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gillumhouse

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I put this in the kitchen because that is how I dodged what I thought was going to be a difficult reservation.
When the reservation was made, she wanted one night with "what is the earliest we can check in" and then "what is the latest we can check out" for a Friday night that is the alumni reunion weekend. I told her for early in and late out it would have to be a 2-night. At the time I wondered how long before she cancelled.
This morning she called to ask if in addition to the sugar-free she had already requested, could it also be fat-free. No problem (did not say it but that is what I usually do anyway). THEN she was GF - I said I am sorry but that is asking a bit uch. Are either of you Celiac? no was the answer. Several hours later she called back to tell me she did not appreciate my tone of voice when she called this morning. I was very helpful when she called to make the reservation but today I was curt and rude and not nice. I said, I take it you would like to cancel the reservation? Yes. Done! (I was talking to my son in California at the time she dinked in.) When I got back to my son on the phone, it was with a joyful whoopie - she cancelled.
By the way, other than saying no to the GF, I was not curt, rude, or even short with her even though I felt she was looking for a way to blame me for the cancel that i felt was coming AND knowing she was calling on my nickle.
 
sometimes that PITA vibe comes right through the phone and you have to go with your gut!
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GOOD FOR YOU! Let her try that with another innkeeper and see what happens! It's those people that want everything for nothing that really get me.
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Gluten free, fat free and sugar free? Geez! I would have to say "I'll give you a glass of water for breakfast"!
 
Gluten free, fat free and sugar free? Geez! I would have to say "I'll give you a glass of water for breakfast"!.
I think she was looking for some way to blame ME for the cancel. I wonder what she would have said if I told her, OK, I will poach a couple eggs and give you fruit each morning. That would have been fat-free, sugar-free, and GF. I would rather give up the money and have a pleasant weekend.
 
Update: She has gone to Fa ce book for her nasty.
I wrote, revised, revised, rewrote a response and have decided not to answer immediately. Here is what she wrote and what I am thinking of replying.
I was so disappointed when talking to you on the phone today. Your tone and comments were much much different than when I first reserved the 2 nights at your establishment. I was quite offended today with your attitude. I will not visit nor recommend your B and B to anyone else.
My planned reply:
I am truly sorry you felt offended. That is something we cannot control. We, unfortunately can only try to accommodate our guests. I totally agree with your decision to cancel your reservation as another bed & breakfast may be better suited to your needs for sugar-free, fat-free, gluten-free breakfasts, the last two announced this morning - July 15 but not at the time of the reservation on July 4 when asked about dietary needs. A breakfast for 2 mornings of just poached eggs, juice, and fresh fruit does not meet the standards of a Gillum House Breakfast. Accommodating your request for check-in 3 hours prior to normal check-in and a check-out 3 hours later than normal really was more than we have ever been expected to do. We hope you have a lovely birthday celebration with Phyllis.
 
Update: She has gone to Fa ce book for her nasty.
I wrote, revised, revised, rewrote a response and have decided not to answer immediately. Here is what she wrote and what I am thinking of replying.
I was so disappointed when talking to you on the phone today. Your tone and comments were much much different than when I first reserved the 2 nights at your establishment. I was quite offended today with your attitude. I will not visit nor recommend your B and B to anyone else.
My planned reply:
I am truly sorry you felt offended. That is something we cannot control. We, unfortunately can only try to accommodate our guests. I totally agree with your decision to cancel your reservation as another bed & breakfast may be better suited to your needs for sugar-free, fat-free, gluten-free breakfasts, the last two announced this morning - July 15 but not at the time of the reservation on July 4 when asked about dietary needs. A breakfast for 2 mornings of just poached eggs, juice, and fresh fruit does not meet the standards of a Gillum House Breakfast. Accommodating your request for check-in 3 hours prior to normal check-in and a check-out 3 hours later than normal really was more than we have ever been expected to do. We hope you have a lovely birthday celebration with Phyllis..
I think I would tone it down a bit more. Stating that her needs don't fit your standards makes it sound like you don't give any options, which I'm pretty sure you do. It also makes it sound like there's something wrong with her diet.
If you decide to go with a response, which you should as it now shows on her wall as well as yours, be sure that you use @ her name so your response to her also shows up on her wall as well as yours. If she has her wall as blocked as I have mine, nothing will show, but maybe she doesn't.
I would also think this post might be pretty easy to find given someone on your wall mentions this forum.
 
