HomeAway: How to respond to an enquiry.

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
COYS
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Location: Greek Islands

Post by COYS »

bornintheuk wrote:
Mouse wrote:Just had a call form OD about the fact I haven't renewed my subscription advert.
One gem of information he passed on to me was that I would see a dramatic improvement in enquiries if I went pay as you go. :roll:

I'm still undecided on trying that but I'm definately not paying a subscription.

Mousie
x
And you believe them ! Once everyone is on commission then where will you find yourself on searches. Rated by highest price first to maximise commission on a percentage basis ?
Cheaper to shoot yourself in the foot :?
+1
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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

bornintheuk wrote:
Mouse wrote:Just had a call form OD about the fact I haven't renewed my subscription advert.
One gem of information he passed on to me was that I would see a dramatic improvement in enquiries if I went pay as you go. :roll:

I'm still undecided on trying that but I'm definately not paying a subscription.

Mousie
x
And you believe them ! Once everyone is on commission then where will you find yourself on searches. Rated by highest price first to maximise commission on a percentage basis ?
Cheaper to shoot yourself in the foot :?
No I didn't believe them, hence the rolling eyes emoticon.
As I explained to him; our catagory of 4 beds, pool, wifi and a/c is now very small, so even if I'm last I am on page 3. I wouod imagine most people searching would manage to look at 3 pages. Yet still my stats are appalling.

The only reason I'm contemplating going on commission is because it gives me a presence for previous viewers of my advert and my reviews will show.

Mousie
x
Quiterio
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Post by Quiterio »

I've renewed with HA (too nervous to give them up!) and had one instant booking, followed by an unbooking once the guest and I had a conversation whereby he realised the accommodation wouldn't suit him after all - which resulted in a bit of a scramble to get him a refund. No other enquiries yet this year.

By complete contrast, I've also joined Spain Holidays, and have already had several enquiries and one booking. And what a relief to be able to do business the 'old' way! Spain Holiday also have a shedload of support info which you can incorporate into your website. Really good!
sarahk
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Post by sarahk »

I think it's easier if you find a specific channel to advertise your property (in your case a website for holiday houses ONLY in Spain) .. The problem is that giants like HA or OD guarantee an international visibility that other smaller and local sites do not have, and this is the reason why they are more and more arrogant.
In my opinion it's always better to act on several fronts: even a simple free ad on a classified free website (eg.Kijiji, OLX,etc) can give a lot of enquiries and some bookings!
Sarah
delilah
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home away owners direct

Post by delilah »

I spoke to them last week (getting confused guests and me too re whether booked or not, and if I reply by text guest doesn't come back quick enough so booking expires and they get a cancelled message from the site...yes, the sound you hear is grinding teeth to tiny stumps).
They tell me that everyone now has to pay online via them, no other options. But, its different depending who picks the phone up when I ring them.
Tricky, as I have been with OD for 5 years, do get some bookings via my own website and from dog friendly sites, but most of my bookings come from OD/Homeaway, and I am still getting lots of enquiries and bookings.
I see one of you has suggested other free sites. If anyone has a recommendation for another platform, or how simply owners are working for them, would be good thanks
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