Booking conditions

[Deby]

I am currently updating our booking conditions,  I would be very appreciative if you have a sample or two I could nick stuff off :-)

Also, I have a question, we have several of those mulching toilets which lead to the septic tanks.  Last year we had to get it emptied as guests did not adhere to the rules of only pee,paper and poo. I will leave you to imagine what was discovered!   So now I want to be ruthless!  Do you think I should include in the booking conditions a descriptive of what should not be put down the loo and if they do such a dastardly deed I will not give them their deposit back or should I refrain and merely but this in the Welcome Guide!!

As you can see I am very perplexed by how irresponsible people can be,  I politely explain, put notices up (which I originally wanted to avoid!) and we point the toilets usage out in the3rd paragraph of the welcome guide!  I am wondering if I put it in the terms and conditions people will just think I am over-particular but when you have 8 toilets to deal with and french pipework you can see my dilemma.

Deby.

[Viv]

I can fully appreciate your problem but I think many women who are not used to the fosse system simply feel too embarrassed to put certain items anywhere else than down the loo! I can remember having a special receptacle for "items" but then felt guilty that my hostess would have to empty yukky things.

I think rather than witholding the deposit, which may get people upset , try really going overboard with why certain items cannot go down the loo and emphasise this before they arrive, so hopefully when they do arrive it will be almost second nature to dispose of things elsewhere.

[Loopy Lou]

Hi Deby,

Also, perhaps, make sure you have reasonable sized bins with lids and a good supply of bin bags readily available for each loo.  Then they have no excuse!  You probably do that already.....

An explanation of the consequences of misuse of the loos might help - the guest will have to don rubber overalls and get into the fosse to scrub it out!!!!!![+o(]

Best of luck for this season.

A bientot,

Loopy [:D]

[Eslier]

I post the following sign in our one and only such toilet, and it seems to get the message home !

[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img306.imageshack.us/img306/9388/toiletmulcher3kk.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Please feel free to use it if you wish.

[Deby]

Oh thank you very much.  Eslier I will use your graphic - I really like it.

Certainly if I mention that they have to clean out the fosse that should certainly do it!!

Deby

[Jo Taylor]

After many years of occasional emergency visits by our friendly fosse man (who has been seen dancing around shouting "J'ai trouvé un souri!!!!" whilst waving an unmentionable item by its string...) I now put a fairly strict bit in the "House Rules" :

~ Don’t put anything down the lavatory except human waste and French lavatory paper - use the disposal bags and bin provided for everything else - e.g. disposable nappies, sanitary protection, tampons (even if marked ‘flushable’), panty liners, wrappings etc. We are not on mains drainage: do not use any cleaning products, washing powders, lavatory cleaners, bleaches etc. unless specifically marked as suitable for ‘fosse septique’. The same applies to the basin, the kitchen sink and the washing machine. If the tank is blocked or stops functioning due to inappropriate chemicals, the results are very unpleasant, smelly and expensive. If you cause a malfunction, costs will be deducted from your security deposit.

Something like this could be incorporated in your booking conditions. I also mention it when showing people in, but in a far more lighthearted way at that point! Teenage girl are the worst culprits, so I always have a quiet word with their mums. I really don't want to spend any time pushing other peoples' poo back down the drain when it backs up...

The problem has also been alleviated since supplying disposal bags for Ladies' Things. Couldn't find a source here so bought the entire stock on a visit to Sainsbury's. The woman on the checkout gave me a very strange look and said "I won't ask." Told her anyway! They come in  pretty purple boxes of 50.

HTH
Jo

[Deby]

Thanks Jo,

Yes we had  two families with respective teenage girls (cousins) etc stay last summer - lovely people, but guess what we had major problems after they left!  A quiet word in their ear may suffice as you said it is a very tricky subject and we have also gone down the lighthearted comments route - but people just do not get it. Without wishing to appear anti-English - our British guests are the worst for this and wasting energy - leaving lights on, etc.  It is because energy does not cost as much in the UK for now, even though prices are going up all the time, there is a definite indifference to those type of things here.  I am almost hailed for taking my bottles (empty wine ones, hic!) - had to really search for a bottle bank! And I cannot find a paper or plastic recycling unit that is nearby!

Well hopefully we might have some joy this season, but I doubt it!  We will have to join to the main sewer next year - at our expense as well as our water/sewerage bills doubling - oh the joys!  I actually preferred our reed bed system to be quite honest, but it onlly really works when everyone is good!

[Iceni]

Eslier - where do I put the usual by-products if only paper is allowed down the toilet ? In the aptly named waste bin ?

