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.

[Inklingpot]

@Brightlightmoon Some of these replies. 😂 God forbid that anyone on MN ever complains lightheartedly about people being twats.

I know exactly where you’re coming from. I’m in a public-facing role and also finding that people are increasingly demanding and unpleasant.

[MsTSwift]

Ohh I like a fresh swimming pool can’t bear those Luke warm ones for babies nothing like a refreshing swim in a cool pool on a hot day!

[BullshitHunter]

This is the part of the country where the local Boulangerie that's supposed to open at 9 actually opens at 11 because the owner decided to go to the market instead. Then stays open for 1 hour only because it's lunch time. Due to open at 3 but instead opens at 4.30 because their friend asked them to have a drink. Apply that to the vast majority of people down here and I do think it's unreasonable to expect immaculate service at the same levels as in the UK.

To be honest I think this describes perfectly how the UK building industry works.

[Brightlightmoon]

If you're coming on holiday here, you need to be able to go with the flow. The taxi will pick you up 30 mins late, the supermarket will close an hour early cause the staff are too hot, your amazon delivery will be dropped off for collection 40km away cause that's where the driver was going... but on the flip side, the local baker who's getting pissed in the bar will open his boulangerie just for you because you want bread, the little old man down the road will hear your car making a weird noise and will enlist the help of all the other old men and fix it for free then and there, the mayor will be in the bar buying rounds for everyone and Marie-Anne from the local shop will do your washing for you if your kids are stressing you out (seriously, she may even let herself into your house via the back door you forgot to lock, tidy up for you and leave you a pot of bolognese on the hob). I wouldn't change it for the world.

[knitknack]

I’m a teacher and we’ve def noticed that the level of parental complaints, about minor little things that should be survivable for anyone with an ounce of resilience, have not only got up in number but are also vile in their tone and expectation. Did you see this in the guardian today?
More abusive customers

[ChipsRoastOrBoiled]

It's nothing new, unfortunately. I worked in tourism 30 years ago and people did nothing but complain then. It used to get me down so much, when I could see it was about trivial things.

[Maverickess]

I think someone else said it upthread that everyone seems to feel owed something these days and there's an element of people who come at you with the expectation of being hard done to and losing out on something they should be getting, like they want to have someone to blame for generally feeling aggrieved in day to day life and people who are in a service type job are the ideal people to take that out on because they generally have to stand there and take it, can't defend themselves, and usually are expected to apologise to someone who's abused/shouted/threatened/sworn at them.
Some people actively want something to go wrong because they want to have an 'excuse' to vent their anger on someone else and feel validated to do it, and when it doesn't they then start blowing minor things out of proportion or as I've encountered more than once, lying about it.

[Youreeavinalaff]

I'm guessing the recent heatwave hasn't helped, sounds like hot, irrationally angry guests . We booked a cottage in France recently and it was 39-41 degrees every day. Luckily I'd made a point of booking accommodation with aircon and a pool. We had to keep windows and shutters closed at all times and day trips no longer than an hour outdoors. Not sure I could have coped without aircon. I think this may become the norm in July/August. I won't be booking holidays in hot countries during these months again. Or maybe only last minute depending on the weather forecast. Apart from Premier Inn type places, hotels definitely not cheaper or better than cottages in my experience (or at leastin UK). Anywhere genuinely nice looking is hundreds per night, before food, we can't justify that kind of expense. Definitely linked to rising staff costs etc.

[PeloAddict]

People want the moon on a stick with sprinkles on it now I work in customer service

[Brightlightmoon]

Tempers rise during heatwaves, for sure! You could see people calming down and apologising as soon as the clouds popped out. I don't take it personally these days when that happens, it happens to me too to be more agitated when its 40 degrees so I do get it. Now I usually just help them as best I can and by the time the temp drops I usually get an apology for shouting etc.

Thing is, we can spot the ones with a chip on their shoulder a mile off. We once got CC'd into an email thread about 2 weeks before arrival, the clients were planning what to complain about to get their money back. The owners cancelled the booking no questions asked. The bastards even tried to complain to us about it! Those ones are best ignored.

[Brightlightmoon]

@PeloAddict

People want the moon on a stick with sprinkles on it now I work in customer service

Perfect analogy 😂 I've had to remind a few that I'm not a magician 😂

[WildFlowerBees]

Read out their emails in a comical voice, really over pronounce and dramatise words. I was taught to do this, it helped alleviate some of the stress and find humour in the utter ridiculousness that is other people.

[VeronicaBeccabunga]

We're just back after a couple of nights away in a fairly modest little hotel.
The loo flush was a bit unreliable, so we mentioned it to reception on our way out for the day. When we came back someone told us that their handyman had been in and fixed it.

He came and found us at breakfast next morning to see if it had been OK, unfortunately it hadn't been quite right. He apologised profusely, we said not to worry, these things happen.

When we checked out it seemed the entire staff were lined up to apologise again, and we were offered a bottle of 'fizz', which we declined.

I'm sure these small businesses live in fear of horrible online reviews or greedy visitors trying to milk any little fault for lavish compensation. Sad.

[Brightlightmoon]

The days of online reviews having any merit are dwindling to be honest, at least over here. Too many people try and use them as leverage/blackmail and too many people review restaurants/services having never even visited.

[Scepticalwotsits]

British mentality of wanting to get a deal on everything but not realising that the ‘deal’ they are getting is because they have stripped out all the amenities, and then complaining about not having the same amenities as the high end package.

happenes in all walks of life, British people as a whole (not everyone) seem to not know the difference between cost and value

[darty]

@Brightlightmoon I'm in France too - bonjour!

