That's it! Leaving Homeway

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
apiersa
Posts: 36
Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:35 pm

Post by apiersa »

AngloDutch wrote:We have used, for example, the following formats:

Websites/location:


'Best regards from Tignes,
Jack & Jill

Crystalatignes


or

Crystalatignes (delta oscar tango charlie oscar mike)


email address: john (delta oscar tango) doe (alpha tango) orange (foxtrot romeo)


Phone numbers: spell them fully out (preferably not in English...as below)


We also find that writing in a language other than English is much easier, as their filters seem to set up to catch words like 'dot' instead of a ´.´

Some guests understand, others don't... :shock:
Thanks for the tips! I shall try them out :lol:
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AngloDutch
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Location: Netherlands

Post by AngloDutch »

jafa wrote:we aren't on any payment system with HA yet, hence the reasoning behind the question. So basically what you are saying is that any new renewals (mines due end of Jan 19) will automatically go onto the payment after the guests check in route. Im not happy about anyone either collecting far less holding the money for up to 12 months for MY business. My issue is that Ive got 25ish good reviews and don't want to lose them. My initial thought process was to renew on commission only. But what happens if a guest choses to book automatically without me vetting them first? I never accept guests without entering into direct communication first.

From what I have read on LMH and other sources, that's correct. There's now no option other than receiving payment when the guest checks in/out.

The only reason we are on subscription with VR is because we'd need to have $10,000 in bookings per year from them to make the $499 subscription charge worthwhile (their commission is 5%)

HA uk subscription is lower at £249 (excl. VAT), and for us, more worthwhile to pay that, as our bookings cover it.

You can select 'Instant Booking' or '24-Hour Review' via your dashboard (Property -> Rules & Policies-> Booking Options), and then communicate first with your prospective guests.
SPJ
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Location: Aquitaine
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Post by SPJ »

AngloDutch wrote:
You can select 'Instant Booking' or '24-Hour Review' via your dashboard (Property -> Rules & Policies-> Booking Options), and then communicate first with your prospective guests.
Bear in mind though that if you do refuse a booking you will get a "black mark" and you'll slip down the rankings.

I had a guest who asked me to cancel their booking for them. When I contacted HA I was told that the only way I could avoid the "black mark" was to go back to my guest and tell them to do it! I explained to the "help" desk at HA that doing that was not service to my guest!
jafa
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Post by jafa »

I don't want to accept ANY guests from HA hence my thoughts on remaining on commission only, so that I can defer them off to my two other sites. One on Facebook the other on a German site who are still acting like HA used to be like, and Im getting bookings through them far more now.
Jafa
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AngloDutch
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Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:25 pm
Location: Netherlands

Post by AngloDutch »

SPJ wrote:
AngloDutch wrote:
You can select 'Instant Booking' or '24-Hour Review' via your dashboard (Property -> Rules & Policies-> Booking Options), and then communicate first with your prospective guests.
Bear in mind though that if you do refuse a booking you will get a "black mark" and you'll slip down the rankings.

I had a guest who asked me to cancel their booking for them. When I contacted HA I was told that the only way I could avoid the "black mark" was to go back to my guest and tell them to do it! I explained to the "help" desk at HA that doing that was not service to my guest!

I think that there's a difference between guests asking via the platform communication and sending a cancellation request via the system.

We are not used to cancellations - we've had maybe 4-5 in the last 14 years. Recently we had a cancellation through HA uk and the guests sent the request via the system. We were informed that if we accepted the cancellation it would not affect our ranking.

This is the request we received:


Cancellation Request

Property #

Reservation ID #
Dates Jul 21-Aug 31, 2019, 41 nights
Guests 2 adults, 4 children
Holidaymaker name #


Dear #
# is asking to cancel a booking for 21-Jul-2019. This cancellation will not be processed unless you approve it.

Message from the traveller

Apologies but found an alternative property to go to with friends.

Traveller's reason: I changed my destination


To approve the cancellation request:

• Click on the button below to go to the original reservation page.
• Review the request and select “Cancel Reservation” to approve.
• Choose a reason for the cancellation that best matches the traveller's request.


