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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

...to think this is a bit cheeky or do I need to relax a bit?

251 replies

NotActuallyAMum · 17/03/2014 12:36

A work colleague of mine did me a favour recently – saved us about £50 – so as a thank you I offered him a couple of nights in our static caravan. I said that if he goes straight there after work on a Friday he’ll be there by about half 6 then if he leaves around the same time on Sunday he’ll have 2 full days there. I warned him that we wouldn’t be moving our belongings out of the way because there’ll still be plenty of room for the two of them. He took me up on the offer, which I was pleased about – I wanted to return the favour

I’ve just seen that he’s booked the Friday and Monday of that weekend off work, presumably to spend 4 nights at our caravan instead of the 2 that I offered. Additionally, someone else who works here sees a lot of this person out of work – the two of them and their wives spend a lot of time together and I’ve noticed that he has also booked the Friday and Monday off work, making me think that they are planning on going too

I could be wrong of course but it seems too much of a coincidence for there to be any other explanation. Isn’t this a bit cheeky?

OP posts:

LtEveDallas · 15/05/2014 17:27

If it was a hotel stay you were paying for; fair enough, you get to state the boundaries, but a caravan off season that you weren't using anyway

I don't know about OP, but if we were to offer to do this with our Static, then the following would apply:

We have 2 bedrooms, but only one is suitable for adults. The other bed is only 5 ft long and used for kids only.
We are only allowed to have people use our caravan from a list of people we had to provide when we first bought it - I'd have to pretend that the two people were Xx and YY (and have done this before), so if I didn't know about 2 more people they wouldn't be covered.
Gas & Electric actually costs. Budgeting for 2 days worth versus 4 days worth.
The stuff we leave down there is OURS, ok if we know the people using it, not when 2 more strangers are going to be there - what if something is nicked/broken?
Are they all going in one car, or two? We have to pay for a 'clicker' to get in and out the gates - two cars two clickers.
Is there a club on site? Do they need to book in for entry? Their ID won't match with who is supposed to sleep there.
Are they taking their own bedding? Do I have to plan to wash/replace one set or two - I'd be pissed off not knowing I should have bought clean bedding for DD because someone uninvited used hers.

...and that's all off the top of my head.

LtEveDallas · 15/05/2014 17:29

And May isn't 'off season' it's the start of High season in our 'resort'

cansu · 15/05/2014 17:32

you have offered him the weekend what difference does it make if he goes up earlier or not? Also tbh what difference does it make if the other couple go as well? It seems a bit bizarre to worry about this when you have offered him the use of it. He probably has no idea that this would make any difference to you. If it was me I would assume that by offering the caravan you wanted me to enjoy the use of it and wouldn't give a toss what time I got there and who else might be with me. As long as he leaves it clean and tidy, why are you bothered? I think if you are you maybe shouldn't have offered it in the first place.

OddFodd · 15/05/2014 17:46

FFS there's some people here who've never been on holiday clearly if they don't understand the difference between 2 and 4. Or perhaps they're just innumerate

Pastperfect · 15/05/2014 18:38

oddfodd since you've got it all figured out perhaps you can explain how it ^actually* makes a difference to the OP I'd there are four people or two.

nauticant · 15/05/2014 18:40

you have offered him the weekend what difference does it make if he goes up earlier or not?

oddfodd since you've got it all figured out perhaps you can explain how it actually* makes a difference to the OP I'd there are four people or two.^

It's about honesty and courtesy. If you can't get that, there's no point having it explained to you.

LtEveDallas · 15/05/2014 18:50

oddfodd since you've got it all figured out perhaps you can explain how it actually makes a difference to the OP I'd there are four people or two

Pastperfect, what about my explanation? I gave 7 reasons. That's why it makes a difference.

MintyChops · 15/05/2014 18:52

Cheeky bastard, totally understand why it's not on.

OddFodd · 15/05/2014 19:16

See LtEveDallas' post, Pastperfect, and/or read the one from the OP where she says:

we could have charged at least £40 a night for the caravan, and any extra nights they might have helped themselves to would have meant more gas and electric than we had planned.

