The Wet Head is Dead

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Morticia

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Well, not here it isn't. Housekeeper found the pillows soaking wet in one room today. Pretty obvious that the guests took showers and then laid down again. Ugh. Pillows in the dryer now, spare pillows on the bed. I guess I'm surprised I haven't found this more often.
 
Didn't they even have the courtesy to put a towel on it first. I do that at home but the towel prevents the pillow from getting wet.
 
Be glad it's only water. I had a dude here several years ago who used some greasy stuff which ruined a whole set of sheets - pillowcases, top sheet and bottom sheet. I think maybe it wasn't just on his head.
 
Didn't they even have the courtesy to put a towel on it first. I do that at home but the towel prevents the pillow from getting wet..
Doesn't look like it...there were 2 nice, wet half moons on the pillows.
 
Now there's a thought. Maybe it's those infamous buttprints that mysteriously showed up on someone's mirror not long ago.
confused_smile.gif
 
I've never had buttprints show up here but now that I think of it they would be more Full Moon than Half Moon.
 
Be glad it's only water. I had a dude here several years ago who used some greasy stuff which ruined a whole set of sheets - pillowcases, top sheet and bottom sheet. I think maybe it wasn't just on his head..
OMG!
 
That s**ks. One more step in getting that room done.
I found a vendor at the PAII conference this year that had pillows that could be washed hundreds of ties and hold there own. So far, so good. So much better than tossing them. I am a pillow freak. It better be:
huggable
washable
and pooffy
I'll look up this vendor for you. The pillows are awesome.
 
Didn't they even have the courtesy to put a towel on it first. I do that at home but the towel prevents the pillow from getting wet..
SweetiePie said:
Didn't they even have the courtesy to put a towel on it first. I do that at home but the towel prevents the pillow from getting wet.
Yeah, but your an innkeeper who cleans up after others for a living. You can relate and integrate your daily experiences into your life.
I really love the folks who give each other nice oily massages in our beds and leave what we call the "Shroud of Love".
This kind of stuff all goes into that big Catch-22 I referred to the other day. They choose us because they see "high thread count or fine linens" in our advertising and then make damn sure we regret offering them.
To protect the innocent colleague who sent a relative, I'll go light on the details but our worst ever uhhh... DNA samples case from doing the deed what must have been half a dozen times came from someone actually working at a B&B cleaning rooms.
I got tired just standing there with my rubber gloves on trying to imagine the stamina two people must have to make such a mess.
I think your thread for that one was Uewww! Gross!
 
Be glad it's only water. I had a dude here several years ago who used some greasy stuff which ruined a whole set of sheets - pillowcases, top sheet and bottom sheet. I think maybe it wasn't just on his head..
muirford said:
Be glad it's only water. I had a dude here several years ago who used some greasy stuff which ruined a whole set of sheets - pillowcases, top sheet and bottom sheet. I think maybe it wasn't just on his head.
We're lucky that we haven't had this massive of a problem. We've had some minor stuff from medications or lotions on sheets and towels that we've been able to get out.
Have any of you ever attempted to charge the guest for damages? I know most of us have a clause in our policies about this AND we've also discussed that it's sometimes difficult to recover losses.
p.s. The absolute best thing for removing oily stains is GoJo. It's the hand cleaner that mechanics use. It will remove oils, makeup etc.
If a stain lingers, we spritz it with Oxyclean.
 
Be glad it's only water. I had a dude here several years ago who used some greasy stuff which ruined a whole set of sheets - pillowcases, top sheet and bottom sheet. I think maybe it wasn't just on his head..
muirford said:
Be glad it's only water. I had a dude here several years ago who used some greasy stuff which ruined a whole set of sheets - pillowcases, top sheet and bottom sheet. I think maybe it wasn't just on his head.
We're lucky that we haven't had this massive of a problem. We've had some minor stuff from medications or lotions on sheets and towels that we've been able to get out.
Have any of you ever attempted to charge the guest for damages? I know most of us have a clause in our policies about this AND we've also discussed that it's sometimes difficult to recover losses.
p.s. The absolute best thing for removing oily stains is GoJo. It's the hand cleaner that mechanics use. It will remove oils, makeup etc.
If a stain lingers, we spritz it with Oxyclean.
.
Generally we don't charge; we just chalk it up to the cost of doing business. Early on in my innkeeping career I charged a small fee because someone got red wine or blood everywhere - shower curtains, quilts, etc. The charge went through and I never heard anything more about it. I recently lost a washcloth and towel of my dwindling supply of colored towels - we're down to using them in only one room - to the peroxide stuff that Tim mentioned. Although I enjoy colored towels, that phenomonen which started about five years ago has driven me to only use white and off-white towels now.
 
I have guests who must not be able to read English. Albeit it is their mother language.
SIGN RIGHT ON THE DOOR "Please keep Door Closed" and they leave it ajar each and every time. I am getting ready to stick it with a tack to the one guys forehead.
They stay they pay (and you get charge intl fees on their cc) they go away!!
 