If eligible, the traveller will receive a refund based on your cancellation policy. Given that a traveller made this request, your cancellation score won't be affected.


Review Cancellation Request


Owner's Cancellation Policy:

100% refund for cancellations more than 60 days before check-in date.

Cancellations must be made by 12:00 PM on the appropriate day.
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Nemo
Posts: 7062
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:15 am
Location: Norfolk

Post by Nemo »

I've just gone on to commission after lasting as long as I could with the old subscription style. Basically I need bookings wherever they come from!

One recent guest booked last minute but then extended their stay directly so there are some upsides to it.

If you go commission and are put on to Homeaway payments:
- Guests can only pay by card, there are no alternative payment methods.
- The first payout is deferred for over a month. Guests left over a week ago and I won't receive monies until second week in January. After this payout, payments will be released shortly after check out.
- You do not need to go on to Instant Book. I am on 24 hour review so I can chat to the guests and decide whether to accept or not. If not, I can decline which is apparently better than simply letting it expire.
- Cancelled bookings by the owner do impact on your visibility within the listings so are to be avoided if at all possible. Cancellations by guests are ok.
- It's impossible to work out your payout until after you've accepted the booking. HA show you a range of very confusing fees. What they don't show you is the card fee charged after the payment is debited from the guests card, so whatever you think you're getting will be a bit less than you initially think.
- If you charge a security deposit, it is included in the payment that the site says you will receive. This is nonsense as it will be refunded assuming there are no damages, so be sure to not include it in your calculations when looking at what you will receive.

I'd say it is the worst of all the big sites for sheer complexity and confusion, but it has bought me a booking for both the properties on there, so I'm testing it out for a while longer. Even if I go back to subscription, I might save some fees, but you still don't receive the payment until after checkout. They mentioned that they may look at paying out sooner but I think we'd all have to keep kicking up a big fuss. I no longer have time for such luxuries!

PS I'd no longer put such useful tips on an open forum like this such as put by you Anglo Dutch if you don't mind me saying. We know we are being watched so all we do is help the sites clamp down sooner on ways round the system. I've concluded that many guests are happy to pay the site for security, despite anything we may say. The milennial generation are bonded to airbnb and booking com so we'll have to adapt our business or simply give up.
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roxytoo
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Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2005 8:23 am
Location: Spain Costa Blanca

Post by roxytoo »

I'm not so sure that guests are happy to be paying the OTA's extra fees, thats why they are all looking to add it onto the owner side. Airbnb have already started to do that, I had an email asking to increase my prices to 'cover it' so guests do not think they are paying it! I bet homeaway follow soon..............
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AngloDutch
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Location: Netherlands

Post by AngloDutch »

Nemo wrote: PS I'd no longer put such useful tips on an open forum like this such as put by you Anglo Dutch if you don't mind me saying. We know we are being watched so all we do is help the sites clamp down sooner on ways round the system.

You're right, Nemo, I thought about it before posting. Anything like this is risky to do (your account and listing can be frozen of course), but it's up to each owner to think about the consequences if caught out.

Personally, as we are set up for instant bookings, the reservations just come in automatically now and it's very rarely that anyone asks anything before booking, where we get to communicate beforehand. It seems that if people see that they are unable to book because they can't pay (no card), then they just go to another site.

We've never ever attempted 'to transfer' a potential guest to our own site unless they wanted to book but could not, because in the past they did not have a credit card to pay the service fee.

Our idea was, as they could not have booked via the system anyway, we were not robbing anyone of their revenue, and we would have lost their booking completely otherwise.

