December has been a very bad month and I am hoping that Mai and I will prevail. We knew when we started the renovations on the house that there was going to be trouble, and we agreed to try not to let it get to us. It has been a difficult journey that is finally coming to an end. Mai is my anchor to this existence and without her I am nothing. We have had a few doozie fights during this process…… not because of her and I having a difference, but because of the incompetence or damned stupidity we have experienced. It seems impossible for me to just smile and take it. I get angry and then Mai gets angry in return. It sometimes ends in a tearful episode of “Why is this happening to us?”….. But Ah Ha!! We can see a light at the end of the tunnel, soooooo. What has happened since the last blog? A lot!! But here is a few of the more major issues.
The bathrooms on 2 levels were completed and looked wonderful when Mai asked where
id the light switch….. Egad!! I cannot believe it but they ran all the electrical but never allowed for a switch. Ok… no problem. Just remove a single wall tine and run the wire afterwards replace the tile. Simple right? WRONG!! The electrical was done correctly but the tiles they bought were the wrong color, without asking or even noticing, the cemented the wrong one in. It looks absolutely awful and tomorrow they will again hammer the tile out and hopefully replace it with the same color. We have also been having issues with the painters similar to the blogs of 3 years ago that I am simply too tired to even talk about. But today I snapped…..
Even Mai understood and agreed with me. Our newly built bathrooms are simply beautiful finished rooms with no fixtures. In the past day or so, one or more people have urinated on the shower floor instead of using an upstairs toilet, or the drain in the garage. The result is an overpowering smell of urine that had Mai vomiting. I raged about how anybody could be stupid enough to piss all over unfinished construction and some of the workers were cowering at my anger, and perhaps rightly so. I have had a cleaner go in with bleach and scour the floors and walls, but still the urine smell is there. If the smell cannot be totally eliminated, I will force them to scrape every last bit of grout out of the bathroom and do it all over again. I simply cannot believe the absolute stupidity that happens here. I have other issues that I am tempted to rage on but back to the topic of this blog…… it has been a bad month so far. AAck!!! A rat just scurried by….. Robotic
sensors taking over…. Kill.. Kill… Kill…..
Ok, I am back and the critter will soon be dealt with. Back to my bad December. Last night I had 2 local Vietnamese people check out a room for a stay. I was busy and my night receptionist dealt with them. As is our policy, he refused them because they could not supply 2 id’s in accordance with law. They returned later and provided id and my reception assigned them a room. I was busy with other guests so I did not really pay too much attention. They had no luggage, a police tag on the motorcycle, and even looked suspicious, but last night my night reception failed me…… (A common thing when having to rely on a Viet employee) I was busy and would have noticed right away something not
right but, for some reason the person I NEED to rely on did not…. Or was lazy, or just thought I was a stupid foreigner and all my warnings were discounted….. or whatever. During the night, these people checked all the doors and found 2 unlocked. From one they were able to steal a customer’s computer, and the second was my room where Mai woke up and chased them away but for some reason not being suspicious of their intentions (I would have been very aggressive had I woke up with my latest frustrations) The Viet couple checked out early morning and one of our guests that had forgotten to lock his door had his computer stolen. I and the customer wanted to call the police, but for some reason my night security did not register the two on computer, record the id’s or anything else that is standard practice even though they looked suspicious. In the end my customer thinks that my night reception is involved because of the non registered id required by the
Feds………… I cannot get the police involved because he neglected to do his job and they were unregistered, and I am now re-assessing whether or not I can have this person continuing working for me…… But wait!! That is not the end of it. My day receptionist for some reason went against past warnings and put a backpack on top of a person’s luggage that was waiting for a taxi to depart. Like any good host, I helped with luggage and accidently threw in a bag from another guest. My trusted driver delivered the customers to the airport and on arrival found the wrong bag. They gave it to my trusted driver and that should have been the end of it. 5 hours later the customer of the missing bag made it known. We thought that the departing customer had erred and awaited a response from their Hanoi Hotel. I was able to contact them and find that they told my driver it was not theirs. The most logical next step would have been to phone me or the hotel and ask about the extra bag, BUT NO!! This person that I trusted did not contact me or even
more disappointing, claimed not to remember. HUH!!!??? How could you not remember a bag not belonging to your customer? I now have the bag back with all intact but it seems that the memory lapse was a delay tactic to drive around and recover the goods that were already disposed of…… So Sad. I now have to decide if I can continue helping a Niece who I helped break out of poverty into a sustainable life. Lastly…
I have a dispute going on with www.tripadvisor.com , or perhaps more accurately, some new people that work there. (It seems that they have come to the conclusion that my blog is all about advertising (which you can all see it is not!!). I am tired of the bulls*it. At the moment I have ceased contributing to the site and am considering what to do. I am still trying to work this out, but it seems that the people I have to deal with are not very helpful and responded in a manner I consider impolite… We will see .. At the moment I have ceased contributing or recommending to the site as I am reconsidering it as being a useful tool for travelers. They have blacklisted without warning, expats that gave solid advice and linked to their blogs or 3rd party information for concise answers to difficult questions. At this moment, a person might as well simply carry a Lonely Planet guide that is written from the perspective of a traveler asking questions rather from a local who actually understands the reality.
