AIBU to leave a stinking review

[101confusedbutangryholidaymakers]

Staying at lovely cottage in Scotland, text the owner last week as instructed to by Sykes, to get attached response... fine Sundays are sacred to some people. Rang 2 days later to be told keys will be in back door... why that warranted a phone call who knows. Arrived yesterday without further contact. This afternoon, a Sunday, lady showed up out of the blue whilst we were in the hot tub, came right round the back of the property. It was bloody awkward, me DH and my 2 young kids in swimming cossies in the garden faced with this random lady, this cottage is in the middle of nowhere we were definitely not expecting this randomer to intrude. She told us we'd put the top off the hot tub wrong, it was lent against the side, who knows where it's supposed to go, all she described was how to put it back on. She asked if everything was okay, I told her the Internet didn't work she told me "well it does", definitely doesn't. She left telling me "no kids unsupervised in the hot tub" well duh and they weren't. She also chastised us for not showering beforehand... which we had but obviously we looked dirty or something cos she looked sceptical. It just ruined everything frankly and now feel weird about the rest of the week if she's just going to show up whenever she feels like it. I just don't know whether to text her again to reiterate about the Internet and politely request some notice before she intrudes or just leave a stinking review.... bit tempted by the latter but I realise that's the childish way out... this place wasn't exactly cheap though

@MrsKeats thanks for that. I’ll make sure we avoid them in future.

No problem

Make sure the review is short and to the point. Eg. Owners very abrupt and lacking customer service. Turned up unannounced while we were in the hot tub. Wi-Fi not working and they didn't believe us.'

Actually, I agree with a previous poster that you should send feedback directly to the owners first rather than publicly. Give them a chance to rectify the situation. If not, then publish it.

Update if anyone is following. And thanks for all the previous responses for the help and making me consider different perspectives. We ended up just messaging sykes and not the owner as we still had no internet. We got back to the cottage on Tuesday afternoon to find the hot tub lid off (properly!) And it was full of bubbles definitely not how we left it. After googling we found out she'd probably added chlorine and we shouldn't go in for a an hour or so and shouldn’t put the lid down... that apparently makes chlorine gas!! She didn't text that or left a note so thank goodness for Google. Anyway the kids didn't go in after that cos we were a bit unsure. Me and dh tried it out that evening but it smelt so strongly of chlorine and stung a bit we only lasted 10-15 mins before we just gave up. Wednesday tipped it down so didnt go near the thing. Thursday morning weather looked good so we got out early to the beach. Then got the attached new messages. We got back mid afternoon and there was a layer of yellow scum in the hot tub that smelt like sulphur. She's suggesting that we caused that from the 15 mins we spent in there on Tuesday, or maybe the couple of hours Sunday and Monday!? How filthy does she think we are. After researching the issue of the yellow colour and the smell apparently it's caused by an imbalance of cleaning products.... so whatever she did on the Tuesday I'm guessing. As someone asked previously I can't believe there are no bad reviews for her... I've never met anyone so rude especially when I think I've been perfectly polite to her but perhaps I'm missing something. Anyway thanks for anyone who got to the end of that rant, I think I'm just a bit shocked right now and still don't even know where to start with a review for her!

Wow OP so much for a relaxing holiday 😫

Niggling issues such as the wifi I would always be patient about but the whole hot tub thing… and the rudeness of the woman!

Also I think the level of intrusion you have endured is unacceptable.

I would complain directly to the company and I would also leave an honest review on the website.

😳
She put chemicals in and didn’t tell you, blames you for getting in AND wants you to pay £80 to use it. Accusation your children use it as a swimming pool..

Are the owners onsite?
There’s usually a hot tub manual? with instructions etc.

I'm planning to ring the company tonight and explain exactly what's happened, I have a sneaking suspicion she's got something planned, from her comment about informing the booking agent about the state of the hot tub. I'll also leave the review but thinking back there's only about 10 reviews on the website, all of them really good but she's operated since 2013, where are the rest? At least now I know not just to take account of what's written but also how many are written😫

We've scoured the place looking for a manual but there's nothing and when I mentioned it to her about maybe needing some guidance she didnt say there was some, i was kind of hoping she would say there were instructions and we'd just missed them atleast that might explain her anger if we'd just disregarded a load of rules we were supposed to know about! There's also this sign, which basically reads that children are allowed in... I think!? The owners are on a farm about a mile down the road, I think dropping by our cottage is part of her daily farm routine and so she doesn't arrange a time beforehand cos that would be hard to judge with her other farm duties 🤷‍♀️ but then again I'd hope she'd trust guests enough not to need a daily visit....

Sorry this has happened.

Are there dates on the reviews?

The rest is bad enough but shoving chemicals in and not actually telling you is completely outrageous!

