to ask for money off for a crap B&B stay???

[Poohbah]

I didn't get it though.....

Basically I paid £300 for a three night stay at a B&B (double room) in cornwall which was advertised as a family friendly hotel with a swimming pool and tennis courts.

The room was okay but had stained walls, a broken window, no decent view, poor products, no hair dryer, poor/non existent room service, a rickety stool which my son fell off and ended up with cut face.

The swimming pool was warm but the bottom was dirty and all the buoyancy aids were horrible and the roof leaked when it rained and there were garden snails inside the pool shed and it needed painting. The tennis courts were covered in childrens ride on toys which sounds great but the wire fencing was falling down so therefore dangerous to a four year to go near. It was all shabby and sad.

Also the owner made my son cry when he when in a room only designated for adults, although we didn't realise it as it had a billiards table in it so thought it safe for him to go there. Odd because he doesn't usually cry when told off by random others - I didn't hear what /how she told him off though. I asked for £80 off as the place was so horrible but the owners (a husband and wife) ganged up and basically barred my way out of the hotel until I paid up, stating that "This is cornwall" so what did I expect...I told them exactly what I expected but then they became quite horrible. I was there alone with my son and the place had no mobile reception so I caved in.

Wow Nanscawen looks fab... I am off to check out tripadvisor!

OK Wringford, could you clarify something please? I've had a read, and see that all Op meant by "room service" was that she expected the rooms to be serviced each day. That means beds made, top up the hospitality tray, a quick clean of the bathroom to make sure it's sparkling again, and change towels if they are very wet... in the B+B I run. So - do you or do you not service the rooms daily? Op says you don't even make the beds. If you don't then I can't quite work out where the AA three stars come from?

We have never written any reviews on trip advisor.

The rooms are serviced every day. There was one day when the guest sent the chambermaid away because she was in the room. She was asked if she wanted anything (tea/coffee/towels/toilet roll/clean cups) and said no.

Whilst we always clean rooms and bathrooms we do not move any personal stuff - the room was quite difficult to service.

I am not being defensive, there is always room for improvement, some things we try to improve on all of the time, others have to be left on the back burner.

we are a 3 star B&B, we just have lots of other thing too - the swimming pool is fine, it does leak a little, why would I deny this. It has been fixed but everytime we have high winds (often) the fixing shift and it leaks again.

However many people are missing the point here - there was no complaint until a reduction was denied. Then there were threats of bad reviews.

Whilst I find it interesting to read all of your comments I do find it hard to believe that you would all give in to an internet bully.

You must understand that this guest had been absolutely fine, all smiles at breakfast then out of nowhere she wants a reduction - not because there is anything wrong (the complaint came when she didnt get what she wanted) , but because coming to Cornwall for a weekend to go to a wedding cost more than she wanted to pay - and on top of that although the booking was for 2 adults she had come alone.

Just how many of you would actually have said, what a shame, here have £80, to a woman who was threatening to try and ruin your buisness.

I haven't read all the comments - but I read the OP then had a look at the B&Bs website. A couple of things stand right out - the billiard room is stated on the website to be an adult only room and it is stated there is a dartboard in there which is clearly a health and safety thing and a good reason why a 4 yr old isn't allowed in there!

Also I've never known ANY b & b to offer room service, blimey!

The other stuff I think you did need to raise at the time; if there's a broken chair or window you find the owner straight away to have it fixed, or to change rooms. Also unless you were specifically sold a room on the benefit of the view then you simply can't grumble specially if you don't raise it till you leave!

OP I think you did wrong to just demand £80 quid off when you hadn't raised a single problem until that point. Unfair to the b & b as you hadn't given them a chance to help first!

Just how many of you would have said, what a shame here is £80 to a woman threatening to ruin your business.

I would have actually suggested a cup of coffee or tea and a sit down so that we can get to the bottom of what the problem is and see if we can reslove this - you must be able to manovuver gusets to a free stay with a partner at a later date - this costs you nothing and then you see if the perosn will wiggle out of this and say oh no I am not coming back to this mess agian - but you didn't try the oldest customer service move and see what the result would be.

