Lay My Hat

Ok, so I have now got to the bottom of this.

The service fee is not taken out of our money.

There is a problem however for all of us re the impossible rates page. They are "soon" rolling out a better system to reflect our rates better.

Currently i have no way (and known for ages thats so) of showing that a low mid season two night break is £300, whilst for a 3 or 4 night stay then it isn't £150 a night. This is because my overheads are the same regardless of length of stay re laundry and cleaning.

The issue here is that whereas when an inaccurate automatic quote was issued by OD (all the time, despite endless fiddling with the rates page) I had time to contact the guest and address that. No problems usually.

Now, if they have already hit the online payment button, they are paying on the basis of that inaccurate quote. So, I now have a guest feeling ripped off because she paid £196 (based on the night rate in low season) instead of the £300.

Secondly, I rang holidayrentpayments , who are one of OD online payment companies, and do advance payments (we get the money when the guest pays it, not on check in). They would be happy for me to migrate to them, but talking to OD they won't allow this.

When you sign up to online payments there are no options given. I doubt they are on firm ground with this, but hey ho. Again, they are supposed to be rolling out a new system "soon" of advance payments, hence re instating our cash flow.

I'm still thinking I may well rent the cottage out on a long term basis, not sell it, as its becoming to much hassle for too little.

Hope that answers some questions mouse. I certainly think its worth putting something in the description to say contact us first before paying any money, to get an accurate quote etc. I think eventually though they will ensure that only online payments are possible, not any other way.

I believe that you can work around the "per night" pricing problem by using the "Fees" section of the pricing table.

Scroll down your pricing table and click on Fees. Then you can enter a per-booking fee and call it whatever you like: "cleaning", "change over", or even "service fee" (that'll confuse 'em).

Next, reduce all your seasonal rates accordingly.

Having done all that, we still put the prices on OD considerably higher than our real prices, so that folks get a pleasant surprise when they find our own website and book with us direct, avoiding the Servitude Fee, commission and our higher rate. All-in-all it's about 25% cheaper if they manage to find us directly. Any who just go ahead and book on OD pay the full whack - but they won't be doing it next time.

well, decision made. I'm going to put the cottage out to normal long term rental with an agent mid march (i need it a bit in the winter for various reasons myself). It'll make nearly as much as running it as a holiday let, and although we won't be able to use it, it's a relief not to have to deal with the increasingly complicated marketing platforms. I don't want to give my life over to intstagramming away to drive business to my own website. So, there it is. Was a good and successful five years, but I've had enough of the increasing complications and finding my way through systems that no longer work for me.

Thanks for the explanation deliliah (and glad you found a way to have less hassle!) But can I'm confused about these holidayrentalpayment people. Who are they and how does that work with OD? Do you have to sign up with them before your renewal?

Thanks so much
Mousie
x

Hi Mouse. Holidayrentalpayments are actually Yapstone Ltd and it is they who handle credit card transations on behalf of OD and charge you 3% for the priviledge. When you sign up for online payments you also need to sign up to their service.

You can get them to pay you ahead of the guest checking in but you do need to jump through some more hoops before they 'upgrade' you to allow you get your hands on your money.

Mouse, they told me they were ditching Yapstone and having all payments in-house 'in a few months', last July, which would enable them to give owners the money once guests had paid rather than when they arrive. Obviously hasn't happened yet, if it ever will.

That's good to hear if they proceed with in house as it makes them more accountable and they can't keep passing the buck on missing payments, late payments etc. (well, one would hope that....).

FelicityA wrote:That's good to hear if they proceed with in house as it makes them more accountable..

I'm not so sure that it is good news. HomeAway's reputation for releasing poorly designed and buggy in house software is not encouraging.

I'd rather it just worked than knew who to make accountable

Well, maybe we need both

KathyG wrote:Mouse, they told me they were ditching Yapstone and having all payments in-house 'in a few months', last July, which would enable them to give owners the money once guests had paid rather than when they arrive. Obviously hasn't happened yet, if it ever will.

I have a feeling that the person at the other end of the phone line sometimes tells you what you want to hear, whether it's fact or fiction. It makes his/her life easier!

With OD (on subscription) and have always (and currently)receive payment just a few days after it has been made.

I have had online bookings through OD enabled but not Instant book...

Do you receive 100% of your rental price or they detract another fee for managing the payment?
So if your rental price paid by guest is 1000 EUR, do you receive the full 1000 EUR on your bank account?

Cotto wrote:Do you receive 100% of your rental price or they detract another fee for managing the payment?
So if your rental price paid by guest is 1000 EUR, do you receive the full 1000 EUR on your bank account?

Of course they charge another fee for handling payment. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but you certainly won't get your full 1000 EUR.

e-richard wrote:Of course they charge another fee for handling payment. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but you certainly won't get your full 1000 EUR.

It's 3% commission so I believe, as charged by their unregulated money handling partners (Yapstones/HolidayRentPayment) in the Republic of Ireland, who have been holding your money and taking the interest on it until they pay it (or the major part of it) to you. 1000 EUR will be reduced to 970 EUR when it reaches your bank.