Enquiries that make me think twice....

[Linda Freese]

Today I received an enquiry with the following questions:

1. How long does it take to walk to the beach.
2. Which is the nearest beach
3. How long does it take to walk to the restaurants
and are there plenty to chose from
4. Does the apartment have A/C
5. The price for that week
6. Where exactly in Marbella is your property
7. How old is the apartment
8. Does the apartment have sea views

All the answers to these questions (bar nbr 7) are in the advert. I know I may be losing a booking but I have not responded and have no intention of responding. Enquiries like these always make me think that they will be difficult guests. I could understand if there had been a few emails between us and they just wanted to clarify what they had read in the advert, but I think this is just plain rude! Am I being too sensitive??

[Fraise]

I often get questions which could be answered by looking on the website but people DON'T-maybe they go for a quick glimpse but don't all take it in.Some people look really carefully but plenty just don't have the time! I would respond to the enquiry but I never give details of exactly where the property is until the final payment cheque has cleared!

www.thepetitmanoir.com

[Guest3]

I think the question asking the age of the property a bit odd...never had that one!

[alexia s.]

Perhaps they are sending this standard list of questions to a number of property-owners - you could reply with "Please refer to our web page for answers to all your questions. Do not hesitate to ask if we can give you any further information".

[tansy]

Linda - I always see red when I get questions like that - type fast & furious - before I hit the send I then get Mr Sensible to listen to it...I always end up deleting my answer!

So now I answer "as per the advertisement ...yes yes yes no yes"...or whatever needs to be said

Than at least I have answered! No sales though...against the grain but there is a limit

[paolo]

I agree with Alexia.

[debk]

I'd reply to the inquiry. Doesn't mean I'd rent to them though.

The reason I tend to answer nicely to these types of inquiries is that I want to give the potential guest an opportunity to move beyond their list of standard questions. I also figure these types of people might be the organized sort, which I rather like. If they continue to give bad vibes, you can let them know the place isn't appropriate for them. (Am I the only person who gets a bit of a rush when they do that? )

They obviously didn't take time to read your website thoroughly... but maybe they are like my father-in-law who hates webpages, yet loves email. He wants to communicate with a real person, equating webpages a bit with those automated voice messages "push 1 (or click here) for rates..."

[PeeJay]

These type of inquiries are ALWAYS from time wasters in my experience.

[sue c]

I don't have a website (and if I were more internet-minded I would insert the embarrassed smiley face here) and so wouldn't be quite so surprised to receive this list of questions, even though they are all just about covered in my ads on internet listings. From telephone enquiries, I have been asked the age of our property (with the explanation that sometimes older places can be a bit dark). I've also been asked the square footage. I was a bit surprised at this but then remembered seeing 6 and 7 bed Villas advertised for sale with less floor space than our 4 bed Villa - and so it seemed a reasonable (if unusual) question from someone who might have wanted a bit of space.

My pet hate is people who ask how many and what type of sunbeds there are!

[Linda Freese]

Thanks for your responses. I´ve rented out that week to someone else now so I´m definitely not replying!!

[debk]

Congrats!

[alexia s.]

Nobody has ever asked me how many sunbeds we have!

[Garri]

Some content of adverts on listing sites is difficult to read for a myriad of reasons, one of which is bad organisation/presentation of information. I have asked some of those questions myself directly to owners because I haven't trusted the ad (had bad experiences in past etc with misrepresentation etc). Even the last place we stayed in last xmas was misrepresented by the photos of the pool, but the as the weather was not totally conducive to cooling down in the pool it didn't bother us. But, suppose we went there in the height of summer?

Also, what if some of the content of the ad has changed? Does the listing tell the prospective renter when it was last updated by the owner? Was there a link to your own proprietary web site?

Perhaps there's no longer a sea view because someone has errected a 5 storey hotel - who knows?

You're asking people to place a lot of trust based on an ad - which may or may not have been kept up to date. I think they're valid questions and not everyone has time to wade through pages and pages of similar properties and take in what it has or doesn't have.

That's why I always ask my own questions regardless of what an ad says as I want to hear answers direct from the owners themselves - then there's a record of it - no misunderstanding.

By the way, it wasn't me who sent that enquiry.

[la vache!]

I don't have a problem with people asking questions either - I would rather do this than have them complain about things when they arrive! If people have had a negative experience somewhere else in rental accomodation, they may wish to double check certain things for their next holiday before booking. For example, some of the things mentioned on this site before, such as a pool being advertised as heated, but when guests got there, it wasn't. I'm sure that misleading advertising by other rental properety owners causes questions like these to be asked.

[Linda Freese]

Also, what if some of the content of the ad has changed?

Garri, I understand what you are saying, and to be fair I don´t mind people asking questions, but I take exception when someone has obviously just looked at the photos and not read ANY of the text.

The text states clearly that the house is about a 20 minute drive to the beach i.e is NOT within walking distance. This information will never change however much I would like it to! The price for the property is also clearly indicated in the advert. This person has obviously just done a mass mailing with the same questions to different advertisers. That is fair enough, but I don´t see why I should waste my time answering when I know that my property is totally unsuitable for their needs.

Phew, got that off my chest!