HA could so easily solve much of this problem by listening to the feedback from owners and accepting all the online payment means that ABB offers. Unfortunately, for some reason they choose not to.
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AngloDutch
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Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:25 pm
Location: Netherlands

Post by AngloDutch »

roxytoo wrote:I'm not so sure that guests are happy to be paying the OTA's extra fees, thats why they are all looking to add it onto the owner side. Airbnb have already started to do that, I had an email asking to increase my prices to 'cover it' so guests do not think they are paying it! I bet homeaway follow soon..............
I wonder if TA/HL will try and switch the huge booking fees that the guests have to pay onto the owners....
Sam V
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Location: Villa in Gale, Algarve, Portugal. At home in Fetcham, Surrey, UK
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Post by Sam V »

I've spent hours and hours this past week trying to work my HA/OD booking payments (transferred a few days after the payment is made) for my YE accounts. I have magically found there is a downloadable spreadsheet. In a nutshell, what they say is 'payable to you' in your bank account appears random, sometimes its more than what they say you'll receive, sometimes its less, and as Nemo says the deposit is misleading as you don't actually receive it anyway. Suffice to say It looks like I've received more than I think I should, even after fee deductions, but I could be wrong! I also receive nothing at all directly via Yapstone to account for thier fees.

I've given up on it for now and emailed my accountant for help!
TA lurkers walk among us; the LMH Walking Dead

dont mess in the affairs of cats for they are subtle and will p on your computer.

www.algarvevillatrinity.co.uk
www.facebook.com/villatrinity
www.gardenerscottage.promotemyplace.com
gunnyandbob
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Location: Andalucia Spain
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Post by gunnyandbob »

We left HA 3 years ago because of all the problems. They completely fail the attitude test in displaying such a greedy attitude.
At first we maintained our bookings via SH, then they too changed their systems, now having a three tier subscription. Costs are €300, €600, €1200. Information to make a choice is as scarce as they can make it, along with the offer of an 18% instant booking.
Enquiries nosedived to only 2 enquiries from them last year on the bottom level which was what we had been paying before the change.
So, there's no point in paying for the lowest level, and this therefore amounts to a doubling( at least) of the subscription with no certainty of gaining bookings.
We are considering packing this game in, but will give Brittany Ferries site a go first.
This comes on top of all the housing legality problems in Spain, and the expenses involved in trying to address them. In our area it now costs €10k to prepare the vast majority of houses to meet the selling legal requirements ( insulation certificate, three chamber toilet upgrade, local tax, and DEFO certificate which declares a house "regular " as opposed to legal ).
And new conditions are being imposed re the minimum standard in the rental licences.
Other vested interests are overtaking us.

Don't kill the gravy train.
Marks
Posts: 2930
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 10:16 am
Location: Costa Blanca

Post by Marks »

SH costs are 245€, 549€ and 999€ plus IVA. I have just the standard 245€ and my enquiries were up 9% and bookings up 16% over the last 12 months through them.

They have also added a Quality Score which, if you are 80 or more, ensures you are in the top of the results. I think this is a good thing to reward good owners with better placements, mine is 100 and it's not difficult to get there with a little graft.

Certainly for my area those properties on instant book are at the bottom of the results every time I check (weekly).

I too have ditched Homeaway and now also HL/TA and rely solely on SH, Facebook and my own website. So far so good for 2019.
Some guests just need a sympathetic pat. On the head. With a hammer.
gunnyandbob
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Location: Andalucia Spain
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Post by gunnyandbob »

Hello Marks. We have a good score too, and I add and delete bookings to move us up the ladder. I think part of the trouble is we are in the campo near Canillas de Aceituno, and there are only about 9 rentals in the area. It looks to me like we are not appearing to prospective clients due to the way their site works when someone is looking for a house. I tried searching under the name of the village and it produced one house, within the village, none from nearby. I have been told I can upgrade the resolution of our main photo via the web, and will do that. We don't have a drone to replace it for the time being. I did a search on HA for a hot tub/jacuzzi and found some easily, but it was quite convoluted to bring ours up ( can be found under "additional" search. Once people see we have one, they tend to book, and many guests say how much they enjoy it. Whereabouts is your property please? I'd like to see how the site shows yours and how it shows mine.
Last edited by gunnyandbob on Sun Jan 06, 2019 8:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
gunnyandbob
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Post by gunnyandbob »

So, several hours later our advert for SH is now in all the site's languages...except Russian. I could just see me changing my keyboard to cyrillic? and then not being able to read it to get back to our own script. Chickened out. But the main photo has been uprated to 5,000x 2,900 pixels. Wonder if their system can handle that?

Happy NY to all.
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