Is it me?

[Marie]

Probably like most of you, we post notices in the toilets of our gites asking guests not to put the ususal offending items down the toilet to avoid causing problems with the septic tank. I've also pointed out that french toilet paper is preferable to Andrex, which is much thicker and therefore more likely to clog - I'd rather warn people than have to summon out the fosse repair man! On the latest feedback form from our recent guests, they suggest we "provide unlimited french toilet roll, otherwise people will take english and block the septic tank".  Now while I'm quite happy to ensure there is at least one roll in each toilet on our departure, whenever we happen to be over there, I'm not about to start asking my cleaner to supply industrial quantities in our absence.

Has anyone else ever had a comment like this? My first reaction was to laugh - surely it's a joke, but my husband thinks they might actually seriously think we'd do this! What do others supply, particularly those of you, like us, who are UK resident?

Marie

[Owens88]

Are you renting out by the week/fortnight ? If so then it is probably a bit 'off' to expect holidaymakers to go out and buy a special type of bog roll that wouldn't cost you much to provide. Its not their fault you have a fosse after all. UNLESS you make it clear on your promotional stuff.

[alnmike]

We rent out by the week, we only sleep 4 (max) guests, and I do supply

the loo paper, pink and French! I guess if you have larger properties

it would need vast quantities, but I manage with our place!

[Blanche Neige]

they suggest we "provide unlimited french toilet roll,

if you were running a hotel or B&B then I would agree but not for a gite.

otherwise people will take english and block the septic tank". 

 

LOL !

Well loo paper in France does not cost that much so so long as you provide a roll or two for each let then I think the guests can go out and buy more paper as and when required. I cannot imagine guests wanting to travel to France with bags full of English loo rolls.

Edit:

P.S. I have rented holiday homes in the USA and there they left nothing at all, no loo paper, no cleaning materials, bare cupboards and that is all. Imagine if you arrived late at night to find no loo paper whatsoever and had a stomach upset or something.

[Marie]

We have 2 gites, each sleeping up to 7 people, so I am talking serious quantities here if I have to provide it all, especially as we're not on site. Where would I store it??? If people are only there for a short stay, then there is usually enough left either by us, or the previous guests, but as we find French paper much cheaper then english, it's hardly a huge expense if people run out and have to buy their own. I always though the idea of self-catering was that you provided for yourselves, rather than expected everything to be done for you - isn't that called hotel service?

 

Marie

[KathyC]

If I were  buying toilet paper for a self catering holiday then I would tend to choose the type I prefer, rather than going for something that would be better for the gite(owner). As you would presumably be the one who would have to pay for sorting out the fosse, then it would seem to me to be  for your benefit to supply the right sort of paper. I would also have thought that supplying the appropriate cleaning materials would be a good idea as well.

[Marie]

I'm not sure where the leap to cleaning materials came from, but we certainly do provide all the necessary sprays/ liquids etc in that respect.  At the start of each busy season, we ensure that there is a good stock of cleaning materials, bin bags, cling film, foil, air fresheners, light bulbs, kitchen roll, and, as I said, a small supply of toilet rolls.  However, we are not resident, and it really is not practical for me to pop over from the UK every couple of weeks or so just to stock up on toilet rolls for other people.

In all the houses we have ever stayed in in France, the system has been exactly the same (in all cases the owners were non resident) and I had no issues at all with replacing anything which ran out - be it toilet rolls or bin bags.  I also tried to respect the property of the owner, and accept their advice about a system which they were much more familiar than I was. If that meant using french paper for a week or two, then that was fine with me.  If you are renting someone else's house then surely you are responsible for any damage you may cause during your stay - at least that was always the approach I took as a guest. Maybe it is me!

 

Marie

[Russethouse]

If people arrive with a roll or two of British  roll the likelyhood is they will use it, thus possibly blocking the system.

Do you have someone who does changeovers ? If so why not ask them to provide one loo roll per toilet for the start of the holiday, that gives the person renting a chance to stock up.

If you do not have anyone to do change overs perhaps some research into the thickness of various Uk  brands is in order [:)] I'm sure my husband will help ( I suspect he likes Izal best !)

[Dick Smith]

Why is everyone making this so complicated? When staying in gîtes we have usually found a couple of rolls of loo paper and a polite note asking that we replace like with like when we need more, and please don't leave the next people without any, and don't chuck x, y and z in the fosse. What is the problem?

[Owens88]

[quote user="Dick Smith"] What is the problem?
[/quote]

I think that cuts both ways. The Fosse Septique is the problem not the renters.

[Dick Smith]

We don't rent our place out, but it is used by friends and family, and sometimes they take friends etc. So we make it clear what shouldn't go down the fosse, and we have never had any problems. My son and his wife and friends used 6 months wood in a week (in April!) but that's all. Oh, and no-one has ever owned up to leaving the king-size Rizlas behind the cushions on the sofa...

