Lay My Hat

We are getting a lot of 'where are the directions email' from guests often on the day of arrival. These are emailed two weeks before arrival date. Guests too lazy to search for them?

Probably!

I've started to ask for mobile numbers so I can send a location pin. That might solve the issue. People seem to be grafted to their phone these days!

Mousie
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Happens quite often, emails end up in junk or spam and they never look in the dark recesses of that folder.

Had a guest call once 2/3 years ago saying they hadn't had their directions and could I send them again. In the background I could hear:

".....emergency lighting will guide you to the nearest exit....."

Yes, they were on their way and about to take off

If the directions consist of either a link, or an attachment, the following scenarios are common:
If it’s to a gmail address the email might get marked as spam and delivered to the recipient’s spam folder.
If it’s to a hotmail address, and other MSN mail providers, it may well be discarded completely and neither sender nor recipient will be aware.

If the email has no clickable links and/or attachments, another possibility is that your sending domain (if it’s your own) has been blacklisted; again hotmail are over-zealous with this, but there are more highly regarded blacklists - you can check if you’re on them with something like MX Toolbox. If your server is blacklisted you’ll normally get a bounce notification, which is something.

I curse anyone who sends an enquiry from a hotmail address, and in addition to my reply I invariably send a simple plain text email from a different address explaining that they should be receiving a full reply but that hotmail are a prize PITA and should be force-fed tinned Spam until they explode (or words to that effect).

Not foolproof or spam filter proof either but at the end of the email containing directions & key access you could sign off with 'please confirm receipt of xyz information by return' or something similar. Always have & most will reply, often with the odd query as the directions seem complicated at first glance. Invariably those that don't bother end up being the divs that get lost & call at stupid o' clock from the wrong town/village/middle of nowhere or can't operate the gates or can't open the keysafe....

In the past I've had one or two calls from guests trying to get hold of me for directions or key safe codes when they were just minutes from the cottage. Luckily I was able to answer their calls at the time and realised that I had to make our system foolproof.

So now I start our directions email with 'please send a quick reply to let me know that this has all come through OK including the attachment'. I have a reminder (in PIMS) to tell me when to email the directions and another to check that I've had their reply. If I don't get a reply within a few days I send it all again and text or call to ask if they've received it. Mostly they just forgot to let me know, but occasionally they've found it in their spam folder.

I do exactly the same as Jo, but have now put that request to confirm receipt in bold red at the top of the email.

By the time you have had a few emails back and forth, then the hazards described above by greenbarn should no longer apply.

Now we are dealing with the speed bumps that disrupt the flow of information from holiday guest brain to action.

2 days before the start of their holiday I send the lead guest a very short email reminder of the postcode, the key code and house telephone number, plus wishing them all a safe journey. Seems to work, no one has ever got lost - YET!

e-richard wrote:
By the time you have had a few emails back and forth, then the hazards described above by greenbarn should no longer apply.

Agreed - with the emphasis on should - although I’ve had it happen occasionally; I wonder if the length of time between emails makes a difference - a flurry at the beginning of the process, then nothing for months until the balance reminder (with link). But that suggests that hotmail etc have a system...

greenbarn wrote:... But that suggests that hotmail etc have a system...

Oh, yes, of course. Thats the flaw with my argument.