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Don’t you dare! Give yourself a breathing space and tell them they must be gone by 11 am that morning. Like the hotels do. The nerve those people have.
I would not have a problem if you rescind your offer. What if they damage anything? You have no time to fix it fir your paying guests..
This offer is made for her benefit, not as a gift to the freeloaders.
If this gives the OP peace of mind, I don't get the resistance.
I read through this whole thread, and I don't know of your posting history (to which some others are referring). I think you are being beyond generous, and I would seriously rethink the offer for next year, given they have been problematic two years in a row. I think even for friends, having them pay at least the cleaning fee makes so much sense. Otherwise this is a huge gift of both what you would have made in income had you rented it, and paying to clean up after them.
In any case, I think being very clear about check-in/check-out times in writing from the very beginning is most helpful. "You are free to enjoy the house from 5pm Monday, February 1 through 11am Saturday, February 6" (or whatever dates are accurate). At this point, they are being very inconsiderate by not responding to your repeated attempts to clarify. When I have been in situations where I need confirmation and people (although not friends) are not responding to my attempts to clarify and confirm, I indicate the date by which I need to hear back or else I will have to make other plans/cancel our appointment/whatever it may be. A phone call to clarify may be what's needed (although they could certainly avoid the call). I would have included some of the possible hotels they could choose in your recent email to make clear your point (maybe you did?).
I think you may need to plan to be there when they should be leaving to make sure they are off and running. I'd be a little afraid they won't vacate and you can't count on the maid service to boot them.
I think there is a way to be generous with friends and family without letting yourself be taken advantage of. This particular group of "friends" (??) are pushing it.
We have maids because we use a company thar refers to them as such. In my primary home I have cleaners because that's what the company we use refers to them as. I use those terms as well as cleaning crew, house cleaners, the housekeeping crew etc etc interchangeably. English is not my first language so I try to be careful about synonyms.
Is the company "Merry Maids"? If so, they're a cleaning company, not a maid company. I used to work there in the 90's; I would never use them to clean my house.
There were 2 cleaning people per house. If we had 5 houses to clean, they would give each person 5 white rags for general cleaning and 5 red rags to use with their "furniture cleaner". So it totals 2 white rags and 2 red rags per house. How do you use 2 cleaning rags per house? We'd clean the kitchens 1st, then end in the bathrooms.
They gave us a few unmarked spray bottles that had "mystery cleaner" in them, none smelled like bleach. Whatever was in them ended up burning my hands so bad I had to stop working there.
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Originally Posted by emotiioo
Absolutely.
This group wanted to invite another family to join them last year. We said no because we don't know those people and it was going to be a lot of guests in the house at once. There was a little pushback on that "no." Now this year there us an extra day tacked on from what we said we could do. You do have to be very strict with a popular vacation spot. We feel we are pretty generous with what we provide. This group is staying when it would 100% be rented. And it's free accommodation for our guests. I do feel as though it's a little over the top to ask for more than is offered.
These "friends" of yours are trying to take advantage of you.
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Originally Posted by emotiioo
Not yet. This stay is months away so it seems odd they even bought tickets this early. But now there is silence. I'm debating calling tomorrow to get this hashed out.
I'll be surprised if they really did purchase their tickets already
Quote:
Originally Posted by emotiioo
Yes the days for check in and out could be different based on different guests. We limit the number of nights anyone can stay but do not adhere to a "check in on Saturday/check out in Sunday" schedule. That seems to be thing if the past with Airbnb/VRBO etc.
Nonetheless these individuals know the exact dates the house is available. I know for certain they would not be able to afford the nightly rate we get during the month they want to stay. I don't know if reminding them of that will do anything to remedy this situation however.
I did leave a message and send a text yesterday asking how their plans were coming with re-bookiing tickets or finding another accommodation for the final night. So far no answer. My next step if I don't hear back in a few days is to say that our home is no longer available because we can't accommodate the days they've specified. That should get a reply.
We have a couple of short term rentals and one is a lake house we allow friends and family to enjoy when we can. I agreed to give a group a week during the summer with very specific dates. I recently learned they bought plane tickets (VERY early) for a day beyond what we offered. Both my mate and I were extremely clear as we have paid guests checking in on the morning of the day of that these guests are now saying they will also be staying on.
My mate said "you will have to find a hotel that night" and the group suggested that they stay with us (not nearby) due to the 'misunderstanding. " We will both be working and cannot accommodate them. We told them this and said "you can change your ticket or we can suggest a hotel near the lake house. Its early enough that both should be available. " No.word back yet except that they are excited to stay.
Its clear that these people think we should put them up and fo not want to incur a change fee for tickets. We sent dates in writing and spoke verbally. I'm about to withdraw the entire invitation. How would you handle it?
