Monday, April 25, 2022

People are Crazy, Redux

 Morning All! Hope y'all had a restful weekend.  Unfortunately, Mrs. J and I were in sad shape this past week with whatever it was that MBD and Pastor Bob had Easter weekend.  I started feeling better on Saturday, Mrs. J is still suffering as I write this.  Hopefully she'll feel better soon.

The end of February, I posted a story about a puzzlement involving our guest houses.  Now, by and far, we've had good luck with our guests.  I enjoy going to meet them on arrival as it's nice to have someone new to talk to.  I mean, after nearly 40 years, Mrs. J has heard all my "War Stories".  Indeed, she can tell them better than I can.  So, meeting new people brightens my day.


Sometimes, though, meeting new people...Well...

It's mid-week, Holy Week, and Mrs. J tells me we've had a cancellation for Casseta Al Mare (the one on the right above).  No big deal, happens quite frequently,  situations change, life goes on.  A couple of hours later, she tells me it's been reserved again, by a foursome.  This whole iteration is not unusual either.  We are ranked high on AirBnB's recommendations for this area.

So, it's now Friday after Lunch, I notice a car parked down there and make a note to go down and say hello.  But by the time I get free, the car has departed.  Important shopping mission downtown no doubt.  Meanwhile the guests for the other cabin, Casseta Toscano, arrive.  It's a Mom and her two daughters.  They're celebrating her birthday.  So, we go down and say hello and bring a small cake.  Nice people with a nice friendly dog.  The vibes are good.

A bit later, we notice two cars at Al Mare. Ok, all present and accounted for.  Shortly thereafter, we get a call saying the Casseta is locked and they can't get in.  It's a puzzlement, so I grab a spare key and drive down to meet them.

At this point, I'm thinking they inadvertently locked the door when the first folks went into town.  Oh, No, it's MUCH worse than that.  I unlock the door and they enter, the first thing they see is someone's bags.  They're concerned.  I'm confused, hadn't they been here earlier?

No, juvat, they hadn't.  I said I'd be right back as I needed Mrs. J's help in straightening this out.  On the way back to the house, I call her and explain what's going on.  She's on the phone with AirBnB when I get there.  The folks that are currently there are the correct people as the prior reservation had been cancelled.  

Unfortunately, the reason the reservation had been cancelled was the final payment hadn't been made.  It took a bit of digging to figure out how all that had happened, but while we were trying to figure it out, our foursome had gone online and reserved another place.  I came back down to explain it to them,  They told me they had a function to go to that evening and needed to get ready.  

I couldn't blame them and apologized for the mix up.  The Dad was ex-Navy and understood the concept of "Semper Gumby", so we were good as far as they were concerned.  However, we are not good with the guy staying not having paid.  Mrs. J is pretty adamant about that.  Turns out the reservation was made by the guy's brother.  Mrs. J contacts him through AirBnB and explains what's going on.  He said, that he made the reservation in his brother's name.  OK, that makes sense.  However, when he tried to make the final payment, he couldn't as his credit card didn't match the name on the reservation so wouldn't be accepted and when the final payment date passed, the reservation was cancelled.  He didn't inform his brother of this.  His brother arrived first, dropped off his bags, grabbed the keys and went about his business.

After quite a bit of back and forth between Mrs. J, AirBnB, the Brother and the Guest. the Guest finally ponied up the final payment.  He checked out Easter Sunday and left.  Locking the door behind him.

Meanwhile, it's Saturday, the Ladies in Casseta Toscano are sitting out on the porch enjoying a bit of fresh air.  My nearest neighbor has his extended family over to celebrate Easter.  He's got about a half dozen Grandchildren in the 6-12 age range.  His ranch is about a hundred acres with a fair sized herd of cattle on it.  He's also got a small draw on it where he sets up targets.  He's teaching the grand kids how to shoot and how to shoot safely.

As always, the first round causes me to jump, then I realize what's going on and settle in.  Our Ladies?  Not so much.  Shortly thereafter, Mrs. J's phone rings.  The daughter's are asking if we can tell them to stop shooting, it's distressing their dog.  Now, Mrs. J is a very diplomatic woman.  She explains that they are not on our property, that it is not against the law to shoot on their own property, that he is teaching his grandchildren about gun safety and that we are not going to jeopardize our relationship with him by asking him to stop.