John

not

[Wendy]

Deby I really sympathise with you about the loo issue. If we would not tolerate a guest taking a sledgehammer to the footpath or another guest pouring cement down the kitchen drain then why should we put up with our toilet plumbing being constantly abused?. At worst it's a stinking horrible mess to deal with and at best it can be very expensive to repair. I see no reason to be kind or polite about this common problem as it is willful damage and I think they should be asked to either roll up their sleeves and come hold the bucket or pay up. Now, can anyone tell me is there a secret as to how to persuade guests to make use of the toilet brush?.  Honestly, when you have someone in for a week at a time it's like trying to chip away concrete!.

[Blanche Neige]

The problem has also been alleviated since supplying disposal bags for Ladies' Things. Couldn't find a source here so bought the entire stock on a visit to Sainsbury's.

see www.outofeden.co.uk  they sell these bags plus all sorts of useful items for those who run hotels, B&Bs and holiday homes.

[Jo Taylor]

[quote user="Blanche Neige"]

The problem has also been alleviated since supplying disposal bags for Ladies' Things. Couldn't find a source here so bought the entire stock on a visit to Sainsbury's.

see www.outofeden.co.uk  they sell these bags plus all sorts of useful items for those who run hotels, B&Bs and holiday homes.

[/quote]

That looks like a really useful resource, but unfortunately of little benefit as they say : "We regret that we do not send orders outside the United Kingdom". Never mind, still got a drawerful of the Sainsbury's variety!

Thank you anyway - perhaps it will be of use to gîte owners who live in the UK.

Jo

.

[Blanche Neige]

 

Jo

I think Deby has a U.K. address, perhaps if they are desperate those that don't live in the U.K.can ask their relatives to help out.[:)]

[Clair]

These are suppliers in France (but I have not used them... yet):

1000 paper bags @ €42.50 ex vat http://www.bernard.fr/FRA/Catalog/

6 (?) plastic bags @ €14.90 ex vat http://www.bernard.fr/FRA/Catalog/

1 holder for paper bags @ €16.90 ex vat http://www.bernard.fr/

P&P @ €13.50 and vat on top.

Also here from Swizterland but in Euros: http://www.abegglen-pfister.ch/eshop/

and these people here do a catalogue (which I have ordered) as well: http://www.lequipier.com/fr/catalogue/produits.cfm?critSel=202B

[Jo Taylor]

[quote user="Clair"](but I have not used them... yet):[/quote]

[+o(] [:-))]

Sorry, couldn't resist!

[Clair]

[quote user="Jo Taylor"][quote user="Clair"](but I have not used them... yet):[/quote][+o(] [:-))]Sorry, couldn't resist![/quote]

Now I know about selective editing...!

[Cerise]

Jo - it was obviously you who cleared out Sainsburys forcing sister-in-law (who has gite) and self (B & B)to remove all of said items from Tescos[:)]      I am not very good at ordering things on the net (mostly I forget) and rarely go to England - so tell me dear Claire as a real virtual French person is there not a supermarket substitute.  I have often found that I cannot find things in France as I am looking in the wrong place - e.g expected currants to be with other dried baking goods not on fruit and veg -so perhaps these essential little items lurk somewhere else.  I have tried next to the bin bags and by the babies nappies, also feminine hygiene which I thought the most obvious place.  When I asked in local chemist they gave me a strange look and said people wrap things in newspaper (can't even imagine starting conversation about that with the guests!)   So, Leclerc, HyperU, Auchan or do such things not even exist in the general market place?

[Clair]

[quote user="Cerise"]... so tell me dear Claire as a real virtual French person is there not a supermarket substitute... I have tried next to the bin bags and by the babies nappies, also feminine hygiene which I thought the most obvious place. [/quote]

Well, I do not have the answer to everything (pls don't tell my OH!), but I have never come across these anywhere either!

I suppose they're seen more as a hospital/health professional item and indeed, most of the websites I looked at yesterday dealt with professionals, not individuals...

If anyone does find these in France, I, for one, would be most interested in knowing more...[quote user="Cerise"]When I asked in local chemist they gave me a strange

look and said people wrap things in newspaper (can't even imagine

starting conversation about that with the guests!)...[/quote] No surprise there either!! Where I live in rural France, you'd be lucky if they did wrap anything at all!![+o(]

[Eslier]

We searched all over for such items in France and failed to find them.  Now we pick up a bulk supply of nappy sacks in Tesco when back in the UK.  We did find nappy sacks in Bébé9 last year and they told us they were new - just arrived. The packs were quite small and not that cheap. Haven't seen nappy sacks in any of the supermarkets though.

[Clair]

[quote user="Clair"]these people here do a catalogue (which I have ordered) as well: http://www.lequipier.com/fr/catalogue/produits.cfm?critSel=202B [/quote]

I finally ordered these items from the catalogue mentioned above.

They arrived very quickly (2 days with delivery company not La Poste) and with no questions asked.

The delivery charge is painful on such a small order (€12.90) but if it saves the pump from being damaged, it's worth it...