Update: She has gone to Fa ce book for her nasty.
I wrote, revised, revised, rewrote a response and have decided not to answer immediately. Here is what she wrote and what I am thinking of replying.
I was so disappointed when talking to you on the phone today. Your tone and comments were much much different than when I first reserved the 2 nights at your establishment. I was quite offended today with your attitude. I will not visit nor recommend your B and B to anyone else.
My planned reply:
I am truly sorry you felt offended. That is something we cannot control. We, unfortunately can only try to accommodate our guests. I totally agree with your decision to cancel your reservation as another bed & breakfast may be better suited to your needs for sugar-free, fat-free, gluten-free breakfasts, the last two announced this morning - July 15 but not at the time of the reservation on July 4 when asked about dietary needs. A breakfast for 2 mornings of just poached eggs, juice, and fresh fruit does not meet the standards of a Gillum House Breakfast. Accommodating your request for check-in 3 hours prior to normal check-in and a check-out 3 hours later than normal really was more than we have ever been expected to do. We hope you have a lovely birthday celebration with Phyllis..
I think I would tone it down a bit more. Stating that her needs don't fit your standards makes it sound like you don't give any options, which I'm pretty sure you do. It also makes it sound like there's something wrong with her diet.
If you decide to go with a response, which you should as it now shows on her wall as well as yours, be sure that you use @ her name so your response to her also shows up on her wall as well as yours. If she has her wall as blocked as I have mine, nothing will show, but maybe she doesn't.
I would also think this post might be pretty easy to find given someone on your wall mentions this forum.
.
Which is why I posted for critique.
Frankly, I do not care if it is "found" - I am the only one who runs my business. Referring to feelings, I felt during the phone conversation since the fat-frre was asked for - OK, THEN the GF which was the bridge too far, that the ante would have been upped and upped until the cancellation was because of my attitude.
I am having a very difficult time with this because we usually grab our ankles to accommodate guests. This one just kept pushing the envelope. I know I HAVE to respond but she very cleverly worded her post to NOT say what she asked of me. I am not whining but I refuse to roll over also. Grrrrr. Getting 6 hours extra - almost like getting an extra day at no charge - with the 3 hours early in and 3 hours extra late out was more than enough to me. Truth be told, she only wanted one night and booked the second one because it was the only way I would give the early/late - this was a birthday present for her companion who was listening to her end of the conversation.
 
Update: She has gone to Fa ce book for her nasty.
I wrote, revised, revised, rewrote a response and have decided not to answer immediately. Here is what she wrote and what I am thinking of replying.
I was so disappointed when talking to you on the phone today. Your tone and comments were much much different than when I first reserved the 2 nights at your establishment. I was quite offended today with your attitude. I will not visit nor recommend your B and B to anyone else.
My planned reply:
I am truly sorry you felt offended. That is something we cannot control. We, unfortunately can only try to accommodate our guests. I totally agree with your decision to cancel your reservation as another bed & breakfast may be better suited to your needs for sugar-free, fat-free, gluten-free breakfasts, the last two announced this morning - July 15 but not at the time of the reservation on July 4 when asked about dietary needs. A breakfast for 2 mornings of just poached eggs, juice, and fresh fruit does not meet the standards of a Gillum House Breakfast. Accommodating your request for check-in 3 hours prior to normal check-in and a check-out 3 hours later than normal really was more than we have ever been expected to do. We hope you have a lovely birthday celebration with Phyllis..
I think I would tone it down a bit more. Stating that her needs don't fit your standards makes it sound like you don't give any options, which I'm pretty sure you do. It also makes it sound like there's something wrong with her diet.
If you decide to go with a response, which you should as it now shows on her wall as well as yours, be sure that you use @ her name so your response to her also shows up on her wall as well as yours. If she has her wall as blocked as I have mine, nothing will show, but maybe she doesn't.
I would also think this post might be pretty easy to find given someone on your wall mentions this forum.
.
Which is why I posted for critique.
Frankly, I do not care if it is "found" - I am the only one who runs my business. Referring to feelings, I felt during the phone conversation since the fat-frre was asked for - OK, THEN the GF which was the bridge too far, that the ante would have been upped and upped until the cancellation was because of my attitude.
I am having a very difficult time with this because we usually grab our ankles to accommodate guests. This one just kept pushing the envelope. I know I HAVE to respond but she very cleverly worded her post to NOT say what she asked of me. I am not whining but I refuse to roll over also. Grrrrr. Getting 6 hours extra - almost like getting an extra day at no charge - with the 3 hours early in and 3 hours extra late out was more than enough to me. Truth be told, she only wanted one night and booked the second one because it was the only way I would give the early/late - this was a birthday present for her companion who was listening to her end of the conversation.
.
It is hard when the guest keeps changing the parameters. We've been surprised lately when the diet that was required when the rez was made is no longer an issue on arrival. We now have a line on the check-in form where we have the guest write their restrictions. Almost everyone has written 'none' even tho I have a list of what they said when they booked.
The other option is to delete the post and mark it as spam.
 
I would keep it short and sweet.
I'm so sorry we were not able to meet your expectations of an early check-in, late check-out, fat-free, sugar-free and gluten-free breakfasts. We allowed you to cancel your reservation with no fee so that you would be able to find the best b&b that suits your needs.
Since the post is on FB and not TA, I would just remove her post.
 
