Horror at Cheechako Cabins
True stories of Terrible Guests
and the consequences they suffered.

True Story #1
When we first opened we only had one cabin available and didn’t know that some people really just aren’t very smart.  We have always had wood burning stoves in the cabins and we have always provided fire wood and kindling but back in the beginning we left a chopping block and an axe outside for our guests so they could make themselves more kindling if needed.  Well we hadn’t been open for very long when we had guests who used the axe to do just that.  Unfortunately, they thought chopping the kindling INSIDE the cabin was a good idea.  Needless to say he wasn’t one of our smarter guests and our poor floor got pretty chopped up too.  The moral of this story is “Never chop kindling inside the cabins because you will be paying for a new floor”.

True Story #2
This one is a doozy because the whole family wasn’t very smart.  In fact, they are responsible for us adding several items to our Cheechako Cabins no-no list.
This family came to stay a couple of years ago and had booked two cabins for 9 people.  The first day the mom told us how happy she was to be out here because her 11 year old son had a problem with starting fires back home.  This should have been our first clue that we were going to have problems with her family. 
The very next day while doing some yard maintenance we noticed that there was a pile of matches beside their one cabin.  Upon closer inspection we found that no less than 4 fires had been started around the base of the cabin and the skirting had been singed.  When the mom was approached and shown the damages she claimed that it would never have been her children because they would never to lie to her (yeah, because no child ever lies to their parents, right?). 
Then we found a whole bunch of cigarette butts that had just been thrown onto the ground and some had even been thrown into our firewood boxes while still lit.  As the dad was the only smoker in the bunch we had to tell him to use the ashtray as he could start a serious fire but upon their departure we found more butts in our brand new wood pile we had just built while they were here.  The family claimed it must have been somebody else but we had already done a yard clean-up before they arrived and there were no smoking items littering the property.  As it was only her family on the property at the time we knew it had to be one of them so she was told that if we found any more damage they would be asked to leave immediately without a refund. 
Their son meanwhile had managed to break a fence, destroy a rock garden and was found in the play structure behind the main house, which belongs to the granddaughter of the owners of Cheechako Cabins, even though he had been told repeatedly that it was not for our guests to use.
This family also claimed they were overcharged for their stay as 3 people left early.  They booked for 9 people which is what they were charged for and we do not give refunds for early departures.  But they were insistent that 3 people left and they were overcharged.  The thing is after these 3 people left there were still 9 people in their party on the property.  This means that they were undercharged and did not inform us of their extra persons or they just had no basic math skills.
This family also had some pretty disgusting personal habits as well.  When they left we found that they had blown their noses on our sheets, someone had peed the bed and wiped their bums with the quilts and someone had urinated and defecated in the shower.  Pretty gross, huh?
We charged these people in excess of $750.00 for all the damages they had done, reported them to the RCMP and finally had to use a collections agency to get our money.  We have informed ALL the accommodation and campground operators in the area about this family so that no one else would have to go through the same experience. 
To date these people have been unable to find accommodation in the area although they have tried on several occasions but they quit trying when someone told them they were on the Nordegg Black List and no one in the area will rent to them.  We don’t know who they are terrorizing now but it isn’t anybody in Nordegg. 
The moral of this story is “Do not start uncontrolled fires, use our linens for anything besides their intended use, do not urinate or defecate in the shower, do not litter the property with smoking items, do not alter or tamper with the landscaping, there are no refunds for early departures and failure to inform us of more than confirmed occupancy in the cabins will result in you being asked to leave immediately.”

True Story #3
This actually applies to several past guests who apparently didn’t know how to wash dishes.  One guest for instance called and was really upset that she got charged $80.00 to rewash her dishes and couldn’t understand why it was so much.  Well every single dish in the cabin as well as the cupboards had to be rewashed because they were put away still wet and most of the items she used still had dried-on food, grease and/or beverage stains on the dishes.  She actually said that the faces of the plates were clean so that should be good enough but that she shouldn’t have been charged just because there was still grease and dried food on the backs of the plates because you didn’t eat off that part.  That just made us laugh really hard and she hung up on us.
Then there were the guests who didn’t want to wash dishes and didn’t think we would find the dirty items if they hid them around the cabin.  They were upset too because they didn’t think they should be charged as “they had washed and put away all their dishes”.  Well they didn’t and since there wasn’t a single glass in the cupboard we knew the dishes had to be somewhere.  We found plates and pans in the oven and the oven drawer, mugs and glasses had been hidden behind the toilet plunger in the bathroom vanity and the rest of their dishes were hidden in various drawers in the dressers and even under the wood box.  They were charged over $150.00 because they made our one housekeeper REALLY mad since if they had spent as much time washing dishes as they did hiding them they would never have been charged in the first place. 
Then there are the people who think just using a dish cloth is good enough even though there is still baked on food on the pots and pans. 
A good thing to remember is that we provide S.O.S. pads, pot scrubbers and dish soap for a reason.  A dish cloth alone is not enough to get things clean, especially the pots and pans.  Our housekeeper HATES to do dishes and if she has to do them she will make you pay for it in a financially painful way. 
The moral of this story is “Make sure all the kitchen items you use and dirty (including the microwave plate, coffee carafe and filter basket, tea pot, etc.) are thoroughly washed, scrubbed, rinsed, dried and put away.  This includes the handles, the rims of pots and pans, the lids of pots, etc.  One or two dishes in the sink, dishes left in the drainer or any dishes found elsewhere in the cabin is not acceptable.  If they are not as clean as the way you found them you will definitely be paying at least $25.00 if not more.”

