Bloggets. Well, what a fun couple of days?
Not!
My friends are due for a three months holiday next Friday.
The agent that we booked through in December paying the deposit and so on for
the two flats, have given me a head ache.
Telling me yesterday that we couldn’t have the second stay.
The best flat. Why? Because she has put someone else in.
Well, my friend Di came to the rescue today and this is the
story.
Are you sitting comfortably? It’s a long one Bloggets, so
put your feet up with a nice drink and here we go, on the Fifi chugga chug
express!
Way back in December, my friend Olga told me that her, her
Grand Son her Son who I have known since he was eight now I think he is 33, his
wife, and perhaps the Nanny, would be coming over to the UK May till late August.
I spent a few days trying to find an agent that would take
three months of rental.
Most agencies only do six months accommodation.
Well we found one. We went to meet the girl I shall call
Sharron.
Sharron showed us around the most stunning apartment. We
loved it. Then we went into a house from hell. OMG?
Floor tiles coming up, damp all over the walls. Foisty
smells. Then the best bit, to get to the bedrooms, no, not a staircase, but
loft ladders.
The house was a mess, so small too. Hideous. I was
embarrassed.
Anyway, we said then that we would love the flat from May
till end of August; Olga thought that it would be until 28 of August. That was
fine but for the first three weeks, that would not be available as the three
lads who were in the flat, were not due to leave till end of June. But we were
re assured that there would be another flat that we couldn’t see for some
reason I have forgotten but it was the same as the one we loved. Same block,
just two bed rather than three.
Fine we would move after three weeks. All sorted.
Wrong. Nope, we got a call saying that the two bed owner
didn’t want a child in her flat. Back to the beginning and my friend and I went
to view another flat as my friend Olga, had gone back to Russia.
The flat my friend and I viewed, was nice, nothing special,
but modern, clean and in a great location, looking over the river.
We said yes to the flat for the first part, then I confirmed
the big flat for the rest of the stay, stating end of August.
Long story short. My friend due a week today, agency phoned
saying that they could only give my friends the flat until July. I called to
say we paid a deposit. We stated August. Answer, sorry, it’s been let out.
I phoned my friend. I told her that we could look at a
couple of two bedrooms. My friend was not happy. Nothing worse than an unhappy
Ruski, right? Hahaha.
Anyway, my friend told me that the whole trip would have to
be cancelled. So the deposit would be lost of just under £500 and the nursery
school deposit as well as the nursery would have to be told at short notice we didn’t need them anymore.
This was going to be embarrassing, as I booked it months ago, again after
spending weeks and weeks on the phone to try to find a nursery who would take
the little boy. Internet searches and so on. I literally had to fight for a
place, soon learning that I had to say my friend’s child, rather than my friend
from Russia.
So when I got a nursery that said yes, I then told them they
were from Russia. See, private nurseries would have taken the little boy,
because you were paying a huge amount of money, but, he had to be three and he
is only three months over two.
The nursery I found is perfect and my friend loved it too.
Then I heard that the same company with the same policy were opening five
minutes from where my friends flat was going to be. So I stupidly thought this
would be better as the other one, is a forty minute drive away, so began to
make plans to go to the closer nursery.
Well, a couple of weeks ago, my friend said she didn’t mind
driving that far. I do worry about her driving in the UK, as she won’t
understand roundabouts and so on that we have over here and in our tiny island,
there are too many cars on the roads. I know she is a great driver in Russia,
but the roads there are straight.
So a couple of phone calls later, I have been told they will
accept the baby in the nursery further away, but my friend would have to stay
with him for a few days. All sorted, though still waiting to talk with the
blooming manager who was to call me back who didn’t bother, though I have left
messages, to clarify starting date and times.
So I shall phone back today and ask for an email so it’s in
writing.
OK, so back to the flat hunting, my friend Di said she would
go with me to look at another flat they had. But my friend Olga the night
before, told me a two bedroom flat for the second place, would be no good, as
how can she, her Son, his wife, their child, her Mother father and Brother,
stay in a two bed?
Say what?
How many are coming now? Hahahahahahehehh.
Em, panic dot com!
Hell, I had just read too that if there are additional
people staying, more money would be expected to be paid. Oh and the nanny, is
no longer coming. This is good as the stress of getting her into the country would
be pretty bad, as she is from the Philippines and I know of people who have had
difficulties getting into the UK, we are not the easy country to get into
anymore.
Well, they had one three bed flat on their books. One? So if
this was not suitable, what to do? Em stuck there sadly.
Oh I had no sleep the night before the viewing. My body in
knots. I want so badly for my dearest friends to have a lovely holiday. And
would love my D, my friends Son to live here too, as I adore him.
Off Di and I went on the bus, chatting all the way, she’s
great and we get on so well.
Had a lovely walk to the flat, she was amazing, she found it
straight away.
OK, met with Sharron. Dizzy as ever. I told Di before we met
with Sharron; she would do a silly little run with her high heels on. And she
didn’t let me down.
So the shoes came running towards us and we walked into the
main entrance of the flat. OK, it smelled clean. Of disinfectant actually.
Went up in the lift to the apartment.
Oh my God, I really hated it. I shouldn’t have really, but I
just felt like the kitchen was like one would imagine a student accommodation
to be like.
It was so basic too. It had the cheapest equipment in. It
was tidy, clean, but not at all homely.