[Chauffour]

on the day of arrival we aligne the guests in ze garden and do a complete body and baggage search, and we confiscate and distroy any British toilet paper AND any can of baked beans. This seems to solve the problem

[The Riff-Raff Element]

We not only provide loo rolls in unlimited quantity (and then bar chart

their usage so that we can guage the health of our guest's bowels -

joke) but all cleaning materials, hand soaps, and bubble baths for

children. This is in addition to the usual welcome pack stuff. It's not

an insignificant cost in our budget, but the impact it seems to have on

our guest's perception of the properties far outweighs this and is

reflected in the ever increasing proportion of our bookings that are

either re-bookings or direct recommendations from past guests.

[Cerise]

Suggest you send your guests via our B & B to your gite - cos it took me a while to realise that the one-nighters on their way to gites further south nicked the spare toilet rolls from the bathroom cupboards!!  Do you think I should put up a notice explaining the role of the supermarket in France?[:)]

[Dick Smith]

[IMG]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f338/dick_at_aulton/doglaugh.gif[/IMG]

[Blanche Neige]

Suggest you send your guests via our B & B to your gite - cos it took me a while to realise that the one-nighters on their way to gites further south nicked the spare toilet rolls from the bathroom cupboards!! 

Cerise

You have made a good point and we sometimes have clients who book a week at our place and then have a week in a gite elsewhere. I can see there would be a great temptation for them to help themselves to an unlimited supply of loo paper if it was freely available.

Dick, we have a similar  approach to you, we leave a couple of  new rolls of paper for each loo and then our clients buy more of the same as and when required. They would have to buy loo paper at home so why not when away? We too supply cleaning materials etc. FOC.

By the way, I hate the pink coloured stuff and always buy French, white loo paper which seems to work o.k. in our fosse.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Cerise"]Suggest you send your guests via our B & B to

your gite - cos it took me a while to realise that the one-nighters on

their way to gites further south nicked the spare toilet rolls from the

bathroom cupboards!!  Do you think I should put up a notice

explaining the role of the supermarket in France?[:)][/quote]

Hells bells! I'm tight, but even I wouldn't pinch loo roll from

someone's B&B. I "liberated" it as a student from the Union when

times were hard, but it was the tracing paper stuff, so it was only a

desperate measure.

Send 'em to me and I'll introduce them to "Mr Pliers" for you.

[Cerise]

No - they really do nick it.  We always have one roll on the holder and 2 spare in the cupboard, at least we did until I realised it was disappearing at great rates.  Now only week stays get the spares and 1 nighters get only one.  Sometimes they take the boxes of Kleenex too.

Dick - love the dawg is he digging a tunnel for the St Malo 1?

[Marie]

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 For a start I'd have to provide probably in excess of 140 rolls for each gite at the start of the summer season, and even assuming I found somewhere to store them all, they might all get nicked, thus rendering the plan a complete failure!

I think I'll stick to what I already do - advise them nicely to use the french stuff & not put the usual offending items down the loo. It's worked for the last 3 years, this lot were just the only ones to comment on it.

By the way, in terms of strange items going missing - the lot before took one of those glass air freshener things, how weird is that? (unless of course they broke it and didn't fess up!)

Marie

[Dick Smith]

It's a mood dog.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Marie"]

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 For a start I'd have to provide probably in excess of 140

rolls for each gite at the start of the summer season, and even

assuming I found somewhere to store them all, they might all get

nicked, thus rendering the plan a complete failure!

I think I'll stick to what I already do - advise them nicely to

use the french stuff & not put the usual offending

items down the loo. It's worked for the last 3 years, this lot

were just the only ones to comment on it.

By the way, in terms of strange items going missing - the lot before

took one of those glass air freshener things, how weird is that?

(unless of course they broke it and didn't fess up!)

Marie

[/quote]

Well, I think it is, but we're around, which makes, I think, all the

difference. People are much less inclined to take liberties when they

have to look you in the face the morning they depart.

[Ty Korrigan]

Hello Dick,

After my first summer in France I returned to the U.K for the winter and found work in the village Co-op.

Working evenings I got used to certain locals who bought the 'King sized Rizlas' and in a mad moment opened some of the packets and wrote on the inside cover phrazes along the lines of 'JUNKIE!' 'DRUGGY' and other very rude things...

Purile but it really raised a laugh amoungst the 'victims' and the staff.

[Dick Smith]

Now that's boredom...

Perhaps there should be a health warning - Danger - Use of Illegal Substances will cause you to Mumble and Smell of Skunk

[Patmobile]

[quote user="Dick Smith"]We don't rent our place out, but it is used by friends and family, and sometimes they take friends etc. So we make it clear what shouldn't go down the fosse, and we have never had any problems. My son and his wife and friends used 6 months wood in a week (in April!) but that's all. Oh, and no-one has ever owned up to leaving the king-size Rizlas behind the cushions on the sofa...

[/quote]

I have never found wood very absorbent, and it's a bit too scratchy for my sensitive skin.  Also it stays afloat and won't go down the loo with the flush.

Patrick

[Dick Smith]

The dog's back!

[IMG]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f338/dick_at_aulton/doglaugh.gif[/IMG]