Should he trust?

[expat]

>He is about an hour or so a drive from Helsinki - out in the sticks.

I confess to not know Finland very well but if he is out in the sticks and not in the 'big' city I would say go or it...

[karter]

Has Mr muck been thrown out of the hotel yet for not paying his hotel bill?

[Keef]

What Jeremy said.

[Ladymuck]

Oh karter, I should be laughing, but I'm not.

Update:

I have just finished quizzing hubby. It seems I got everything arse about tit!:-S. See separate posts below. I don't know WHAT to think now.

[Ladymuck]

> Can't he re-book the extension and pay online

> again as he (presumably) did for the original

> booking?

You can, but it costs a good 20%+ more to do so. Once you are already there, you get a massive discount for cash payment should you wish to extend your stay. But it gets weirder...

[Ladymuck]

> By the way...have you seen the movie 'Hostel'? It

> suddenly comes to mind.....hotel in the middle of

> nowhere...the only one....leave the cash on the

> table to be collected.......just saying like

> lol.....;-)

This hotel wasn't out in the sticks about an hours' drive outside of Helsinki, by any chance LOL?

You have to laugh!

[Ladymuck]

> This is an internet hotel! The management probably

> hasn't even seen most of the guests - who knows

> who they really are?

This is an internet-hotel in the truest sense. It turns out there is NO management there. All conversations have taken place via email. Its sounds really creepy - a bit Bates Motel LOL!

Doesn't look as though there are any other guests either. You enter and leave via a code (given out by - yes - a computer)!

[Ladymuck]

> If he has a problem appearing not to trust them,

> just tell them that he needs to hand it over and

> get a receipt for tax purposes. Might help save

> face. Or do the booking online as suggested.

Well...this is where I seem to have got things arse about tit.

When I said that hubby had offered to hand over the cash to someone and was told that he would have to leave it in his room, I had (wrongly!) assumed that hubby had spoken to someone. Well, why shouldn't I. But, to my surprise, I have just found out that hubby has spoken to N0-ONE. Not a soul! Apparently, all these "conversations" (where I assumed that he had actually spoken to human beings) have being via email!. There doesn't appear to be anyone at the hotel! Apart from my hubby!::o On quizzing hubby further by saying e.g. "what about these laid back members of staff you talked about?", he simply replied: "they were laid back via email". Well f-uck me!!! How could I have got it so wrong?

Summary:

Hubby is in a hotel where there is no staff (whatsoever). Apparently a cleaner goes in once a week, though he hasn't seen him/her as yet. All the "conversations" between hubby and all these nice sounding, lovely laid back Finns have been via computer!!!! The computer wants him to leave a wad of cash in the room for the elusive cleaner to collect, in exchange for which the cleaner will leave a receipt. Simple really! Don't know why we are making such a fuss!

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Allah and good people of ED; what now?

[Mick Mac]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I quite often encounter situations like this

> abroad - I haven't been scammed yet. If you are

> being told by staff/owners then I'm happy enough

> to go with the flow. And you get to come away

> feeling better about the world

This is the exact opposite of what I was thinking. But there you go.... 1 month in a hotel - that is a lot or trust, its too much for me i'm afraid. Get a printed booking in advance perhaps.

I'd suggest there may be some sort of scam between manager/front desk and somehow the manager/staff will get the cash and you will get your booking. The hotel might not see the money though.

[Ladymuck]

There is no manager/front desk/staff apart from a weekly cleaner.

[ruffers]

I've stayed in these kind of hotels and LM's right, there's no one around.

Sounds like the local manager is trying to sort a deal for everyone's benefit - I'd be more comfortable if it was me though to arrange to meet and get some kind of receipt. 99% job's a good 'un though.

[Ladymuck]

I SO don't want to believe this is a scam.:( People in that part of the world really are extremely nice and very, very honest (as some of you have pointed out).

[Mick Mac]

Your OP referred to hotel "management"....

If your hubby wants to leave a months money for the cleaning staff...oh dear, sounds bad to me.

[Ladymuck]

> Your OP referred to hotel "management"....

Yes, that's what I thought originally. See my post about six posts back: timed at 1.04...we must have cross-posted. Thanks BTW.

