SimplyOwners.Net a new rental listing site?

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
User avatar
Lets Go To Puglia
Posts: 163
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2016 2:55 pm
Location: Puglia, Italy
Contact:

Post by Lets Go To Puglia »

Nigel Goodwin wrote:I'm glad I spent a few weeks listening to wise heads here.
:D :D :D
Ciao, Debbie

Puglia Holiday Villas Facebook Page
---------------------
It's not the things you did you look back on and regret it's the things you didn't do!
Annew
Posts: 925
Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:02 am
Location: Devon

Post by Annew »

Just like Owners Direct, Simply Owners seem to think that Somerset is in Devon, so I will not be taking anything forward with them.

I had an email from them and it seems they have cloned my ad too (together with the deliberate mistake I have on my OD ad to prevent cloning) but have not published it.

This is the email I received (I have not had a conversation with them)

I am not at all convinced!

further to our conversation please find below some additional information and a link to illustrate what your property will look like in our free ad campaign. There is also a button for you to request us to add your property FREE NO OBLIGATION to our ad campaign.

FREE NO OBLIGATION ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

We are a new company specifically set up to provide a service to replace that which we all lost when Owners Direct decided to move in a different direction. We are looking to add properties FREE into our new web-site to show-case in our £2million Google ad campaign.

If you type owners direct into Google you will see our ad immediately underneath that of Owners Direct and above Tripadvisors Holidaylettings on the front page. Our ad states that we have the same properties up to 20% cheaper with no booking fees and payment protection for holidaymakers. (That is because we do not have agency or other companies properties in our data-base who, in addition, are also sticking their lump on top)

Over 800,000 holidaymakers each month see our advert on the front page of a google search.

By permitting us to feature your property in this ad campaign we benefit because you are helping us to enhance our shop window for holidaymakers and you benefit by the enquiries and bookings you receive.

The ad will run indefinitely. You will be contacted in several weeks time to review how things are going and at any time you can be removed with no obligation whatsoever by just emailing ( enquiries@simplyowners.net ) or calling us ( 01623 343343 ).

Background information

We are 3 ex Owners Direct customers who have made a multi-million pound investment to set up a web-site advertising business to replace the service that we lost when Owners Direct changed their business model. In particular, a business where you are back in control of every aspect of your bookings, payments, etc. You do not have to take bookings and make payments on-line, the search criteria are very fairly incorporated and we try our best for you in respect of customer care.

We have spent 6 months researching the issues, identifying need and building the business. We went live in the week beginning 17th Oct 2016 and we have been inundated with ex owners direct holiday-home owners joining us who share our perspective.

We need to show-case a bigger shop window to ensure that there is always something there for the holidaymakers when they view our site, which is why we are offering you this opportunity to advertise free in our Google campaign.

If you would like to see how your property would look in our campaign, please view it here *****
If you want to find me, Google The Barton Poughill!
Nigel Goodwin
Posts: 707
Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2013 3:50 pm
Location: Newquay Cornwall
Contact:

Post by Nigel Goodwin »

So they have an investment of £2 million, plus their own salaries and those of web developers etc., yet no obvious source of revenue? It could work. :roll: I am of course not unbiased. :wink:
User avatar
paolo
Posts: 3885
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2004 1:18 pm
Location: Provence, France
Contact:

Post by paolo »

Annew wrote:The ad will run indefinitely.
Because money grows on trees.
Paolo
Lay My Hat
Nigel Goodwin
Posts: 707
Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2013 3:50 pm
Location: Newquay Cornwall
Contact:

Post by Nigel Goodwin »

paolo wrote:
Annew wrote:The ad will run indefinitely.
Because money grows on trees.
'indefinitely' could be read two ways. It could mean 'for ever' or it could mean 'for a period which we have not yet defined'.

It is like that old joke about the elderly couple contemplating marriage, and there are two interpretations of the word (as spoken) 'infrequently'.
molliekitty
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2016 3:55 pm

Post by molliekitty »

Hi, I'm new to this forum and a holiday house owner on Owners Direct.

Thankfully my house details have not been stolen and copied/ pasted onto the Simply Owners website. As my personal name on Owners Direct is not stated next to my phone number ( I am just called the Owner by my phone number), I think this is likely why I escaped.

