Is it me?

[Lou]

Speaking as a serial gite renter, rather than an owner, the first thing

we ALWAYS did was go to the supermarket on the way to the gite and buy

basic supplies - milk, potatoes, bread, and LOO ROLL so we were always

guaranteed a reasonably comfortable first night!  We have stayed

in places where stuff has been provided, and 9 times out of ten I would

use the stuff we bought..............am I the ideal gite renter??? (or

just naive/dumb??) 

I agree that if it's self-catering, you provide - if I was staying in a

hotel or B & B I would expect to have it all supplied, even on a

long stay.

Lou

[Blanche Neige]

We have stayed in places where stuff has been provided, and 9 times out of ten I would use the stuff we bought..............am I the ideal gite renter???

 

Lou, I think the answer is YES! you are welcome to rent our place anytime!

I agree that if it's self-catering, you provide - if I was staying in a hotel or B & B I would expect to have it all supplied, even on a long stay.

Quite so.

[Owens88]

So, going back to the question in my original post, it really isn't a good idea to provide an unlimited supply of toilet paper

Hi

I do run a gite and don''t supply an 'unlimited amount' of loo roll. A good starting amount is left as part of each changeover.

 BUT I don't have a fosse septique. I am not specifying what to buy. If I had a fosse I probably would supply more than enough for a week, each week.

You made your choice to live with a fosse septique when you bought. Are your renters knowingly making that choice ?

Put it this way. If your power was from a generator that had certain characteristics that impacted on usage would you tell people before they booked or when they arrived ?

John

[opas]

Why not put a comment on the booking form, something simple .Such as that due to incidents in the past of the fosse getting clogged up with certain loo paper, a couple of rolls will be provided for your comfort on arrival , but could this be replenished by X brand at X supermarket.

[KathyC]

[quote user="Blanche Neige"]

We have stayed in places where stuff has been provided, and 9 times out of ten I would use the stuff we bought..............am I the ideal gite renter???

 

Lou, I think the answer is YES! you are welcome to rent our place anytime

 

[/quote]

Yes, but if the stuff you bought didn't suit the fosse, then you would not be the ideal renter, although you would be saving the owner a few euros.

 

[Blanche Neige]

Yes, but if the stuff you bought didn't suit the fosse, then you would not be the ideal renter, although you would be saving the owner a few euros

 

Goodness me! I think some people are blowing the fosse problem (if there is one) out of all proportion! Many, many houses in rural France exist very well with a fosse septique, also some house I know in parts of rural Wales and Surrey.

We have had our French house for some years now and have let it over the last few years for some of the weeks when we are not there. To date there has not been a problem with our fosse or our visitors. I think it is a case of understanding how the system works and giving clear instructions.

[Deby]

No Marie it is not you!  We have eight toilets and up to 22 people staying at times (inc ankle-biters) so supplying endless roles of pink loo paper would be not only a cost problem but a storage one too.  We always leave each toilet with a brand new role, I know the guests borrow sheets from each other :-) until they have the opportunity to shop and replenish supplies.

You made your choice to live with a fosse septique when you bought.

This is not the dark ages you know, more of a living practicallity in the provences! 

We too want to encourage the use of simple common sense, but for some no matter how many notices, kind words spoken, some people will just prefer to use the softer silkier stuff.  As to putting a remark on the booking form, I would not do that as I think it would be off-putting, not good marketing at all.  You can please some of the people some of the time.....

 

Deby

[Owens88]

Hi Deby / Marie etc.

As to putting a remark on the booking form, I would not do that as I think it would be off-putting, not good marketing at all. 

Good marketing, as you put it, doesn't include iffy surprises.

The original poster wants to insist that the renters buy specific types of loo paper. The holiday maker might not have bargained on that. There is a border between being cute/quaint different and being a hassle. Surprising a new arrival with an added complication of 'only brand x' loo paper is more toward the hassle end of the spectrum in my view.

I also think that if its all so reasonable and not 'dark ages' then what's to be ashamed about? Lift it into the cute/quaint different by expressing it positively at the right time, not hiding it till they arrive then treat it as though it was blindingly obvious to anybody but an idiot.

In my posting I also asked a hypothetical about, say, power restrictions. If your system could not cope with some commonly used items would you wait until people got there to tell them ? (admittedly I am strugglying with this example as the most obvious one is a british kettle, but they wouldn't bring that would they?) - e.g. supposing your water wheel/solar panneled/6kva system wouldn't run curling tongues or hair dryers  or their PS2's  when would you tell the renters ?

