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.

This thread higlights my concerns about forums like this. It has also happened with that small shop in the Cotswolds and with Asda not so long ago and probably many other organisations large and small.

I don't doubt that the OP had issues with the B&B or that maybe it could have been handled better, but then (nearly) everyone on here comes along agreeing how awful the place must be - on ONE persons word.

Read all the other reviews on Tripadvisor and on other review sites - I think they give a much fairer overall view of the place than one poster on here.

I'm sorry your break wasn't a complete success, but I do think it is very unfair of you to just highlight the bad points here and also extremely bad manners to give the marks you did on Tripadvisor. Based on your original comments on here, there was no justification to mark them 1/5 for EVERY category.

And no, I have nothing to do with the place, have never been there and probably never will - I just don't like to see people jumping on the bandwagon to criticise so quickly and easily.

Good on the owners for giving a sensible response.

I think everyone has different opinions about places they stay at. I regularly stay somewhere that has very mixed reviews on trip advisor, but we love the place and are returning again shortly. I really dont take that much notice of these reviews TBH.

I have just returned from a complimentary night's dinner bed and breakfast in the Quay Hotel in Deganwy, North Wales that I was given because I made a complaint after a visit during renovations earlier in the year.

I was so impressed by this offer with respect to the complaint I made, which was really nowhere near as substantive as the OP's.

Wringford, you are doing yourself no favours. That £80 will rot in your pocket and by responding to and extending debate on the original complaint you are probably losing future custom even as I type.

Customer service has as a principle tenet that the customer is always right. Trying to discredit a disgruntled customer online is far more telling of your poor customer relations than anything the OP could have written.

If I was called a bitch by a service user in my job I would be far from impressed. Whatever the complaint thats not called for and is a word I totally abhor.

If I was the owner I think I would have repsonded on here as well.

I think you're on a hiding to nothing if you complain about several issues only when paying the bill. If you raise things as they occur you should get the situation sorted there and then OR put yourself in a much better position for asking for a discount off the bill. I got £60 off a hotel bill recently for a problem that arose. I made it quite clear I was unhappy at the time and it was all sorted when I came to pay the bill. No fuss and no need to complain all over the internet - which I think is pretty dubious tbh. I have some sympathy with the B&B .

No of couse I didnt block her exit - I was sat behind a desk the desk was between myself and the door. the child was not with her.

I am not trying to discredit a disgruntled customer, do you suggest I just let people post what they like without any response?

Interesting that, having started up the attack on reputation of the owners of the B+B, Op has vanished.
OK, as someone who manages a B+B from time to time, here's what I think.
Op was offered a cheaper room and declined it. Therefore she has to pay full price. It's nothing to do with occupancy, if she had gone to the cheaper room then the B+B might have been able to rent out the more expensive one to other customers.
The customer isn't always right. Sometimes they are for sure, but I think these days some people are very aware of the power of a threat of a bad review on the internet, so some push their luck. I'm not saying Op is, but it it getting more common. We always do something to resolve reasonable complaints, but if it doesn't seem reasonable, then we bite the bullet and let them post their bad review. In which case a simple response like "We think our other great reviews speak for themselves". Luckily, this has only happened once, and it was a mistake so withdrawn.
I don't think it is reasonable to stay at a B+B and store up your complaints until you leave. So many things here could have been resolved (if you believe Wringford). The sand in the pool could have been explained, as could the leaking roof. The window opening could have been demonstrated. The rocky dressing table chair could have been removed and replaced (or left out - you aren't somehow "entitled" to a dressing table chair...). A hair dryer would have been provided. The big one for me is this - if Op had been supervising her 4 year old properly, then the problem with the child going into an adult-only area wouldn't even have happened. He shouldn't have been in there alone in the first place.
Please also bear in mind, when you highlight quality of toiletries and lack of hairdryers, that a 3 star B+B is working to a standard. That standard does not include hairdryers in every room for example. Pay more for four star and you will get one, pluse more superior toiletries. B+B's know their market, they don't all strive to get those AA 4 stars, they may know that they will get more custom if they operate as a 3 star at appropriate prices.
I don't really know how anyone can decide on who is wrong or right in this just by reading what Op and Wringord have typed. However, I'm quietly impressed that Wrinford has offered a discount stay, and I think it only fair someone takes it up.
(Not me, I avoid child-friendly B+B's if I can possibly manage to).

Actually Wringford, I think the old "no such publicity as bad publicity" might work in your favour here. A lot of people have looked at your site, your mostly excellent reviews, and may make up their own minds.

