The “voice”
of
independent accommodation providers

Joy and Eve stood outside the cafe, saying goodbye, and promising to meet up again soon, before they each went their separate ways.

Joy checked her watch, she had more guests coming in later, but there were not expected until early evening.  She decided that on the way home she would call in and see Fred in the Garage, and then she would go into her local Tourist Information Centre and introduce herself.

Joy pulled into the garage and saw Fred walking across the forecourt in her general direction.  She steeled herself to stand her ground.  Fred caught sight of her and waved.  She smiled and got out of the car, hoping she would not have a battle on her hands to get her car fixed.    Fred waited for her to walk over to him and to her surprise he said “look, about the other day, you caught me in a bad mood, another customer is trying to tell me I sold him a car with clutch problems, but I know he has misused the car.  I recall a mate of mine who trades cars saying that the beauty of selling to a business is that they can’t come back to you if something goes wrong.”

“I haven’t misused my car, perhaps if you have a look at it, you will recognise the problem and you will see that it can’t be anything I have done”.  Fred nodded, “yes, let’s book it in, don’t worry, I’m sure I can sort it out for you, I do value my customers really.”

Joy wondered if she should tell Fred what she had learned from Eve, but decided not to say anything.  She was not sure whether Fred would give her an invoice but she decided to wait and see, she could always argue later if she needed to.

Joy left the garage and drove towards the car park nearest to the Tourist Information Centre, she hadn’t checked the opening times, so she hoped she was not going to pay for parking, only to find the door locked.  Fortunately the TIC was open, Joy went up to a counter where two girls behind the counter were deep in conversation.  As she approached they both turned and smiled.

“Hello, I’m Joy Appleby, I have just taken over Sunfair B&B from the previous owner.  I have just come in to introduce myself and to let you know that I am accepting guests”.

“Oh, Hi there” replied one of the two girls, “I’m Mandy, actually we can’t pass guests on to you unless Sunfair is in our brochure”.  “Oh” said Joy, taken aback “how do I get Sunfair in the brochure?”

You can’t for this year, next year’s will be printed later this year.  You can go on our website though for a fee, here is a list of the rates”.  Mandy handed  Joy a leaflet.

Joy looked at the website, she was quite shocked to see how much it would cost her to advertise through the TIC, then she noticed something else “it says here that I must be Visit Britain or AA graded”.

“Yes, that’s correct, we must make sure that all the properties in our brochure have been vetted, we don’t do it ourselves so we rely on Visit Britain or AA gradings”.

Joy wasn’t graded, she didn’t think the previous owner was, and she hadn’t really thought about it.  She would have to go on the internet when she got home to find out how to apply for a grading.  She wondered what level she was, she suspected she was probably as good if not better than most of the 3 Star places she had stayed in, in the past.  Joy wondered whether most guests expected properties to be graded, or whether most guests didn’t care.  She wasn’t sure, and neither was she sure whether it would be better to apply to Visit Britain or the AA.  Joy hoped that she would have a better idea once she had studied their websites.  As Joy drove home she felt a little afraid of what to expect if she applied to join.  She had watched a television  programme a couple of times called “The Hotel Inspector’ and she knew that someone would check in posing as an ordinary guest.  She didn’t like the thought of that and wondered if it would be better to wait until Sam was with her.

Diddle-liddle-ding  Diddle-liddle-ding.  Joy heard the door bell, she checked her face in the mirror and went to answer the front door, there was no-one there, she stared at the deserted street.   Diddle-liddle-ding Joy woke with a start,  she was dreaming.  Diddle-liddle-ding – her alarm clock chided her again for not attending to it,  Joy felt the momentary trepidation she had felt on waking, at the deserted street she had been looking out onto.  She realised that she was probably worrying subconsciously about whether she could make a go of this venture and whether she could  attract enough guests to make her venture worthwhile.

As she sat up in bed Joy thought about her day ahead.  The first hurdle was cooking and serving her first breakfast for Mr and Mrs Jordan.   She had practiced her routine several times on her mother and Eve, who had been willing guinea-pigs, eating everything that Joy tested on them.  Joy had carefully worked out all her timings, Eve had deliberately tried to keep Joy talking to see if she could make her burn the toast that she knew was under the grill.  Joy had, according to her critical mother and her confidence building friend passed with flying colours.

Joy smiled to herself, this was a big moment for her and she knew she could deliver.  If the Browns had stayed yesterday, her first breakfast would have been for six people, she was glad in a way that she only had to cook for two on her first attempt. Joy showered and dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen and proceeded to get everything ready. There was time to spare before Mr and Mrs Jordan came down, Joy walked round the dining room, checking and rearranging the cutlery and straightening the table mats and the menu, she felt positive.  Joy need not have worried, breakfast went without a hitch and she was complimented on her cooking.