I would keep it short and sweet.
I'm so sorry we were not able to meet your expectations of an early check-in, late check-out, fat-free, sugar-free and gluten-free breakfasts. We allowed you to cancel your reservation with no fee so that you would be able to find the best b&b that suits your needs.
Since the post is on FB and not TA, I would just remove her post..
She did a like after she posted it. How do I remove it if I can after a like. Oh, FB says 71 people saw the post.
 
Is this better?
I am sorry if you felt offended, your feelings are yours and I cannot help that. After attempting to provide all of your requests – early check-in/late check-out and then with 4 days notice a breakfast request many inns do not even attempt, we felt there would be no way for us to give you the B & B experience you expected. Therefore we cancelled your reservation with no fee of any kind so you could find another accommodation. A gluten-free request is usually given at the time of the reservation and it was not. Had we been informed at the time of reserving, we would have suggested choosing another accommodation due to the special event we informed you of in our city the weekend you requested.
I looked and do not see how to delete her post.
 
To delete her post, put your arrow on her post and you should see an 'x' on the right corner of the post. Click the 'x' and delete it. It will still show on HER page, but I went to her page and she's not really active, so I wouldn't worry about it at all.
 
Is this better?
I am sorry if you felt offended, your feelings are yours and I cannot help that. After attempting to provide all of your requests – early check-in/late check-out and then with 4 days notice a breakfast request many inns do not even attempt, we felt there would be no way for us to give you the B & B experience you expected. Therefore we cancelled your reservation with no fee of any kind so you could find another accommodation. A gluten-free request is usually given at the time of the reservation and it was not. Had we been informed at the time of reserving, we would have suggested choosing another accommodation due to the special event we informed you of in our city the weekend you requested.
I looked and do not see how to delete her post..
I prefer the first version. This one is a bit wishy-washy, the first one firmly put the blame in her court.
But then over the past few days I've got the feeling I'm a little less tollerant with PITA guests than others in this forum. (yes, I did write to the 7 day cancellation and tell her we wouldn't be accepting any future bookings from her)....
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I would keep it short and sweet.
I'm so sorry we were not able to meet your expectations of an early check-in, late check-out, fat-free, sugar-free and gluten-free breakfasts. We allowed you to cancel your reservation with no fee so that you would be able to find the best b&b that suits your needs.
Since the post is on FB and not TA, I would just remove her post..
I like BD's response. Short, sweet.
 
Is this better?
I am sorry if you felt offended, your feelings are yours and I cannot help that. After attempting to provide all of your requests – early check-in/late check-out and then with 4 days notice a breakfast request many inns do not even attempt, we felt there would be no way for us to give you the B & B experience you expected. Therefore we cancelled your reservation with no fee of any kind so you could find another accommodation. A gluten-free request is usually given at the time of the reservation and it was not. Had we been informed at the time of reserving, we would have suggested choosing another accommodation due to the special event we informed you of in our city the weekend you requested.
I looked and do not see how to delete her post..
Too much. If you want to comment, go with BD's post.
 
Hi.....
We are sorry to read that you feel disappointed. We are a small family owned business and we always try to accomodate our guests in anyway possible. For example, we have served breakfast at 3 am and routinely handle all kinds of dietary restrictions. However, in your exceptional case we believed another accomodation would be better suited to your needs. Reading your comments only confirms our thoughts.
If anyone else reads this and wonders what kind of needs we can't possibly handle, please contact us directly bij phone or email. Or, even better, come and stay with us and judge yourselve....
 
I marked it as spam for you. Go and see if you can still see it, it should be gone. You should be able to "HIDE FROM VIEW" any posts on your page, you have the power!
 
I don't think FB works like the forum - you can delete something on your page even if there are likes or comments. You can't see the delete until you use your mouse to hover over the top right corner of the post or comment.
JB, you marking it as spam didn't make it go away for me. Either that takes a while or each person has to mark it as spam for it to disappear on his/her own page. I think deleting is the only way to get it off the page permanently. I would delete the comment and block her from liking the page again. I think a FB back/forth will not be helpful. Those 79 people may be mostly your page fans, not hers, but it's hard to tell. That's not really very many people in the FBverse and she doesn't seem to be very active, like BD said.
 
Thanks, all of you. I finally, thanks to you, figured out the delete was that entry, not the Gillum House and did delete the post and then blocked her. The passive/aggressives are the hardest to beat because they make YOU look like the problem, no matter which way you twist. I was trying to not be accusatory but show how impossible the demands were. That is really the management response problem for anyone who got a slam on TA - how to show you are the victim, not the writer. Thanks for the advise and the help. I am learning. Experience really IS a great teacher - a rough way to do it but as long as it teaches I guess it is oK.
 
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