Rude rude owner.

Rude rude owner.

I have been accused of being rude, please read through and make your own decision, I have attached the booking form to show the hefty discount I was offering for two persons only. I have redacted any means of identifying the writers of the review.

These Guests phoned in July to book a house in August for two people, and I told them I only had the Eco-Loft available which slept only 2 persons in one bedroom and Apartment 6 which slept up to 4 but that I would offer a low-occupancy discount based on two people, they asked could they view them on the internet and I gave the appropriate details.

They came back a day or so later saying they would prefer a house that opened directly onto a garden as opposed to a balcony in the case of number 6, and that there might be more people staying.

I suggested I had house number 2 available but that it was a large house capable of sleeping 6 people so would cost more but that I would still offer a low occupancy discount and that they could pay for any additional guests on a nightly price of £20 per person. They send me a text saying their budget was limited to £360 and I replied by text that I would offer House 2 at £320 for two people and that they could pay for any additional guests at £20 per night.

They replied ‘Thanks, that’s great’ and said they wished to book.

I drew up the booking form below, which shows the full price of the house at £630 but with a ‘low occupancy discount’ of £310, (they were getting the house for basically half price) and emailed it to them on the 25/7/11, and asking for their address details to initiate payment.

I got the following reply on the 2/8/11,

“Hi there, Could you resent payment email. I am paying today but the email seems to been deleted from my junk folder. Apologies for the delay. Thanks K M”

I replied that I would resend the email the next day as I was out of the office. I also sent a text on the 3/8/11 asking again for their address details as it would not be possible to pay online as the Card used is checked against the address details.

I never got these details, instead I got a call a night or two later on my mobile phone from the husband of the couple, saying they were only going to pay the £320 and did not see why they had to pay the extra to have people come down and stay. I said ‘ G… lets cancel the booking and that I am sure that you can find cheaper accommodation somewhere else.’ At that point the mobile phone signal broke-off, I expected the couple to phone back but they did not.

Coincidentally the fact that they phoned on the mobile is significant, not only from the point of view that signal failed which may appear as I rudely ‘hung up’, but to make the mobile phone work in my office I have to leave it in a window and put it on speaker phone when someone calls and not move the phone. As a consequence of this I have a witness to the conversation with G. M. and they were quite shocked by the manner in which I was addressed.

Reviews on Tripadvisor.

I have had a number of Bad reviews on Tripadvisor, 'I' being the operative word as the critical reviews are more about me than about the properties, if anything the reviews praise the Cottages but have issues about my manner or the rules and regulations I use in the management of the Cottages. Any rule or regulation we have are for the benefit of the guests who have paid their money and chosen to have stayed with us. We see Tory Bush as more than mere accommodation for the night but a holiday experience, we even have people in their twenties now coming back to have their own children experience a place where they had a great child-hood holiday, when I see them bring their grandchildren then I know I will have been in this business too long!

I have no real issue with personal criticism, it hurts at the time of reading, but there is an expression that says, if amongst the people you meet, a third like you, a third dislike you, and the other third are indifferent then you are not doing too bad.

But what is upsetting is that these reviews are putting people off staying at the Cottages, particularly new visitors and visitors from out of the country. We have calculated, using Tourist Board figures that over the 16 years we have been in business we have brought £5.1 million into the local economy and at these difficult times we should all be doing as much as possible to support these primary enterprises that generate new cash for the country. Thankfully we have a high level of repeat business, probably the highest in our sector and that's because most people appreciate the way the cottages operate.

It is noticeable that the bad reviews I have had are where I have challenged people on some issue and it would appear that they are using Tripadvisor as a means of retribution. I actually think that this is an issue for Tripadvisor, and there is a view in the leisure sector that Tripadvisor has been dis-credited as a consequence of malicious, retributive or just plain false reviews. I am not alone in this, none other than Duncan Bannatyne of Dragons Den fame and owner of four Hotels is considering legal action against Tripadvisor.

I am going to post on this blog the contents of the Critical Reviews and let others decide if their is validity in them. By using the 'property right to reply' box following each Tripadvisor review I hope to able to direct people from the reviews on Tripadvisor to this blog, I don't think Tripadvisor would let me give all the background that let up to each review.