Booking.com Availability Glitch

[hydroland2]

I just discovered that Booking.com calendar had reset for Sept onwards and cleared all the dates making them available!

I only found this out just now when I had a booking notice for dates that were already booked. Definitely not an oversight by me as I always fill in b.com's calender as soon as I get a booking and this one overlapped two different bookings, plus all the other bookings had vanished except one made through b.com
All the prices I'd put on had vanished as well and there is now just the default price.

Might be worth checking in case it's happened to anyone else.

Now I just have to explain to my poor guest that she can't have those dates.... thanks Booking.com

[Ecosse]

Just a thought because we had something like this happen last year, but it turned out I had made a mistake on the dashboard: could you have closed the dates for the next, e.g 12 months and assumed that this was a rolling date closure? I did that, thinking that any date 12 months from now would be closed, only to find, when someone booked a date 9 months ahead (with the wrong price!) that they were only closed up until a date 12 months from when I closed them off.

There is a way on the dashboard to set the date to be closed indefinitely - I've just checked mine and it seems to still be applying. You can then just open up dates when you want to have availability rather than when they want you to!

[hydroland2]

Well my original thought was I'd made a mistake and done something like that, but it's cleared everything - bookings, prices - and it was Ok the last time I added a booking from elsewhere, so I think it has to be a glitch.

[Mouse]

Good grief! Have you contacted them about it?

Mouse
x

[hydroland2]

Good grief! Have you contacted them about it?

Mouse
x

Yes. I sent them a message straight away. They replied that it must have happened last time I updated the prices. I know that I checked the prices had been saved though after I updated them and I'm sure I would have noticed at the time that all my bookings had disappeared! Everything after the end of August was reset - prices and calendar.

Anyway I thought I should mention it here just in case they've got a glitch that's affecting more properties.

[oasiscouple]

Happened to me also. I had crossed off a weekend when I was going to be away and received a last minute booking in the morning for the evening of the same day. Not only that, but my price had been unilateraly reduced.

Checked my advert and found that on several days my priced had been reduced.

Have now updated the calendar and price and will do a frequent double check that they haven't messed up my settings.

[CSE]

Any problems like this is never the fault of booking!
Twice this year they have taken reservation payments on our behalf. First time was due to a change in the console. Therefore we had a lot of back and forwarding of phone calls and emails. The final one gave us the outline words to get out of that part of Booking. The second time happened just the other week.Again due to changes made by Booking. This time we stated that they had effect broken our contract and that we wanted the reservation money. We also "kindly" reminded them that we are their customers not the guest. All we got was sorry but you should check your T&Cs.
Would be nice for them to tell us when they make changes to the console.

[Mouse]

I find it shocking that they change your prices!! Do they then force you to accept those bookings?

Do you get charged if you then cancel them?

If so, is there an easy way to prevent the bookings?

Mouse (compiling a book about these things to watch out for!)
x

[CSE]

Mouse, in a one word: NO.

[hydroland2]

I find it shocking that they change your prices!! Do they then force you to accept those bookings?

Do you get charged if you then cancel them?

If so, is there an easy way to prevent the bookings?

Mouse (compiling a book about these things to watch out for!)
x

Luckily in this case the people who had made the booking had been here before so they were very understanding about the problem and didn't think I was trying some weird kind of scam or something and we managed to arrange alternative dates.
I think it could have been much more complicated if it had been a new guest.
Also as I don't take card payments through Bookingcom there wasn't any problem of their already having paid.

They'd actually deleted all my seasonal prices and set everything to my max price, so anyone booking those weeks would have been seriously ripped off!

The worst problems I usually have with Bookingcom (outside this latest problem!) are:

-because I don't take cards through their site, they insist on putting on my listing that I only accept cash on arrival! This is complete rubbish as I would never accept that, I like my bookings paid and organised in advance so I know exactly what's happening. Unfortunately I think the "cash only" thing puts people off. (They refuse to allow any mention of payment by PayPal as they tell me PayPal is a competing company!)

-there is no restriction on the dates people can select or how long they can stay. So they can pick stupid start and end days that block up the weeks on either side and also book as long as they want. I had a few occasions when people have booked several weeks and I only accept 2 weeks max. as it's a short term holiday let, not a residential let. Luckily in all of these cases it was obviously a scam and then never made any attempt to pay, but it's a real hassle getting Bookingcom to clear these bookings off the calendar.

[Mouse]

Thank you for those points hydroland2 you have a fighting chance if you know these 'quirks' before listing.

Also as I don't take card payments through Bookingcom there wasn't any problem of their already having paid

I didn't know there was an option to not have payments taken by them. It's a pain they say cash on arrival though....how do you handle getting the money from them earlier?
Also can you take credit card payments and advertise that?

Mousie
x

[zebedee]

Cash on arrival sounds to me like code for "dodgy owner or property"
Maybe that's what they want people to think???

(Edited X1)

[hydroland2]

I didn't know there was an option to not have payments taken by them. It's a pain they say cash on arrival though....how do you handle getting the money from them earlier?
Also can you take credit card payments and advertise that?

Mousie
x

I take payments by cheque, bank transfer and PayPal. I think there is a note somewhere right at the bottom of my listing telling guests to contact me for payment details.
When I get a booking I contact the guest through Bookingcom and tell them their deposit is now due and ask how they would like to pay it. Most pay by bank transfer. Some pay by PayPal. Bookingcom don't give you the guest's email address, but I discovered you can send a PayPal invoice to the @Bookingcom address they give to the guest and they can pay using that.

I'm sure the "cash on arrival" looks very dodgy - it certainly does to me! - but obviously some guests realize that isn't actually right.

The problem is that Bookingcom is set up for hotels who can take guests at short notice and have them pay on arrival, but they refuse to make any changes to make the system work better for self-catering owners.

[limousin-cottage]

I recently had a booking through Booking.com which I realised had one night overlapping onto the next booking! Nightmare! I realised that I had made a mistake on the dates, as their drop-down calendar dates show 2016 dates first. Who on earth would want to see last year's bookings calendar?. The only way out of it was for me to find the guests alternative accommodation, that was of a similar or better standard, pay for it myself, then wait for payment from Booking.Com for the original booking. Fortunately, a nearby friend could do the booking, at mate's rates, but I was still out of pocket of course.

[Hells Bells]

I have my own listing set to take card details, including the CVC which I then process through Waveapps. There is also an option in my extranet to request prepayment via Bank transfer.