Do you get fed up..............

From the moment they step through the door your bookings become guests, and their experiences determine whether they ever come back.
amandajane
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Do you get fed up..............

Post by amandajane »

....when enquirers don’t bother to respond?!

I’ve had two this week. Written personal emails, not just a standard response, trying to accommodate their requirements. In one case I had to contact my caretaker to make sure she could do it on an odd day, so she was on standby.

Nothing! How difficult is it to quickly write an email? Not as though it costs anything. One was a reverend! I was tempted to suggest he should have more manners!

Just irritating!
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Sanchisimo
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Post by Sanchisimo »

In a word, yes. Unfortunately this is the new norm. Try living with someone who is guilt of it!
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

Nope. It’s what I expect from a business relationship, even if I don’t particularly like it.

On the plus side, on the very rare occasions when someone does respond with a “thanks, but...” and a good reason, I want to go and kiss them.
Last edited by greenbarn on Wed Aug 07, 2019 7:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
Joanna
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Post by Joanna »

It also worries me when they don't respond - Hotmail in particular is notorious for sending Replies to the junk folder. I replied to an enquiry a week or so ago and got no response & then a day later sent a plain text email to check if they'd got my first reply. Still no response. Then today, 5 days later, they replied saying they hadn't got the first email & could I resend it. So I had to tell them the dates they wanted had been booked a couple of days ago.

I wonder how many enquirers are out there wondering why us owners are ignoring them when our replies are stuck in their junk or spam folders.
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Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
GillianF
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Post by GillianF »

Yes, I do. And, when someone does reply saying "Thanks, but ……." I do acknowledge it by thanking them for letting me know and wishing them a happy holiday.

I too worry that enquiries with a Hotmail address never get back to the sender.

I've had a chap this year who claimed not to receive our initial response (not a Hotmail address) so I re-sent it all. He said he was going to book then it took days for him to make the bank transfer for his deposit and I had to chase him for a booking form with guest names, acceptance of T&Cs. His final payment did not arrive on the due date so I had to remind him. He said he'd lost the e-mail and deposit receipt with the details so I re-sent. Again, days before he made a bank transfer and I had to keep checking for it only to find it was a part payment. He then e-mailed to say he'd had to buy a car and would pay the balance of the final payment in three weeks. He did but didn't pay the damages deposit portion. I had to ask for it. No reply. I had to chase him a week later (on Monday) and he says I'll have it by Thursday. I wait to see if that happens.

All this despite him knowing, from the very outset, what money would be due and when and in the event he has managed to not make full payment until days before he is due to arrive and puts me under pressure to send him directions. I bet he gets the directions with no e-mail 'hiccups'.

I may be very slow to return his damages deposit ………….
farley
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Post by farley »

There’s a definite increase in this behavior. Like Amanda I too send quite detailed email responses to potential guests and feel quite low if I don’t get a reply. It particularly hurts when you get a run of them 🙁
Like Gillian , if they do come back with a “thanks but no thanks” reply I always thank them and wish them a happy holiday.
I don’t know what the answer is other than to continue in our own ‘polite’ fashion. It is after all the beauty of booking direct with the owner and not using some huge faceless organization .
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Cymraes
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Post by Cymraes »

I send off each reply with no expectation of a response nowadays.

It seems to be the new norm. I do however admit to a frisson of joy if they try and book a few day /weeks later and their dates are no longer available!
Fleur
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Post by Fleur »

GillianF wrote:Yes, I do. And, when someone does reply saying


I've had a chap this year who claimed not to receive our initial response (not a Hotmail address) so I re-sent it all. He said he was going to book then it took days for him to make the bank transfer for his deposit and I had to chase him for a booking form with guest names, acceptance of T&Cs. His final payment did not arrive on the due date so I had to remind him. He said he'd lost the e-mail and deposit receipt with the details so I re-sent. Again, days before he made a bank transfer and I had to keep checking for it only to find it was a part payment. He then e-mailed to say he'd had to buy a car and would pay the balance of the final payment in three weeks. He did but didn't pay the damages deposit portion. I had to ask for it. No reply. I had to chase him a week later (on Monday) and he says I'll have it by Thursday. I wait to see if that happens.

All this despite him knowing, from the very outset, what money would be due and when and in the event he has managed to not make full payment until days before he is due to arrive and puts me under pressure to send him directions. I bet he gets the directions with no e-mail 'hiccups'.

I may be very slow to return his damages deposit ………….

Gillian F I would be very wary of this one. We had a similar scenario some years ago. January enquiry for 3 weeks in August 2 adults 2 children, eventually after much chasing and even asking if they wished to cancel they paid. Dreadful family , abused the accommodation, we withheld their damage deposit which they did not like! And disputed.
After that experience we doubled our damage deposit.
Fleur
GillianF
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Post by GillianF »

Yes, Fleur, I am a little wary of this chap and very unhappy at his abuse of our terms and conditions. I wouldn't mind so much if he had contacted me and explained he couldn't make full payment on the due date but I have had to chase him every step of the way.

