moved furniture, smelly fish and missing fork and spoon

[Nash-Cottages-LLC0]

We enter our cottage after the last guest to find our couch in a different spot. Whatever, we moved it back. We opened the fridge, and holy heck, we were smacked in the face with a putrid fish smell and see an opened and a leaking package of fish. UGH - still dealing with that. As we're cleaning and putting items in the dishwasher, we inventory the utensils and other items in the kitchen and notice that we're missing a fork and a spoon. Still dealing with the smell and the fork and spoon are MIA. 

People are weird. 

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977  Really? Its decadent and delicious.

They brought a waffle iron. We don't have a disposal. It was fun trying to get the waffle mixture out of the drain once it got gummy and solid. A chicken and waffle breakfast is NOT an easy breezy "last day of vacation" quick cook 'em up. 

One thing I am always tempted to ask guests is if they have ever owned their own home. After being a landlord as well as a host, I can tell  you that former/current homeowners tend to be a lot more careful about they way they handle certain things than perpetual renters. Nothing wrong with being a renter. There are just some things about maintenance that you might not have a reason to know. Like don't pour waffle mixture down a drain on a well.

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  I've absolutely seen a difference between the way other homeowners and those who have only ever been renters deal with household stuff. If all you've ever had to do is call the landlord if the plumbing plugs up and never had to pay a plumber yourself, or lay squished up under the sink, trying to undo the trap, with skanky water dripping all over you, you wouldn't think twice about what you threw in the sink or flushed down the toilet. Or whether you forced a key that wouldn't turn until you bent and broke it, or threw towels full of sand in the washing machine.

Saw a pretty shocking video the other day. A woman who owns an apartment building and has a lot of millenial tenants was going through the apartments with her tenants as the leases were up for renewal. She found that half the lightbulbs were burnt out in the units, even ones that are really needed, like the kitchen lights. When she asked how long they'd been burnt out and why they hadn't changed them, they all said for months, but they didn't think it worth bothering her about. They thought changing lightbulbs is something you call the landlord to do.

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977we actually had to put that in our lease that we did not change lightbulbs.

Some buildings will. I lived in a co-op unit years ago where the maintenance manager would come and change your bulbs for you because the ceilings were high. But I always thought it was silly for me to ask. I know some of the older folks who couldn't climb a ladder safely appreciated the option.

Some tenants we have had have been truly clueless. Once we didn't get a call about a leaky toilet until the entire bathroom floor needed replacing and the ceiling below. The tenant thought it was "no big deal because its just wet looking and not dripping." The same tenant went nuts and called us in the middle of the night because some sparrows got into the attic and they were sure that the place was infested with bats. Turned out they had hung a bat house at a place years ago and attracted so many bats that the former landlord had to close the building down and have them removed for health issues. Failed to mention that on the background and reference check.... The sparrows were not an emergency. The toilet was. You don't know what you don't know.

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  For sure if it requires ladders to change the lightbulb, I could see asking the landord to take care of it. What was bizarre in that video was that some of the light fixtures weren't hard to reach at all. But these people had been living with hardly any light for months, and even if they wanted the landlord to change them, hadn't called. I guess they didn't mind living in the dark.

As homeowners ourselves, if we noticed that a toilet was leaking somewhere we were staying, the first thing we'd do is shut off the water valve to the toilet, right? Then let the host, landlord or hotel management know about the problem.

Even when I was young and not yet a homeowner, I would have let the owner know right away that the bathroom floor was wet unless it was just because I dripped all over it after a shower. But common sense seems to be in short supply.

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977I think some people just aren't taught things about how to take care of their own place. Many people aren't even able to buy a place until they are well-established in their careers--many friends and coworkers of mine rented until well into their 40s. By that point its a big learning curve. But it does make a difference in how you approach a space as a guest.

[Nash-Cottages-LLC0]

@Sarah977 It's associated with the southern US, but its origins likely are in Pennsylvania Dutch & northeast US cuisine. 

[Nash-Cottages-LLC0]

@Laura2592 Sure sounds like it, right? You are so thoughtful to send them our way, but, uh, do you have a return policy?  : ) 

When we kindly mentioned to them that their package of fish leaked throughout the fridge, here's what they responded with:

"I am so sorry to hear that a "fish smell" is lingering in the fridge. We did not store any raw fish in the fridge, so I don't know what would have caused a lingering odor. I am also surprised the odor is still there after cleaning. Not sure of your sanitizing and cleaning procedures, but we only re-heated cooked food during our time there." 

Technically, it is true that they didn't store raw fish in the fridge, but we didn't say they did. I suppose we imagined the leaking package of fish. How dare we!

As for the review, we sure would like to mention something, and we're taking advice!

Certainly, we won't rate them high on cleanliness. 

[Laura2592]

@Nash-Cottages-LLC0I love a guest who has TOTAL amnesia about their stay. We have seen this phenomenon. Must be because their stay was so comfy it literally short circuited their brain.

I would definitely say something like "So and so were pleasant guests with good communication. Cleanup took more time than usual, especially the refrigerator. I would recommend that future hosts make an extra effort to ensure that they fully understand house rules prior to booking. "

[Nash-Cottages-LLC0]

@Laura2592 Thanks for the suggested language. We're going to use it. This thread could easily link to the one about guests always being right. I mean, why not own it? I sup[ose if they admitted fault, they would think that we would hit them up for repairs? Not sure. 

Thankfully, they are gone, and we hope never to host them again. Wishing them all the best for a great life. 

[Laura2592]

@Nash-Cottages-LLC0if you really don't want to host again, mark them to less than 3 in each category and select the "I would not host again" in the final question. That way you won't show up in their search.

We have had about 120-130 guests now and there are only 6 we have said "never again" on. Its pretty good, considering. We only have about 10% returning guests each year to our place so its probably not doing any true damage to our booking numbers.

[Sarah977]

@Nash-Cottages-LLC0   "I am also surprised the odor is still there after cleaning. Not sure of your sanitizing and cleaning procedures...."

Gotta love that passive-aggressive language. It's somehow your fault that it was difficult and time-consuming to remove the reek of their rotten food.

[Nash-Cottages-LLC0]

@Sarah977 Oh, the thoughts that swirled through my mind but not out of my hands as they were positioned above the keyboard!