FAQ — Bella Vista

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Bloopers

You may ask why we go through such an effort of compiling this detailed Questions and Answers (“Q&A”) list. After all, what could there be so special to this house? You own your own house and know how to use home appliances and electronic equipment and whatever else is in there! Sure, you do -- but read what other renters actually did:
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— Hot tub power tripped: Guest: "After using the hot tub for "a while," it stopped working -- can we have a refund?" After inquiring what really happened we found out that the water had not suddenly turned cold or drained, but that the combined power of the 5500-W heater, the high-speed mode of the circulation pump, and the air bubbler all used at the same time eventually overloaded the circuit.
"But no," the guest admitted, "the water was still hot, but without the jets and the bubbles it is just like a bath tub ... " True, even some ten minutes with all of that power are fine, but eventually the circuit breaker will trip. Follow the instructions. Contact us if something goes wrong. We are at the other end of the phone line to help. (It is this experience that let us to abandon the air-bubbling feature altogether …).

— Cooking with an empty pot: What happens if you place a pot with a bit of water on the range, to steam your vegetables, turn on the heat -- and then "quickly" go outside "just for couple of minutes"? Of course, the water will evaporate, and the bottom of the pot will then get so hot that it melts, and the molten solder will drip onto the stove-top, and a repair of several hundred dollars ensues.
"But no," the guest responsible for this accident (which luckily did not en up with a house fire) insisted, "there was still water in the pot when we came back, and the pot was inadequate to hold boiling water!" We ended up having to replace the cooktop, costing well over $200, still wondering how water could still have been in the pot that got so hot that it melted the soldered bottom … ???

— Purpose of dishwasher: Every guest will probably agree with us that the primary purpose of a dishwasher is sanitation. To this effect, we — and they — rinse the dishes at home before placing them into the dishwasher. This will keep the drains open and the dishwasher functioning well. For some reason, when it comes to a dishwasher in a vacation home, it seems that people have a different understanding … and clearing the drains, and collecting broken glass pieces from the bottom of the dishwasher becomes a necessary nuisance/repair more often than not … it surely is not our preferred past-time when we return to Bella Vista.

— Paper cup in dishwasher: A guest called us to let us know that the dishwasher was no longer draining and left the dishes "ugly." Our repair/handyman found that crumbled remnants of a (Starbucks-type) paper cup had plugged up the drain, which ruined the suction pump ...
Well, a used paper cup belongs in the trash -- not in the dishwasher. It cost us $225 in repair and service charges.

— Use of excessive dishwasher detergent: A guest notified us, "The dishwasher is leaking!" Indeed, it will do that if too much detergent is being used. (The excessive foam will create an over-pressure inside the dishwasher, and foamy water will be pressed past the door seal and drip onto the floor. A teaspoon of detergent is plenty for one load. Less is better!

— Strong hand in the kitchen: Replacing twisted appliance knobs is an annoying, recurring, costly - and sometimes not repairable - nuisance. One thing is for sure, if you cannot easily turn it the same way as you are used to in your home, try the other direction, or try depressing it first, or alike - but don't force it! (This happened not once, not twice, ... but as many as four times just at Bella Vista: twice it was a knob on the JennAir kitchen range, where replacement switches with knobs were expensive and difficult to install ... renter did not own up to the mishap; once a stop on a designer bathroom faucet was forced beyond the braking point, an item so rare that a replacement part could not be located ... renter remembered "nothing" ...; and once a knob on the washing machine did not withstand the brutal force applied to it, which case was so severe that we ended up having to buy a new washer ... Guest: "While we were doing final washing, the knob on the washer snapped off" ... ).

— The Toaster Battle: A toaster is one of the least expensive kitchen appliances. The cost to replace one is somewhere in the noise level, but the hassle related to replacing it is annoying nonetheless. Expensive or cheap, a toaster will last for decades - if treated properly, that is. We typically have to replace them every year or two. Why? It’s that good old fork! I don’t know why people ignore the wooden “tweezers” we provide to remove a toasted something from the depth of that “appliance” - they keep using a fork and a knife and get entangled with the heater wire, which will of course break immediately - and that, of course, is the end of the toaster. We usually buy two or three toasters at a time, but to replace them in the moment when guests notice that previous guests ruined the heating wire is still an annoying nuisance …

— Scratch-resistant frying pans: after going through dozens of frying pans we have tossed away over the years for excessive knife cutting marks, we can categorically state that a knife is no friend of a non-stick frying pan, no matter what the manufacturer promises. A law of physics states that what’s harder will scratch what’s softer. That goes for any non-stick frying pan: a knife is harder than the non-stick surface … why not use the soft spatulas we provide?