There was a complaint form a person that never set foot in the hotle - which is quite something, he was put of by the state of the carpark in winter and the car - now the car is a little interesting - do you have guests that you must knwo have the same car?

People should say soemthing if there is bad service - but you can't put the onus on the customer to behave how you want them to - did you ask during the stay if everything was alright with the room and the food?

Wringford, thanks for explaining the rooms being serviced part. If what you're saying is what actually happened, I have to admit I can't see the problem.

In future, it might be worth it to adjust your response to complaints a little - even if just something like 20% off next visit etc. Most people complaining won't actually take businesses up on it, but at least you're seen to acknowledge their complaints, and might even get repeat business from it.

Please note that above is meant in general (e.g. Trip advisor), as I'm a bit baffled by the two completely different versions of this story, so there is no way to know what really happened. It is however a shame that this couldn't be dealt with amicably (even if no refund) with neither party getting hurt.

The key here is, if you have a problem or complaint, deal with it immediately. Don't store it up until checkout time. I think fair enough to suggest a refund if you have complained about something and it hasn't been resolved, but not to store complaints up until you leave. It's only reasonable to give the owners a chance to rectify the problem as soon as it's identified.
Oh, and to be fair, I don't think that you should allow a 4 year old to wander off out of sight in a strange place. Which is obviously what happened, or Op would have been present and heard what was said when he was escorted out of the billiard room.
We'll never know exactly what happened here.

p.s. If you ask the chambermaid to leave your room because you aren't ready for it to be serviced, then it is't going to be sorted out later in the day. B+B's always have a time by which the rooms should be vacant, and they will be booking and paying staff bearing that in mind. Also - if you want your room to look nice when you come back in, then don't leave your personal possessions scattered everywhere. As said above, nobody is going to move your belongings about. Although, I did have to move the pantyliner I found in the hospitality tray recently... it looked unused... I really hope it was.

Wringford, out of curiosity do you have a view about the TripAdvisor reviews ?

From the first page, someone else has actually stayed there:

PatriciaHolm Tue 24-Aug-10 22:19:33

How odd - we stayed there a couple of years ago and it was fine. Not luxury, but fine for a (relatively, for cornwall) cheap week. The pool was good, the tennis court come playground was fine though the ride-ons had seen better days as had our 2 bedroom family room. Our children had a great time though and when they left they were each given a cuddly toy. The room with the bar billiards in is clearly off the bar and explicitly adults only, though clearly making your son cry isn't on. Maybe it's changed hands?

I'd be more then happy to stay there, it's not the savoy but if you want somewhere clean and somewhere to sleep it looks OK. I'm willing to stay there when I'm next in Cornwall and will report back.

I think it's churlish to ask for a discount at the end of the stay. Complain whilst there, surely.

But demanding a discount at bill-paying time just looks like chancing.

It's a bit like having a crap meal in a restauraunt, you don't eat it all, complain and ask for a discount off the bill. You complain when you recieve the crap food so they can sort it out.

I have not read this whole thread in its entiety, and this is a little unrelated, but we recently went to Cornwall and stayed is a very mis-advertised B&B. Instead of staying there and suffering the entire trip, we left after one night. We let the owners keep our deposit (one nights stay) but refused to pay for early departure fees. I would not think to ask for a free stay or money off, I will just never ever stay there again. And I gave them a bad review on Trip Advisor. I was also very very clear about why we were unhappy and why we were leaving. If you aren't happy with something, speak up then and there, don't wait until the end of your stay!

Let's look at the complaints and the response

1. Stained walls - no response
2. Broken window - the window wasn't broken
3. No decent view - had a really good view
4. Poor products - no response but IMO few places do offer really good products
5. No hair dryer - no response
6. Rickety stool - response was that it was a normal dressing table stool which seems fair enough
7. Dirty swimming pool - swimming pool cleaned daily
8. Buoyancy aids horrible - no response
9. Roof on swimming pool leaked - apparently it does leak but they don't seem able to mend it

10. Snails in the pool shed - response was they occur naturally 11. Tennis courts have ride on toys - no response but presumably not an issue for the OP as they weren't prevented from playing tennis 12. Fencing falling down - customer drove into it - will be mended 13. Owner made DC cry - explanation was reasonable 14. General shabbiness - no response

I've got a lot of sympathy with the B&B. The price paid was not a great deal, and you get what you pay for particularly in Cornwall in August. They've provided a reasonable explanation.

