Iloveparisapartments.com

Here is our side of the story, which deals with the issues that Bob chose not to address in his critique. First of all, until now, we considered Bob to be one of our good repeat tenants, as he has stayed with us 3 times over the past few years, the first two times in other flat and this last time in an apartment located in a centuries old central Paris building where exterior renovation work has been going on sporadically for the past 8 or 9 years. Alas, it was unfortunate that the re-plastering work in the stairwell resumed just before Bob arrived and the work was going on full steam when he entered the building. Whatever our greeter may have told Bob to explain the situation, we did not hear a word from Bob during the 4 and half days and 5 nights that he spent in the flat (his stay included 2 weekend days with no work going on). Bob chose to notify us of his discontent only upon returning home from his trip to Paris. We endeavor to deal with all issues that arise with our properties as promptly as possible and in Bob's particular case, we could have either sent a maid over to clean up the dust on a daily basis or we simply could have switched him to another flat; but since we didn't know that he was unhappy, it is just not fair to expect us to comply with his request to reimburse him 50% of the cost of his stay. Furthermore, his grumpy, demanding attitude made it even more of a stretch, as we believe that being polite and courteous is the best way to get good results from others.

As a 10 year old company, we at ILoveParisApartments.com have nurtured our repeat tenants over the years and we do our best to keep guests happy, particularly when they are nice and communicative with us. If I were able to stay in a fine hotel for 5 nights and then return home and lodge a complaint, after the fact, demanding that I be reimbursed for an issue that I never told the hotel management about during my stay, most likely any hotel manager would refuse.

I've been doing furnished rentals for the past 30 years, so I have seen pretty much everything that can happen in this business. Guests who think that they can reduce the cost of their vacations by lodging unfair complaints after their departure and then threatening to publicize negative reviews are not the kind of clients that we seek out. Fortunately, we have a significant following of regular, loyal guests who are very happy with our company, and those are the people that we are keen on keeping within our fold. It is probably best that Bob go elsewhere the next time he comes to Paris; although if he has a change of heart, we will, in fact, still honor our offer of a 15% price reduction for any future stay in any one of our properties...and he would even get a complimentary bottle of bubbly to boot!

Thanks for post.. and for reply.. and I think that the reply addresses some good points.. why didn't you complain at time of stay. Also.. frankly.. I think you were being a bit nit picky.. walk around the dust.. I don't see how it was dangerous.. all the regular tenants in the building suffered same "danger".

For Iloveparis,, I do have a question.. why did the "greeter" not deal with the issue.. it would make sense to me that they were acting as company representatives.. and they did not address the issue satisfactorily.. nor did they pass on the complaint to your management.. So

I think both parties were responsible to some degree.

I do not think you were entitled to a refund.

I do not think company representative handled it well either.

Here is my final post on this matter and the bottom line issues everyone should consider.
1. The property was not in livable condition and the company should have known this before we arrived.
2. We did not elect to complain because we didn't want to go through the bother of moving to a new location. Additionally, the property representative did not suggest this option, only saying that this was "normal". If tge company had contacted us prior to arriving and suggested switching, we would have gladly diverted our taxi to that location.
3. When confronted with the problem, the company took to blaming us rather than offering some recourse. This speaks to the culture of the company and what might happen to you if a problem occurs.
4. I do not recommend that you do business with this company. There are many other companies who provide Paris apartments.

answer 2 makes zero sense if answer 1 is true.

If answer 1 is true then how could you have lived there for 5 nights?

It does not compute.

I would agree, Nigel.

1. We did not elect to complain because we didn't want to go through the bother of moving to a new location. Additionally, the property representative did not suggest this option, only saying that this was "normal".

And therein lies the problem. If you didn't make the complaint upon arrival - or request a move - then the greeter didn't know that dealing with the construction was unacceptable, in your mind. And if you didn't want to move anyway, then what else were they supposed to do? It's sort of like cleaning your plate at a restaurant and THEN demanding to be comped because the meal was lousy? Complaints after the fact don't allow a business the opportunity to make things right at the time a problem occurs.

We do not know exactly “all” that was said between the OP and the company representative/greeter, and what was said between the two of them makes a HUGE difference in this story. Asides from that though, I agree with both Nigel and Kathy. If the place was not “livable” the there is no possible way for you to have lived there (let alone for five nights). This is the definition of not livable. But this part here is the most interesting:

We did not elect to complain because we didn't want to go through the bother of moving to a new location. Additionally, the property representative did not suggest this option, only saying that this was "normal".

You’re implying that if you had complained, the company would have moved you to another location and you didn’t want to bother moving. But if the first location was “not livable”, then why wouldn’t you want to move? So maybe the first location wasn’t unlivable after all? But regardless, you could have still complained and should have complained, by the mere fact that you did not like the first location.

The same thing has happened to me on occasion in hotel rooms, where I was not totally happy, but did not want to go through the pain of moving. But that means I am already settled into the room before I found the problem (tv not working, AC on the blink, etc.) However, if I was someplace for 5 nights and it was unlivable I would most certainly have requested someplace else.
I would think you would also see that upon arrival. If it was that bad I would have not even checked in. So I do feel it is unfair to stay the whole time, get home and then ask for a huge refund.

Bbpowell, when you go on a public forum and post a huge rant then get huffy and post " this is my final post" because you do not want to anwer or explain anything about your complaint , i automatically dicount your complaint .

So yeah, it seems a few of us have asked questions you dont care to address.

Remember we have nothing to gain or lose , we do not suffer or benefit from how this company does. We are not emotionally involved, but you are because you feel betrayed , ripped off or spiteful.

It was dangerous and not livable, but you endangered your families life by staying there anyway because you did not want to move? Do I have this right? Either your priorities are a little out of whack or some "hysteria' to get a freebie is occuring. Let's hope it's the latter! LOL!

And ANYONE can tell you that the time to deal with an issue is when it's happening. Personally this sounds like an attempt to whine to see if maybe you can get a free stay that was not as bad as you know want to make it since you stayed in this "dangerous" place with no reports of injury or harm :)

And now that everyone isn't going "oh you are right" you are pitching a fit and leaving? Do I have that right too?