After Mr and Mrs Jordan left the table, Joy busied herself cleaning the kitchen and the dining room and just as she had finished in the kitchen the phone rang.  She hoped it would be Eve.

“Joy, Hi.”  Joy was pleased to hear Eve’s familiar voice.  Eve said “I think I have the answers you need, do you have time to talk now, or shall I call you a bit later on?”

“How about we meet for coffee in our usual place?” Joy answered.

“Yes, that would be great, if we can make it lunch time, say 12 noon” Eve replied.  “Anytime that suits you, noon it is.  I am longing to see a friendly face, you can tell me the the worst at lunch time”.  Eve and Joy chatted for a few more minutes and Joy watched from the window as the Jordans walked down the path.

Joy put the phone down and thought that’s good, now that they have gone out I can go and clean their room, then I can dust and vacuum through Reception, and then it will be time for me to get ready to go and meet Eve.

Joy was pleased to see that the Jordan’s room was quite clean and tidy, but she noticed that the used towels had been placed in the shower tray and were quite wet.  She felt slightly irritated.  Were the Jordans suggesting that she would not remember to change the towels so they had to make them damp, or is this what they always do?  Joy changed the wet towels for clean ones, cleaned the rest of the room and took the wet towels to the laundry room for washing.  She decided not to dwell on it, but she really did feel again that she was more unprepared and ignorant of what to expect from her guests than she could ever have imagined.

Joy reached the cafe ahead of Eve and found a table in the window.  She spotted Eve rushing up the road her arms full of flowers, a big envelope and her coat and scarf. Joy smiled, it was cold out there, it was typical of Eve to grab her coat but never quite take the time necessary to put it on.  Eve spotted Joy through the window and gave her a wide friendly smile.  Joy immediately felt better.  Eve was always just what the doctor ordered.

Eve placed the huge bunch of flowers in Joy’s lap and the envelope on the table, dropping her coat and scarf on a nearby empty chair in a casual way.  Eve was naturally attractive but wore no makeup and had scant regard for fashion, Joy on the other hand was quite particular about her appearance.

“Well” said Joy after they had ordered hot tuna baguettes and a glass of white house wine, “what did you find out, can I force Fred at the Garage to repair my car?”

“Possibly” replied Eve reaching for the envelope and pulling out a wad of paper with her untidy large handwriting all over it.  “Section 12 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act  provides that a person is dealing as a consumer if the contract is not made in the course of a business and the person does not hold himself out as doing so, and the other party does make the contract in the course of a business, and the goods are of a type ordinarily supplied for private use.  Buying in the course of a business means that the buyer is buying something that is an integral part of the business.”

“A car is not an integral part of my business” Joy interrupted.

“Exactly” said Eve, “I found the case of Symmans & Co -v- Cook where a firm of surveyors bought a defective Rolls Royce and the Court of Appeal said that buying a car is not an integral part of the business of surveying”.

“I wonder if I need proof of this, or whether I can just go in and see Fred and tell him.  I don’t want to fall out with him, he has done work for me before” said Joy thoughtfully.

“If I were you” said Eve “I would go and have a chat with him, tell him you have been into the CAB, and this is what you were told and you hope he can reconsider, then if he sticks to his guns, tell him you are going to consult a Solicitor “

Joy nodded, “That is what I was thinking.  What about Mr Brown, even if he is in the wrong I think I am going to give him his money back, I don’t want an ongoing dispute with my very first guests.”

“That’s probably a wise move” agreed Eve, “but if you did want to argue the point with him, the law on sale by description is quite clear, the description must be accurate or the buyer is entitled to reject the item.  You would have to satisfy a Court that your description was accurate, unless you are certain that you could do that, the cheaper option would probably be to give him his money back before he take steps to recover it.”

“Thanks for that, on reflection, the room is small. Someone on the forum said ‘everyone knows that cosy means small’ but how small is small?” replied Joy.

“What forum?”

“Oh, I found this fantastic forum www.bedposts.org.uk.  It is for accommodation providers, and everyone on there is really friendly and helpful.   I was reading the topic on there about Access Statements, I have done one, but I am wondering now if mine doesn’t go far enough, and some people have given room measurements in theirs.  If I had done that in my Access Statement, I could have told Mr Brown and everyone else to look at my Access Statement, disabled or not, to decide whether my rooms will suit their requirements.

The lady on the forum who said cosy means small works for CAB somewhere”.

“Whereabouts” asked Eve, but Joy couldn’t remember.   Eve went on “I am glad you have found a forum where it sounds as though there are a lot of people who will be able to give you some real help, I think you might need it from time to time until you find your feet.”

Joy was happy with her decision to give Mr Brown his money back, but she knew she was doing so for a quiet life, she was still unsure how small cosy is, and what was too small to be acceptable.  She would be interested to know if her family room was exceptionally small in comparison with others being charged at a similar rate.  She felt she needed to know as she would have to decide whether to take the childrens’ beds out or not.  This was an important decision for Joy, as this was the only room she had that she could offer as a family room.

Do you think Joy should keep her family room even though she knows it is very compact?

Joy retired at the end of a long first day in her new B&B in Southend, taking with her to bed, a cup of hot chocolate and a lot of uncertainty.

She went into her new bedroom feeling quite alone and missing her old cosy bedroom with its pretty pink and white curtains, and her co-ordinated covered comfy sofa at the foot of her old bed where she liked to lounge for a while reading a book or chatting on the phone, usually to Sam, in whatever country his platoon was currently stationed.

No point looking back, Sam didn’t like her choice of decoration and soft furnishings, “too girly” he called it.  He was coming home soon and he would prefer his home a little less frilly and fluffy, and Joy was anxious that he should settle down as soon as possible so she needed him to like his surroundings.

She looked round this room and sighed.  Magnolia, you can’t go wrong with magnolia, or so they say, but it didn’t feel as if this bedroom wanted to hug her like her old one.  She could probably get a nice cosy two seater sofa under the window she thought, but better to wait for Sam.

Joy then began to wonder whether most people decorate guest rooms in B&Bs in a very conservative way, or whether most look on them as their homes and put their own stamp on them, she wasn’t sure. She had been excited at the prospect of creating themed rooms, but what if they wanted to sell, would it be a bad idea?  What would Sam think?  They could ask the property agent who sold Sunfair to them, he should know.

She sat on the edge of the bed and sipped her hot chocolate, mulling over the events of her first day.  Joy was anxious about her car, she hoped she would not have to pay for repairs, the legal fees on the sale of her old home and the purchase of Sunfair had proved more expensive than she had budgeted for.  She wondered what Eve would find out for her, she knew Eve would ask others if she could not find the answer herself.   She shuddered slightly as she dwelt on her unfortunate run-in with the Brown family, and she had to admit that she felt rather sympathetic towards Mr Brown, he did have a point really, there was very little room between the beds.  She also thought about Sally Jordan wanting clean towels in the morning and she thought about the helpful comments she had received only a very short while later in response to her first post on the Bedposts forum.  What a great find the forum was, particularly on her first day, at least she had enjoyed one bit of good fortune today, especially as the two ladies who posted replies sounded really nice, as if they understood how confused she felt.  As soon as she had received a reply about Sally Jordan’s towels, she also posted about belligerent Mr Brown.

One of the ladies who posted a reply mentioned that she is a CAB volunteer, Joy thought she would have to remember to tell Eve when she phones in the morning.  This lady thought that Mr Brown was in the wrong, because he did not give Joy time to offer another room (not that there was a bigger room to offer) and everyone knows that cosy means small, but she also thought it was probably a grey area.

The other lady who posted, asked her if Sam knew that she had chosen a B&B, and did they have much privacy?  Yes, they had talked it over and they both thought it would be nice to do something that they could do together, having already spent most of their married life apart.  They were occupying the whole of the top floor which was a self contained flat.  This lady also advised Joy that it would be a good idea to think about how to phrase what she routinely says to guests on check-in, so that she is giving them information rather than asking a question, and according to her, there was already a discussion on the forum about towels, Joy hadn’t seen that, but she promised herself that she would make time tomorrow to try and read more of the comments already posted there.

Joy drained her mug of hot chocolate hoping that this new venture would prove to be the right choice. She was so excited when she woke up this morning, now she just felt anxious.  Perhaps, she told herself, when Eve rings in the morning we can arrange to meet for coffee tomorrow, Eve always made Joy laugh, and she smiled to herself just thinking about the fun they had shared over the years.  Eve had laughed when Joy told her she was thinking about opening a B&B with Sam, she had said to Joy “You’ll soon get the hang of it, but Sam will be as useful as a chocolate teapot, and you don’t need one of those at breakfast time”.  Joy amused herself wondering if she was going to find herself taking a leaf out of Sam’s chocolate teapot. She would also hopefully be able to talk to Sam tomorrow.  He had emailed her today to say that he was being sent out on patrol somewhere shortly so he would not be able to ring her today.  Joy was disappointed but used to it.

Just as Joy was nodding off, she heard voices from below, she awoke with a start, and realised she had heard Mr and Mrs Jordan coming in.  It seemed strange to her that strangers were walking around her home in the middle of the night, and lying there on her own in a strange bed in a strange room that she was now calling home she felt quite lonely.