Complaints by visitors to rental sites

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
alexia s.
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Complaints by visitors to rental sites

Post by alexia s. »

Re-reading holiday-rentals.com 's terms & conditions, I see that they reserve the right to cancel an ad on their site if complaints justify this: there was an earlier post about somebody's bad experience in a rented villa booked via h-r - you should complain to them, to protect future visitors.
On a different tack, but still regarding visitors and the responsability of rental sites, I was amused to learn, yesterday, that our arriving group had contacted h-r for a reference for me, before paying the balance! H-r had, quite correctly, said that they couldn't give references, but they did say that we had been with them for "x" years and that they had never had a complaint. This reply is exactly what you would expect from a serious site.
I did point out to my (young) guests that they had little to worry about when renting from somebody who had been with such a reputable site for a long time (h-r shows how long an advertiser has been with them). This is the first time they have rented a villa - they are very young and (I THINK) very sweet - they went around saying "It is just as pretty as it looks on the website!" - they were touchingly reassured!
Best,
Alexia.
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Hi Alexia - I'm amazed that anyone would think of asking for a reference for your property, which looks just wonderful. I'm surprised your young clients were so cautious, as it's not normally an attribute of youth, esp when booking a holiday! Hope you were able to give them a good reference as guests...
Last edited by Giddy Goat on Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Christine Kenyon
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Post by Christine Kenyon »

Wow! I had never thought about anyone asking for our reference. Most listing sites would surely find that difficult to answer as they don't have direct contact with the customers who book our properties. And if anyone is going to complain it is unlikely that they will remember the listing site that they first booked through.

We use our questionnaire to highlight any concerns and complaints. On the whole it has provided constructive feedback, some of which we agree with and have taken action on and some we disagree with!

Interesting thought, though. I vaguely remember Brooke posting a thread about potential customers asking for a reference from previous customers, but this is different again.
alexia s.
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Post by alexia s. »

Jane,
They were fantastic guests, who are going to come back next year. The 3 girls were very serious & responsable, which explains their concern - they'd never booked a holiday before.
Best,
Alexia.
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rosselder
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Post by rosselder »

We do sometimes receive queries from holidaymakers about our owners, seeking assurances as to the credibility of an advertiser and accuracy of the advert.

We recently started including the joining date of advertisers at the bottom of adverts due to this demand from holidaymakers.

We also keep a record of any disagreements between tenants and owners and would act in severe instances, or where persistent conflicts seem to arise. Fortunately this has not happened to date (6 years and 3,000 properties!).
Ross Elder
Director, Holiday Lettings Ltd
www.holidaylettings.co.uk
ross@holidaylettings.co.uk
(01865) 201 444
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Alexia - how lovely that your young trio were so responsible, and are coming back next year.
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HolidayWebs
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Post by HolidayWebs »

For your info, as the director of a rental listing site we do receive requests for a reference for an advertiser or just a request for reassurance that the advertiser is genuine. As mentioned above all we can do is advise how long the advertiser has been with us and confirm that we have received no complaints about the advertiser or their properties which fortunately has always been the case.

I am not surprised that we receive these requests as a lot of potential renters are daunted by booking over the internet so that the more information that you give your guests and the more promptly you respond to enquiries the better. I think it also helps if you can send some sort of brochure, even if it reiterates the same info on your own web sites, and give landline telephone numbers as well as mobile numbers. It also reassures guests if you send receipts for deposits received promptly and send out arrival instructions well in advance and give contact details for someone during their stay. Occasionally I've been contacted by anxious guests who are unable to contact owners in the days before departure.

So please don't be surprised if references are requested - it is pretty common.
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