I travel a lot and have on the occasion complained. A frequent response is to offer a free stay by way of recompense. Would the B&B owners be prepared to do that? For a night next year?

You know, based on the owners negative reactions to the complaints alone, I would never stay there. I have seen owners saying how sorry they were, and wished the person had brought it to their attention etc., when reading other bad reviews in the past. That is how someone should reply if a guest had a bad time, to be apologetic, show that it matters to them. And to have shown some concern when your child was injured there.

Their scanned pages from their guest book made me laugh. Who does that? Afraid to have an on-line guest book I guess!

I quite agree with what others have said and implied, the fact that the B&B and the OP have such wildly differing opinions on the stay essentially means that we will never really know for sure what went on. That said, if I was using this thread to make up my mind whether to stay at the B&B myself, the lack of customer service from Wringford would have been the decider for me. Knowing a place has had complaints, but that there are two sides to every story, I would look at how the complaint was handled. And I'm sorry, but Wringford seem quite incapable of handling criticism. I wouldn't stay there based on that alone.

I just saw the owner has posted here.
Owner, you say the room was for 2 adults and a child, yet you were so kind as to not charge for the child. Then you mention only the mother and child were there. So you did not do any favours did you, as there were still only 2 persons sleeping there.

Also, your attitude is terrible. You assume the guest was having personal problems with her husband, and post it on the internet. How unprofessional.

I realize what a hard job maintaining a B&B is. I wouldn't want to do it. It isn't that your place is a dump (it isn't) that would keep me away, but your attitude. Dismissing a customers comments as you have done shows you really did not care. You should have offered her a free night another time, you know she wouldn't want it anyways, but at least you would have made the effort.

I would not have asked for a discount personally, I would have checked out. Indeed, my mother and I did once have to check out of a suite, due to a strong mildew odor. The man at the desk was very apologetic and actually found us a room at another hotel.

I must also say I don't see a woman alone with a four-year-old child making a fuss and threats if she doesn't have to. This makes me more wary of Wringford's explanation than it does the OP's complaint. I'm still not sure about the tearful child part, seems a bit random for him to just burst out crying, seems like there could be more to that. Those things, along with the defensive responses from Wringford on MN makes me lean towards believing the OP is more likely to be telling a more accurate story.

It all reminds me of Ebay buyers who get hold of an item and then claim 'Not as described' and demand a refund.

You do have to raise complaints as they arise - it gives the business a chance to offer something in return or to put right the problem. Suddenly asking for a big chunk to be taken off the bill without any prior complaint is going to piss off most small business owners.

My DD2, when she was 4, would have HOWLED if anyone she didn't know even looked at her, never mind took her by the hand.

I have lurked on this thread from the very beginning.

I had an horrific holiday in a well known chain of caravan parks. We had numerous issues throughout the week that we were there. To the point that my (now ex) husband and I were fed up trooping to the desk to complain.

But we trooped every time. And we complained (again) on check out. They couldn't help us, and advised us to complain again when we got home, which I did.

Made bugger all difference mind you, and I never got a discount.

I think, if the OP had been that unhappy with the state of the room, the state of the furnishings etc then she should've complained at the time and not just when checking out.

I also think that the B&B owner could have handled the complaint better - not sure how though, since the OP was demanding money off the stay.

I think the truth of this story lies somewhere in the middle tbh.

I am very happy for any of you to come and look at the room. If anyone is local enough come and spend a couple of hours here, use the pool, talk to me.

I think I replied to most of the issues raised but feel like I am writing a bit of an essay.

The replies are not ment to be personal so I have tried to be generic, this of course leaves my replies open to interpretation and some posters seem to be taking a negative view.

As I am unable to say exactly what I mean you need to read between the lines!