So, Simply Owners have copied and pasted a huge chunk of the Owners Direct website onto theirs, omitting any pricing tables and not bothering with availability calendars either ( far too much work) , just sticking up an owner's phone number for the contact. For this they declared online somewhere, that they had recruited 18 staff members to do the 'copy and paste job' of thousands of properties :shock: All done presumably at the address given on their website, where any office can be rented at £117 per month!

As this site has now been live for almost a month, happily bowling along, can we assume that Owners Direct are not bothered about them or do we think a legal team somewhere is planning to get the site down as soon as possible but that this action takes time? After all, duplicating any details on their website is against their terms and conditions.

I have phoned Simply Owners to see their reaction to the fact that I have a friend, whose holiday house details were indeed copied/pasted and placed live, without her permission. She was so angry I phoned for her and the woman that answered the other end was very unprofessional. She grunted and said that my friend's house must have 'slipped through' and when I asked about the annual bill she said she would be getting one soon, mumbling 8 weeks time, and hung up on me. Before she hung up a phone had started ringing right next to her and she was having to shout at me to get herself heard over the colleague near her, taking the other call.

So if the bill situation is true then will the thousands of property owners happily pay them £300 in a few weeks time after the 'campaign' ( think google rankings can tell when a website has been copied and pasted anyway) has ended, and then subsequently lose their money if the site is removed, making Simply Owners about 10 million richer?
AndrewH
Posts: 1499
Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2013 1:17 pm
Location: Kefalonia, Greece
Contact:

Post by AndrewH »

molliekitty wrote:As this site has now been live for almost a month, happily bowling along, can we assume that Owners Direct are not bothered about them or do we think a legal team somewhere is planning to get the site down as soon as possible but that this action takes time? After all, duplicating any details on their website is against their terms and conditions ...

... She grunted and said that my friend's house must have 'slipped through' and when I asked about the annual bill she said she would be getting one soon, mumbling 8 weeks time, and hung up on me ...

... So if the bill situation is true then will the thousands of property owners happily pay them £300 in a few weeks time after the 'campaign' ( think google rankings can tell when a website has been copied and pasted anyway) has ended, and then subsequently lose their money if the site is removed, making Simply Owners about 10 million richer?
Welcome to the site molliekitty! You may think I am playing devil's advocate, but I do feel that what you say is a bit alarmist.

To put the record straight, there is no breach of OD's terms and conditions, because, for them to apply, a legal contract must exist between OD and the other contracting party (i.e. an owner). Simply Owners is not a party to any contract with OD - far from it.

Where two parties make a contract, there must be consent on either side, so if your friend is sent a bill by Simply Owners for a £300 (or whatever) annual subscription, she can quite safely ignore it.

Like you I am curious to know how, if at all, OD plan to deal with this. I doubt they could simply claim copyright in an owner's listing. And if they can't, where would their lawyers go from there, I wonder.

Having one's web page cloned can lead to serious problems for any potential guest, where fraud is intended. For example, I was staggered recently to discover an old listing of my rental property with Holiday Lettings was being advertised by a Greek company, whom I know nothing about, and who arrange island hopping tours and take money for it.

There is no such danger where an owner's property has been data raped by Simply Owners, because they wouldn't be taking payments from guests. Their policy is for the financial and booking side of things to be dealt with entirely by the owner, just like OD once did. So perhaps your friend should pause and think what harm is she suffering when her property is being advertised by appearing on the Simply Owner's site.
newtimber
Posts: 1945
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 5:57 pm
Location: Brighton
Contact:

Post by newtimber »

AndrewH wrote: So perhaps your friend should pause and think what harm is she suffering when her property is being advertised by appearing on the Simply Owner's site.
It's a breach of copyright. The harm is that duplicated text and images damage SEO and effect Google rankings. If you look at Simply Owners terms and conditions, you see that advertisers are agreeing to all sorts of things - how can they have done this if they don't even know that their pages have been copied? They even have a condition that "You must not copy, transmit, modify, republish, save, pass off or link to any content or material on our Site." I haven't checked but OD is likely to have a similar clause.
e-richard
Posts: 5008
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:33 am
Location: Algarve, Portugal
Contact:

Post by e-richard »

newtimber wrote:They even have a condition that "You must not copy, transmit, modify, republish, save, pass off or link to any content or material on our Site."I haven't checked but OD is likely to have a similar clause.
I'm sure they do, and Simply Owners have probably just copied and republished that clause. :D
** Richard
PIMS: Holiday Rental Management system
They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
molliekitty
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2016 3:55 pm

Post by molliekitty »

Thanks Newtimber that is how we see it.