Di is great, oh what a team we would make professionally, as
I feel smell and just know how things should be when it comes to houses. I know
how to make a house into a home, as I always say, outside my land, I am
hopeless, but once in a house, fine. And this place was simply awful and dull and
depressing.
The worst thing about it was it had the most ridiculous
staircase inside the flat itself to another two bedrooms. The en-suites were
open plan, the shower and basins were in the bedroom. The toilet was in a
cupboard. God I hated it. The stairs inside a flat I struggle with too, this
kind of makes it into a house? Or maisonette as they called it. The stairs were
open wooden and a horrid thick chrome rail, as if in a huge department store.
And they twisted around so a spiral
staircase and in one of the bedrooms up stairs, there were five doors, one into
the cupboard, one into the toilet, one into the wait for it, room with the
washing machine? One into the room from the flat and one to the landing of the
flat where the lift was. How flipping ugly?
Di said that the couch in the living room was blue, the two
chairs were cream, so they didn’t even match and it was so bare, no lamps,
nothing, for such big rooms. Oh it was just horrible.
No way as bad as the house we looked at, but the house, you
would be able to do something with if you bought it, I’m not too sure what to
do with the flat? I mean, like the house, the bedrooms were in the loft, but a
better set of stairs, well, at least not a ladder, though they were lethal, and
dopy Sharron, said wait for this one too?
It would be better if you took your shoes off using the
stairs? Well, fine, unless you wore slippy socks? I mean, shoes have a bit of a
grip, socks don’t.
Oh she is just unreal; I had no confidence in her. She would
ask a question, and then when you were answering, she would talk about
something else. She really just didn’t listen.
I told her that I wanted the flat we initially agreed with.
I was not going to back down; she told us that she couldn’t as she had let it
out to four other individual people. I told her to tell them she had overbooked
and give us our flat, but in nicer words.
I also told her that we had found another agency and would
go elsewhere, now, we are talking £10,000
Yes, you read right, that is how much they would lose if we
didn’t go with them.
I also told her my friend was famous in Russia and with
connections. Haha. I said that they are going to come at least once per year,
possible twice and how much money they would spend with the right agency. I had
told her at eight in the morning over the phone that I had media connections
and this would not make good publicity and another few facts that made her
decide to take us to the office and sort something out. I said what, find other
accommodation for the other people who were taking our flat? She insisted that
we couldn’t have the other place.
Got to her office and OMG? Just wait to find out what
happened next?
Chapter 2
So, she asked us if we would like a coffee. I said mine
white without sugar. My friends white with no sugar
Fifteen minutes later, I turned to my friend and asked her
if Sharron had forgotten about us? I then told whoever would listen our story.
The receptionist was lovely, professional too and tried her best to get a place
for our friends. After another five minutes, she said there was nowhere, unless
I was to get a place some miles away. I said I really need that flat we were
supposed to get. Then the manager was involved. I told her of Sharron’s cockup
too. She was great, she said she likes a challenge, well not quite the answer I
wanted, I wanted her to say how bad this was and she would get us a place. I
tell you now, they would have to turn off the lights and lock me in, as I would
have hugged Di bye bye and camped overnight in the office.
I couldn’t even smell the coffee by the way. My blood
pressure was getting higher and I was becoming more and more determined that we
were going to get something perfect that hour friends would be happy with. As a
person came in, I told of my story again. I thought
“Ladies you can all watch how much scene I can make here.
We paid a chunk of money to hold the flats and how dare she
give them to someone else. She even sent me an email saying she had made a
mistake.
Then, the door opened. I was dying for this coffee though
thought my coffee would be spiked as really I was starting not to be as patient
as she would like.
She said in an unusual calm voice.
Come upstairs. As that is where the coffee is. In other
words, come out of the way of public.
As we got half way up the stairs, there was a door onto the
street. A man came down the stairs and opened it for us to escort us out of the
building.
Well, my friend Di asked
“Are we being evicted?”
Sharron told the man we were “their friends and not to leave
the building. He said sorry and lead us upstairs. He then gave us our coffee.
Turned out both cups had sugar. I said I asked for no sugar. He said Sharron
said both with sugar. I said she can’t even get that right. Oh she is the most
annoying person. She askes a question then to talk over your answer.
She was at her computer and turned to me and said
“You can have your original flat.”
Say what?
I, mean, what?
What did she say?
We can have the flat; remember the flat that had four
different bookings. The flat that was impossible to change. Well, I gasped. I
gulped my coffee down. I needed a brandy I hate brandy. I needed something.
I didn’t care if it had sugar. Perhaps I needed it for the
shock?
I had to keep asking her over and over again. The flat we
viewed in December? The flat we wanted? The flat our name was originally down
for? Then my friend got up from her chair and sat behind Sharron and looked
over her shoulder. She kept making spelling mistakes as was really anxious and
felt intimidated for my friend checking every fine detail that she was writing,
pulling her up over everything. I made her write everything down and she emailed
Olga and myself then printed everything off and my friend read it all and it is
all legal.
Then because my friend Olga only had 24 hours to pay the
money if not in full, she had to pay half. I contacted Olga, she didn’t have
the money then, I mean by this point it was 8pm in Russia. Anyway, she paid a chunk
and I contacted Sharron today and all is still fine. Well, with Olga, other disaster
in my life right now. It’s never ending. I’m flat and basically at my ending,
one thing sorted, and another starts. It’s never ending. I’m going away for a
bit. But seven days till our friends come and let’s hope they get their flat? X
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