Our terrible experience with Thassos Holiday Rentals
Ebru
Member Posts: 1
We have stayed in a rental house that we have found in Thassos Holiday Rentals website. The place was in Skala Potamia. It is called Paschalina maisonette. We have stayed there between the dates of 9-16 of August 2019 in Thasos. We were two families with children. We have contacted with Mrs.Arabella Rodriques.
Unfortunately the condition of the house was very poor. The beds were old, broken and very uncomfortable. Couches were also broken and it was very uncomfortable and let alone sleeping it was not comfortable even to sit on them. The house was dusty so we had cleaned it and washed the floor carpets. The kitchenware were also old and broken and in a unhealty condition. I have shown the condition of the pan and the single kitchen knife to the host and he has aggreed with me that they need to be trown to the trash and promised to send new ones right away but it took me two more days and 2 phone calls to get only the new cooking pan but never got a kitchen knife.
The agent of Mrs. Arabella, Mr. Jason who supposely should come and get us from the port of Thassos, kept us waiting for hours on the first day. We begin calling him starting 14:30 from the boat, he said he was busy with other customers so we went for a lunch in the port of Thassos and called him again 15:01 when he said again he was busy and cannot meet with us in the Harbour and we should go to Korina Hotel. This was our first time in this island and we did not know the places and the roads but he refused to give us the directions or send us a text about the meeting place name. When we finally find this hotel he told us to go somewhere else ( a small cafe shop on a side road) and wait more. It took us four more phone calls to finally meet with him at 16:55. Thus we could not enter the house until 17:00-17:30.
Because of family emergency we had to leave a day earlier. My husbands father was hospitalized in Turkey so we had to go back. We have called Mr. Jason yesterday and told him the situation and asked him if it is OK for him to come at 8:00 next morning and he said yes. He came 7:55 and asked us when we will be ready and we told him that we will be ready in 5 minutes. We got ready and waited for him starting from 8:00 and finally called him at 8:10. He came an told us to empty the fridge and trow away all the food, so we did. He was extremely rude and told us that he has another guest waiting at 8:00 for him. But he suppose to meet with us at that time spot. So I told him that he kept us waiting for hours when we arrived so they can wait for 10 minutes. He yelled at me and told me that it is not the same thing. He told me that It was my mistake for keeping him late because I forgot to empty the trashes as it was written in the contract, for which I have apologized. He furiously took away after yelling. Finally he came back 8:16 and took the keys so that we could leave.
Since we were in a hurry to get back home to our father in hospital, we were not very happy and may be a few minutes late and made some mistakes but it doesn't give him the right to insult us.
We were very disappointed with the services and will not stay again in any of their facilities again.
Unfortunately the condition of the house was very poor. The beds were old, broken and very uncomfortable. Couches were also broken and it was very uncomfortable and let alone sleeping it was not comfortable even to sit on them. The house was dusty so we had cleaned it and washed the floor carpets. The kitchenware were also old and broken and in a unhealty condition. I have shown the condition of the pan and the single kitchen knife to the host and he has aggreed with me that they need to be trown to the trash and promised to send new ones right away but it took me two more days and 2 phone calls to get only the new cooking pan but never got a kitchen knife.
The agent of Mrs. Arabella, Mr. Jason who supposely should come and get us from the port of Thassos, kept us waiting for hours on the first day. We begin calling him starting 14:30 from the boat, he said he was busy with other customers so we went for a lunch in the port of Thassos and called him again 15:01 when he said again he was busy and cannot meet with us in the Harbour and we should go to Korina Hotel. This was our first time in this island and we did not know the places and the roads but he refused to give us the directions or send us a text about the meeting place name. When we finally find this hotel he told us to go somewhere else ( a small cafe shop on a side road) and wait more. It took us four more phone calls to finally meet with him at 16:55. Thus we could not enter the house until 17:00-17:30.
Because of family emergency we had to leave a day earlier. My husbands father was hospitalized in Turkey so we had to go back. We have called Mr. Jason yesterday and told him the situation and asked him if it is OK for him to come at 8:00 next morning and he said yes. He came 7:55 and asked us when we will be ready and we told him that we will be ready in 5 minutes. We got ready and waited for him starting from 8:00 and finally called him at 8:10. He came an told us to empty the fridge and trow away all the food, so we did. He was extremely rude and told us that he has another guest waiting at 8:00 for him. But he suppose to meet with us at that time spot. So I told him that he kept us waiting for hours when we arrived so they can wait for 10 minutes. He yelled at me and told me that it is not the same thing. He told me that It was my mistake for keeping him late because I forgot to empty the trashes as it was written in the contract, for which I have apologized. He furiously took away after yelling. Finally he came back 8:16 and took the keys so that we could leave.
Since we were in a hurry to get back home to our father in hospital, we were not very happy and may be a few minutes late and made some mistakes but it doesn't give him the right to insult us.
We were very disappointed with the services and will not stay again in any of their facilities again.
