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.

At the very least agency will have a house manager/cleaner/maintenance man who can come in at short notice. So don’t let them fob you off. They should come down themselves though.

I wouldn't be following all this advice about ways to get the smell out - both on principle (why should you be spending money and time to make the cottage liveable when you've paid a lot of money in the expectation of acceptable accommodation) and also I'd be worried that they're then going to accuse you of being the problem, especially if they find the house smells very strongly of chemicals when you leave. If anything leaves a mark I'm sure they will, infuriatingly, charge you for the damage. I'd put all that energy into getting someone there today - it's their problem and they should be sorting it.

I agree with pp - don't try and do anything about the smell. Don't let people in the shop or on here make you believe you're in some sort of Cornish wickerman situation. Especially don't mention the fish thing to them again, it s makes you look paranoid- it's up to them to identify the smell and rectify it. Just get on to the company and be v v cross with them - as politely as you can. Make sure you have a paper trail of complaints.

Do the company have an office local to where you are staying, where you could turn up?

The issue of unaffordable homes for local people does not excuse what the OP has come to.

If you paid by credit card, hint that you will be asking for a chargeback. Might focus minds.

i agree, paper trail is really important. I would back up any phone call with an immediate email summary of what was said and what you expect to happen. Be detailed and exact. Describe the smell and make sure you mention possible rodents and electrical faults in the email as they’d be very unwise not to respond to either of those possibilities. I really hope you an sort it out and enjoy your holiday.

This demand someone come out

White vinegar and water is good for getting rid of smells. I put it in a vaporiser but putting some in a few bowls dotted around the house can work just as well. Make sure it is white distilled vinegar though not what you put on your chips.

There's Neurodol carpet freshener that's good. Fabreeze just cover's up the odor rather than eliminate it.

The prospect of forced closure/cancellations/income loss might wake up the letting agency and property owner.

Contact Environmental
Health at local council, and report an environmental health hazard;
powerful smell throughout property , suspect decomposing dead animals within the property. Have you heard any scratching/squeaking noises?

Problem is though the people who do seasonal work in Cornwall can't get anywhere to rent. Because greedy landlords can get more money renting as a holiday let. They have been kicking tenants out.

But at the same time they can't get the seasonal staff for the tourist because there's nowhere for them to live. So that will also drive tourists away. The cottage your staying in might have been someone's home they were forced to leave.

www.theguardian.com/business/2021/may/30/staycation-boom-forces-tenants-out-of-seaside-resort-homes

Please stop telling her how to get rid of the smell. a. It’s not worth her time and money b. Everyone needs to be able to smell it - the agent, environmental health, electrician, whoever.

This was my first thought too.

I wouldn't be trying to resolve the smell yourself, I'd be insisting that someone from the letting company come and inspect the property. I'd also get your concern and the lady's response in an email to them right now - clearly describe the smell, let them know that it hasn't abated since you opened up the property and that it kept you awake last night and is causing you distress. Use the same language when someone comes to inspect. Tell them what you want, don't wait for them to offer a resolution (they might just send a cleaner around to do a quick clean and tell you it's sorted but it won't be).

So would you just put up with it. Think it's more likely the tenants that have been kicked out of they're home's that are responsible for the smell. I can't say I blame them though.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-61308076.amp

If you think that’s bad try finding somewhere to live in London.

OP you need to be insistant and have someone come to the property and check for themselves. Do not back down.

But London and other cities do not become ghost towns in the winter seasons because no one lives there. London especially has many owners that have bought the beautiful and expensive properties for their 'portfolios' and who live in dubious countries abroad. Housing needs to stop being seen as a money maker in general. Think that the Welsh government have the right idea!

I had no idea about any of this when we booked 😔 I feel pretty awful that we've taken someone's home. No wonder everyone is so unfriendly.

I rang the office at half 9 but there was no answer. Just steeling myself to try again. I want to go out, not sit around here trying to problem solve.

I wish we'd just stayed in a bnb.

Maybe that’s because they are sick of all the city dwellers buying up homes in the area and renting them out as holiday let’s/ keeping them as a holiday home. It’s decimating communities and got worse over lockdown. What we are seeing now is the inevitable push back. People have had enough.

The problem isn’t restricted to Cornwall either. I’ve seen exactly the same issue in the market town I live in after it was published in the guardian. Now all the London lovies want to have a spare home hear/ have a holiday home and landlords are kicking out long term tenants so that they can turn their home into an Airbnb.

#Homesnotholidays

Long shot but have you checked behind all the radiators/anywhere else something rancid could be hidden? I’ve heard of scorned exes or whatever hiding fish behind radiators (might not be true stories admittedly!) and normally the heat sets the smell off but because of how hot it is at the moment, could it be that? Or under beds etc. I’m just thinking someone could’ve broken in when it was empty to try and cause issues for the tourists, as fish through the letter box would be discovered fairly quickly, you’d think?

Anyway the holiday company need to be coming out to see how bad it is themselves and offering you money back or another resolution. Good luck x

*here not here

And good luck OP, I hope you get a resolution of some sort - preferably a different cottage to stay in!💐

It shouldn't be your job to clean but I will suggest:

Bicarbonate of soda and lavander mixed and sprinkled on carpet then hoovered up

• white vinegar and lemon/lime on hard surfaces

house might smell like a chip shop though if you use vinegar (its a strong smell but wonderful cleaner).

This is definitely not limited to Cornwall. My friend was evicted from her long term let recently, turns out the landlord just wanted to air B and B it for three times as much. She’s currently sleeping on friends floors, lack of affordable long term rental properties is a huge problem. Lots of Landlords selling up too while prices are high before they think the house prices will inevitably crash. Local friends can not get on housing ladder and all the property on the market being brought up by ‘outsiders’ as second homes.

@chaosmaker 'dubious countries abroad'. Jeez.
I have just moved from one of those places that has a high percentage of second homes. Frankly it's mainly the locals who own the ones that are Airbnbs, the second homers don't tend to rent theirs out. And the whole area relies on tourist money so it's a bit of a catch 22.
My daughter may move to Cornwall for uni and I wonder how the students, which must swell the population hugely between September and June, are viewed by locals ( housing mainly thru the uni so not taking away from locals as purpose built).