I hate intrusive cottage owners.

I must say that we've booked a lot of cottages through Sykes and never had anything remotely like this happen.

As above I've had nothing but really lovely owners through Sykes. Your host sounds like a bit of an arse though, so you need to complain.

The unannounced visits are factual, not opinion. So even if you say nothing else, worth putting in a review.

I would say children are allowed in. If it’s adult only she should specify that so people with children cannot book. She sounds intrusive and rude and yes it does sound like there’s a camera, or she’s walking by regularly.

There should be a hot tub manual, we’ve always had one. (DD loves a hot tub, I wouldn’t have one myself lol) how else are you meant to know how to use it, the dangers etc, it’s only meant to be used for 20 mins, no alcohol, covered if not in use , lights etc turned off and so on. You cannot use it if it’s been treated.

We stayed on a working farm, the owner was very close and she didn’t appear at all. Just said here’s my number if you need me- enjoy the house. It was dog friendly and we leave the dog in the accommodation as he’s old, quiet and just sleeps (we always ask permission, in advance). We are always offered discounts for repeat bookings.

We go away a lot and I’ve never experienced anything like what you describe! Ever. I would definitely complain, as you raised these issues with her to no avail.

I wonder if they can choose which reviews go on the site…

She sounds like a bit of a nightmare. Maybe a good host usually but got rubbed up the wrong way in this case somehow. That can happen. Chalk it up to experience and leave an honest review. This is the downside to staying at other people’s houses.

I would leave a negative review in this case it doesn't need to sound angry but be honest and say you felt it was intrusive owner turned up and made you feel uncomfortable comments was passed that you didn't appreciate eg the shower comment

I stayed in a guest house 3 weeks ago with my dh and I left a negative review based on the situation at the time
One their was cameras all over the guest house so felt watched
2 the housekeeping went in our room without permission and actually had touched and moved some of our belongings owners hid away yet shower didn't work at all so couldn't shower did try to mention this but couldn't catch the hosts
It was a disappointing stay
So no I don't think it's unreasonable of you to leave a negative review

The ones we've found are dotted around a few websites but the 4 on sykes are from April, May, June, July 2023.... not sure if thats suspicious or just a coincidence it worked out so neatly

I treat most reviews as suspicious unless they say something factual, such as distances from nearby facilities.

Be fair and state the facts honestly. Whilst you have negative comments to make which will be helpful to her and future bookers also put the positive ones if there are some. avoids you sounding vendictive

This is so bad, she's so rude and intrusive and the lack of info regarding the hot tub is bad. I'd defo complain then let us all know where it is, I'm in Scotland and never want to book here!

This is what I plan to post as my review and leave 2 stars... also not sure whether to share any of the message screenshots or if that's too petty!?

"Cottage lovely. Found owner rude, critical, intrusive and unhelpful.

Couldn't fault the cottage, lovely location, well equipped, very clean and perfect garden for children. This should be a 5 star review. Unfortunately our dealings with the owner ruined it.

When I tried to text her the week before our arrival to arrange key collection, as instructed to by sykes, I received a rather blunt message, in response, to get in touch with her a different day as she was having time off. I rang her later in the week and was told the keys would be in the back door.

Be aware she makes frequent unscheduled visits. There is no front door so she will come right around the back, where the hot tub is, completely unannounced.

The Internet was not working, when I informed her of this on the Sunday afternoon, her response was “well it does”, we felt completely dismissed. After contacting sykes she finally tried to fix the internet on Thursday, we had no WiFi for the entire week, with no offer of apology for the inconvenience. We even felt as if she thought we were making the issue up.

On the Tuesday afternoon, after arriving back from a day out, we found the hot tub open and full of froth, it smelt strongly of chlorine. There was no note or text message explaining what she had done or what to do next with it and no manual with safety instructions on the premises.

On the Thursday morning, I got a nasty text message from her, telling us my children had contaminated the hot tub as they were using it as a “swimming pool” and it would cost us £80 to fix the issue. The weather really wasn’t great so we weren’t even in the hot tub for more than a few hours in total all week.

I feel as if we made some unintentional faux pas which the owner felt warranted the above treatment. I’m sure if you can navigate these unwritten rules you might escape this treatment, it’s such a shame as it is such a nice place to visit."

I'd happily share the name of the place... am I allowed on here, maybe there's a sneaky way round if anyone knows?

Sounds horrid. When we’ve rented places with hot tubs in Scotland sometimes the owners come by the morning after arrival to make sure everything is okay maybe scope out your not a stag or hen do etc., but I’d not normally expect to see the owner the rest of the week and would find that intrusive.

Good review! As a renter I would want to know all this because I would rather not be hassled in this way.