Hi Owee I have been following your blog now for a while and find it very helpful and enteraining. Your comments re Trip advisor made me curious as to whats happening at that site, I too am having a bit of trouble with them some mates and I have done 3 motor bike tours with a certain Bike tour company from Dalat and I have posted 2 reviews re this company but this past month I tried to do another review for them and Trip Advisor have told me I can’t because they don’t allow Multi day tour reviews on the site but when I pointed out that I had already posted 2 reviews previously they weren’t interested. They also weren’t interested when I pointed out that there is another company from Dalat that they are allowing multi day reviews for and as recently as a couple of weeks ago. Seems like a bit of bias to me. So I hope everything works out for you and Mai and you have a Merry Christmas and a great new year.
Dave.
Hi Dave….. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what Trip Advisor is up to. It almost seems that protectionaism and self interest is the current policy. I can understand how some Dalat riders reviews could be discouraged as there are a number of them that are obvious in their cheerleading and other aspects, but not all. You are absolutely correct!!!! Lately, others can post to 3rd party information when others are specificly told they cannot. I have received many emails, comments, and Pm’s from people who are dismayed at what is going on on the Trip Advisor website. It is not only the Vietnam forums but everywhere from what I have heard. By banning contributors that might be involves in tourism here (but not touting it) they are losing the most useful contributors. It is only a matter of time before this site will spout all the same information that the out of date and mostly touristy related tour guide books do……… Thanks for the compliment on the blog…… more to come
Hi Owee
Thanks for your reply who know’s what will become of Trip Advisor. I will have to make a visit to Nha Trang one day and drop by and introduce myself. I’m coming back next October but not sure if we will make to Nha Trang we have starting visiting Mui Ne a bit and quite like the place. Hope the new year is good for you and your family.
Dave.
Hi owee, have been reading your blogs for a good while now, your a wealth of knowledge on Vietnam the people the culture and the trials and tribulations!! of a fantastic country, were coming to nha trang in march 2013 and was hoping to stay at the tide but alas it’s not to be….. Keep the chin up you’ve a lot of people shouting for you here and over in trip advisor( which is not the same without your imput).
Happy Christmas to you and yours and hopefully we might bang into you when we’re in nha trang next year.
Thanks for that. Keep an eye out for the RIPTide open soon and A Merry Christmas to all… Not a surprise that the thread on TA has been deleted as of today.
Merry Chrismas back at all of you…… New year here promises to be very interesting as new laws kick in that directly affect tourism and foreigners.
Owen…
Merry Xmas to you & Mai…may the new year bring you calm, relaxation & joy!
Yea… thanks guys, but here is the final clincher….
instead of building a perfect triangle in the corner of my bathroom shower to center the fixture, they built aanrrow side and very wide side leaving the plumbing in the same location. On top of that, they used tiles from 2 different lots that are different shades of white. If i had to shower, my shoulder will be up against the wall. Their solution was to bend the shower fixture and tilt the head sideways!!!! No freeking way!! They are doing it over, however, the color mismatch is done. I would like to fire every one of them but the job will be finished in a week
OK Big Guy before you blow a gasket and are on bedrest for 6 months…take a deep breath and remember….life is short. This isn’t your first rodeo in Viet Nam…you know that things WAIT to go wrong when you leave town……so the answer is to fire the foreman and run the show yourself. If you want it done your way Mr. Sinatra you better be there cracking the whip! “Regrets ….you’ve had a few….” have a coldone and chill while you listen to the waves crashing. Remember also that these people sent the Chinese, French, Japanese and Americans packing over the last 1200 years or so. They will wear you down, it’s their job.
LMAO….
GREAT comment, Drifter!
It makes my blood boil just reading this. I can only imagine what you’re going through. When the home is finished, may you have lots of good times in it so that you never have to think of all the flaws. Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!
I’m so angry about everything you’ve written- just a pile of CRAP to deal with.
hope the new year will bring better happier stuff to write about owen
Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Owee: Y can’t we b friends ? “y can’t we b friends ?” seriously tho: reminds me of that line in that old woody guthrie song, u know, ……….can’t change film with a kid on your back. Actually i can not remember a time when i help a person and did not regret it later. You know – scientist say………… NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED. that trip advisor site must have a bunch of goofs running it, i stop go there more than a year ago, my computer would always get infected from that site…………..”gooooooofs”…………………….
ooooo harsh words 😉
Hey Owee,
My son Keegan & I stayed with you at the most awesome Tide Hotel summer of 2011. We were in VN for a month, and our days with you were the most memorable of our trip. We are fellow Canadians, from Ontario, not sure if you remember us or not.
I continue to follow your blog, and read sometimes with amusement, sometimes with fascination, and most recently with sadness and frustration for what you and Mai are going thru.
If there is not another thing that goes right for you, please know that you & Mai were most gracious hosts and made each traveller in your little hotel feel like family. You have the gifts of welcoming strangers, and laughter, and making each guest feel important.
I’m not sure why you are having such a crappy time lately, but I do want you to know that my son and I think the world of you and your hotel and the brief time we spent with you was fantastic.
Hope this gets a smile out out of you: Our satellite has gone down. That means no TV for the week that it took the repair person to get here. Not the end of the world for sure, but annoying nonetheless. Yesterday was the big day and the repair person showed up. A Vietnamese guy! Go figure.
He worked on the problem for a looooong time and when he left, said it was all corrected. I should have known better, but we left the house after he left, and didn’t try to get the satellite on.
Do I even have to say it?
When we got home later that nite, sure enough, the satellite was out. Nada. Called the company and it will take another week for another repair person to get here.
Sound familiar….but a much watered down verion of your experience?
Anyway, I thought of you and wanted to say hello and hopefully send along some encouragement.
Maureen D & Keegan
Thanks for the kind words and the chuckle Maureen. It was a pleasure meeting you also.