Low Ball Offers

[croatian_villa]

Do many of you get Low Ball offers for staying at your property. Just had one asking for a 2 week break but at the cost of what I charge for 1 week.

I guess they hope someone is desperate enough to halve their prices..

[tavi]

I had one the other day wanted an August week at September price,

and wanted to bring a baby and a cat.

[e-richard]

You cannot turn on the TV, or read a newspaper these days without some do-gooder consumerist encouraging you to "try it on". They suggest asking for a discount in high street branded stores, in supermarkets and notably calling hotels directly, not going through booking agents.

Its just another sign of the changing times, and one should avoid taking it personally. The guest is asking a question, you have the ability to answer "no, but....".

Take it as an opportunity, not an insult.

[Moliere]

It's always your call, remember - you can accept it, reject it, or you can negotiate - only you can judge what you need to do right now.

Moliere

[greenbarn]

Take it as an opportunity, not an insult.

As has been discussed a lot on here, it depends how the question's raised - it can indeed be an insult, even if the guest didn't pause to recognise that. ("Your place isn't worth $X, I'll pay $X/2.")

Also keep in mind the collected gut feeling that very often Low Ball Offer = Low Life Guest.

[tavi]

Yes, I agree - an enquiry is still an enquiry...and it's an opportunity for dialogue.

Probably unlikely to go very far if they're only offering half the list price but I certainly wouldn't take offence.

In my case recently I probably would have offered the last week of Aug at a decent discount and accepted the tiny baby(I don't want toddlers because of the balcony).
The cat, however, was a definite no for various reasons.

[falbayview]

Take it as an opportunity, not an insult.

i don't take it as an insult, i just say no, i offer quality with value, my prices are cut to the bone already, so take it or leave it... politely of course

[Annew]

Also keep in mind the collected gut feeling that very often Low Ball Offer = Low Life Guest.

Often the neediest too (I've got one due soon who we did a deal with and we're on something like email 24 from said guest!)

[Marks]

Any chance of a discount as we are arriving late in the evening?

Not sure I get the logic behind this one

[Hells Bells]

I had a similar one last week from Abritel, asking if I would consider X for the two weeks, I replied no, but that I would accept Y, and made a point of pointing out the things that were included in the cost. They booked at my suggested rate.

[la vache!]

I had a similar one last week from Abritel, asking if I would consider X for the two weeks, I replied no, but that I would accept Y, and made a point of pointing out the things that were included in the cost. They booked at my suggested rate.

I had a look a French owned gite operation, not too far, a little like mine, heated pool with abri etc. Their listed weekly prices were lower at first glance, but by the time you added on all the extras like bed linen and towel hire per person, electricity unit costs and various other charges, my prices were cheaper.
I had a French family book one of my cancellation weeks and he said one of the reasons he booked was that everything is included in the price. I think that even French guests are fed up of being hit with an expensive list of "extra"s on departure now and prefer an all in price.

[KStott]

In the past we accepted one guest who asked for a special offer, since that week was empty we decided to go ahead with it.
BUT... we had a terrible experience with them. Cigarette burns in the bed linnen, stolen items from the rooms.
Overall not an experience we'd want to repeat.

[Mouse]

I think it's a good tactic to re-iterate what is included when asked for discounts. As you say LV some competitors may seem cheaper on first glance but dig deeper and they're not.

I've had it a couple of times with one who always waits for me to release my rates and then prices her villa £50 cheaper than mine....but on the odd occasion this villa has been mentioned I've pointed out that she has no a/c, no WiFi and no dishwasher.

Mouse
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