 

However. on re-reading the original post I think the problem is deeper than that. Marie's Cleaner cleans, but doesn't do 'changeovers' inc. re-stocking. I am also an absentee landlord but I suspect I run things differently than Marie. All my renters get a welcome pack anyway. (Yes, sorry, straying off topic...)

Cheers

 

[opas]

[quote user="Deby"]

No Marie it is not you!  We have eight toilets and up to 22 people staying at times (inc ankle-biters) so supplying endless roles of pink loo paper would be not only a cost problem but a storage one too.  We always leave each toilet with a brand new role, I know the guests borrow sheets from each other :-) until they have the opportunity to shop and replenish supplies.

You made your choice to live with a fosse septique when you bought.

This is not the dark ages you know, more of a living practicallity in the provences! 

We too want to encourage the use of simple common sense, but for some no matter how many notices, kind words spoken, some people will just prefer to use the softer silkier stuff.  As to putting a remark on the booking form, I would not do that as I think it would be off-putting, not good marketing at all.  You can please some of the people some of the time.....

 

Deby

[/quote]

I do not think it would be off putting, In your marketing I bet you would mention the lovely fresh bread/pastries from the bakers down the lane, or the excelent meat that you butcher provides, this is just another of lifes quirks.

Its now for Marie to choose, either risk having a stuffed up fosse or tell it how it is!   its not as if you are telling the guests that they have to walk to the bottom of the garden to use the loo is it?

 

[Apero]

Interesting reading all the different points of view on this topic. At one of the houses we rented they told us that they had a fosse and what we could put down it, they also left 2 new loo rolls in each toilet. On arriving at the house (which was better than the web site description) they again mentioned this in the information booklet left for guests-

 

"The waste system in the house is Fosse Septic.  It is very important that sanitary towels or baby nappies are not flushed down the toilet, please use the bags on the wall supplied and put in “other waste” bin outside. Should you block the Fosse; the cost to un-block will be yours. Each Sunday please flush a sachet of (Eparcyl), which is below the kitchen sink, down all toilets to keep the Fosse doing its job."

 

We weren't in the least annoyed, pre-warned yes, so what, you buy enough rolls for your week or two. Easily found in the supermarkets.

 

Which reminds me of Greece, France has much better abloutions, at least loo roll can go down the loo, correct type of course[:)]

[Blanche Neige]

Apero

This is what we do and it has worked for all our guests (so far!). They are told about the fosse and how to deal with it when they get their final / joining instructions and the information is again given in the information folder which is left in the house in a prominent place.

 

"The waste system in the house is Fosse Septic.  It is very important that sanitary towels or baby nappies are not flushed down the toilet, please use the bags on the wall supplied and put in “other waste” bin outside. Should you block the Fosse; the cost to un-block will be yours. Each Sunday please flush a sachet of (Eparcyl), which is below the kitchen sink, down all toilets to keep the Fosse doing its job."

We have the usual notices pinned up near the loos to remind people of what not to put down the loo, perhaps not quite as detailed as above.

[Coco]

[quote user="Deby"]

We have eight toilets and up to 22 people staying at times (inc ankle-biters) so supplying endless roles of pink loo paper would be not only a cost problem but a storage one too.  [/quote]

Are you telling me that after 3 years of renting my house as a gite and 3 years of B&B I should have only been using that aweful pink stuff??  I did used to get concerned about people bringing their Andrex with them - it's a bit like getting used to semi-skimmed milk isn't it, after a while the full cream stuff is too rich - I now find Andrex too thick.  However, I do like and use, something a bit thicker and softer than that pink stuff.  Apart from anything else, a roll only lasts about a day!!  I've never even looked at the packaging of French loo rolls in any detail - do they have little ticks for use with fosses like the washing up liquid and washing powder?

By the way - we haven't had any problems with our fosse in 7 years of owning the house.

[Lou]

Maybe I'm very wrong, but I've generally assumed that most/all of the

loo roll sold in your average French supermarket was fosse compatible -

simply because such a lot of French houses do have a fosse.  I

will confess that I've never stood and read all the packets to

check.......but then have never brought Andrex or English loo roll of

any kind with me on gite holidays!!

Lou

[Marie]

Owens88

"The original poster wants to insist that the renters buy specific types of loo paper."

No I don't insist, as you so nicely put it! What I do is advise the renters that it is prefable for them not to shove wads of the thick stuff down the toilet, and this is put in the information folder in the house, and on notices in the toilet.  What the renters choose to do with the information provided is up to them , but at least I allow them to make an informed choice - much better then them shoving all and sundry down the toilet and then wondering why it blocks up.

