guest booked 'wrong' property

[harcourtv57]

Just had one of those bookings I normally like - guest enquired for dates in August, sent back booking form straight away paid deposit by bank transfer. HOwever, on filing away the paperwork suddenly noticed that in their initial enquiry they mention a property no longer available (not available since last April in fact as we are now living in it) -ooops. It appears that the listing site this was on forgot to remove the listing. HOwever, everything else including my first response e-mail and booking form states our other property so I go back, politely explain and ask them to confirm that they wanted the property I have booked to them.

Well got a very rude reply, accusing us of deliberately deceiving them too get their money, changing their booking and being irresponsible etc etc and demanding their deposit back. Will gladly refund deposit but it was a genuine mistake as much theirs as ours - why do people have to be so rude? Thank goodness they are not now staying with us.

[KathyG]

Thank goodness they are not now staying with us.

I think you should tell 'em that then Heather!

[Marks]

it was a genuine mistake as much theirs as ours

I appreciate that mistakes can happen however it can't be their fault surely? They enquired about a property, you replied saying it was available (albeit a different property) and they booked on that basis without realising you were talking about a different property to the one they had asked about. If you had replied saying 'sorry that one's not available but this one is' then that's a different matter entirely.

[Normandie]

If I had enquired for property X, I'm not sure I'd notice that the property I was then told was available was a different property. I know it's dangerous to assume but it wouldn't necessarily occur to me to check that the name was the same - particularly as most property names are pretty meaningless to renters, at least initially. And was it obvious on the listing site that you had a choice of properties which therefore might have prompted a renter to check?

I hope I wouldn't be rude when I found out the mistake but equally, I'd be very irritated that the plans I thought were fixed were up in the air again and I'd certainly expect a grovelling apology from the owner taking full responsibility for not reading my initial query properly and not ensuring that all listing sites were listing only properties available for rent. The buck stops with me, the owner, not the listing site.

In this instance, I don't think it's really the guest's fault - unless I'm missing something vital?

[harcourtv57]

Yes of course and appreciate what you are saying, I did in fact apologise profusely as soon as I realised it was a mistake, and refunded their deposit - I just think there was no call for them to be so rude, virtually accusing us of deceiving them deliberately

I guess I wasn;t expecting an enquiry for a property that I thought was no longer live - esp since the listing expired last year and we have had no enquiries for it since then. We have just renewed our other one and perhaps it was a blip of some sort. Anyway its no longer live

[Nemo]

I just think there was no call for them to be so rude, virtually accusing us of deceiving them deliberately

So if you apologised profusely etc etc, which after all is all you can do at this stage, then no it was not necessary for them to be so rude. Seems to me one of two things;they're just those sort of people or they've had something happen previously, as otherwise why would anyone even suspect that you would do it deliberately.....

[Normandie]

...as otherwise why would anyone even suspect that you would do it deliberately.....

Articles in the media - often alarmist - about how the internet exposes independent holiday makers to scams, dodgey owners - properties not existing etc. Which, in a panic at finding they hadn't booked what they thought they'd booked, is perhaps what these people first thought.

[harcourtv57]

Think you are right, but I think they also thought that their first choice was available and that we had just decided to transfer them to another property (for whatever reason) - it was my mistake and I'm only glad I spotted it when I did - this all happened within the space of a couple of days so was able to put it right pretty quickly. As our second property is in the same place and is the same size I suppose I expected them to say oh dear but never mind we;ll stat there instead, I really didn't expect the response I got

[greenbarn]

Maybe they're just the type of people who think that everyone is trying to put one over on them, so you're on a loser if they can construe what happened as that (and they can if they choose). They won't want to see it as a genuine mistake, so the defence hackles rise up - and I suspect Normandie's suggestion plays quite a part - hence the rude accusations.

The mistake happened; after that I don't see how you could've handled it better.

[harcourtv57]

Post script - have now had another e-mail thanking me 'for my positive response' - so clearly they may have been concerned it was some sort of scam

[Nemo]

Good. Clearly they were panicked and reacted badly, then had time to reflect on your response.

[greenbarn]

I now need to modify my human nature assessment; they didn't have to send another email, so good for them for doing so.

[ceilwart26]

But also if they have spent ages researching checking dates and booking your place, then an apology, no matter how polite, doesn't make up for that!
They have a right to be cross with your mistake, even though it wasn't intended.

You're lucky that they let you know they were cross, many people would of just told their friends of their bad experience with you instead.

You need to do something extra to keep your reputation with them.

[Normandie]

You need to do something extra to keep your reputation with them.

She obviously did... and succeeded.

[Big Sis..]

You need to do something extra to keep your reputation with them.

She obviously did... and succeeded.

Yep!!