zeb Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 LOL - I've just finished after seeing 11 people off first thing this morning, doing the biz and then greeting (a very sweaty smile here in sunny Haute-Garonne) 12 people who arrived early. I'd spent all day changing beds and cleaning, changing light bulbs etc, then found that the portail de piscine was jammed!!! Had to call the guy who cuts all the grass as he has a key to the pool area and is quite beefy (the pool guy is en vacance!). Anyway, he managed to open it but it will have to be left open until the installers can come back and fix it. Luckily the pool has got a locakable, heavy cover which a child (or two) would never be able to lift. That all took an extra two hours to sort out and OH had taken the friends who are staying with us to a garden/pool party (they're not back yet so obviously having a good time without me!) so I'm sitting here on a Saturday night in an empty house.The gite guests are here for a fortnight so fingers crossed there are no more problems and maybe I can put my feet up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqui Too Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 [quote user="dave21478"]Well, Another Saturday arrives and again, there is something I would really like to go an see on in a town 40km away, but no...I'm waiting patiently for this lot to bugger off so I can clean up and then wait for the next lot.[/quote]Just a suggestion that might suit (next year)When I started my holiday cottage, I too did not want to use my weekends doing changeovers, so I had my start day as Fridays, which in fact is better for doing weekend breaks and mid week breaks, but the main thing was it left me free on Saturdays to follow my own hobby!!In 4 years I only had one occasion when clients were unable to arrive Friday and came Saturday missing one day.I know that this was in England and weekend/ midweek breaks are more popular and this was not my bread and butter but I still wanted a life!So I would suggest changing your start date, you might find your clients might like the cheaper ferries or flights they will get ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted July 27, 2008 Author Share Posted July 27, 2008 99% of the clients are French, so travel by car.Saturday start days seem to be the "done thing" in Gites, somaybe changing this would have a detrimental effect? I dont know to be honest.Either way, it couldnt be done till next year as we have plenty bookings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendy Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 Late guests; I find that those bloody GPS things are to blame in most cases - as we have found in the past couple of years. We had guests call us from Montpellier the other night at 6pm - we are 90 minutes at the most from there - you know what time they got here...1.30AM! they followed the GPS directions rather than ours. We told them to turn off the GPS and just follow the A9 and turn off at Rivesaltes...no...they followed the Tom-Tom and ended up 160 km's in the wrong direction. Then ran out of fuel. Idiots! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 I'm with you on the GPS; not that I run gites.Those things seem to send people all round the houses. We went out with our neighbours, having looked in the map to see where we were going.But, oh no, they didn't want to use our directions. They had this new toy and insisted on using it. Result was, we went miles out of our way and it was a hard drive all over nasty, twisty country lanes which got us to the place half an hour late. Not only that, my poor longsuffering OH was designated driver for the evening.Then, last week, we had to go to the beton place to pay a cheque. The mappy thingy on the FT directory website was less than useless and I didn't think I knew enough local landmarks to ring up to ask where the place was. Neighbour said, "I'll lend you my satnav, just give me the address." So, we gave him the address and, needless to relate, it didn't know where the place was either! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ejc Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 We find our sat-nav pretty good, but we did have to turn off the voice or I'd have thrown the thing out the window, we did have visitors last week with 2 satnavs, who had 3 orads to take to return them from the Puy du Fou, & in trying to follow 2 sets of conflicting instructions took nearly 2 hours to take a 20 minute journey!We "only" have friends & relatives visiting, but even then, have folks stay who because they are on holiday expect to be waited on hand & foot, & I work full time!Badly behaved kids are always a result of poor parenting & we now act, if kids mess us about, we step in & tell the little darlings off, return them to their parents & make it very clear their behaviour is not acceptable.......& we're then not available if they want to come back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassis Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 We tell people to input the lat and long coordinates (which we send them) if they insist on using GPS. The ones who do this arrive without problem. The ones who know better than us and ignore the advice do not. And they get no sympathy when they arrive late (partic. if it's after my bedtime - stupid idiots). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 What are these "stupid idiots", Cassis? In your contempt, you are being tautologous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassis Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Purely for emphasis, Sweets. [:)]I was tempted to go further but was restrained by the nurse ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I love to send the the co-ordinates and I tell the ones who insist the satnav is better than local knowledge to set the sat nav to walking not driving as the major roads of France means exactly that. other wise the sat nav will put them directly in line with the cottage but in the middle of the main road, Ha haSome of the roads in 37 are hundreds of years old but are not on the latest version of t*m t*m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimportequoi Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I love sat nav. The guests can blame that if they don't find us now, instead of me for my detailed, written and accurate directions. The holiday gets off to a much better start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeb Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 [quote user="zeb"]LOL - I've just finished after seeing 11 people off first thing this morning, doing the biz and then greeting (a very sweaty smile here in sunny Haute-Garonne) 12 people who arrived early. I'd spent all day changing beds and cleaning, changing light bulbs etc, then found that the portail de piscine was jammed!!! Had to call the guy who cuts all the grass as he has a key to the pool area and is quite beefy (the pool guy is en vacance!). Anyway, he managed to open it but it will have to be left open until the installers can come back and fix it. Luckily the pool has got a locakable, heavy cover which a child (or two) would never be able to lift. That all took an extra two hours to sort out and OH