Goodness, there has to be some control somewhere!

Property Owners don't need a chancer like Simply Owners after the antics of Owners Direct. It will all end in tears as that site will come down for sure. Just hope they don't take too much money from all those hopeful owners out there :roll:
AndrewH
Posts: 1499
Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2013 1:17 pm
Location: Kefalonia, Greece
Contact:

Post by AndrewH »

newtimber wrote: It's a breach of copyright. The harm is that duplicated text and images damage SEO and effect Google rankings.
Yes, but a breach of whose copyright? OD/HA make a claim to it with their copyright statement:

"The Site is owned by the HomeAway Group. All content that appears on the Site is protected by copyright and database rights. Reproduction of the Site, in whole or in part, including the copying of text, graphics or designs, is prohibited"

I doubt that repetitions on Simply Owners could affect OD's Google ranking. By the way, that is simply a statement; it is not a contractual term for anyone apart from an Owners Direct customer.

IMO, an owner also has similar copyright in what he has written and photographed, so technically (in English law) he would have a case against Simply Owners, but if he doesn't self-publish with his own website it would be impossible to demonstrate that his Google ranking and SEO have been affected.
If you look at Simply Owners terms and conditions, you see that advertisers are agreeing to all sorts of things - how can they have done this if they don't even know that their pages have been copied?
Anyone whose listing has been lifted without consent and duplicated on Simply Owners has not made a contract with Simply Owners and therefor he has agreed to nothing.

P.S. I am not partisan, I just tell it as I think it is.
hugsarah
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Sep 20, 2015 9:58 am
Location: Ludlow, Shropshire
Contact:

Giving it a go

Post by hugsarah »

Just thought I'd share that l and my little cottage have finally come under Simply First's radar. From my limited experience, enquiries from Owners Direct seem to have significantly dropped off. If Simply Direct was given a chance it might just work and be to all our advantage so I'm going to give it a go. If it's free for the first three months that means free over the busy Christmas and January booking flurry. I'll also report back :-)
vfmfca
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2016 1:03 am
Location: Playa Blanca Lanzarote
Contact:

Re: Giving it a go

Post by vfmfca »

hugsarah wrote:Just thought I'd share that l and my little cottage have finally come under Simply First's radar. From my limited experience, enquiries from Owners Direct seem to have significantly dropped off. If Simply Direct was given a chance it might just work and be to all our advantage so I'm going to give it a go. If it's free for the first three months that means free over the busy Christmas and January booking flurry. I'll also report back :-)
You have to question the ethics of Owners Direct placing warning banners on your listing if you don't sign up for online booking and having windows that ask you to sign up to online booking with no button to close the window plus properties not appearing in searches. It will be dificult for new property web sites to replicate the old Owners Direct property advertising web site. My first instinct is that I need to have confidence in the ethics of any new web site. Simply Owners trying to get up and running by copying Owners Properties before asking permission is not a good start. if they had contacted Owners first I am sure many would have welcomed them doing all the work. I would not be happy to see our property on Simply Owners web site without permission as I wouldn't be happy to see our property appear on say a Russian web site. I look forward to hearing feedback of how you go on.
The past, present and future walk into a bar, it was tense!
Administrator of Holiday Home Rentals Facebook Group (List you Holiday Rental) https://www.facebook.com/groups/812251865631382/
salmoncottage
Posts: 294
Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2011 3:54 pm

Post by salmoncottage »

sc
Last edited by salmoncottage on Thu Jan 19, 2017 5:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
'Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside'
Nigel Goodwin
Posts: 707
Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2013 3:50 pm
Location: Newquay Cornwall
Contact:

Post by Nigel Goodwin »

salmoncottage wrote:Just wondering if anyone with a legitimate (agreed) listing, has had any enquiries from simply owners yet and what their service is like?
I think you have to be realistic, any new listing site will take many months before it will be seen amongst the mega listing sites, unless it is specialist. I don't expect OwnerHolidays to generate many new bookings in 2017, it will take a year before Google regards it as more than a pin prick on the back of a gnat sitting on an elephant.

But who knows what the power of social media will do!
Post Reply