All Forum Posts by: Collin Hays

My manager awakens me this a.m. with an "extreme emergency."  It seems that a guest was, for some unknown reason, attempting to move a slate pool table.  In the process of doing so, the pool table supposedly fell on one of the guest's fingers, it severed the finger, and they were off to the hospital.  How horrific.  My manager was in a panic.  

I said "let's talk to the guest a bit more and go and actually survey the scene before we go drawing any conclusions."  I talked to the guest, trying to get more info. on what happened, and I couldn't get her nailed down as to whether a portion of the finger had actually been severed.  "just the tip, less than an inch.  they will probably just give her a tetanus shot."  

Hmm.  Is that what they do when you sever a limb?  "My manager is going by the cabin...is the pool table still broken?"  "No", she replies, "they set it back up."   Hmmm.  So we have a medical emergency with a severed limb, and folks are worried about setting the pool table back up?  

She told me "the kids are afraid to go down into the game room because of the pool table."  I told her "I'll get someone by to check on the pool table and fix it if necessary." 

This all sounds incredibly bizarre, with a lot of missing information.

I am honest and try to talk people out of being my client.  Local, family-run business that isn't trying to squeeze every dime from our guests and clients.  We give our clients a free 6 month test drive just to figure out if they like us.  ;)

Haha!  This CAN happen!  We have a couple of very slow months in the Smokies - Jan and Feb - and one of our housekeepers decided to move into one of our cabins for a few days with her family!  But what do you know, we had a booking for that cabin and the guests showed up with our housekeeper and her family there!  We called the police and they were all arrested.  Hated to do that, but you can't mess around with this nonsense.  

One more vendor to give your hard-earned money to!

 We are in an unprecedented, perfect storm for both price appreciation and rental income in the Smokies.  There is no way it can reasonably continue at this pace, but we will enjoy it while it lasts!

Thank you!  Renting is a lot less hassle than owning for sure!   ;)

 So if an amenity you offer - hot tub, pool, pool table, cable tv, etc, is out of commission, you offer a refund?  That might add up to a lot of refunds!  We will often offer some consideration, but certainly not a refund.  Stuff just happens.  My homeowners are not insurers.

Dear Sir.  "Our governor Cuomo has forbid us to travel to TN next week due to COVID.  Can we get a refund?"

Answer:  "Not only no, but hell no.  Number one, my homeowners are not going to be held financially liable for your governor's whims and decrees.  Take the matter up with him.  Number two, COVID has been a known threat now for many months.  You knew the risks when you made the reservation.  Number three, if you were concerned about the risks, you could have purchased trip cancellation insurance from any of about 6 insurers by doing a simple google search.

So no, we aren't giving you a refund."  

Big banks aren't much into local lending, unless you want to buy a car or need a vacation loan.  Going to Wells Fargo for an investment loan is like going to Dollar General to buy your kids' Christmas presents - not much to offer, it's not what they do.

I wouldn't use a property manager for that sort of thing.  I am a PM and I don't know squat about furnishings and layouts.  Find a trusty decorator there locally that you can slip $200 to give you some ideas.