Time wasters AAHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Donna P]

Does any else have this b****y irratating thing going on with some people. They are all enthusiastic, you give them your little story and all the info they ask for and then "Yes, it sounds great Donna, just what we are looking for! thanks for all the info it sounds perfect, will get back to you later" and you wait and wait and wait and wait and nothing, not a sausage from the beasts. Why oh why do people do this. They must know from the start that they are not going to book and its not like they are having to tell you face to face, its only a b****y e-mail ! Surely a quick "thanks but not for us" would'nt be too hard for them .
Any one got any tips on this subject or is it just part of the holiday letting game we all have to play !?

Thanks for "listening" chums, I feel better now.
Donna x

[Big Sis..]

Hi Donna ...

It is annoying isnt it ...

I think we had a thread on this...
I used to really believe people ..but know I dont....I always get a contact phone no[so you can chase them up]...

If theyre reluctant to give it its cos theyre not going to book [1471 works sometimes as well]

Tell them to let you know within a couple of days...[one way or the other..they probably wont but at least then if you do book someone else its their fault]

I wouldnt hold off if another booking comes up in the mean time...
Also an email saying youve had another enquiry sometimes gets them motivated[if theyre interested]..even if you havent ....

A Bookings not a Booking until the moneys been received

[Alan Knighting]

Don’t we all do the same when we are shopping? Don’t we all say “yes, very nice� and then never go back? What’s the difference?

A sale is a sale when the goods have been sold. Until then they’re still on the shelf. What’s the difference?

Fluffy

[gh]

Any one got any tips on this subject or is it just part of the holiday letting game we all have to play !?

Thanks for "listening" chums, I feel better now.
Donna x

Hi Donna, I'm sure we all feel like that on a few occasions and its not pleasant. Being civil to people is not hard, by not replying to e-mails is not the type of people I would want anyhow.

Tips- well what I do is, reply to the enquirer by phone if a number is giving, saying we will hold their chosen dates for 48hrs (longer if they advise us) and mark out the calender 'unknown'. Should they not get back to me in that time, I e-mail and politely say; we have made their dates available again.....blah blah blah
Works for us, as usual; one size might not fit all.

Good luck.
Helen

[Giddy Goat]

Don’t we all do the same when we are shopping? Don’t we all say “yes, very nice� and then never go back? What’s the difference? Fluffy

Well, there is a difference as a shop assistant is salaried, whether or not the shopper has wasted his time. We are not paid if we have spent time replying to questions. You usually thank a shop assistant when they respond to your inquiry and you don't purchase, and it's common courtesy to do so in the rentals market if someone has taken time and trouble to reply to your request for information. Different to a booking inquiry which is sent to a cluster of owners whose properties are in someone's shopping basket, this is an inquiry directly to Donna, asking specific questions about the property etc, and perhaps there may even have been a series of emails exchanged.

Got one of these hanging in the air at the moment, and it is a casual way to behave.

[mon269]

I received an email a couple of days ago from someone wanting to book for August. They sent all the information that I need to write the contract, which I don’t ask for unless they have told me they want to place the booking. The name sounded familiar but I could not remember receiving any enquiries from them. Looking back on my emails I found the original enquiry from them, dated 8th of January.

Some people seem to need long time to decide.

[Donna P]

Thanks Goaty for fighting my corner. On some occasions I have even e-mailed more piccies to the rats! AND spent days exchanging e-mails with them when I could have been doing my Spanish homework. I have an exam this week and I am getting freaked -out about it so these menaces are extra annoying at the moment. Infact I should be revising now but I've got addicted to this dam site!
Donna x

[la vache!]

On some occasions I have even e-mailed more piccies to the rats! AND spent days exchanging e-mails with them

I just tell them to look at the website if they need any photos and information, although I will spare the time to answer any specific questions people have. 5 yrs down the line with a good level of bookings, maybe I'm a bit more relaxed about things. I had one particularly brusque enquiry from someone this week with the comments simply 'How much' I e-mailed them back with the words 'fully booked', no more, if enquirers can't be bothered to be polite, then neither can I.

[Alan Knighting]

GG,

Well, there is a difference as a shop assistant is salaried…

I’m not so sure about that, I think many of them work on commission and they don’t like time-wasters any more than I do.

I would be the last one to argue with you about “common� courtesy except to say that courtesy has become very “uncommon�.

I’ll spend time on getting a booking and not worry about it – its par for the course. I know that a lot of that time will be “wasted� time but, like the shop assistant, I know that’s part of the game of getting a sale.

Got one of these hanging in the air at the moment, and it is a casual way to behave.

I couldn’t agree more. They hang me in the air and in the meantime I “casually� take a booking from someone else.

Life’s not one-sided and it is tough, isn’t it?

Fluffy

[Giddy Goat]

...and you've been living a while in la France Profonde Alan - I'm sure this makes a difference to how you deal wtih what comes your way. It's nice to see!

[Big Sis..]

Hi Donna ..

Sadly it is all part of the game and as you get more of this sort of behaviour you will get hardened to it....[sadly]

Alan....

Its not quite the same as being in a shop[unless you own it and know the bills have to be paid..]
If someone came to your shop...repeatedly to try on the same dress...[that is a one off] day after day... ask numerous questions...ask you to check this and that about it with the manufactorer ...say its definitley what your looking for can you keep it ..I will definitley be coming back ...its perfect.....

Then to hear no more...not even thanks a lot for your trouble Ive found something else even more perfect...

Especially as youve had loads of people whove wanted to buy it...that particular one..that day....
whove have then gone next door and bought one there..

The dress is still in your shop the chance to sell it has gone[maybe forever....at the end of the season its still there hanging...costing you money]

I think after a while you become hardened to it.....

But its still awkward...At the moment I have a lady who wants a week in April[definitely] she says she is sending the money[so thats a few days to wait] in the mean time I get an enquiry is that week free...
do I say Yes, No or Maybe....

Cos the first ladies definitely having it right ...I believe her right ...because out of common courtesy she would tell me if not... right

By the time I might realise the moneys not coming and the first person has changed her mind...[and not bothered to tell me]
...the second person has booked somewhere else
....so Ive lost money...[and my patience]

[Alan Knighting]

Come on girls, I might have been outside the UK for too long and I might not be all that bright but I'm not that f**ing stupid either. I didn’t come up the Tyne rowing a cabbage.

Fluffy

[Giddy Goat]

WhaaaaaT?

[Big Sis..]

Double Whaaaat :

[Guest3]

For some unknown reason we've had more 'time wasting' enquiries this year! (Probably because people have a much more wider range of properties/destinations to choose from the internet than before.) I normally leave it a few days and if they give a phone number follow up with a 'courtesey call' to enquire whether they are still interested.