I don't have a choice about having a fosse - there is no mains sewerage in the village and the mairie hasn't even discussed the installation of drains, so the 2010 deadline looks unlikely for us. The house in brand new, so I know that the waste pipes are marginally smaller diameter than those in the UK, however in 3 years of renting we have never had a problem. I raised the original question, as the notices have never caused comment before, and I was a little surprised at the idea that we should provide unlimited supplies, rather than renters simply going to the shop when the initial supply ran out.  The cleaner ensures that there is some toilet roll in each toilet when she does her clean before each new lot arrives, so we don't expect them to turn up ready-armed.

I haven't asked my cleaner to provide a welcome pack, as she doesn't have a car, so transport is an issue ( she can't afford one since her husband died 3 years ago).  From a renter's point of view, we didn't get a welcome pack in 4 out of 5 houses we stayed in, but it never bothered me as I always looked forward to the trip to the shops as a chance to use my language skills and discover new things.

Marie

[Owens88]

Marie you said

I've also pointed out that french toilet paper is preferable to Andrex

But I admit it was others who took this further.

My other comments are not wrong, including the fact that you chose the property with the fosse, and that re-stocking is a problem because of your cleaning arrangements.

[Dick Smith]

How can you be so confrontational over toilet paper? It's worthy of Dean Swift...

[Russethouse]

 I think that cute little labrador pup has one end of this thread................. and is still running [:)]

I never thought I would type this, but in some ways location is important .......is it likely people may arrive late, after a long tiring journey ?

Or even how close are you to shops? I wouldn't relish unpacking and having to go shopping.

I think as long as there is enough for the number of renters for the first 24 hours and you make it clear (possibly ahead of time) that French toilet paper is better for the fosse and as cheap, if not cheaper, than in the Uk , who could argue ? ( I'm sure some one will [:)] )

Its not knowing and turning up with rolls of Andrex that I would find annoying.

[Owens88]

[quote user="Dick Smith"]How can you be so confrontational over toilet paper? It's worthy of Dean Swift...
[/quote]

Hi DS

Fair point. I think I started my responses merely suggesting that as it was the landlord who wanted something specific then providing more bog roll wasn't out of order. That then spiralled off into 'if you have specific demands shouldn't you warn people , even nicely ?'.

 

However another landlord's loo paper is not my business. I apologise for even unrolling it.

John

[Jo Taylor]

How can you be so confrontational over toilet paper? It's worthy of Dean Swift...

Quite easily! (but not to the guests) If you do have a fosse it's all too easy to become obsessed [+o(]

I'd far rather spend a few euros on supplying sufficient suitable lavatory paper than  a fortune on having the fosse man come out to unblock it (and clean up the mess afterwards). And yes, I have found people unloading copious quantities of bouncy Velvet stuff from their cars on arrival. Nice smiley but firm words.

Then, I'm on site - however a good caretaker should do just that : take care that one's property is maintained. The possibility of having new guests arrive to a non-functioning system is just too much of a risk. You don't have to appear like a seaside dragon landlady, a little humour works wonders along with a brief description of the yucky consequences. There's more on this subject in the thread entitled "Booking Conditions"...

Jo

[CatherineS2]

[quote user="Lou"] I will confess that I've never stood and read all the packets to check[/quote]

I've always bought the same stuff but it was out of stock in the supermarket recently so I asked one of the assistants if the alternative one which I had in my hand was OK for fosses and she frowned and looked at me as if I was barking mad - "Mais bien sur madame!!!!".
(As if...!)

So I think you are fairly safe...

[Toneboy]

I have stumbled across this forum doing a bit of research on Normandy having just come back from renting a cottage near Villebaudon and this topic is of interest to me as it does effect me.

I have a drain-able Stoma Bag the legacy of colon cancer and in the process of cleaning out my bag I get thru a fair bit of toilet paper and its quality and absorption are of great importance to me as, I hope nobody is having their lunch reading this, my hands are in very close contact with my bodies waste product. After trials I have found  the Charmin brand suits my requirements best so when I travel sufficient supplies travel with me not just for my benefit, but because it is not fair to expect any renter to meet my off take needs. If however you want me to use a special paper then it should be made very clear in your precondition booking blurb and I would expect there to be sufficient on site to get me thru several days, because Murphy's law will make it that I arrive during a French bank holiday only to run out of your prescribed paper and you know what that means if you want anything other than bread, meat or flowers.

So I would urge that if your system requires a certain type of loo paper you clearly spell it out to your clients as many of us have other worries in our daily lives, but are happy to comply once we know and we learn to be adaptable very quickly. I could tell you tales, but later perhaps.