double booked

From the moment they step through the door your bookings become guests, and their experiences determine whether they ever come back.
Ladyaga
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double booked

Post by Ladyaga »

OMG I never thought it could happen, I booked sat to Monday last may 2018 for this weekend. We work with a great house owner who lets ours too, its worked fab for two years. But I have always said to check our web page before taking bookings as all my date are put there once a deposit is paid. Well he told me his booking for friday to Sunday was taken last July 2018. I did not know, and I spoke to him in the week and said that the guests were ours this weekend and they had paid there bond into the bank well in advance. Still he said nothing.

So when two guests arrived yesterday at 4pm saying they were Phils booking talk about shit myself, 22 guests, omg what to do.
Am so upset, the poor guests were due today, so we have said we can do a mega turn round and let them be here from 2 pm tomorrow, and they can stay till Wednesday, but they only want till Monday pm, I need to give them a very hefty refund too. What do you all think. I am totally devastated.
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Ladyaga
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Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2015 5:17 pm
Location: Yorkshire

double booked

Post by Ladyaga »

I love the way you all look but no one replies, I am at my wits end, and worse still our house keeper is away this weekend, so have some more help but they have never been in the house before.
there is none so queer as folk
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

There have been 11viewings if your post - 1 of those will be when you put your second post up. I know this is an extremely difficult time for you, but unless anyone has had to manage the same issue they will probably not reply. There is no easy solution to this and no magic wand to put it right.

I haven’t been I your situation, but would be beside myself if I was. You appear to have let the first people take possession, so all you can do is what you have said already. I would give a total refund, not a discount. I would also offer a hefty discount towards a future booking but they probably wouldn’t want to take you up on that offer.

You probably should fund them going into other accommodation or a hotel by way of an apology. A very difficult lesson, and not a booking you should take any money from.

Sorry to be so frank, but you are wanting immediate replies.
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GRL
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Post by GRL »

It's what Zebedee said. You cannot undo what is done but you can try and limit the damage of a reviews by offering a full refund, helping find other accommodation and if necessary paying for any difference. It is every owner's worst nightmare and I have done it too, although found out the error with plenty of time (months) to allow one set of guests to find another holiday and no one arrived to find someone else already there. I worked all day to try and secure alternative accommodation for one family and gave a full and immediate refund to them plus offered them a generous discount off a future holiday with us - but they did not take me up up in that. What you have to do now is make sure this never happens again by massively tightening up how you and the owner take bookings. Sorry I cannot offer you that magic wand.
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edinburgh
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Post by edinburgh »

It's definitely unfortunate, and clearly a mistake that must be learnt from.

It behoves you to put this right, and that might be a costly exercise.

This happened to me once - I use a channel manager, but had taken a booking from an offline source and forgot to add it to the booking system. In this instance, I accommodated the guest in a nearby property at my expense. It cost me a few hundred to put right, but, it's something I haven't done again in the years after.

Because the booking is so short in duration, I wonder if you can get some of the good will back by offering an extra day on the end, with your compliments?

The night before the stay - with it being a group of 22, that might be hard to arrange. You'll need to book accommodation for them. I would work with them to find a suitable arrangement. It might be that they'll be happy with a block booking in a B&B, or perhaps a low end hotel.

You'll want to minimise your exposure as much as you can, but realistically, you have a duty to put them in the position they paid to be in - and anything less than this exposes you to potential legal action (or if they paid by credit card, a chargeback).

What is the position right now?
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apexblue
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Post by apexblue »

What do your t&c say for this?
It is better to remain quiet and have one think you are stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt....

The biggest mistake we make in life is thinking we have time.
AndrewH
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Post by AndrewH »

What a nightmare for you. I can't add to the advice above, and the blame and the consequences of it seem to fall, if very unfairly, on your shoulders. Even when there is just one availability calendar, but which is shared between two separate entities, there is going to be a double-booking disaster waiting in the wings.

I am not sure how terms and conditions can take care of such a situation, except perhaps to set out what should happen in the event of a double booking, and that to me sounds like a two-edged sword. In effect, a term which says something like "if I break the contract in any way, I will not be held responsible" would not be accepted.

Ladyaga, I am so sorry this doesn't sound like a sympathetic post, but it could be food for thought for others.
Hells Bells
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Re: double booked

Post by Hells Bells »

Ladyaga wrote:I love the way you all look but no one replies, I am at my wits end, and worse still our house keeper is away this weekend, so have some more help but they have never been in the house before.
I know I am late to the party, but many of us will have been busy with our own changeovers on Saturday lunchtime. I hope you got your guests sorted to their satisfaction.
The lesson here is to act sooner. Both you and the other person knew there was a potential problem here, and neither of you did anything to sort it out in advance.
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