were sleeping. The OP didn't mention why they couldn't fix it same day, so can't comment on that.


• Pills in the drawers in kids bedroom, really not good, wouldn't be happy with that either.


• Clothes in the drawers, couldn't get worked up about.

If I were the OP, I would take photos of everything and send them all to the property manager (if there is one) or the holiday company whilst still on the property (this is crucial, bring up any issues while you're still there!). If I was the manager, I'd get permission to send a cleaner for a couple of hours and would see if there was anything I could do about the toilet. If toilet couldn't be fixed and the client asked for money back, I'd just give them the owners' contact details as I have no say in it, it's their choice to refund some money or not.

JassyRadlett I agree, it's pretty much only expats who have heated pools over here, the vast majority of locals think it's unnecessary. It might just be the area but there's a massive river beach culture here (where the water is usually freezing!) and no one bats an eyelid, same with the beach. Some people expect 34 degrees when they see that it's a heated pool, and don't bear in mind that the pool is outside, not inside. 27-28 is the norm, usually in summer a non-heated average size pool averages at 25-28 degrees, going up to 31 when it's 40 degrees. All dependant on weather, of course. If there are storms for a few days then temp obviously goes down.

@Brightlightmoon aaaaah ... that post alone makes me want to pack my (urban) bags and head to your neck of the woods. I spent a lot of time in the South of France as a child and I love that lifestyle :)

Sorry that some idiots just don't 'get it' and give you a hard time.

You do know that they just go on holiday to give their neighbours a repreive, don't you? You only get them for 2 weeks of the yea; they have to put up with entitled behaviour for the rest of the year.

Maireas Just to add, on that other thread there's a lot of "it's not unreasonable to expect it to be absolutely perfect" - this can be an issue with peoples expectations being massive. A new-build modern 2 bedroom villa 10 mins from the sea, maybe, but a 200-year-old Chateau in the countryside will smell dusty, there will be cobwebs (the bastards appear within minutes), there will be geckos coming in and out, if anything goes wrong there will be a longer wait to get someone out there, etc. It depends on the property. We try and speak to the clients before booking to get a good idea of what they're looking for. If someone's requirement is "I want everything absolutely spotless, right in the centre of a town that is also very near the beach" then I'm not going to send them to the (stunning, but dusty) 250-year-old renovated barn in the middle of 5km of vineyards.

ThreeImaginaryBoys Well you're always welcome 😁Much like I have no interest in giant cities, I rent an apartment in the middle of NYC and complain about the noise and lack of vineyards 😂It's a fab place but is rural and if some people don't like that, it's absolutely fine, but then it's probably not the right place for you.

PineappleWilson You're right, I'll remember to think of the neighbours the next time I'm being called a dirty bitch on the phone and thank my lucky stars they're leaving soon hahahaha

It's interesting that you were reading that thread, too!
To be honest, the key thing was annoying but sorted, the pills thing not good, but I honestly wouldn't be bothered by crumbs (low standards, I know!).
I genuinely think that we haven't been on holiday for three years is a bit of a mantra now. Maybe people's expectations are too high?

To add, OP, I think you're right - the expectation that everything should be perfect is just crazy.
I don't think I've ever stayed anywhere perfect, but had some great holidays!

Well @Brightlightmoon please DM me the details of where you are! I like the sound of a long lunch with 45 year-old Pierre before I leap into a cold pool with my kids and then get my husband to help with hand washing their smalls because there's no washing machine :)

I live in sw France.
I don't understand why Brits choose to holiday here without accepting things work differently.
And even Brits would have to live under a rock not to know that August is the month when the French go on holiday including workmen.
Also our water is awful and the toilet and appliances break regularly because of the calcaire. We use tablets in our washing machine to minimise the problem but I imagine guests don't.

As for pools going green, a heatwave or a storm can turn them overnight.

A tip for Brits in France.
Check the weather daily.
If there's going to be a storm cover the pool.
Also other than dc don't wear suncream in the pool.

Simple measures that help to keep the pool clean.

@Acheyknees Your post made me smile, I did exactly the same thing when we arrived here (Bali villa) two weeks ago. Every villa/hotel safe here and in Aus that I have ever used does four digits, # to lock then the same to open. It was late and I was tired and DH wanted to go for a walk, I should have just said no but I shoved everything including my phone in the safe. When I got back I couldn’t open it. BUT unlike the OP’s rude guests I sent a very apologetic “sorry for being so stupid” message to the management company I had booked through at 9am the next morning. They sent someone round with a key straight away. It actually should have worked as I thought but it was broken so needs the key to open and lock. The message thread was very “I am so sorry for inconveniencing you, no I’m so sorry you were inconvenienced with lots of 🙏🙏🙏“ 😁 I’m sure if I was rude I would probably have had to wait all day (in any case being rude or aggressively loud is a real social faux pas here).

Maireas Oh yes, we've had that one since the first year of the pandemic and a lot of people think it means they can complain massively and get everything they want plus more. If your expectations are too high, you're going to be disappointed no matter what, nothing is perfect! Especially not here, but the wine and weather makes up for the geckos 😁

ThreeImaginaryBoys I'll PM you, I'll also give you Pierre's number so long as you understand that he will ditch your coffee date in favour of a BBQ at the beach with his 5th cousins 17 times removed. Plus side, he'll probably invite you and get you drunk on free wine 😂

I would think that a property in a hot country should have air-con as standard.

You illusions will be dashed if you ever visit Australia.

Cognacsoft I agree with everything you've said, even down to the water at my house that smells like rotten eggs every now and then (brand new town water system, nothing to be done) 😂

Well. I did harbour dreams of buying a holiday property, letting it out in July and August and living in it in the off season. Clearly this will not be the idyllic lifestyle I am imagining!

It is a wonderful thing to do, yes people annoy the life out of you and sometimes you have to go and deal with something at 2am, but as long as you have a good property manager and a good network, it's not so difficult 😊