She says it won't go on very long and suggests a wonderful nature trail in the city park for their dog to visit in the interim.  Later, that evening I'm returning from town and pull on to our property.  I notice the Mom and the dog are out for a walk.  I stop and talk to her.  I apologize for not being able to do much about the noise.  She said she understood and would explain it to her daughters, but didn't expect much.  Ahh Well!

I like this song and, while I've embedded it before, I think it apropos.  Enjoy!




God is Great, Beer is Good, People are Crazy.


Indeed!

38 comments:

  1. One good thing about being self-employed is that you get to direct Corporate Policy eh? No way for those Ladies to know about your neighbor and his range but that sound of gunfire......freedom and IMHO it beats the sound of barking dogs. Yah Billy nailed it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nylon,
      Me? Direct Corporate Policy? YGBSM. I'm the low man on the corporate totem pole. Mrs. J is the driving force. I just reply with a "Yes, Dear!"
      There are 4 families with in about a mile of me. We all get along fairly well and we have ridden to each other's rescue several times over the years. No way am I going to jeopardize that.

      Delete
  2. Sounds like it went as good as it could have, Juvat. Understanding people always help.

    Odd glitch in the Air BNB software.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. THB,
      Yeah my thoughts exactly. Cancelled is one thing, plans change I get that. Cancelled due to failure to pay is another. We'd have been a bit more alert about that one. We did make that comment to AirBnB, see if that makes a difference.

      Delete
  3. Some people and guns. Several years ago we had my Great Niece and a few of her friends at my Cousin's place. Across the back of his property is an old railroad embankment that makes a perfect backstop for shooting. We're teaching the kids how to shoot .22's. A car pulled up the driveway and then turned around and went back down. We didn't think anything of it until a half hour later a State Police car comes up the drive. The Officer gets out and says that they had a report of young kids with guns. He looks around, sees what we are doing and says "Teaching them to shoot?" I told him that we were and he says that there's no problem. He's just getting ready to leave when my Cousin comes out. The Officer takes one look, comes to attention and salutes. "I didn't know this was your place Sir." My Cousin is a retired State Police Lieutenant. He asks what is going on and the Officer told him that a couple heard shooting, saw kids with guns and called the State Police. They said nothing about there being adults present. They were waiting at the end of the drive. My Cousin says that he's going to ride down to the end of the drive with him. When they got there the Officer was asked if he was arresting my Cousin. Apparently they thought that it was a crime to teach children how to shoot. My Cousin had them charged with trespassing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JimC,
      Some people.....Fortunately, all things worked out. And I'm glad I had extra keys.;-)

      Delete
    2. Wait... The idiots came onto not-their-property to complain about what was going on on not-their-property? Some people indeed.

      Delete
    3. Yeah, pretty much how it was. Thankfully the Mom was not of the same ilk.

      Delete
  4. Oh yes indeedy. That's the world in a song.

    Customers will always invent new ways of breaking the system, it seems. No plan can survive contact with reality.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I'm still a little uneasy about that stay. Can't put my finger on it and as far as I can tell, nothing went wrong with "Joe"'s stay. The people that got displaced, AirBnB got them an upgraded place for the price they would have paid for ours, so they weren't upset. But Joe's behavior was just a tad odd.

      Delete
  5. Seems about right, what with the Internet and the old "right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing." I have often wondered at the wisdom of the "the name's don't match on the cards, you can't pay this bill." I get not wanting to allow access to an account but ...

    The ways (and thought processes) of your typical software person continue to elude me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm ok with their policy. It's their company. As I mentioned above, I just wish the notification to us had been categorized differently. We'd have been more alert if so.

      Delete
  6. Ha! A nice welcome to the country.


    Glad the double booking was fixed/ figured out.
    Also, that story above about the cousin in the state police? Hilarious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LJW/DIL

      Yeah, AirBnB did a pretty good job rescuing the situation.

      Yep, pays to have friends in high places.

      Like the name!!!

      Delete
  7. We used Philly's contracted payment system a few months ago to pay the elderly in-law's annual real estate tax.
    All went fine, and we had a printed confirmation number that the payment was accepted.
    But it wasn't, because a few days later the email that notified us of a glitch in the matrix went to spam.
    We didn't find that out until we were getting the documents ready for the house sale, now it will get paid at closing.
    The only reason that I'm not furiously angry is because I don't need a stroke.

    I'm glad there was resolution.

    I wonder what it would cost to change the door locks to hotel type key card locks, and whether it would even be a good idea?