This reminds me of the movie Pacific Heights where a guy just moves in and stays and stays and eventually takes over the owner's identity having inveigled his way into accounts and ids.
We have a couple of short term rentals and one is a lake house we allow friends and family to enjoy when we can. I agreed to give a group a week during the summer with very specific dates. I recently learned they bought plane tickets (VERY early) for a day beyond what we offered. Both my mate and I were extremely clear as we have paid guests checking in on the morning of the day of that these guests are now saying they will also be staying on.
My mate said "you will have to find a hotel that night" and the group suggested that they stay with us (not nearby) due to the 'misunderstanding. " We will both be working and cannot accommodate them. We told them this and said "you can change your ticket or we can suggest a hotel near the lake house. Its early enough that both should be available. " No.word back yet except that they are excited to stay.
Its clear that these people think we should put them up and fo not want to incur a change fee for tickets. We sent dates in writing and spoke verbally. I'm about to withdraw the entire invitation. How would you handle it?
I think in your shoes this would be the last time I offered them a stay in your vacation rental. I guess you have to honor your offer to let them stay for the time you have agreed to, but they're taking advantage of your generosity in trying to wangle another day out of that time. And trying to blame YOU for the "misunderstanding", and expecting you to provide them free lodging just smacks of a sense of entitlement to me.
I'd hold firm on their leaving the vacation house on the agreed on date, and finding (and paying for) their own lodging for that extra night. Though thinking about it, I couldn't blame you for wanting to withdraw the entire invitation, but dayam, that would be the last one!
I'm thinking of writing to them with reiterating the dates and saying "please give us your new flight information so that we can arrange transportation to the airport. Our maids come at 4pm ."
I'd say our cleaning person or cleaning crew, cleaning company, not maids. They're there to clean the house for your next customer, not hired to pick up after these people. If you tell your relatives Our maids come at 4pm, they may be expecting actual maid services and think how nice of you to have a maid for them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by emotiioo
Great point. But (for easy argument) our email said "we are pleased you can spend some time at the lake house again this year. We have been able to reserve the first of the month through the 7th for your stay. We have guests leaving on the day before your stay and arriving the early morning of the 8th so please let us know what time your flights get in on the first/leave on the 7th so I can make sure the cleaning crew has done turnover. "
I don't know if that left any room for debate. And that's precisely what we sent to these people.
Hopefully they're able to understand that.
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Originally Posted by emotiioo
Quote:
Originally Posted by germaine2626
When my late husband was in law school all the professors said "Never give away free legal services. Always write the actual bill and then tell them that they save a certain percentage due to Family and Friends discount". The professors said that when people got things for free they often didn't appreciate them as much as if they paid something for the services. And, if they did not know the real cost they might not know how much a bargain you are giving them.
Perhaps you can tell your friends "Normally we charge $700 plus a $200 cleaning fee (or whatever) for a weeks stay at our vacation home but because you are our dear friend we will only charge you the cleaning fee (or a certain percentage of the costs)"
I agree 100% and even went so far as to draw up a schedule of fees for friends and family. My mate refused to implement it saying that it would make us look "cheap" and instead limited the amount of time that we allow others to use the space without us also joining them to months where its less popular with paying guests. These guests had asked years ago about this specific week and because it was so far in advance we were able to accommodate. Charging at a discounted rated would be a fantastic idea in my opinion. I do think people dont value what would actually not be affordable to many at market rate.
Personally, I wouldn't allow family to just use it for free during peak times unless it's normally a slower week out of that time of the year. Say it's very popular July up until most of August but maybe it's not as busy the 3rd week of August but it would pick back up for Labor day. I'd be ok with them doing that 3rd week of August.
I agree with what germaine said with telling them you usually charge $700 but you'll allow them to be there as
long as they give you the cleaning fee. I don't think asking for the cleaning fee is unreasonable because otherwise it's costing you money to let them stay there. I don't know why your mate would expect you guys to pay your own money out. That's ridiculous!
Add on to it that you're trying to have a conversation with them to square up the dates and they're ignoring you? I surely wouldn't allow that to happen much longer. Talk about rude!
Yes the days for check in and out could be different based on different guests. We limit the number of nights anyone can stay but do not adhere to a "check in on Saturday/check out in Sunday" schedule. That seems to be thing if the past with Airbnb/VRBO etc.
Nonetheless these individuals know the exact dates the house is available. I know for certain they would not be able to afford the nightly rate we get during the month they want to stay. I don't know if reminding them of that will do anything to remedy this situation however.
I did leave a message and send a text yesterday asking how their plans were coming with re-bookiing tickets or finding another accommodation for the final night. So far no answer. My next step if I don't hear back in a few days is to say that our home is no longer available because we can't accommodate the days they've specified. That should get a reply.
That's the best thing to do to get a reply from them. Looking forward to that update.
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