I think that's fairly clear

eddielizzard · 15/05/2014 19:29

lack of respect really, isn't it? he doesn't give a shit about you or your belongings or what you're prepared to give. it's all about what he can get.

can't stand those types. total turn-off.

Roseformeplease · 15/05/2014 19:29

Also, if he knew that it would be OK with the OP to go for longer and with twice as many people, then surely he wouldn't have been so secretive about e getting of key arrangements and the numbers going.

The colleague knows full well he is taking the piss and is covering his tracks. He probably blabbed to the other couple about his opportunity and wanted to play the big man, offering a free weekend so he looks good to his friends. Meanwhile, the OP pays the extra.

And I don't care why the OP would prefer 2 nights for 2 people. That is HER choice with HER caravan. Trying to sneak around this is dishonest - almost stealing.

expatinscotland · 15/05/2014 19:35

Very cheeky!

phantomnamechanger · 15/05/2014 19:36

He's bloody cheeky and all those saying you are making a fuss over nothing are probably just as entitled if they think the behaviour is OK! What if you had wanted to book your own mini holiday for one of the extra nights? or what if you had promised it to another friend who had done you a favour and they weren't leaving till the Friday lunchtime.

I hope it rains on them !

expatinscotland · 15/05/2014 19:39

I would ask him point blank and say again, the offer was for you two only, for two nights.

phantomnamechanger · 15/05/2014 19:41

another thing - we have no idea what he has said to the other couple...maybe he suggested way back that they book a static caravan together for a long weekend and split the cost? maybe the other couple are actually paying cheeky git for their half of the free stay in the OPs caravan!

pluCaChange · 15/05/2014 19:41

He was definitely being shifty about getting the key, so it's clear that, on some level, he knew he hadn't been offered what he was going to take.

Shinyfly · 15/05/2014 19:54

So he did some urgent work on your car and you only saved £50, did you pay him something and did he give you a discount or did he do it entirely for free? Either way given the hourly rate of emergency mechanics I would suggest you saved a bit more than £50. On top of the discounted/free work, he also gave up his time enabling you to be able to drive to your caravan to enjoy your holiday, because had he not you wouldn't have been able to go.

I would suggest that is is worth a stay of 4 nights for 2 couples at no cost to you than the gas (which I doubt would cost £50) AND there is no excuse for the snooping.

AllDirections · 15/05/2014 19:59

oddfodd since you've got it all figured out perhaps you can explain how it ^actually makes a difference to the OP I'd there are four people or two.*

I don't expect the OP wanted strangers sleeping in her children's beds

phantomnamechanger · 15/05/2014 20:16

AND there is no excuse for the snooping

don't you mean AND there is no excuse for him thinking he is entitled to extra time over and above what he was offered in the OPs caravan and to take however many other people he wants along with him?

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 15/05/2014 20:18

If the work on the car only took half an hour then £50 seems pretty likely to be right to me. And there is a cost to the OP over and above the gas as she could have rented it out.

expatinscotland · 15/05/2014 20:21

You can see just from this thread how entitled a lot of cheeky people are.

phantomnamechanger · 15/05/2014 20:27

indeed expat - never ceases to amaze me how many people think a bit of covert dishonesty is perfectly OK as long as you don't get caught out!

LtEveDallas · 15/05/2014 20:27

One bottle of gas costs us £42. In cold weather it will only last a week - and that's not winter cold, thats classic British springtime cold . One October we went through two bottles in a week because it was bloody Baltic.

Electric, not too much, maybe a fiver as long as you don't have the TV on continuously.

Add that to the £320 OP could have got for renting it out and he's had a pretty good deal.

Original poster

NotActuallyAMum · 15/05/2014 20:54

Of course we paid him for doing the car - why wouldn't we? His labour costs were less than we would have paid a garage, hence us saving around 50. We offered him and his wife the caravan for 2 nights a good few days after the job had been done, it would definitely have been un unexpected extra for him

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 15/05/2014 21:08

Tell him, 'The caravan is for two nights for you two. I have someone coming in Sunday night.'

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