Rachel Turner
Google
We enjoyed our weekend at this B&B. There were some plumbing issues, which resulted in us being without a bathroom for much of a Saturday, however we understand that these things happen. Our issue is the way the owner spoke to me (the wife) when we reported the plumbing issue. The issue happened on a Saturday morning, so we went to breakfast and found the owner, who was helping to set up for breakfast. I told him about the plumbing, and his attitude seemed very blasé; he said something like "oh, that's interesting, the Jefferson room doesn't usually have plumbing issues, I'll see about a plumber when I can, but it is Saturday." This is not an actual quote, but to give the idea of what he said. I understood that it was a Saturday, and that he was busy, but I wanted him to understand that we needed a bathroom. I was trying to impart some sense of urgency, so I started to say something like "this is really important..." Again, not an exact quote. Before I could finish my sentence, he interrupted me and yelled at me about how he was in the middle of breakfast, and it was a Saturday so he couldn't guarantee anything, and he was busy, etc. I am not a shrinking violet, but I was shaken. I have not been yelled at like that before. Even my husband, who is much more apt to accept an answer from someone than I am without asking questions, was taken aback and agreed that I had been yelled at. I didn't say anything after that because I was stunned and frankly a bit unnerved. I felt it was unnecessary, and I was especially unprepared for this reaction from the owner of the business, who is in hospitality. I want to make clear that my interactions with the other person working there (I believe her name was Shannon, though I could be misremembering) were absolutely lovely, and the food she made was good. The plumbing issues were resolves in a timely fashion too. The reason for the low rating is just that the whole experience was tainted by the way the owner spoke to me. I was to unnerved to speak to him again, and frankly felt uncomfortable for the rest of our stay there. I hope to never be spoken to that way again.
ETA: I cannot figure out how to reply to your post, so I am editing mine. I appreciate your response. I just want to make it clear that we were in no way dissatisfied with how the actual plumbing issue was handled; I thought I made that clear in the original post, and if I did not I apologize. It was handled well, and we were happy with the results, and as you noted greatly appreciative! The only thing we did not like was how John spoke to me. Now, I understand he was busy, and I appreciate that he called the plumber right away. This unfortunate interaction would have been avoided if he had just said something like "I am sorry to hear that; I'm in the middle of serving breakfast. Give me a minute and I'll call the plumber as soon as breakfast is served." That would have forestalled any issue. He did not communicate it to us like that, however. That is all I'm saying. If the initial communication had been nicer there would have been no issue; we weren't even that upset about the plumbing. It was just the way he spoke to me. I am sorry that my mode of trying to communicate the urgency of the situation must have hit a nerve with John. I certainly was not trying to be difficult, I just expected a different response, that's all. I didn't expect to be made uncomfortable for bringing a problem to the owner's attention.