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Comments
First and foremost, I would like to apologise for the delay of my reply. I needed to speak personally with everybody you mentioned above, in order to understand what happened and where things possibly went wrong. This is the busiest time of year for us so I really appreciate your patience and understanding.
Please allow me to respond to each of your points:
During the reservation process, we provided you with very clear information about our check-in/check-out procedures.
We asked you to phone us before your ferry's departure from Keramoti, for a very important reason: this gives the owners and representatives more than an hour's time window to organise the check-in process for you. You arrived during the busiest week of the summer and, unfortunately, didn't phone us when you bought your ferry tickets as we instructed. You waited until you arrived to Thassos and this did not afford us the time needed to plan for your arrival. In the meantime, other guests who did follow the check-in procedures were already being served or scheduled to be served. This is why your check-in experience took longer than usual.
The check-in instructions you received clearly explain that upon your arrival you would be directed to a meeting point near the house. It does not say anywhere that you will be picked up from the ferry port. We're sorry if you had this expectation.
We appreciate the importance of a clean and functional holiday home and that's exactly what we strive to provide every guest. If you had informed us of any dissatisfaction with any aspect of the house, I promise you everything would have been sorted a.s.a.p. We provided you with contact information (phone number and email) and encouraged you to contact us for any issues, big or small, during your stay.
Your comments above about broken furniture, dust, and dirty carpets comes as a surprise to us because you did not mention any of these things at any point during your stay. In light of your comments, please note we went to inspect the furniture and found there was nothing broken.
The owner as well as the cleaner were both deeply saddened by the comments you wrote. Nevertheless, as I mentioned above, if you had only let us know during your stay, the cleaner would have come straight back to take care of any issues you found.
In regards to the kitchenware, you did contact us about this during your stay and we agreed straight away to replace the frying pan and small knife. We delivered 2 new frying pans to the house the very next day (not after two days, as you wrote). Your second phone call occurred while you were still out and away from the house. That's when I kindly informed you that the new pans were already delivered to the house (you hadn't seen them yet because you hadn't returned from the beach).
I regrettably admit your request for a new small knife went unfulfilled due to a miscommunication on my part. For that I sincerely apologise and I hope that you were able to make use of the other knives in the kitchen. Since your departure, the small knife has been replaced.
In the same manner by which arrivals are organised, departures are also planned ahead. The instructions we sent you were clear, and you were also reminded of the check-out procedures during your check-in.
In light of your family emergency, we did everything we could to fulfil your request of an early departure despite already having other departures planned for the same time that morning. You requested to check out at 8am and when Jason arrived, you weren't ready and the children were still sleeping. He left you in peace to prepare for your departure and when he came back, Jason found that you hadn't completed the checkout procedure. He couldn't wait for you to complete it because he needed to checkout other guests nearby who were already prepared and ready to depart.
We've taken your complaint to Jason and he regrets how the situation unfolded, but he hopes you will accept his apology because in hindsight, he realises he was under extraordinary pressure that morning but should have been more mindful of your situation. He should have handled the communication with you more sensitively in light of your family tragedy.
We're truly sorry that your check-in and check-out experiences didn't go as you expected but we really hope you enjoyed your holidays on Thassos. Hopefully you will return to our beautiful island once again and we wish you a better experience next time.
We also wish the very best for your father.
Thank you for coming on and giving your side of the story. So you did not offer to pick up the clients from the ferry port at all.
Thank you for taking the time to read our side of the story. No, we didn't.
So who is Jason and did he offer to pick them up?
It would appear some arrangement was made to take them back (assume to the ferry port) but I could understand this is made under the clients circumstances.
If no lift offered I an struggling to understand why they would need to ring you from Keramoti other than somebody waiting with a key on arrival.
However, returning home if offered a lift in such circumstances I would have been ready a 7:30am for a lift back.
I assume the client was not prepared to use a taxi either way. I am guessing a bus was used for the suggested Hotel Korina (from logic) as i believe there is a bus stop there. If a taxi was used it would have taken them straight to your apartments.
Perhaps Ebru could explain
Jason helps rental owners with the checkin and checkout procedures. He did not offer to pick them up from the ferry port. Ebru arrived by car from Turkey so they didn't need the bus or taxi.
Guests are instructed to ring Jason from Keramoti because the houses are in different locations, not in one complex with one reception area, so time is a really important factor when needing to meet guests for check-in procedures... which include taking them to the house, showing them around and giving them the keys, signing the contract, giving them information, answering their questions, etc. Each arrival requires a time slot in order to effectively complete the checkin procedures and this is why we ask guests to call ahead of time. The vast majority of guests follow the checkin procedures and have a pleasant checkin experience. Unfortunately, when procedures aren't followed it results in inconveniences for both sides.
If they had cars it is not too difficult to make ones way to Skala Potamia. The nightmare for me would be to be stranded as a foot passenger waiting for a pick up for 2.5 hours which would not have been the case here.
Obviously I can't comment on the house but quite often such a bad start and ending triggers off throwing all the toys out of the pram
Arabelle was also the contact for one of those clients perhaps she needs to answer the thread on there.