Due to a technical glitch, Geoff was not able to post - so he mailed me this response to post on his behalf: Hi Hubbers,<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Bruce asked if I wanted to respond to the forum link he sent. I was the guy this woman dealt with. She phoned during the week and asked how much for a party hire and I told her standard entry rates apply, that we don?t charge extra. She asked do we have braais. I said yes. She asked can she book one for Sunday and I said sure, and there was a R30 reservation fee. I also asked her what time she planned coming as he said she wanted to ?make a day of it? and she said about 11am. So I told her to save her R30 because nobody started using them till 1 or 2pm. She asked is it ok to bring her own stuff, I assured her it was. She asked can she drive to the braais and I said no, but there was a gate out front of the Clubhouse that she could load in through and it was a very short carry. We?ve done this for lots of folks having kids and grown up parties. Upon arrival she told another group who were having a braai that they could not braai because she had booked the ?Picnic Area? including all the tables and chairs. After I?d broken that up (the other folks wanted no part of the discussion and didn?t say a word, had a very nice time and were a pleasure to have there), she started in on me that she wanted all the tables and chairs. I explained that wasn?t possible. She said ?I?ve made a booking!!!!!!!? and I explained that there were 3 braais and these folks were only using 1 which left 2 if she really needed to use that many (each braai can cook 10kgs of meat at once). Her next question was ?well where are we supposed to sit? . There was plenty of room outside so I suggested at an empty table if there was one open, failing that how about a picnic blanket (like most folks having picnic parties do) do or failing that on the grass. By the 3rd time repeated through this series of questions from her with the same answers from me I asked her if she had been smoking crack or was just not listening to my answers. I actually said to her that I was getting rude in my replies now but that her shouting wasn?t going to make the solution different. The Clubhouse was packed at the time, so there should be 15 ? 20 people who also heard this take place (some of them must be Hub members) Her take on the situation was that I should toss the folks who were in the Recovery Zone out for her. I?m sure she thought this was an appropriate response as she didn?t sound like a loony on the phone but I could see she was very stressed out right then and there. I explained that if the Recovery Zone was closed we may as well close the trails too, and that wasn?t going to happen. She just left mid sentence at this point???? If this sounds purile to you it does to me to. I dislike drama and carry-on so much I don?t even watch TV. I?m sorry this lady misunderstood whatever she misunderstood. Logwood Bike Haven does not rent out to anybody for the sum of 15 entry fees (we don?t charge for non riders, just the bikes). I would like to think that of all the commercial operations in SA Cycling, we put a little more into our riders and the sport than most. We are proud of what we do, but I confess to having a bit of a nasty taste in my mouth after this. Given the number of people we see every week I guess its inevitable that someone is going to be unhappy or misunderstand what we do, especially a non cyclist who has never been to Logwood before. I?d like to thank all the folks who bothered to say something nice and supportive to me after this particular unpleasant interaction. Geoff the Aussie
