Booking Referrals
Booking Referrals
Would it be possible to setup an area on the forum for Owners to post their surplus bookings so that others may try and book them?
It's possible, but is it desirable? This place is visible to all, and wouldn't the bad guys try to take advantage of the information?
I tend to think it is better to talk to owners around you with similar properties and agree to exchange enquiries you can't fulfil. This way you know what you are recommending.
What do others think?
I tend to think it is better to talk to owners around you with similar properties and agree to exchange enquiries you can't fulfil. This way you know what you are recommending.
What do others think?
Paolo
Lay My Hat
Lay My Hat
Hm... I think we certainly couldn't post contact information or anything like that.
But would it be that useful here? I honestly don't know. I don't think there is anyone else on the forum with a rental in the Cote d'Or, so even if I had a surplus booking inquiry I wouldn't necessarily be able to offer it to anyone, and likewise the extra serious inquiries of others would likely not be useful to me. Is there a lot of overlap in properties here?
Which leads to the next question -- in the future when every rental owner with a property in my area is on the forum, would an official means of distributing extra bookings make us more or less cordial, less or more competitive? I could imagine someone not using the official channels and others getting upset, or everyone in a busy area trying to sneakily underbid each other to get a customer for an edge-of-season week.
Strangely, I just got one of these inquiries today, from someone very eager to book a week which is clearly marked as unavailable on our calendar. Ah, well. If there were other rental owners in my area with whom I'd established a rapport via the forum, I'd definitely PM them for things like this.
But would it be that useful here? I honestly don't know. I don't think there is anyone else on the forum with a rental in the Cote d'Or, so even if I had a surplus booking inquiry I wouldn't necessarily be able to offer it to anyone, and likewise the extra serious inquiries of others would likely not be useful to me. Is there a lot of overlap in properties here?
Which leads to the next question -- in the future when every rental owner with a property in my area is on the forum, would an official means of distributing extra bookings make us more or less cordial, less or more competitive? I could imagine someone not using the official channels and others getting upset, or everyone in a busy area trying to sneakily underbid each other to get a customer for an edge-of-season week.
Strangely, I just got one of these inquiries today, from someone very eager to book a week which is clearly marked as unavailable on our calendar. Ah, well. If there were other rental owners in my area with whom I'd established a rapport via the forum, I'd definitely PM them for things like this.
Brooke
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Alan Knighting
- Posts: 4120
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:26 am
- Location: Monflanquin, Lot-et-Garonne, France
That is exactly what we do. We think it is important to know each other and to know each others' properties. That way we can forward enquiries in the confidence that the locations, the people and the properties meet with the requirements of the holiday-makers.paolo wrote:I tend to think it is better to talk to owners around you with similar properties and agree to exchange enquiries you can't fulfil. This way you know what you are recommending.
It's just one more little service for the holiday-makers but it's not particularly effective - naturally, we all get booked up for the same weeks.
Alan