had taken the friends who are staying with us to a garden/pool party (they're not back yet so obviously having a good time without me!) so I'm sitting here on a Saturday night in an empty house.The gite guests are here for a fortnight so fingers crossed there are no more problems and maybe I can put my feet up? [/quote] Ha ha! How naive was I?It's day five and so far we've had the pool company out twice (problems with cover and pump, then guest called them out to clean the pool!); the electrician twice - had to mend bathroom shaver light then replace switch in bedroom; vidange gang with high pressure hose to clear blocked wc; and me several times (the gite is 20 minutes away) to try to placate angry guests when most of the problems were their doing.Me, I'm definitely giving up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 Its a bit of a topic-swerve, but satnav is a great tool BUT there are conditions. A little box of electronics is a usefull AID, but is not a substitute for some common sense. The people that get into trouble and end up lost or taking the 5 hour detour route are the ones who trust it implicitly and follow it blindly.Keep a sense of direction, pay attention to where you are and pay attention to roadsigns on the route. It doesnt harm to know the names of a few big towns along the way so you know if you are going in the right direction. Today was a perfect example. Big roadworks in a part of toulouse meant my usual route was blocked so I plugged in Tom and got him to plot a new route. The direction seemed sound so off we went. Exited the autoroute as directed, and it decided that this wasnt so good after all, and told me to go right round the roundabouts and rejoin the autoroute going back the way I had come. Blindly following it would have meant certain doom, so I switched it off and carried on. Yes, the initial direction had been fine and i hit the normal road, but no thanks to the box of tricks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted August 2, 2008 Author Share Posted August 2, 2008 Well, both gites were empty today by 9.30am, and both had been left in an outstanding condition. All I had to do was change the mattress protectors and tea towels, add new binbags, then the rest of the day was spent in the pool. One of the families had even left a box of Cornettos in the freezer as they wouldnt have survived the return journey. Happy days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 So, there you go, dave. Are you now thinking of keeping on the gites?[I] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 We had the dreaded guests last week. Left the gite in a filthy state, esp the loo and shower. They also took all the bin liners (50), soap dispenser, dishwasher and washing machine tablets, and table salt. None of them expensive on their own, but it's a bl**dy nuisance to have to go out replenish all that, as well as clean up in time for the next guests. They didn't remove any of their rubbish either, and only managed to get away at 11.15am, when we ask guests to vacate by 10am.This is our first experience of such people; from reading other people's comments I know it's rare, but we dread the next ones!Sid(sad old gite [Www]) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 I have a feeling this week is going to be difficult...They called yesterday, wanting to know the address, which I had already sent them, together with a map and a detailed route... They claim I must have sent it while they were away last week... I had sent it back in June...They did not have the cash security deposit, which they should have known about from their first enquiry, back in January... I have had to accept a cheque for now, which they should exchange for cash next week...They appear to be the kind of parents who worship their children [:'(]... The little darling (5 yrs old) didn't want to walk bare-feet in the grass, so Papa carried her!!!!The older child (8 yrs old) has already scanned through the list of DVDs we kindly offer to lend and whined loudly he's already seen them all (there are about 150...)Mamman wants to go to the market tomorrow, but thinks the nearest one is too far... it is 10 km away...Spare me a thought... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassis Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 Oh, gawd. The kind that make you want to weep. Or run amok with an axe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 Definitely an axe... Where's Johnny? (or whatever his name is!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassis Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 [:D] [:D] [:D]Ooh, if only, even just once ... [6] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Taylor Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 Ours today had "a problem following the directions". (They've worked for 19 years for people who can read.) The directions say to follow the D# to C****, then, opposite the church, turn onto road D##, direction B*****. The road passes straight through the town and the church is a big pointy building on this main road with just one road leading off opposite. But they evidently couldn't / didn't read, as Mr asked me if I'd be back next weekend to give them the deposit back. Erm, we live next door - the property description says so...And they have two teenage girls which always makes me fear for the septic tank.Those little computer thingies in cars don't do us any favours either - people either put in the name of our commune, and ring up from miles away (the written directions say DON'T go there, it's just part of the postal address) or they put in the name of the hamlet, there are dozens with the same name even in this department.And I had to change three of these today [I] [I] [I]. (Just wanted to use a smiley [:D].) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 Quick survey of gite owners please...Is there a tart tin in your gite?The delightful she-guest next door wanted to make a pizza, but the oven tray appears to be the wrong shape... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted August 2, 2008 Author Share Posted August 2, 2008 Tell her square pizzas are all the rage here. as for the "tart tin", im not sure exactly what that is, but I have a few cake tins - round things maybe 3 or 4 inches deep with sloping corrugated sides, plus a few cylindrical tins maybe 8 inches deep with a flat removeable bottom you can push up to eject the finished cake. No idea where they came from, but they dont appear to have ever moved from the very back of the pot cupboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Taylor Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 [I] < Look, there's another one!Aha, that's where I could put all the strangely-shaped tins that seem to have accumulated on my kitchen shelves! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 The smoke alarm has gone off!She is panicking in the kitchen!(there is no fire, probably some cheese from her pizza stuck on the oven heating element)Her biscuits are not even baked!How is she going to cook the chicken if the alarm keeps going off for no reason???[blink]she is bonkers!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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