Be glad it's only water. I had a dude here several years ago who used some greasy stuff which ruined a whole set of sheets - pillowcases, top sheet and bottom sheet. I think maybe it wasn't just on his head..
muirford said:
Be glad it's only water. I had a dude here several years ago who used some greasy stuff which ruined a whole set of sheets - pillowcases, top sheet and bottom sheet. I think maybe it wasn't just on his head.
We're lucky that we haven't had this massive of a problem. We've had some minor stuff from medications or lotions on sheets and towels that we've been able to get out.
Have any of you ever attempted to charge the guest for damages? I know most of us have a clause in our policies about this AND we've also discussed that it's sometimes difficult to recover losses.
p.s. The absolute best thing for removing oily stains is GoJo. It's the hand cleaner that mechanics use. It will remove oils, makeup etc.
If a stain lingers, we spritz it with Oxyclean.
.
Accidental damages, stuff that occurs due to body care product choices by guests are really tough to add charges for and NOT get a disgruntled guest in the process.
If you feel that damage is non-accidental and want to charge them extra, get in the room ASAP and take photos with your digital camera. Document everything you can, have a copy of your damages policy that should be available to all guests and you'll usually never have the CC processor overturn the charge.
We do have a non-accidental or malicious damages policy and have had to enforce it a few times, but I'm talking about maybe three or four times out of over 1,200 sets of guests in four years.
I complain a lot but when one actually counts up the number of really bad events versuses the total number of guests we've had its pretty low.
One was pretty hilarious though. The sheets were shredded in very obvious five fingered stripes like a cat would do and you could see the red fingernail polish at the begining of the shreds. That is one helluva good grip! LOL
What was funniest was the fact they never said a word, never thought that would be untoward behavior, checked out and thanked us for a wonderful time.
A really malicious one was the self-proclaimed geography major and his girlfriend who despite calling here at noon on their arrival day for directions, having a cellphone, a Rand-McNally atlas and a GPS unti in their car, took the ONE wrong turn on the High Road from Taos I warned them not to take and ended up adding two hours to their drive.
Arrived incensed, argumentative and hostile. It was our first few months of being open and in hindsight, we should have refused them and been done with it. By being so passive, we probably turned off the other guests, who we now have learned are far more valuable than the hurt feelings of some jerk you rescind your offer of lodging to.
They were weird, purposely late for breakfast each morning because we could hear them chatting it up loudly in their room while we served the others, rude to us and the other guests and then on the last morning they were sitting there at the crack of 8:00 for breakfast and so insincerely friendly we knew someting was up.
Each of them kept going back in the room and we just didn't notice they had their full coffee cups with them each time. So they finish breakfast and get out of dodge like the sheriff is chasing them and I go open the door to the room.
The room they stayed in is very light and pretty in its color scheme and linens. They had each dumped several cups of coffee on the bed and its cream colored down comforter, then took the little fireplace shovel and threw scoops of ashes around the room.
Can you imagine if even one ember had still hot?
After getting the advice of well respected colleagues, I called them on their cellphone and they actually answered. I played dumb as instructed and asked if the plumbing or fire sprinkler had leaked on the bed or something.
They were totally indignant and remarkably truthful about it. They claimed we didn't treat them as well as we did all the other guests, our directions sucked and we deserved a trashed room.
Oh, and they made sure we knew that they weren't going to come back with the young woman's three year old for a return visit. We still haven't recovered from that revelation. LOL
For really oily stuff we've found Citru-Solv works really well, but one must be careful on certain fabrics with it. Its pretty hot stuff if not diluted.
 
I have guests who must not be able to read English. Albeit it is their mother language.
SIGN RIGHT ON THE DOOR "Please keep Door Closed" and they leave it ajar each and every time. I am getting ready to stick it with a tack to the one guys forehead.
They stay they pay (and you get charge intl fees on their cc) they go away!!.
What is it about people that they can't pull a door closed? I wonder that on a nearly daily basis. Am constantly going out to push the front door shut.
 
I have guests who must not be able to read English. Albeit it is their mother language.
SIGN RIGHT ON THE DOOR "Please keep Door Closed" and they leave it ajar each and every time. I am getting ready to stick it with a tack to the one guys forehead.
They stay they pay (and you get charge intl fees on their cc) they go away!!.
What is it about people that they can't pull a door closed? I wonder that on a nearly daily basis. Am constantly going out to push the front door shut.
.
Little Blue said:
What is it about people that they can't pull a door closed? I wonder that on a nearly daily basis. Am constantly going out to push the front door shut.
GRRRR!

Here is another irritation - she hands me her overseas amex. She tells me at another BnB it said expired and declined it, but it worked at a couple places. I look at the date: 03/10 so I give it a swipe. EXPIRED DECLINED.
He walks in and says "Here try mine" I say "Is it the same card?" "Yes, but my expiration date is different."
me "Is it the same card number?"
She "Yes, we have a joint account."
OH BROTHER!
I tell them, "If you have diff expiration dates, then the latest one is the current active card. The card # still works, but the expiration date AND v code will be different"
She argues.
Whatever.
I swipe his card and it works, what a surprise.
They are gone now...on to torment one of you...
 
It's one thing to be trashed verbally by vindictive guests for a problem they themselves created; it's a different story to be trashed literally. Tim, your guests make mine look good. Isn't it amazing how no one seems to be able to take responsibility for their own behavior anymore?
 
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