That's it! Leaving Homeway

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
apiersa
Posts: 36
Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:35 pm

That's it! Leaving Homeway

Post by apiersa »

I received an e-mail from Homeaway this morning informing me that when my subscription comes up for renewal at the end of January I will no longer have the option of offering my guests "alternative" methods of payment i.e. cheque, Paypal, bank transfer, but can only use the "pay immediately" option on the website. This means I lose all control over my finances and that my guests have to pay the deposit up front instead of just writing a cheque that will not be banked unless there's been a problem, thus adding significantly to the cost of their holiday rental. This is the straw that has finally broken this camel's back. I will not renew my subscription.
I've seen on this forum that other's seem to like booking.com. Before I sign up with them do those of you who've made the move have any bits of advice for me?
rosebud
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Post by rosebud »

I did renew with Home Away in June.. A complete waste of my money .. Not one booking since then..

I have had very little success with booking.com.. Just one booking a year and a half ago.

2 things that probably reduce my chances of success: I have a 3 day minimum and I am probably too expensive (I up my prices to cover the 15% charge)
apiersa
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Post by apiersa »

Rosebud, I worked out that the commission charged from 7 bookings via booking.com would equal the current subscription fee to Homeaway, so basically not cost me any more than renewing my subscription!
I'm curious as to where your holiday home is? I have a one-week minimum stay and am also quite expensive given that we are a 4-star establishment ( :) ) qualified by the French tourist authorities. Our 6-person flat is in Tignes, in the Alps.
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AngloDutch
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Post by AngloDutch »

Experia (HA/VR) is now completely in charge of everything. But they bring in a large percentage of our rental income, so we couldn't afford to walk away from them. They have of course followed in the footsteps of ABB and TA, including all bookings/payments and communication via their system. But the bookings still come in and we have learned to work with the restrictions that have been introduced over the last couple of years.

Actually, for payments, we prefer HA/VR, as we get any payments from guests sent through within a few days (helps cashflow). ABB and TA is only paid out when the guests have checked in (and often departed).

What we don't like about HA is their incredibly biased cancellation policy, which we refuse to work with. We offer 'no refund' via their system but offer our own cancellation policy instead.

BC does not work for us. It is still set up more for hotels than holiday homes, and its rate calculation just adds every night together. If someone books for example, 5 nights including both higher weekend rates that we use, they end up paying way over the cost of a week's stay (ABB has the same rate calculation problems, but most of our bookings with ABB are for weekends, so we have no problems there with calculating our rates). Probably the reason why the only booking we ever received from BC was a last minute weekend booking with a 35% discount offered!

About TA, just a little better than BC for us. The charge to guests is so outrageous on that site, that no one ever books our accommodation there.

But, I'm sure others will tell you that all their bookings come via TA and a good many via BC...!
Last edited by AngloDutch on Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
apiersa
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Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:35 pm

Post by apiersa »

Hi AngloDutch,
Sorry I'm a bit confused with all the acronyms. I can figure out HA (Homeaway) and ABB (AirBnB) but am not familiar with VR or TA and I'm presuming BC is booking.com? And when you say the charge to guests is so outrageous "on that site" are you referring to TA or to BC? Because my understanding was that booking.com didn't charge guests anything.
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AngloDutch
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Post by AngloDutch »

Apiersa,

TA - Tripadvisor (also, HL - the former Holidaylettings)

VR - VRBO (Homeaway USA family)

BC - Booking com

I was referring to Tripadvisor's service/booking charges for guests which I believe is the highest in the industry.
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

I took the decision to stay on HA because they so dominate the market but I am not concerned if I don't get bookings through them. It's a way for my guests to find me.
For anyone in France (I realise may not apply to you apiersa) I can really recommend the Brittany Ferries gite site - Holiday France Direct. I use their quickbook system - my guests pay HFD £34 booking fee and I reduce my price to them for the same amount. All contacts / payments with me directly and my terms and conditions. Anyone coming over by car from the UK loves my being with HFD because they get 20% off their ferry charges.
jafa
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Post by jafa »

Actually, for payments, we prefer HA/VR, as we get any payments from guests sent through within a few days (helps cashflow). ABB and TA is only paid out when the guests have checked in (and often departed).


Are you saying that if a guest books on the 1st January for a week in July, you get the deposit from HA in January? They are telling me that I would get it after the guests have arrived?
Jafa
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AngloDutch
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Post by AngloDutch »

jafa wrote:Actually, for payments, we prefer HA/VR, as we get any payments from guests sent through within a few days (helps cashflow). ABB and TA is only paid out when the guests have checked in (and often departed).


