Thank you LMH!!!

[rentalagent]

Oh my god... I just came across this fabulous forum yesterday, spend HOURS reading through old forum posts and I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you all!

I own a rental agency in Italy and for the last 4 years have been a one man band, and it's WONDERFUL to find somewhere like LMH, full of other people going through the same problems, triumphs and downright weirdness I do every day! It's so good to finally feel like I'm not the only one.

So far this year, I've had guests here for a one week stay in a rustic villa insisting on the day of their arrival that the owner tarmacs 300m of dirt track IMMEDIATELY so they can pull their Ferrari right up to the front door. A group of Russians had children with terrible sweat rash and insisted it was chemical burns from the pool, refused my offer to accompany them to the doctor, wouldn't believe two independent technicians who tested the water in front of them on two separate occasions to find out it was perfect and even insisted I sat in the pool myself for over an hour while they hovered over me, so I could get the horrible "burns" too (I didn't of course). Follow that up with the guy who's kid pooped in the pool on arrival, then claimed the poo was in there when he arrived and tried to get compensation from me... although he gave up when I found his online holiday blog post proudly claiming that "little Charlie" got a "bit over-excited" and "sh*t" in the pool within 10 minutes of arrival.

Numerous sheets and towels gone walkies, more bodily fluids than I have ever seen in my life on the linen (where does it all come from?!?!), dishwashers left to run on check-out day with Fairy liquid rather than dish washing tablets (spectacular I must say!), clients complaining bitterly about my shoddy service and when pressed to elaborate it turns out they were miffed that I hadn't thought to supply free champagne on arrival and found it "unacceptable" that two light bulbs blew during their 3 week stay (both were replaced by me within 12 hours of being advised they had blown), fridge shelves ruined having been used as BBQ racks and all that's just August! It's wonderful to find out that this stuff doesn't only happen to me!

Thank you ALL for helping a girl smile through it all... you're WONDERFUL!

[Marks]

Welcome to The Twilight Zone

[kg1]

Blimey. I wouldn't want to measure your blood pressure! Welcome.

[booboo]

Hello and welcome it seems that you will have a lot of experience to offer to newbiees like me

[Mouse]

bang on Marks.
Welcome to LMH and I see you're fully immersed in to the world of managing rental rentals.

Whilst I'm more than capable of dealing with the job, it isn't one I'd choose...and like any job you get frustrated by a small % of clients and sometimes feel the need to vent to others...whilst of course being perfectly professional to the client.

People who sail through the rental seasons with fab guests are the lucky ones...or who have agents who 'screen' them from the otherwise frustrating day to day issues

Mouse
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[rentalagent]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! Mouse, I ADORE the job... I've been doing it for 7 years now and think it's the best job in the world for all except the 6 "silly" weeks of the year in July and August.

One thing I do find a lot (and I'm not the only one) is that guests behave worse for agencies than they do if booking direct with the owners. Even though we do repeatedly remind them all of our villas are privately owned I just don't think it clicks unless they actually meet the owner face to face. Or maybe it's just that I have such a large volume of guests every week (I work with over 50 villas) that it's all down to the law of percentages and just happen to get more nightmares...

Anyway, August is nearly over and in September I get back to loving my job again... it's just SO nice to be able to compare stories and hear from all of you about your experiences... I'm feeling very at home here already!

[James3214]

I think I am missing out on the 'bodily fluids' part so far!

[rentalagent]

Blood is definitely the most popular flavor this year, closely followed by bed-wetting incidents and then... erm, the other ones

[barbersdrove]

I'm interested in how you found the blog comments re the pool incident. It was a treasure trove of a find

[greenbarn]

Welcome!

Your first post gave me a good laugh, particularly for some reason:

dishwashers left to run on check-out day with Fairy liquid rather than dish washing tablets (spectacular I must say!),

Of course none of the experiences you relate are a laughing matter to any sane person, but by definition you won't find many of those on this forum

Option 1: Cry.
Option 2: Laugh.
Option 3: Post about it on LMH and have everybody laughing with you! (as well as understanding the situation and empathising of course)

Looking forward to more.

[rentalagent]

Hi guys!

I always, always Google a guest before I accept a booking (you almost never find anything useful but it gives you some good background) and it just so happens Mr Poointhepool has his own blog for his travels. I forgot all about it of course, until he started being difficult, looked it up as I knew he would have boasted about his hols and lo and behold, there it was. I was mightily smug about that one I have to say

Fairy liquid in a dishwasher was a new one on me, but the effect wasn't dissimilar to the time (in my student days) I decided to experiment with putting a raw egg (shell and all) in the microwave. Pretty spectacular, but not one to try at home... I took some good photos but not sure I can share them on here

Greenbarn, after 6 long weeks of options 1 and 2 (and of course 1b and 2b... doing it while downing a bottle of wine) I'm SO chuffed to have option 3. Love, love, love LMH!

[Marks]

Mr Poointhepool

You're going to fit in very well around here.

[Montana]

Welcome

[greenbarn]

I decided to experiment with putting a raw egg (shell and all) in the microwave. Pretty spectacular, but not one to try at home... I took some good photos but not sure I can share them on here

One of the benefits of having three properties and being on site is that sooner or later you're going to have to replace a microwave, and it may be working okay but have a crack or something (I recently replaced one because the light had failed - the lamp couldn't be replaced )

This provides the unmissable opportunity to conduct such essential experiments as the exploding egg, and of course, the self-igniting tinfoil. This assumes you have either a somewhat childish personality or (like me ) a serious scientific and engineering mind with an insatiable desire for further understanding of our universe.

As for downing a bottle wine, that's pretty much a given; you'll notice a big difference in the quality (and content) of LMH posts once the sun is over the yardarm....

[Mouse]

I have such a large volume of guests every week (I work with over 50 villas)

I own a rental agency in Italy and for the last 4 years have been a one man band

Crikey How do you manage all those check ins/outs yourself? Even if you staggered them throughout the week it could be as many as 7 a day not to mention the level of enquiries you must get!
You most definitely have to love your job to deal with all that

Mousie (in awe)
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