Holiday Cottage Nightmare

[AuntySandrasDauphinois]

Please can someone tell me what you would do in this situation?

We arrived at our (much anticipated) holiday cottage yesterday to find that it absolutely stinks. I have febreezed every surface so many times and it still stinks. It's worse downstairs but still absolutely awful upstairs, so bad that I struggled to get to sleep last night. We have been out all day today and just got back and honestly I want to cry. More than £1000 we've paid for the week!

I spoke to the woman in the local shop (when I was buying the febreeze!) and she told us some of the local lads had been putting fish through the letterboxes of any known holiday lets. There was nothing to suggest that's what it was but the smell is very fishy/putrid. The village doesn't feel very welcoming to visitors- she also said last year someone had the wing mirrors broken off their car outside overnight!

The Cornish cottage company have been no help whatsoever- the woman laughed down the phone and told us the fish were an urban legend. There's no way to take a photo of the smell to try to claim a reduction. I don't even know if I can last the week. Currently sat in the garden having a glass of wine but I'm dreading having to go inside.

If anyone has any suggestions bar more febreeze please please let me know. I'm trying to be lighthearted about it but I'm devastated. We drove for 6 hours to get here, I'm so exhausted with it.

Candles. One or two in every room. Decent ones. Expensive but might save your holiday.

Companies like this give my business a bad name! Makes me really cross! We are always on call! We go out for even the smallest things! A guest can't unlock a door, not enough towels or loo rolls, an extra bed needs making up! If a guest isn't happy with the cleanliness we go back in when's convenient for them and reclean! (Very very rare!) We don't charge anything and we normally take a bottle of wine or something as well to smooth things over! Our reputation is everything! X

Just be aware that it might be against the contract to light candles due to fire risk, but hope you find relief from the stench soon!

I agree, insist they come tomorrow and see if you can find the source. If it is people trying to get you out it could be fish behind the radiators or in the curtains.

If you paid on credit card and have to leave, tell them you will claim a chargeback and also publish a negative review!

Also to add I’ve recently stayed in Cornwall. Lovely place, owned by a local couple, they were very reachable and popped down ASAP for issues.

From what I have heard, Cornwall doesn't want tourists anymore (if they ever did) so lets all en masse say fucking up and leave them and see what happens when they're skint from losing the tourism income.

#BoycottCornwall

I'm not sure about doing all the oder eliminating stuff. You want someone to smell it. If the smell has gone when they come they won't refund.

Whereabouts in Cornwall is this holiday let OP?

I hope someone from the agency can come over to see it and can offer a good discount.

OP may want to remove the location of where she is staying in case this story ends up on the local rag Facebook page.

If you paid on credit card and have to leave, tell them you will claim a chargeback and also publish a negative review!

where was it advertised - contact them too if it was the Tourist Board or similar.

That company is owned by the dreadful Skyes Cottages.
Check out the Facebook group for unhappy customers of theirs.

Agree. And Twitter the shit out of them too.

Really not on OP. I'd be flippin gutted too

Check curtain poles (they're hollow) and check behind radiators , carpets , see if yku can find the source of the smell.
I would demand someone come
From the agency to
Experience it first hand - don't light candles or air freshener till they've been !

I had a perfectly lovely time there several weeks ago.

This rings a bell. We stayed in a Devon holiday let a few years ago, it absolutely stank (not of fish, more unwashed bodies on the mattress and sofa but was very strong) and when I rang up the woman laughed at me. She came out and claimed not to notice it and we did get a reduction in rate but not much. I wonder if it was the same company.

Fish smells can also indicate electrical issues, so if I was the owner I think I'd want to investigate asap.

There are some ideas on the Resolver website on how to deal with the problem if the agent won't act www.resolver.co.uk/consumer-rights/holiday-lettings-property-dirty-complaints

Buy some Vicks Vaporub and put some under your nose. It will stop you smelling it. Its a technique used by mortuary technicians, but it is effective. Might help until you decide what to do.

Dodgy electrics can smell like fish too so they need to come and sort it.

From what I have heard, Cornwall doesn't want tourists anymore (if they ever did) so lets all en masse say fucking up and leave them and see what happens when they're skint from losing the tourism income.

Does anyone who lives or grew up in a touristy area really love tourists? It doesn't mean we are all vandalising holiday homes.

Try rubbing areas with Olbas Oil.

Check curtain poles (they're hollow) and check behind radiators , carpets , see if yku can find the source of the smell.

This. Maybe an unhappy previous guest or a disgruntled cleaner has hidden rotting fish somewhere.

This is really important, OP. My fuse box stank of fish before bursting into flames.

Get someone out.

If it turns out not to be the electrics, you don’t need to mention anything about stories you’ve heard of people ‘pouring fish through letterboxes’. It’s hearsay, and it won’t help.

Tell them it stinks and you won’t be staying another night. Get on Twitter. Get on their website.

Don’t spend any more money on this. Ring the agency tomorrow morning and tell them a. The smell is so bad you can’t sleep and b. You want a full refund. Insist that they send someone down tomorrow afternoon at the latest.

In Europe they do.

I know it sounds weird but a horrible fishy smell can be an electric issue.

I once had a really horrible smell in my house, it was awful and nothing would get rid of it and I couldn’t find anything that could be causing it. Then I read online it can be the plastic but that holds a lightbulb burning and it was! I could see it was a darker colour where it had burned. The same happened with my mum too when she had a horrible smell in her house.

Is it stronger in one room and maybe when a light is switched on?

There are articles about it too mytrustedexpert.com/blog/electrical-fault-fishy-smell/