OD The 'new' system

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
Julie123
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OD The 'new' system

Post by Julie123 »

I have today been faced with the dreaded OD button that now I have to accept their terms and conditions and go forward with the new system. My subscription is until Jan 18 and there are no refunds so I may as well try this new system. I have had my rant at the OD Call Centre Operator who has been well trained (and scripted) to deal with people like me i.e. the disgruntled customer, so can see no other option for now than to give it a whirl.

Question? How easy is it to use? Is it just a question of accepting a booking and then using all my existing paperwork or do I have to use their templates and booking system throughout? Is it straightforward once you get going?
Does anyone have any tips on how to get started? It is a scary thing when for 10 years I have used my own tried and tested system that works to use someone else's. But I am sure others have got there before me.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
FelicityA
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Post by FelicityA »

I am just wondering why you are using their new system if you have a subscription until January. You have paid, surely, to be independent until then. Why not wait until then to be totally under their control?

Or are you already taking payments through them and therefore are unable to access anything until you press that horrible button?
Igor
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Post by Igor »

Julie,

I don't think that you need to be afraid - it's OD (and Homeaway in general) that needs to be afraid!

Increasingly, renters are aware of the excessive charges involved in booking through these dodgy websites. They use them for selecting a property and then try to find the selected property elsewhere, for example, on the owners own website.

A very small proportion of renters are using StaySavr to shortcut to the owner's phone number and email address straight from the HomeAway site. Although it's a very small proportion, it is growing spectacularly. Make sure that your property is registered there - it's free.

Just having a unique name for your property and making sure that a google search for that name results in a guest's ability to contact you direct is all you need. Over time, more and more renters will be contacting you directly.
Igor lives in Fort StaySavr, a secret location high in the mountains
e-richard
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Post by e-richard »

Igor wrote:..Increasingly, renters are aware of the excessive charges involved in booking through these dodgy websites. They use them for selecting a property and then try to find the selected property elsewhere, for example, on the owners own website....
Do they really and do they really do it in big numbers?

I suspect that you/we wish it were so, but in reality a very large number of owners are lazy and a gazillion guests do not know any better. Dara Khosrowshahi did not make billions by being stupid.
** Richard
PIMS: Holiday Rental Management system
They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
Igor
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Post by Igor »

In big numbers? My estimate is that currently it's about 1 in 5 who think to look elsewhere. That's from a very small sample of the enquiries we've had for 2 properties this year. Going back a year ago, it was around 7% of enquiries were direct. Now it's 20%. There's nothing that we have changed to account for this. I think that we are seeing a change in renter behavior. It's slow but I believe it's more than just a blip.

Having said all that, you can take a horse to water...
I've just booked an apartment for 3 nights in Sept via TripAdvisor. I sneaked our email address into the enquiry but was still only offered TripAdvisor's [Pay Now] button in reply. Maybe TA are clever enough to block that part of my enquiry message.
Igor lives in Fort StaySavr, a secret location high in the mountains
Julie123
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Post by Julie123 »

FelictyA. I'm afraid it's true. I can't go to my listing unless I press the accept terms and conditions button. I asked for my part subscription back but the computer says no. Outrageous!
Still not sure what to do but the posts that have been left show the strength feeling.
FelicityA
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Post by FelicityA »

Julie - I have this problem with the Homeaway 'Set up payments' button, every so often on my listing on VRBO. If I don't agree to payments (in truth you can do this and then don't proceed to give them your financial details but press the back button) then I apparently can't proceed. It happens if I go to 'dashboard' first. I am wondering if you enter via calendar or edit listing or something else, might you find this button is not there? Is it possible on OD to enter your listing some other way? Have you tried going in directly from a cached page you have used in the past, like the calendar page?
Mr Cellophane
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Location: Ovacik, Turkey

Post by Mr Cellophane »

Igor wrote:Julie,

I don't think that you need to be afraid - it's OD (and Homeaway in general) that needs to be afraid!

