Loch Rannoch Highland Club Forums

Eventually received the newsletter which to be honest took all of 2 minutes, if that to read as there was very little of note.

Having the nespresso coffee machines in lodges for free was interesting and a welcome addition in particular for the many renters who have been asking for coffee etc, and for us owners who normally fund most projects, BUT what is the catch?

These coffee machines are not cheap so no supplier is going to provide 85 machines and a repairs/ service unless there is a proviso.
Do the Club have to sell a certain amount of pods to ensure the continued use of those machines?
If we don't are those machines then abruptly removed?
Will we see the pods as a separate entry in accounts similar to other entries?

Also noted we are no longer using maintenance team for the refurbs which personally is not a bad thing due the the many ongoing issues in lodges and as I have suggested before, I think refurbs should be postponed until all lodges are wind and watertight.
Who is the new company involved and what is the additional cost compared to previous year?
With rentals apparently year on year, if accounts are forensically reviewed continually showing a reducing net profit and owners reducing too meaning less finance from the imposed levy, this is important for owners to be aware of.

Also Starlink. Over the years the Club with owners monies, a small fortune has been spent on WiFi and broadband.
What are the benefits to owners of Starlink?

The advertising of local establishments is good promotion of the area and worthwhile.

All very nice a new coffee machine, but do you know what I'd really like, I do genuinely mean really REALLY LIKE? A habitable Lodge! I don't think I'm asking much having paid my Maintenance Fees plus any Extra Amount being asked of me by the Committee since LRHC was originally opened, and yet I couldn't stay this year in our Lodge due to the downstairs bedrooms, followin the wettest Spring on records, being sodden with dampness! The upstairs pull down bed was covered in Dogs' hairs and so lumpy it felt like the Rocky road to Dublin! I've first asked for a new matress prior to Covid, but all pleas fall on deaf ears!
The way I see it is, I've kept to my side of the Contract and paid my 2024 Maintenance Fees plus the additional Refurbishment levy, but the Club haven't kept to their's by MAINTAINING my Lodge, as a result I was unable to have my full weeks holiday this year. I had previously advised the GM of the situation on numerous occasions, it should have been resolved! I therefore need the matter resolved but GM and Committee are turning a Deaf Ear!
So compensation for 2024 lost holiday is the very least, and an urgent remedial plan for this damp and therefore injurious to my Health Lodge. In the meantime I am Lodge-less due to damp BEDS! So why should I pay Maintenance Fees for a H/L I cannot use?
Any Owner have an idea how I can get the GM or Committee to improve their Deafness on this subject?
Ronnie

Suggest that you contact Mr Stephen Walton on Commitee direct Ronnie.
It was how I managed to have the defects in PM6 attended to.
Good luck

Stephen Walton! ,but ! Oh I'm sorry I don't mean to be rude to you, but I was an Owner during Mr Walton's unfeasibly extended period as Chairman when most Owners thought he had been Super-glued to the LRHC Chair and were pretty sure that during that long period the Proxy Vote count held by the Chair was somehow skewing the vote! Owners watched as Maintenance Fees went up and were then wasted on Hobby Horses ideas; Non- Starter Entrepreneurial Business ventures/speculations and a great many more unsuccessful ventures that had Owners gnashing their teeth as the misspent Money could/should have been used on Refurbishing the Lodges! Needless to say their was delight when he eventually was 'encouraged' to step-down as Chairman.
However I and I know many other longterm Owners now have a feeling of deja vu as we see the Club starting, as in days of old, to wither on the vine.

I get your drift Ronnie however you asked for suggestions on how to get your lodge defects rectified and this is how I got my own lodge issues resolved as reporting issues in good faith at LRHC reception was fruitless

I do appreciate you having at least made a suggestion. You are correct in saying how fruitless it is reporting any issues at LRHC Reception and indeed to the GM/Committee.
I honestly can't see how it is Legally of Morally right for the Committee to insist Owners keep their Financial end of the Management Contract whilst ignoring their end of the Contract.
If I am being asked to pay next year's Management Fee for a H/L that is no longer habitable and indeed injurious to my and other Owners/Renters' Health due to Damp Spores, I may have to consider taking Legal Advice on the matter particularly following the new Laws that were introduced on Dampness and Duty of Care quite apart from Contract Law.
Thank you for your suggestion.
Ronnie

Fully understand. If you’ve exhausted all the recognised avenues to complain and notify the club re the defects and nothing has changed then I would think you are well within your rights to withold further payments and legal advice on the subject would be well justified

A very minor observation. ………. I don’t quite get the need to be installing Nespresso machines in the lodges when there’s far more important issues to be resolved first.
In fact I’ve always been happy to just bring a jar of Nescafe and a box of teabags to a self catering but then that’s just how I am.

I actually think the Nespresso Machine is more about impressing the Renters Market as I notice in a lot of Hotels the Instant Coffee sachets have been replaced by Pods for use in Coffee Machines. It's basically another money making venture, Customers are provided with 3/4 Pods and then the have to purchase a Box of Pods from Reception or a Vending Machine. Owners can either live without such a machine and the money spent on repairs! There is always the option to stick your own in the boot of your car, personally I've never been that desperate!
Ronnie

My thoughts too Ronnie. I think Stuart’s comments on the installation of 85 x coffee machines at LRHC is a fair summary of the situation and as far as I know, no clarification has been made to date regarding how this has come about or what the catch is.
Who decided to do this ? Was it approved by Committee ?
Who benefits? I know someone who won’t be buying any coffee pods anytime soon.

Do you think they were supplied free by Nescafe to encourage Sale of Pods?
If Committee bought them a lot of Elderly Owners who had to scrape together enough money to pay the additional money on top of their Maintenance Fees will be very angry indeed at the waste!