— Walking through screen doors: When you are on the deck, at night, it can easily happen that you don't see that the screen door is closed, and you walk back inside right through it ... Of course, that's the end of that screen! "But no, the screen was old and fragile!" or, "it was already broken when we came!"

— Washing & drying laundry takes time! If you start with washing your laundry just an hour before your departure time, of course it won't get done! Renter: "the dryer is no good -- and so we couldn't leave on time!" Or, another guest outright: "It was impossible for us to do the laundry! Yet, even worse, another renter folded the linens when they were still wet ... (We ask guests to only launder what they used from our personal supplies beyond the rental allotment, which is one set of towels per person and the bed linens they found on arrival).

— Common sense! Renter: "The water cooker does not work any more!" "Did you plug it in?" "Oh, I plugged it into another outlet, and there it works! Several outlets are kaput!" "Perhaps you touched and tripped a GFI -- that can happen easily?" "Oh, that's what it was ..." (thus was the summary of multiple e-mail exchanges ...)

— Plugged toilets: I have never understood why people throw items in the toilet of a rental home that they would never ever throw into their own toilet at home.
"But it's not our fault!" we hear.

— Why do we no longer permit children? Frankly, it's because their parents fail to keep them in line. Many of our decor items cannot be repaired. "But it was only one minute of playing with a ball as light as a balloon ..." one renter stated so convincingly that we ended up not even charging them for breaking a priceless heirloom chandelier.

— Eye glasses: If you happen to be among those of us over "fifty-somethings" and forgot to bring your reading glasses, you might not be able to read the numbers on the keyless entry key pad upon your arrival. That can happen! But please, don't blame us for not suggesting to bring your glasses ... !

— Power outage: If your car is parked in the garage and a power outage sets on, the garage door opener won't work, and your car is locked in until the power is back on line ... Please, don't expect us to get a technician out for you ... (Actually, we now have a back-up battery for use during power outages, which, when connected, will open the garage door just fine!).

— Locking yourself out: You shut the door to the hot tub deck behind you, climb into the tub in Adam's and Eve's costume -- and realize that you just locked yourself out... The dear repeat renters who -- just covered with a small towel -- contacted neighbors and ultimately the Fire Department, reacted graciously with humor to this hilarious scene -- after all, they could have blamed us for not providing an emergency telephone on the hot tub deck ...
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All of these bloopers, some multiple times, and many more, did actually happen. We all make mistakes. That's human. It's understandable. But what is a lot harder to understand is when a person committing such bloopers would not live up to their mistakes, won't tell us and leave the problem for the housekeepers or next renters to discover, or blame us or the materials or our facilities that they happened, in hope or expectation to get the full security deposit returned. Sadly, in most cases they succeeded and did get a full refund.
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While there is perhaps still an element of humor in the above occurrences, we did not find any humor in the ones below:

— Not recognizing the credit card charge on a monthly statement is something that occasionally happens to all of us. Usually a minute of reflection or a friendly phone call to the number given on the statement will startle our memory. After all, the vast majority of such unrecognized charges turns out to be legitimate. But one guest of Bella Vista immediately assumed malice and cried foul with PayPal for "false charges" and also canceled that charge with her credit card company. It took just one day for PayPal to determine that the charge was legitimate, but their hands were tied until finally, 8 (eight !!!) months and over 20 e-mail exchanges later the renter could finally be motivated to get back to American Express to unfreeze the legitimate charge ...

Thank you for your understanding! We take the mere fact that you have read this page as an indication that you will treat our home with care, and we will be happy to accommodate your repeat patronage. To that effect, we will give you an extra five percent discount on your repeat rental fee when you request it and cite this "bloopers" page offer.

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Bloopers

FAQ — Bella Vista