Lay My Hat

I received a booking via HA (Instant Booking) 10 days ago. There was no initial email from them just the booking notification from HA.

They are Dutch (although with a name that sounds Spanish).

I replied to them from the HA system with our standard "Thanks and here are the details you need" etc email which required them to give us passport information (now required here in spain).

So far no reply, I have emailed them directly and sent a text to their telephone number supplied in the ad.

Nothing, so far.

I do not feel comfortable letting to people I have had no contact with.

Would you cancel this booking, ignore the lack of communication, or what?

Interesting. I think you probably have to persist - at least for a bit longer. Am I naive to suggest that HA should get involved, especially if there is a legal requirement for you to have certain guest details?

We had an enquiry some months ago. I replied and sent a follow up. The guest then gave me another e-mail address to use and said she thought I might be having problems getting through. The booking form arrived with yet another e-mail address. When no final payment arrived I gave them our usual week's grace and then e-mailed. No reply. I used the alternative e-mail address. No reply. I then used the booking form e-mail address but it was hand-written and I couldn't be sure if it was an 'S' or '5' so did both. I phoned and left a message. No reply to anything. I phoned in the evening and left another message. I phoned early morning and left another message.

All these messages were stressing the importance of her getting in touch, making payment etc. After another week I drafted an e-mail to all the addresses saying that unless I heard from her and I received payment I would consider she had cancelled her booking and we would re-advertise. I was just about to send it and checked our bank account. There was her money. No reference, no word she had sent it and another week later I still have heard nothing from her.

Sometimes, people just don't communicate …………….

give us passport information (now required here in spain).

You do not need those details until the day of entry. If these are real Spanish (I do not see why not) then they will know this.
Personally I would never give my passport details via an email either.

Signed Dutch living in Spain.

Thanks.

Gillian
I guess then if you have still not heard from them but are allowing them to stay then you do not consider it important for your guests to bother to communicate?

casasantoestevo
"You do not need those details until the day of entry. " Yes, point taken, although we normally leave the pre completed forms for them to fill in, but you are right no legal requirement.

Its more from a confidence point of view. I suppose if we want instant bookings these days we have to forego the usual rapport with our guests.

I personally consider basic communication a requirement for welcoming guests to our house.

It could be that the cryptic email addressed used for your reply by HA could be going to their SPAM folder, that has happened a few times for us.

We get a lot of guests that just pay online and never really communicate, I assume thats the way some people like it.

I am intending to let the guests come and stay. They have paid and I have their booking form. I would rather have had contact with them but c'est la vie. My OH says the guest is embarrassed to have had to be chased to pay. Maybe. The initial exchange of e-mails were friendly/normal enough.

I do prefer to have had an exchange of e-mails and with most guests we have but, recently, I have found, in all walks of life, that people are becoming less 'personal'. There is less and less common courtesy and more "I need/want it and I need/want it now"

I also said that we would never give passport details via an email they are just not secure. Now we have to add our ( business owners) duty of care under the GDPR it is even more of a risk for you to get caught out.
If you ask for these personal details via HA contact system how do you know how this information is stored?


If you run (like us) a B&B type of business then it is normal to have little/none pre-arrival contact with guests. That is the thing with instant bookings. Just hope you have the money either as a deposit or in full payment.

casasantoestevo
Yes B&B very different from renting a villa. Imagine, if you will, that you are leaving your B&B for a few days holiday in another part of Spain. Would you give the keys to your entire B&B for that period to someone you had never met, spoken to or even exchanged emails with?

(Booking was through OD by the way from a person registered this year and with no profile information or reviews)

Cleanforum, I too would feel most uncomfortable with this situation. Personally I think it is only common courtesy & good manners to exchange a few words (spoken or written) before handing over my keys. Unlike yourselves we are required to provide certain information in advance of arrivals or risk huge fines & licence revocation so I'm afraid I'd be very persistent - certainly not sending out access details until comfortable and compliant.
If you have access to a phone number I'd try a call first, but unfortunately this is exactly the kind of rental environment that the OTA's want in order to squeeze both parties. Introduced by stealth under the guise of security, anonymity suits their agenda but certainly does little for 'their' inventory providers including the ability to meet localized licensing law.
Looks like two available choices - cancel & be relegated to the portals bottom feeders & ne'er do wells or suck it up & hope for the best. A bold new future indeed.

cleanforum, surely you are in the driving seat and you will at some point need to send them access information/keys?

And surely you will not send this information without some further contact?

All you need to do is tell them this. No need to be threatening, just a mild notification, but should be effective.

And, by the way, that's a good reason NOT to post any welcome pack on any of the OTAs websites, despite their protestations.

Yes you are correct.
You asked Would you give the keys to your entire B&B for that period to someone you had never met, spoken to or even exchanged emails with?
I would never let my property out. Even with some communication there are still scallywags about. You know the thing giving a false information etc etc

Car rentals seem to work without all the pleasantry of exchanging information before arrival.

I will still stick to the advice about privacy laws. One cannot ask for private information over any internal system. Customers once aware of the floors in this may stop giving any personal information.

The solution is really simple. Have you got any money as per your T&C's? If not it is the end of the reservation, no?

They have directions but not key information.

They have paid OD by Instant booking, so if I cancel I will become a "bottom feeder" under HA rules.

I will give it another week and then call them direct. If not satisfied I will just cancel it, and take the hit from HA.

Thanks for the replies and advice.

This a reason why you should not send your passport details or have them copied at the front desk of a hotel.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... sport.html

Guests may provide their details to us via whatsapp or gmail.
As far as I am aware both companies adhere to privacy of data rules and regulations.

On further investigation, it seems that Google is not 100% secure. Whatsapp may be better?