Again, it reminds me more and more of the Ebay chancer who demands refund or neg review.

I'm not a B&B user myself, we go self-catering as we find it the most family friendly option for us.

Greenshadow, wrt the Cotswolds shop, the OP went to great pains not to name it. WRT Tripadavisor - I take all the reviews I read on there with an enormous pinch of salt. There are hundereds (thousands probably) of reviews written by one-time posters. Some might be written by establishments' staff, others by customers with an axe to grind. Who knows? The only reviews I trust are those written by people who've written several. This isn't just because I'm a bit about their validity, but because I like to see what else they like/dislike to try and guage whether they're impressed/depressed(!) by similar things.

I do similar with guide books - if their review of places I love is scathing, I ignore the book as clearly their priorities differ from mine.

In this case I'm afraid the OP forfeited any kind of recompense when she called the B&B owner a bitch.

Wringford as you are new to mumsnet you won't be used to the way people post in AIBU.
It is an anonymous forum and people can be quite harsh and personal. So please don't be too upset by peoples comments.

I think you have come across as very fair and reasonable. The op has come across as angry and a little unhinged.
Why on earth should you just give someone a £80 refund because they asked. Like you said if they had complained earlier you could have sorted it out.
I think it's quite revealing that the op hasn't come back to defend herself.

if it wasn't for the 7 hour drive I would come and stay myself.

Again please don't take peoples comments too much to heart.

Thankyou myleetlepony.

If you would like to come and stay there are very few children after the October half term break.

All this has made me feel awful - I feel like I have been put under a microscope then bullied for defending myself - I wouldnt wish this on anyone.

I think a group booking might be in order. wringford - could you handle us?

Again, I don't stay in B&Bs, but this OP wouldn't put me off if I were a user.

I think whatever your experience, its difficult to negoatiate a reduction in cost at the end of your stay. Its sort of like eating a whole meal in a restaurant and then saying "actually it wasn't very nice, so I'll pay half". You have to tell them at the start what the problem is, see if they can fix it for you or offer you money off, and then decide if its worth staying or leaving early...never nice to get into a fight about this kind of thing. You can post anonymously on tripadvisor and I don't believe they can "respond".

Sure - we can do group bookings

would you like a BBQ too? - easiest way to cook for lots of people!

Wringford - if it helps at all, I think you are coming accross as articulate, concerned and honest.

You have admitted that your B&B may be a little tired around the edges and that maintenance is a nver ending job! You have said you have equipment if people ask, you seem to provide plenty of facilities for young children (probably why I would not visit, as my children are now teenagers I try to avoid toddler friendly places!!) and you seem passionate about your business.
I think you have had an unfair ride here.

None of us have any reason to believe the OP over you, and she appears to have disappeared.

If the OP did not mention any of her concerns before she left then she gave Wringford no opportunity to change anything. If she wanted a hairdryer, she could have borrowed one. She could have been shown how to work the window, she could have told them at the time her son had fallen off a stool and cut himself and she should also have been watching her son when he wandered off (maybe he was crying because he wanted his mum rather than because you had said anything mean)

I have spent all afternoon writing reviews on tripadvisor (we stayed in 11 hotels on our summer hols this year!) and virtually all of the ones we visited have one or two really bad reviews amongst the good, and most normal people can see that these reviewers seem to have a different agenda to most!

Seems like you are having a bad few days with this, chin up, I'm sure your good reviews will continue to outshine the bad!

Wringford I live very near you (I am looking out of my kitchen window as I type this and you are the other side of the hill I can see then along a bit). I'll come and check you out if you like. :) We're getting a dog in the autumn so I'll be heading your way for the occasional walk.

At the very least, is there anyone on here close to Wringford who could go and have a look at the B&B to tell us their opinion? Even if they don't stay the night, would be worth a look at the room in question I would think?

Wringford I think you have every right to defend yourself.

Customer service ethos is all well and good but manners work both ways and their is a way of complaining effectively without resorting to threats and name calling.

Try not to be to upset by the words on a screen and realise most people are " well hard" behind a computer monitor.

Haha x-post saintly!

I'm capable of making my own judgements without someone having to verify it, Lucy.

That would be lovely - let me know when you are coming. 01752 822287

We have a couple of dogs so if you bring yours they can play while we eat cake and drink tea!

Good for you! But it would be nice for others who aren't like you to have an unbiased view, wouldn't it?

post @ expat btw