True Story #5
We are a popular destination for couples whether they are newlyweds or have been together a long time.  We all understand that sometimes couples want to spice things up a little but when our linens suffer it’s a whole new set of problems. 
For instance, some personal lubricants and massage oils can permanently stain linens and because of this we ask that you be very careful with their use.  We also realize that some couples watch way too much late night TV and think that showering together is a great idea.  Well it isn’t.  Our showers were designed and built for one person at a time and we have already had to replace showers because a couple broke or shattered the glass.  Showering together also uses MORE water, not less, so don’t believe the hype.  The moral of this story is “If you permanently stain our linens you will be paying for new ones and the replacement cost starts at $75.00 for one set of sheets.  Don’t shower together either or you will be paying in excess of $800.00 to replace the shower when (not if) you break it.”

True Story #12
We welcome ATV owners here at Cheechako Cabins on a frequent basis and most of our ATV owners have been great guests.  Except for one group who thought walkways and lawns were for driving on.  They are not and this is the reason we found it necessary to tell you about these people.  Everything you see in the landscaping and in the building of the cabins was done by ourselves.  There are no little magical creatures who come out and do all the work for us.  As such, it has taken us many years to get a real lawn on the property and if you drive on it with your car, truck or ATV you will be asked to leave immediately after Bonnie “tunes” you in.  That is NOT a pleasant experience and could result in a long hospital stay for you.  The same goes for the walkways.

True Story #13
We ask our guests to keep us informed of any problems they may experience during their stay so that we can fix whatever it is that is wrong.  Whether it is as small as running out of toilet paper or as big as having no power, we need to know during your stay.  We recently had a family out for New Years that seemed happy during their stay but 3 weeks later we received a letter from them. 
The problem apparently was that the people who were sleeping on the couch had no bedding.  This was a surprise to us as we were only told there were 4 adults and 2 dogs coming.  The people on the couch were numbers 5 and 6.  If we had been told these extra people were coming we would have made up the couch but we didn’t because we weren’t told.  That was problem number one in their letter. 
The second problem was that they claimed their veggie peeler was sub-standard and they had to postpone dinner because of it.  Okay, fine, not a good peeler but why didn’t they tell any of us while they were here?  The writer of the letter stated that she was looking forward to hearing back from us as a financial point.  We weren’t really sure what this meant so we sent her back a letter and said thank you for your concerns and we will address them.  Well this REALLY dumb lady called us after she got our letter and demanded we give her a refund in the amount of $60.00 because of her extra guests we didn’t know about and because of the peeler.  We of course said no. 
Do you want to know why?  Because, as we stated earlier, we didn’t know about the guests or the peeler problem while she was here.  Also, because there were 3 veggie peelers in her cabin as well as 3 paring knives.  We don’t give a refund just because you are unable to use a different peeler or because you can’t peel a potato with a knife.  We also don’t give refunds for extra guests that we never knew about OR CHARGED YOU FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE! 
Her family also made no effort to clean up after their dogs and since they were big dogs... well you get the picture.  This idiot woman also stole our cabin policies because she said they offended her since her family were good people and would never do any of the things on the list.  AAAAGGGHHHH!!!!!  This is the woman the housekeeper wanted to bounce off of a cement curb.  Preferably from 1000 feet in the air. 
This woman was also born and raised in Nordegg and thought that because of this she should have gotten a discount.  Huh?  Do you expect a discount when you go back to your home town just because you lived there several decades ago?  Probably not.  I wonder how that would work if I went to Edmonton and said that I used to live there so I wanted a discount from all the retailers and accommodation operators.  Think they would give me one?

True Story #17 (brand new in November 2007)
I honestly never thought I would have to write a true story like this but it gives you a very good sense of the kind of standards we at Cheechako Cabins hold ourselves to.
We recently had one extreme to another in the way of guests at the cabins.  One couple gave me the nicest compliment I have ever had regarding the cabins (and if you travel a lot you will know what I mean).  They checked in and after getting into their cabin, they had to come and tell us how happy they were and how it was the FIRST time in all their years of travelling, all over the world, that they stayed somewhere that not only did they feel they should take off their shoes at the door, they WANTED to take off their shoes because it was the cleanest place they had ever stayed.  These people were wonderful guests, very respectful of the property and they knew how to do dishes which always wins points with the housekeeper (me).  They are already making plans to come next year for a longer stay.  Now that isn’t the horror part.
That came when other guests who were here at the same time were the complete opposites of the nice couple.  They didn’t know how to do dishes, weren’t very respectful of the property and had the audacity to tell the housekeeper (again, me) that my standards were way too high and that people would be more comfortable if I didn’t clean as thoroughly as I did and then I wouldn’t have to charge so much for extra cleaning.  Whoa!  If you know this couple or someone like them, NEVER go to their home because you might pick up a disease or two.  However, if the worst complaint I hear is that our cabins are TOO clean, I can live with that.  How about you?

We have many more true stories that we keep in a binder in every cabin at Cheechako Cabins so if you would like to read them all, come and stay with us!  For instance, there is the one about people placing candles on the wood stove while they had a fire going.  Not smart people as you probably guessed.  

Thankfully, we have had many more great guests than we have had bad guests though writing about them isn’t as funny or horrifying.  Kind of boring really.  But our great guests have made being in business worthwhile and many have become like part of the family they have been here so often over the years.  Heck, we even get Christmas presents from past guests.  How nice is that?  Okay, so it was really presents for the dogs but still...