I do a 'meet and greet' so will, in theory, be able to see how many are arriving and what sort of people they seem to be. At £200 I don't think we can increase our damages deposit and whilst I appreciate it is quite a bit of money to find it isn't as a percentage of their total holiday.

In my early e-mails chasing the booking deposit I did consider asking if he was going to confirm his booking but he is our only fortnight booking in a very slow year and didn't want to frighten him off! When I had to chase again for the balance/final payment I did consider asking if he was cancelling but that, at the time, seemed a bit heavy-handed for what could have been a genuine problem/mistake. I wish I had been firmer now as he has continued to abuse my good nature. I worry that he is only just able to afford this holiday and will be asking for extra loo roll, bin liners etc. Whilst I leave a start up supply I don't expect to replenish such items in self-catering accommodation.

We'll see what happens …………...
amandajane
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Post by amandajane »

I agree with all the above. It is indeed the norm. Most potential guests don’t see us as people, just a commodity. This has been exacerbated by the big agencies and “instant booking”.

I too thank them and wish them well if they email to say “thanks, but no thanks”. Apart from just being polite, they may consider us again in the future.

GillianF, good luck with that one. Sounds like trouble. I had one earlier who nit-picked and bartered all through the process. I was almost inclined to cancel but it was a fortnights booking so went with it - they were fine, and left a very nice note in the guest book! Hope yours goes well.
Marks
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Post by Marks »

The only replies I want are "yes, we would like to book." :lol:

The ones that really bug me are those were you spend time replying back and forth answering all their questions and then nothing. Or, like I have been doing this week since Monday, back and forth several times and then "I can only afford £100 deposit now until 3 September, can I pay the balance of the deposit then?" :roll:
Some guests just need a sympathetic pat. On the head. With a hammer.
GillianF
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Post by GillianF »

Just a little update to my earlier post (7 August) about the chap who has been late paying.

I have had to prompt/remind him of what he needs to do/send every step of the way and, every time, waited two or three days for a reply/action.

I wrote on 29th July that I was still waiting for the last part (damages deposit) of his payment. A week later (5th August) I sent a polite reminder asking if he had received my e-mail. Yes, he had and was sorry he had misread it and I would have payment by Thursday (8th August). Guess what? Nothing. I left it over the weekend and checked this morning. Nothing.

So, I phoned his mobile this morning and left a polite message to the effect that I was expecting his final payment last Thursday but could not see it on our bank account so could he please check and let me know the situation so that I could send him directions to find the property when he comes on Saturday - this Saturday.

This afternoon I had an e-mail that he has made the payment. No apology. No explanation. The payment is there and I have sent his receipt and directions.

So, with Ts&Cs that say full payment plus damages deposit eight weeks before the holiday he has finally managed it five days before his holiday.

I'm REALLY looking forward to meeting this chap but have a dread that he will cap it all by being a late arrival and goodness knows what else he'll come up with …………………………

As I said before - he will wait a while before I send his damages deposit back but sincerely hope there is no reason to keep some or all of it.
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CSE
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Re: Do you get fed up..............

Post by CSE »

amandajane wrote:....when enquirers don’t bother to respond?!
I have noticed it is getting like that here too. Several long term members have recently responded to questions and the OP has not bothered to reply.

:roll:
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
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Moliere
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Re: Do you get fed up..............

Post by Moliere »

CSE wrote:
amandajane wrote:....when enquirers don’t bother to respond?!
I have noticed it is getting like that here too. Several long term members have recently responded to questions and the OP has not bothered to reply.

:roll:
That's true. :roll:
Jumping is just dressage with speed-bumps.
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NeatandPicky
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Post by NeatandPicky »

In a situation such as yours Gillian, I use GetNotify to show me if an important email has been read. I do not use it for every email I send, but it is useful for telling you key emails have been received. (This is not the same as a read receipt, as the recipient does not need to do anything. They do not know that you have used it.)

I have a free account and all I have to do is append .getnotify.com to the end of the email address I'm sending to. Then I get an email notification when the email is opened/read. This year I received one notification from GetNotify that the email had not been sent, so I re-sent without. The guest told me they had received 2 identical emails. Emails to a work email address sometimes don't give a notification, but they still get through.

Interestingly my neighbour and I have guests in common (they come to us when they need an extra bedroom). She had not been receiving replies from said guest, and I had to remind him about an overdue balance. (I send a reminder a week beforehand giving the payment deadline which normally works perfectly.) I was just about to contact him via other means when he came back apologising that his personal email had been out of action for a couple of weeks. My notifications told a different story!
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