Our neighbours rent out a massive house - sleeps 12 - and it's been constantly booked for months now. A group leaves around 10am and the new lot arrive around midday. The cleaner has a couple of hours max to get everything ready. Fully booked both sides of lockdown. Have no idea how they do it but has made me very wary of Airbnb as am sure the place is never really clean and the only cleaning is done by the holidaymakers themselves.

[HelloThereObiWan]

I live in a tourist honeypot and was in a cafe yesterday standing at the counter waiting to order.

A woman came up to the counter with a bottle of water she had obviously bought a few minutes earlier.

Weak Handed Woman: "Excuse me, I can't open this, I need a strong man to open it."

Lovely young woman at till: "Er ok, would you like me to open it for you?"

Weak Handed Woman: "Can you find a man please to open it?"

Me (internally): WTF???

Till Woman: "Er, ok", (hands it to very young lad behind her, probably teenaged, who was in the middle of cleaning something and obviously didn't want to open it with his icky cleaning hands).

Teenager: "Er, I'll find someone to open it" (takes it into kitchen, presumably where there is a big strong man they keep hidden away just for these occasions).

Random Man Who Suddenly Appears At Counter And Clearly Knows Weak Handed Woman: "Is everything OK?"

Weak Handed Woman, very loudly: "Well I needed someone to open my water bottle but clearly they are incompetent about it."

Me and Till Woman: (Exchange look that screams WTF whilst trying not to laugh).

Yeah, tourists can be utter wankers, and also a bit weird....

[darty]

@darty

@Brightlightmoon I'm in France too - bonjour!

Our neighbours rent out a massive house - sleeps 12 - and it's been constantly booked for months now. A group leaves around 10am and the new lot arrive around midday. The cleaner has a couple of hours max to get everything ready. Fully booked both sides of lockdown. Have no idea how they do it but has made me very wary of Airbnb as am sure the place is never really clean and the only cleaning is done by the holidaymakers themselves.

The current people in there are vampires. Everything shuttered up, even in the evening when it's cooler, they eat inside. Never use the pool. All the neighbours are speculating. Am delighted it's a French group - would never hear the end of it if they were UK. 😂

[Brightlightmoon]

@darty

@Brightlightmoon I'm in France too - bonjour!

Our neighbours rent out a massive house - sleeps 12 - and it's been constantly booked for months now. A group leaves around 10am and the new lot arrive around midday. The cleaner has a couple of hours max to get everything ready. Fully booked both sides of lockdown. Have no idea how they do it but has made me very wary of Airbnb as am sure the place is never really clean and the only cleaning is done by the holidaymakers themselves.

Bonjour! 👋

In my opinion it would be absolutely impossible to get a house that clean in 2 hours! Similar sized houses of ours take about 10-12 hours so split with 2 people its 5 or 6 hours each and that's only if the previous people weren't absolute pigs! I wouldn't trust them unless they secretly have 7 cleaners in there at the same time 😂 Oh I do love the speculation from nosy neighbours, certainly when the clients don't appear to leave the house at all!

[80sMum]

@Thereisnolight

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

It would be like someone booking to stay in Scotland in winter and finding when they arrived that the property had no central heating. Not helpful if the travel agent says, “But you didn’t ask for central heating”.

I've stayed in numerous self-catering properties in the Canary Islands, Italy, Cyprus, Crete and mainland Spain over the last 20 years and not a single one of them has had air conditioning. Most had thick walls and heavy wooden shutters to block out the sun and heat during the day.

I've also stayed in a bungalow in Scotland (albeit over 20 years ago now) that had no central heating. It did have plug in heaters though!

[MamaBearof4]

Some folks just want to complain about everything anywhere they go. Fir example:
Was at the Natural History Museum the other day over in South Kensington and while in the queue for the loo, overheard an American sounding woman moaning like anything to her friend that "the building was too hot, why can't they just install air conditioning for God's sake!" and that "the Museum should pay my dry- cleaning bill" because she'd sweated on her top... and she was going to leave a bad review because of it all and she "couldn't get a photo of the exhibits without other people in the frame"

[Flutterbybudget]

There’s a hilarious list of complaints, purporting to be from Thomas Cook, listing everything from too many Spaniards in Spain, to the beach being too Sandy.

[Brightlightmoon]

I read the Thomas Cook thing years ago and thought that it was all made up - now that I work in the business, absolutely nothing on that list surprises me 😂

[BirmaBrite]

www.wanderlust.co.uk/content/astonishing-holiday-complaints/

[dubyalass]

I've worked at tourist attractions in visitor-facing roles and nothing, I mean nothing, would make me do that kind of job again. I think some of the responses here unintentionally illustrate your point absolutely beautifully.

Ultimately, nobody is putting a gun to these people's heads and forcing them to go on holiday or pay £5-10k for a week in a villa. Sure, if they do then it should match the listing, but like you say, most people probably don't read the listing, or don't check the local facilities. How many people in rural areas of the UK would be able to source a replacement washing machine within 24 hours? Amazon Prime has done a lot to give people unrealistic expectations.

I've holidayed in the rural south of France for decades; part of the reason I choose to go there is because it's a different way of life, it's relaxed and it's an escape from the madness. I'd be joining Pierre for lunch. I've stayed in some shitpits, including somewhere crawling with cockroaches, but we just got on with it (with a can of the French equivalent of Raid). Whoever mentioned lack of resilience has it bang on - god help these people in an actual crisis.