Self-Catering-Breaks.com

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

I don't want to re-read this thread (life's too short), but my impression has been that there has been more advice to SCB advertisers, both from SCB and from each other, than there has been advice to SCB on improving their site.

Personally I could not bill Doug for my expertise, because I haven't given him any feedback at all.

Given that it is a free site, and assuming that it will remain so, some might reason that our relationship with it is fundamentally different to our relationship with a paying site. In a free site all advertisers are stake-holders, and we are the beneficiaries if the site performs better. Viewed from this perspective, it's in our interests to help the site improve.

I don't happen to believe that to be the case, I am just putting it forward. On the other hand, you can bet that Holiday Rentals etc. have also received tons of free advice from users, some of it on this forum. They are less likely to act on it than SCB, because SCB has such a very large margin for improvement.
Paolo
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alexia s.
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Post by alexia s. »

"our relationship with it is fundamentally different to our relationship with a paying site......... it's in our interests to help the site improve."
I don't believe that it is fundamentally different either, Paolo.
And from what I have picked up on this thread, H-R are far more likely to act on good advice than certain free sites.

In this vein, has anybody else read the French copy on H-R properties using this facility? It's not great, but I won't hassle Marcelle over this as it concerns the French market.
Best,
Alexia.
scb
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Post by scb »

All I can say is we do act on the advice. This forum just allows us to see the problems easier than looking at 1000's of pointless emails, which as I have said we don't really do.

I do thank Paolo for this forum and maybe an idea would be to have a section where property owners can tell portals like ourself what they believe is good and bad on our sites. As I am sure many other portals have the same issues as us, so much noise but so little information.

Doug
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Chalky
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Post by Chalky »

1000's of pointless emails
.....which just sums up your attitude towards the people who are enabling you to earn a living :evil:
Chalky

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tansy
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Post by tansy »

Chalky, I do understand Doug saying about 1000's of pointless emails....people DO ask some really bizare and silly questions and really can be time wasters extrodinaire....people never cease to amaze me with some of the questions they ask us...also as a general rule they don't read either...e.g. on all our info I clearly state that we supply twoels, what sizes, how many and that beds made up for their arrival - I should imagine over 30% ask us just befoer they are due to come - do we supply towels...it does irritate me...that in my book is a pointles email.
it's all a learning curve!
scb
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emails

Post by scb »

Chalky

Far from it.

You want to pay to answer 1000 emails per day asking stupid questions like:

los-castillos.co.uk can you please email me pictures.

Unfortunately some real questions get lost.


Doug
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

As a property owner I don't see why my relationship with a property rental site should be any different, whether the site is paid for by sponsers and advertising or paid for by the subscribing property owners. The same thing is demanded of the property rental site, however it is funded.

We all went to work to make a living and we're still at it with our rentals - making money. Property rental site owners are no different so why should they be accused of being "only in it for the money"? What makes us better than them?

While I don't approve of Doug's attitude towards "how do I do this or that?" e-mail enquiries I do appreciate what he is saying. We complain about time-wasters, should he not enjoy the same priviledge?

It might be a good idea to have an area on the Forum where property owners can tell portals what they believe is good and bad on their sites. There would have to be one proviso - people read and inwardly digested the guidelines on how to use the site in question. That's probably asking too much of many people. How many people read the User Manual before they complain "it doesn't work"? Not many, I suspect.

Alan
Patia
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Post by Patia »

Doug - I have sent you a pm as requested although, since this is the first time I've ever attempted that, you may never receive it! Please let me know if not, as I appreciate you responding to my concerns through this page. I sometimes feel a little invisible on the Forum, and was pleased that you noted my remarks despite the volume of traffic on this thread.

Paolo - I'm beginning to find some of the views in this thread a little 'lofty', and perhaps not terribly relevant when posted by those who do not, themselves, own property and who, perhaps therefore, do not fully appreciate the trials, tribulations and expenses of the rest of us. My feelings are that where some of us have already spent time registering our properties with SCB, we might as well expend a little more energy in seeing if Doug is sincere in his wish to establish a good, functioning, free site that benefits both him and us. We'll soon find out . . .

Patia
scb
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Post by scb »

Alan...I do see your point and it is valid, but not cost effective for us to do.....simple mathematics. We have created our model different to most of the other players in the field, as we believed most villa owners do not like paying much for leads, hence can be seen by the amount of owners who have ever donated anything to us, even after we sent them leads. Hence we cut costs where we deem suitable and make money where we can, round the edges.

Patia....fully agree. There is lofty aspirations and there is practicallity.

Doug
Fraise
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Post by Fraise »

Hi Patia- definitely not invisible :lol: We all contribute what and when we can.I agree with you about non-rental owners maybe not quite seeing where we are coming from-hypothesis is all well and good but doesn't pay the bills :wink:

www.thepetitmanoir.com
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

Patia wrote:I'm beginning to find some of the views in this thread a little 'lofty', and perhaps not terribly relevant when posted by those who do not, themselves, own property and who, perhaps therefore, do not fully appreciate the trials, tribulations and expenses of the rest of us. My feelings are that where some of us have already spent time registering our properties with SCB, we might as well expend a little more energy in seeing if Doug is sincere in his wish to establish a good, functioning, free site that benefits both him and us.
I agree with you. You are not alone in thinking it and that is why this thread is still here.
Paolo
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Doug,

I don't think we are a million miles apart. My feeling is that, if the only questions you got were about things which were genuinely difficult or wrong you should/could/would find the time to deal with them.

Alan
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Garri
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Post by Garri »

I agree with you about non-rental owners maybe not quite seeing where we are coming from
It's not rocket science is it? Owners want holiday-makers to book their properties, they want to make money or at very least recoup their investment. They want to do that as easily and as cost effectively as possible - just like any other business.

As a holiday-maker I want to search for suitable places easily and comfortably, hassle free. I don't like flaky websites. I prefer to shop at Waitrose and not Asda - it's a nicer user experience, nicer environment to shop in.

Patia, if it's a lofty ambition to want to create a site that lives up to decent standards then I'm standing at a great height from what I've seen in the field so far. No doubt a greater height to fall from and look a fool but please let me worry about that as I'm a big boy and can deal with the consequences.
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Alan Knighting
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Post by Alan Knighting »

Doug,

Perhaps many of your queries are from people like Sticky. He joined the Forum on the 15th August. He threw in 3 relatively unpleasant postings about Tansy’s new website and immediately disappeared. I have sent him a PM on the 17th August which he has not even looked at. I sent him an e-mail on the 17th August to his business address which goes unanswered. If that’s the sort of thing you are face with in their thousands I am not surprised you ignore them.

If you are still following the Forum Sticky I am trying to prod you into a response – not about the Forum or Tansy’s website but about life in the Cotentin.

Alan
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Garri
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Post by Garri »

If that’s the sort of thing you are face with in their thousands I am not surprised you ignore them.
That's why Doug should set up a support forum. Positive Tip: It doesn't have to be public, it can be accessible only to registered owners via their admin screen. He may even find an uptake in his donations as a result.
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