Are you saying that if a guest books on the 1st January for a week in July, you get the deposit from HA in January? They are telling me that I would get it after the guests have arrived?

Jafa, who is handling your payments - Homeaway or Yapstone (HolidayRentPayment) in Ireland?

We were set up via Yapstone in 2013 and because we passed all their security checks (longstanding owner with HA family), we were offered 'Faster Payments' with them. We have two accounts with Yapstone - Sterling payments via HA uk and Euro payments via VR.

We receive the amounts in a few days of the payments being made by the guest.

For example -

Guests paid deposit in Euros on 15/08

Transfer notification received from Yapstone on 20/08

Payment received into our Dutch bank account on 21/08


If you've recently been set up through Homeaway Payments, I believe the only option is the (combined) payment once the guests check in.
apiersa
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Post by apiersa »

Hello SPJ,
Thanks for the tip about the Brittany Ferries website because I am in France (in the Alps). I shall have a look at it.
I'm curious as to how your guests find you via HA without booking through HA? My experience over the past five years is that if you try and give guests a phone number, e-mail address or website on the HA messaging system it gets transferred as ***** (and I haven't figured out how to get the guest's e-mail before they've booked). How d'you manage? I'd love to find a way to let people know via HA that they can book via our own website (if you're curious: www.Crystalatignes.com). But how?
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AngloDutch
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Post by AngloDutch »

We have used, for example, the following formats:

Websites/location:


'Best regards from Tignes,
Jack & Jill

Crystalatignes


or

Crystalatignes (delta oscar tango charlie oscar mike)


email address: john (delta oscar tango) doe (alpha tango) orange (foxtrot romeo)


Phone numbers: spell them fully out (preferably not in English...as below)


We also find that writing in a language other than English is much easier, as their filters seem to set up to catch words like 'dot' instead of a ´.´

Some guests understand, others don't... :shock:
jafa
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Post by jafa »

we aren't on any payment system with HA yet, hence the reasoning behind the question. So basically what you are saying is that any new renewals (mines due end of Jan 19) will automatically go onto the payment after the guests check in route. Im not happy about anyone either collecting far less holding the money for up to 12 months for MY business. My issue is that Ive got 25ish good reviews and don't want to lose them. My initial thought process was to renew on commission only. But what happens if a guest choses to book automatically without me vetting them first? I never accept guests without entering into direct communication first.
Jafa
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

Some find our website via googling the name of our gite which is unusual.

I've seen other gite owners who obviously ask their guests to name the gite in their reviews.

I just find people are getting more savvy about working around the system in the last couple of years.
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

jafa wrote:we aren't on any payment system with HA yet, hence the reasoning behind the question. So basically what you are saying is that any new renewals (mines due end of Jan 19) will automatically go onto the payment after the guests check in route. Im not happy about anyone either collecting far less holding the money for up to 12 months for MY business. My issue is that Ive got 25ish good reviews and don't want to lose them. My initial thought process was to renew on commission only. But what happens if a guest choses to book automatically without me vetting them first? I never accept guests without entering into direct communication first.
Thoroughly agree Jafa, which is why I'm happy to be on HA with no bookings!
Why not transfer your reviews onto your own site?
apiersa
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Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:35 pm

Post by apiersa »

jafa wrote:we aren't on any payment system with HA yet, hence the reasoning behind the question. So basically what you are saying is that any new renewals (mines due end of Jan 19) will automatically go onto the payment after the guests check in route. Im not happy about anyone either collecting far less holding the money for up to 12 months for MY business. My issue is that Ive got 25ish good reviews and don't want to lose them. My initial thought process was to renew on commission only. But what happens if a guest choses to book automatically without me vetting them first? I never accept guests without entering into direct communication first.
Sadly, Jafa, that is right. Concerning your earlier question, the guest pays everything up front when they book, HA then sits on the deposit and has it earning them a nice little income, and then they return it to the guest if you say the guest can have it all back. My understanding is that you don't ever get the deposit.
I think you can still vet the guest though because when they send you an initial enquiry you have a choice of answer even if you've lost your choice of payment method.
I didn't think about renewing on commission only. I wonder if that will still be possible and whether if you pick that option then you can keep the choice of payment methods. I shall check it out...
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