The window was not broken - it is a tilt and turn, so if you try to open it normally when it is on the turn setting it will not move. The guest probably didnt realise this.

There are no stained walls, but on the day the guest arrived someone had left a window open and the rain had left a large damp patch on one wall - it had dried out long before the guest left.

I have accurately described the view from each side (W,E and N), I didnt say the view were good - but they are not horribe either.

I think that I have responded to all of the other issues - we simply dont supply hair driers (3 star B&B)

I guess some people may fee that bits of the property are a bit shabby - it is as always an on going project. The worst bits make it to the top of the list!

None of you were here as the guest checked out - If I could show you what actualy happened you would have much more sympathy. I am not allowed to describe accurately how the guest behaved - I can only re state that given the threat of blackmail unless I reduced the invoice by £80 I was not allowed any option to negotiate - a cup of tea and a chat would have been lovely, but the only thing that would fix the problem would have been £80. I think I am allowed to say that as she stormed out she called me a b----,
and other guests heard her. It would be intersting for you to hear what other guests said about her as she left....

I am not usually stubborn but would not have been happy to give in to the blackmail, and a bed review would probably have followed anyway.

What sort of person says "unless you give me a £80 discount I am going to write as many bad reviews as I can"?

On the basis of what this guest has written many of you seem to have decided that our positive trip advisor reviews are fake - that is a huge leap! If you look at the trip advisor categories it would be difficcult not to score well unless you were actually trying to write a bad review.

location - we are in the middle of an area of outstanding natural beauty (ANOB), beautiful countryside and lovely local villages - the guest gave us 1, almost everyone else would really have to give a 5 if being honest.

Cleanliness - in our AA report it was given an excellent! (This is toally without bias)

Our guest gave us 1

Service - our staff are all relaxed and friendly, nothing would be too much trouble. the guest asked for exra biscuits and they were supplied immediately - the only interraction I actually witnessed. though the guest ate all of her breakfast every day she has still only given a 1.

Sleep quality, peace and quiet on a good quality king size bed 1 again. lots of people have said how comfortable the bed is.

How can this review be regarded as honest?

Why do so many of you feel that this guest is beyond reproach.

We have few bad reviews, mostly they seem unfair, but if someone tells us there is a problem we can usually sort it out for them. telling us at check out means we have no chance to put things right.

However this complaint still in the end comes down to money, and I am not about to give in to blackmail. The guest and many other peole have created a smoke screen, please remember there were no complaints at all untill the £80 discount was refused. What has happened since is internet bullying and it is not very nice.

If anyone is curious enough to want to come and visit - give me a call 01752 822287, if anyone wants to stay and check it out for themselves I will offer a discount to enable you to do so.

It would be good to see some real truths published!

Wringford - I think you've been put in quite a difficult position.

And FWIW I admire you for having the guts to come on here and defend your B&B

wrt the unhappy as on her own comment - did that not refer to the fact that the op had booked and paid for two adults, and then only one came thereby wasting money, thereby making OP unhappy -- that's how I read it anyway :) nothing to do with marital breakup, or a woman requires a man to be happy

As I mentioned earlier, I have actually stayed here, for week 2 years ago with children then aged about 2 and 3.5. We had a good time; no it's not luxury, not gourmet, a little ramshackle, but for a relatively cheap week in Cornwall with a pool, kids play stuff (and indoor playroom with toys), and on site catering it's not bad value at all - we had a 2 bedroom suite on the ground floor. I don't remember what bathroom products it had, but quite frankly I never expect B&Bs to provide them anyway. Everything is a bit tatty, but not dangerous, but with 2 and 3.5 yr olds racing around (and there were several other families there) that's not necessarily a bad thing. The kids loved it, and still have the teddies they were given as they left. Everyone was friendly, and it was clear that many of the staff were family, so not as it were "professional" staff.

The OP clearly had a bad time for some reason, and she's managed to get quite wound up about it. I fail to see why some of the complaints she had weren't raised earlier - the broken window, if it was, for example. However, we're clearly never going to be able to know for certain what happened as she checked out as none of us were there.