Increasingly, renters are aware of the excessive charges involved in booking through these dodgy websites. They use them for selecting a property and then try to find the selected property elsewhere, for example, on the owners own website.

A very small proportion of renters are using StaySavr to shortcut to the owner's phone number and email address straight from the HomeAway site. Although it's a very small proportion, it is growing spectacularly. Make sure that your property is registered there - it's free.

Just having a unique name for your property and making sure that a google search for that name results in a guest's ability to contact you direct is all you need. Over time, more and more renters will be contacting you directly.
How I wish this were true, but for me to date it definitely isn't.

Since I have already succumbed to the commission rip off, I guess I have nothing much to lose by clicking this damned button. But if this is so, why are they forcing me to do it??
Julie123
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Post by Julie123 »

Just to update everyone who has read and replied to my first post.

I have today spoken to another customer service person at OD.
I wanted to access my calendar and request a review from a previous Guest without accepting the new terms and conditions.
They are guests who enquired in the first place via OD months ago but then proceeded to take the option of booking directly with me. It seems I cannot access their information (or indeed any information about previous guests) without accepting the new T&Cs. I pointed out that I do not accept the terms and never will but would like to be able to contact my previous guests for reviews. I was told that is only possible if I click to accept. No amount of debating with the OD personnel is going to make any difference.
I am no expert on who owns the data or on how contracts and agreements can be changed mid term without warning. I only know that OD's terms and conditions specify they can make changes but that puts us all at an unfair disadvantage as how do we know what is planned? It is a catch all clause designed to let OD do what they want. Is there something called 'unfair practices'?

It is about time the customer was allowed to have their own terms and conditions to get onto a level playing field with these despicable organisations but until then all I can do is fume and vent my frustrations on this forum. Any ideas?
Dusty
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Post by Dusty »

The new system is fairly easy to use but if you're used to being in control of the communications with your guests then you will struggle and the payments system is a whole new ballgame and one to which I am still trying to understand all the ins and outs (see my earlier post re: security deposit returns). There are multiple posts on the difficulties of managing with the new system but if you're committed to using it then the best thing is to dive in and be prepared for angry outbursts that in the end do nothing to change OD but may make you feel better.
FelicityA
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Post by FelicityA »

Julie, do you not have the previous guests' email information? Or, even if you do not have their real email address, you must have the scrambled address in your own inbox, due to the previous back and forth? Perhaps you could contact them this way to request reviews or even manage to communicate to them how to find you in future (house name?) if they don't have your contact details. I would be at screaming point at the way they are treating you. I walked out on OD before I got to the point of screaming insanity (and then I felt a lot better).
Julie123
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Post by Julie123 »

FelicityA
Yes I have their email address but I don't think that they can just post a review without a request from me or Owners Direct.
I need to get onto OD to send a request.

That was one good part of the OD system- only genuine guests could post reviews and by using my own system I had control over who I asked to do a review.

I think on Trip Advisor an owner doesnt have that control- anyone can place a review whether they have stayed at a place or not. I may be wrong though and stand to be corrected.
ianthy
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Post by ianthy »

I am not sure what on earth has happened at OD - 4 enquires and zero bookings this year. There was a time when I could easily fill 20 weeks a year with just OD. Very disappointing.
AndrewH
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Post by AndrewH »

You are certainly not alone with that, ianthy. OD committed suicide when it introduced the service charge with its bogus benefits. Guests are getting wise to it and making bookings through other channels.
FelicityA
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Post by FelicityA »

AndrewH wrote:You are certainly not alone with that, ianthy. OD committed suicide when it introduced the service charge with its bogus benefits. Guests are getting wise to it and making bookings through other channels.
Just yesterday I got an enquiry which turned into a booking for the end of October, almost instantly, on my website and I asked where they found me. They said "Owners Direct". I am on VRBO so this is a. It of miracle in itself as I am always on the last page, even on my primary site, due to being completely independent of the site. This particular enquirer said they always search for the owner's website as they lime to deal direct. Hopefully, this will become more and more the norm amongst typical guest behaviours.
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