    The gun club I used to belong to had to wade through a court settlement because somebody bought a home near a shooting range and then objected to the noise. Some people indeed.





    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is probably a better word than "settlement" but I don't know what it is.

      Delete
    2. JIP 1
      We've been doing the AirBnB thing for 8 years now. This was the first incident we've had. At this point, I don't think the cost would be justified. But...I'll keep it in mind as an option.

      Delete
    3. JIP2,
      Sounds like "Screwed by" might be appropriate. Due Diligence seems to have been lacking. Or maybe not and it was deliberate.

      Delete
  8. Juvat, your story is related to the times (only two in all my years of travel, thankfully) when I checked into a hotel room and had issues with someone else being allowed to check into the same room. One was when I was already in bed but not yet asleep and heard the locked door opening - luckily they stopped when I yelled out to them. Another was when I opened the door to my room and saw bags on the floor. Both situations were resolved without bloodshed, but since hotel rooms are considered a person's castle from a self defense perspective, could have been issues there.
    I also enjoyed the teaching kids to shoot story - I think a person in NH who filed a false police report against 'stray bullets' leaving the SigSauer Academy was charged when the bullets supposedly found in the road were determined to have been unfired.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tom,
      That would be heart rate enhancing (and not in a good way). I'm just paranoid enough to use the door chain religiously when I'm out and about.

      Delete
  9. So inadvertently double booked? What became of the new guests that reserved after the cancellation?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tuna,
      They had their wits about them. Mrs. J was on the phone with AirBnB and had explained the situation by the time the foursome had decided to look elsewhere. When they called AirBnB, the situation was already in the system, they got an upgraded place for the same price they would have paid us. So, they were OK. S4!77Y Pattern, Nice Save!

      Delete
    2. So everyone was happy. As long as that disrupted couple can't leave an angry review on you you're good! Even though it wasn't your fault.

      Delete
  10. A different song, perhaps?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TC2xTCb_GU
    John Blackshoe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JB,
      Now THAT's funny! I don't care who you are.

      Delete
  11. "We're CITY people. We vacation in the country to get AWAY from the sounds of gunfire!" Heh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A Bear,
      I suppose. Course, in the CITY, there's a high probability if you hear gunfire, somebody might be shooting AT you. In the country, it's more likely they're shooting WITH you.

      Delete
  12. I have a degree from theology school, many years ago. The older I get, the more my personal theology is summarized by this song.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GG,
      I don't have a theology degree, but I agree completely.

      Delete
  13. This all Brings to mind the motto I developed when I was working:
    “this job is great… except for the customers.”
    It only takes one to turn a perfectly good day upside down.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Skip,
      There's quite a bit of truth in that statement. Fortunately, most of our guests haven't fit into that group.

      Delete
  14. Geez, out in the country and you hear gun shots? Big whoop. Now, there was a camp we used to use where you could hear the very distinctive ka-ping of the mighty M1 Abrams firing the 120mm smoothbore. And another camp where you could hear the verry verry distinctive kaboom of a naval bombing range, and the occasional plane going fast and low over the camp either in prep to make the kaboom or after dropping off the kabooms.

    Some people indeed.

    Maybe next time you could suggest a local gun range for them to rent some guns and go shooting?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beans,
      Interestingly, there's a reasonable possibility that the Pilot of one of those bomb dropping planes was yours truly. I don't think there was a range in Florida, Georgia, Alabama or South Carolina I didn't drop on. Some I even hit! ;-)

      Delete
    2. You hit the Naval Bombing Range in the Ocala National Forest? I get you hitting Avon Park, but not NBR-ONF.

      Delete
    3. I don't know for sure, I think so. That was back in the Reagan Era. We flew an awful lot, our mission was air to ground, Range time was finite. So...Probably. My first year flying fightesr was Jimmuh's last. I had barely a hundred hours of operational flying in Korea. About once a week. I PCS'd to Moody in January of 81. 3 years later when I PCS/d from Moody I had almost a thousand hours of Flying time. Yes, I'm happy to have been there, done that in that time frame.

      Delete
    4. Juvat sent the above. Not sure WTF is going on.

      Delete
    5. Google changed the damned interface again. Check your settings and whether or not you're still logged in. Maybe Elon Musk will buy thi and unf**k it. I am pissed off!

      Delete
  15. Nice save on the cabin, and sometimes, you just can't win regardless of how hard one tries.

    ReplyDelete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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