Horrible Amatuer Hour/ROOKIE mistakes

Here is an article that demonstrates how important punctuation can be:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/03/16/lack-oxford-comma-costs-maine-company-millions-overtime-dispute/BIxK837fA2C06qavQMDs5J/story.html

3 Likes

Ooh, I love a punctuation debate! I can bore for my country on the issues of the serial comma and erroneous apostrophes. :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Not to mention the erroneous use of hyphens!

1 Like

Darn. I’m anti-Oxford comma, Conrad is pro. This will give him ammunition.

I don’t play sides!

20 20

Since you asked for our feedback…

I think this is somewhat over the top. Every one of us is guilty of clicking the “I agree to the terms of service” without actually reading them. I try to read every contract I sign and all that jazz, but like Guthend I can’t say I read the rules of hotels. I expect that I’ll be my usual good self and none of it will matter. I also figure hotels only put such rules to cover their own asses, and understandably so.

I personally wouldn’t dream of sitting down with a guest and going over house rules. I’d be even less likely to do it if English isn’t their first language knowing how embarrassing that would be for them. If they are breaking a rule, I’d nicely point it out but that’s about it.

And if a host did that with me and grew increasingly irritable that I wasn’t understanding him, I’d be offended, to be honest. I’d wonder if I was being discriminated against for being young, wondering if my host thought I looked “poor” or if it’s because my spouse is a different race to myself.

One time our host in Argentina ran after us at 6 am as we were leaving, and she ordered us back inside so she could inspect the place before we left. She chided that it was in the rules (which we couldn’t find). Bad feeling–it inferred we were running off after stealing and trashing the place or something. Anyway, hosts… be kind to guests. Assume the best of them. Be most excellent.

8 Likes

Not everyone is a great fit for Airbnb Veronica ! I have said in in other Forums , Airbnb is not for everyone, Host and Guests alike . Some people see $$$ signs in their eyes and feel that they can get away with being lazy and foolish and its a money grab for them on airbnb , but they won’t last long .
If a guest has limited language skills , there is Google Translate and other apps for help . International guests can also see listings in different languages , so its easy to understand what most listings say .

But the easiest way to resolve any issue is to communicate first thing when you receive an inquiry or reservation request . I tell all potential guests to please make sure that to ensure a great stay with me , that they have fully read the entire listing and house rules . If they are New to Airbnb I take a few extra minutes to help walk them through the listing and on occasion translate it into the guests native language . Upon check in / Arrival I also go over the house rules and info directly with the guest .
I never had any issues with any guest over the house rules , they guests felt very well taken care of and I have over 500 5 Star guest stays . I don’t do anything extra special , I just use good common sense an there is no reason for anyone else not to .

2 Likes

I think I can remember only one guest who fully read my listing, nearly fell over.

1 Like

Could not agree more with @PHX. I think we all need to relax a little and just trust that people will do the right thing most of the time. I works for me (and over 260 guests I have hosted so far).

3 Likes

I actually own the book “Eats, Shoots & Leaves”. I’m an odd bird - an engineer that is a closet English teacher!

1 Like

Me too! One of my favourites. :slight_smile:

Ok jaquo and @PitonView, I’m intrigued about this book. Tell me more!

1 Like

Well, it’s totally brilliant when it comes to punctuation and grammar. Which sounds awfully boring but it’s written in a very entertaining way.

If I remember rightly the author’s explanation of the titles differs from mine. :slight_smile:

To me it comes from an old Australian joke - what is the difference between a koala bear and your lover? Bearing in mind that ‘shoots’ is a euphemism (in the case of the second phrase), the answer is that ‘a koala eats shoots and leaves’, whereas the lover ‘eats, shoots and leaves’. :wink:

Note the comma. :slight_smile:

3 Likes

It’s a great read. Author is Lynne Truss. If you buy a copy make sure to get the original version and not the version aimed at children which hasn’t had such good reviews. @jaquo Love your origin of the title, not heard that one before. She should have gone with that and not the cute little gun-toting panda!

1 Like

She has also written a great novel, the name of which I can’t remember, about a cat. :slight_smile:

Yes!

Here’s a review I wrote about the novel ages ago.

Nice, thanks! I’ve been needing a good book recommendation for a while :slight_smile:

1 Like

Lawl…good one

1 Like

@jaquo Totally unrelated to punctuation but kind of related to the original thread purpose (!), I was thinking about starting a thread on how BBC Radio 4’s The Archers has recently included a story-line about Airbnb. But I thought it probably wouldn’t be of much interest to people on here so I googled to see if it was being discussed anywhere else. The third hit is a news piece on your site!

I only recently became addicted to the Archers* having long been the kind of person who scalded themselves with hot tea in the frantic rush to turn off the radio as soon as the theme tune started. The Grundy’s experience with their guests has been quite amusing (arrggh, surely they can’t 'ave gawn through three rolls of toilet paper already?) but the disparaging undertones never occurred to me. Interesting. Maybe I should start a thread and we can discuss it further just the two of us! Unless any other Brits on here listen to the Archers?

  • yeah, the Titchner story
1 Like

That’s exactly what made me start listening! But yes, the Airbnb story has me captivated too. Loved the toilet roll thing! It could have easily been a post here. :slight_smile:

Hey, that makes me wonder whether the writers are reading this forum!

I do hope that Airbnb is going to be portrayed fairly. (Note to other members here - Airbnb isn’t mentioned by name but it’s pretty obvious).

Eddie and Clarrie, the hosts, are quite sympathetic characters and Lynda who runs the ‘real’ B&B isn’t - she’s considered a bit too snooty and posh. Hopefully this means that the hosts will win out - I hope so.

But a great part of the story that I imagine is yet to come is that the couple rent their home and do not have the permission of their landlords. Interesting.

Oh and it’s great to know that my site comes up in search engines for the subject! Here it is if anyone is wondering what on earth we’re talking about :slight_smile: