When my American partner first came to New Zealand, we rented an a room at a farmstay in Akaroa, near Christchurch. I'm a kiwi, and I found this very cute looking accommodation website, that advertised a very cute loft type room that was separate from the house, and 2 or 3 bedrooms inside, I thought it was lovely, and just wanted to stay there so much, that my soon to be life partner would have done anything to make me happy.
The first hurdle was they didn't have a free phone number, but this was 7 years ago, so we let that pass. I rang them from where I lived, and made sure it they wouldn't mind a lesbian couple staying for a week. I told the owner of this place, that my partners 75 year old Aunt would be also be staying in one of the inside rooms. I also said that I was mobility disabled and couldn't do steps up to a room. They assured me that this was all fine, not a problem.
There was no way to give credit card details securely online, and when my American partner contacted this homestay, asking for a secure way to pay for a weeks Accommodation for 3 people, which even then would have cost over $1000 USD. My partner received an email back 3 days later telling her to just put the credit card number on an email.
Not at all happy with just sending her credit card details in an unsecured email, my partner rang Akaroa from San Diego with credit details and spoke for no more than 5 minutes. That call ended up costing just over $45USD. My partner later told me, if I didn't have my heart set on this place to stay for our honeymoon, she would never have even bothered ringing them, to give these details over the phone......
this isn't the end of the story as if this wasn't enough;
a couple of months later, when my partner and her Aunt arrived from San Diego to Christchurch we drove out to spend our first ever days together.
Now I'm a Kiwi, and have grown up on farms, and know all about country roads, and fords(a river running across a road) and sheep running across driveways, and gravel driveways that can be a couple of miles long, from the farm gate into the house. But I'll tell you even I was shocked, here I was with two Yank's straight from a city that has about 3 times more people than my whole country does.
We get to Akaroa, and ring for instructions to get to the farm, we were told just turn at the bakery, and head on out that road, until we came to a road called something or other. Take this second road and keep driving and their house was at the end of the road.
No mention that the corner we were supposed to be looking for was at least 10 kilometers down a one way, winding hardly even gravel road, that had nowhere to pass anything if you happened to meet any vehicle coming from the other direction.
Then after the first corner is was another 6 or so km's to the farms gate and another 3 or 4 km's up the steepest, roughest, most potholed, driveway I have ever come across, there were 2 places the drive had washed away, and 2 or 3 fords to cross, sheep running in front of the car as we wound our way up the side of this really steep hill, that was wet and greasy from recent heavy rains, to get to the homestead.
It took us three times returning to Akaroa to ring the homestead again for instructions before we found this god forsaken place.
Again, I'm a Kiwi kid, born and raised on sheep farms, and had thought I had seen the worst roads in NZ, but I was shocked, let alone these two city slicker Yanks I was traveling with.
Ok, we finally get to the homestead, and all breathe a sigh of relief that we made it, and were still alive.
We were treated very well, taken inside and given a cup of tea, my new partner and I were shown to our lovely outside loft, and my new partner went to make sure her 75 year old Aunt was settled in her room.
Aunty's room ended up being up a flight of about 16 very steep narrow steps, now Aunty is a very, very independent woman, but she was scared to walk up or down the steps by herself, and I don't blame her.
So my new partner had to escort her upstairs to her room, where she was basically stuck, since the bathroom and dining and living area was on the lower floor.
We stay that for a night, and then Aunty and my partner demanded their money back, and went to stay in a motel down in the Akaroa village. There is another whole part of this story, but it's long enough already.
My point is, if the owner of the accommodation had been honest, even to me, (a kiwi who told him that I grew up on a sheep farm) if he had told me, about the in total something like 12 km drive from the township and told me about the conditions of the roads, I could have made the whole nightmare of getting to the place into an adventure, and maybe we could have stayed for the intended week.
But did they really expect Americans to put up with that sort of service?? Get real!
After now living with that Yank for coming up 6 years, I can tell you Yanks will not put up with bad service or if they feel the have been ripped off. They won't simply put up with it and go home and complain about it (like your average Kiwi) They will complain loud and keep getting louder and louder and louder, until the get what they feel they should get!!!!!
So just a warning, if an American makes a booking at your accommodation, be honest with them, it doesn't mean they won't stay with you, they just feel that they are paying you, and you better give them what you god darn say you will and don't even think that an American visitor will put up with the stuff you can hand out to us shy timid old kiwi's.
Americans will pay, and pay well, and even give you a tip, but they will also demand and get that money back if they aren't happy.
Cheers Lynny
Who adores her Yank and secretly loves watching someone try to pull a fast one on her Stroppy American lover.
1 comment:
This is unfortunately not an uncommon story. Funny thing is however been involved with overseas tourists you almost instinctively know what will and won't work. But you have to be prepared. A classic example is some of the smaller homestays who fail to register their business with the local visitor information centre. Now they may never get any bookings but I have had phone calls from people at Airports who have forgotten to print out the details of where they are staying and can't find it in the phone book or at the local visitor information centre at the airport. Most of these places will record your details for free so make sure you list.
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