[Mick Mac]

I can't be bothered to read everything - not even my PMs ::o

[Ladymuck]

*sniff*

[DJKillaQueen]

Sounds to me as though the cleaner et al are on a tax free make, which is fine as long as hubby gets to stay for the time he pays and no-one accuses him of not paying the bill. Personally, if I'm going to be on that kind of arrangement with someone I like to see the face of who I'm being asked to trust.

[HAL9000]

What if an anonymous guest (past or present) gains access to hubby's room and steals his valuables - including a large wad of cash left lying around? A dishonest person at the other end of the email conversations (or even a third party 'sniffing' the email server's traffic) could set up a burglary on demand - the victim wouldn't be able to prove anything.

The hotel already appears to be running some sort of tax dodge ? evidence of inherent dishonesty?

This situation has the potential for a perfect crime.

[Narnia]

Ladymuck Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> > Can't he re-book the extension and pay online

> > again as he (presumably) did for the original

> > booking?

>

> You can, but it costs a good 20%+ more to do so.

> Once you are already there, you get a massive

> discount for cash payment should you wish to

> extend your stay. But it gets weirder...

Well if the leaving of cash if of concern, why not rebook a room in your name for example. He can be Ladymuck (god help him) and save the extra 20%.

[Twirly]

That is so incedibly bizarre - sounds like an episode out of the Twilight Zone! And sorry LadyMuck, it did make me laugh.

Why are people assuming it's a tax dodge, is it just because it's cash? Maybe they're reducing costs by avoiding credit card charges. Sounds like an incredibly no frillls hotel to me. Maybe they don't get enough guests to employ fulltime staff?

However, if he is going to leave cash, find out which day and what time this cleaner is showing up. Either hang around if possible to meet the cleaner or at least minimise the amount of time it's lying around.

[MrTwirly]

A hotel.. sorry AN hotel.. opened by computer, booked by computer, staffed by computer.. your hubby isn't called Dave is he? Might get complicated when he asks the hotel to "open the hotel doors" Only to be told "I'm sorry Dave.. I can't do that "

If he hears the computer singing "Daisy Daisy " tell him to leg it out the nearest air lock.. erm sorry I mean fire escape.

;-)

[Narnia]

Not as far fetched as it sounds Mr.Twirly. I once went on a work trip to Sweden, somewhere in the sticks.I couldn't stay the whole weekend as I'd previously booked a trip to Dublin. So I ordered a cab to take me to the airport in the early morning. The taxi was there all right but the glass doors were locked.There was nobody about, not even a night porter. I couldn't get out. I eventually found a window I could partially open and squeezed out.

[Ladymuck]

Thanks for your further input guys, but this is genuinely bothering me. Not in the way you all think, I suspect. I have spent most of the night thinking about this and emailing hubby with my thoughts while he slept.

I thought of Warren Buffet, that very successful and charismatic businessman who is known for frequently doing business on nothing more than a handshake: where there could be millions at stake. He has done well, but - most importantly - he seems genuinely happy in himself.

I have spoken to hubby again, who himself sent a further email to the hotel (yes, emailing the very hotel he was sitting/typing in - I realise it sounds bizarre). A very pleasant reply from a lovely-laid-back-sounding-Finn says that there is no problem and that if he leaves the cash in the room, the receipt will actually follow a couple of days later. He has this in writing. He's in a hotel. These emails must be trackable.

I think hubby would have probably checked out by now had it not been for:

(1) If he pays by cash he obtains a discount of 20%+.

(2) If he pays one month in advance (as opposed to daily) he gains a further similar saving.

(3) Me - and my opposite viewpoints. But I am driven by emotions and intuition - and that is probably not rational.

It's a really tough one; but one post keeps haunting me. It is this one:

"...I get more of a thrill when people show themselves up to be good. What you know living in south-London doesn't always apply abroad or elsewhere in the country and if you stick to what you know you never learn."

I need to - somehow - clear my head. I'm going for a jog.

[LadyDeliah]

I think if he has all the emails, he could send a further email stating that he has left the cash and if there was any dispute he could use that as some form of evidence that he had done as he was asked.

[Ladymuck]

Bah...couldn't focus on jogging...emotional turmoil and all that...

> Well if the leaving of cash if of concern, why not rebook a room

> in your name for example. He can be Ladymuck (god help him) and

> save the extra 20%.

A fine idea, except that the discount doesn't apply when booking on-line (so would be futile). Strange, it's usually the opposite way around.