I did my own website early in the year and have been fortunate to now take on some other properties to rent, website still in early design stages really as to whether I take our place off 'priority' to become a 'proper' rental site (thats probably another topic!!) my question is about the availability calander. At the weekend I got embroiled in a rather heated arguement with someone who says as a prospective guest he needed to see the calander, he had been checking for a while re dates available and then when I withdrew the calander lost interest. I had taken the calander off because our place has been fully booked for quite a long time and also now with these other rentals if I was showing as fully booked (especially with all the other websites I am on!) and prospective guests didn't email I would not be able to fill the other properties.
What do other people think? Is it really that important to have a calander and if one dosen't does it really put people off so much that they wouldn't even bother to email?
Availability calander
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Linda Freese
- Posts: 175
- Joined: Sat Oct 02, 2004 9:00 am
- Location: Costa del Sol
Hi Meishka
I think it is important to have an availability calendar.
If you have more than one property listed on your website, why don´t you just add a different calendar for each property. That is what I do on mine and it works very well.
I would imagine that it is more of a hassle to have to reply to enquiries when your property is full than to have a calendar which clearly shows it is full. I appreciate that there are some people that just email without refering to the calendar, but I think all in all it's more convenient to have one than not to have one!
Linda
I think it is important to have an availability calendar.
If you have more than one property listed on your website, why don´t you just add a different calendar for each property. That is what I do on mine and it works very well.
I would imagine that it is more of a hassle to have to reply to enquiries when your property is full than to have a calendar which clearly shows it is full. I appreciate that there are some people that just email without refering to the calendar, but I think all in all it's more convenient to have one than not to have one!
Linda
I am in the same positions as you Meishka, until last week I didn't have an availability calendar as I have 3 gites and if for example, the small one was booked, as long I got an enquiry I could then offer a larger property at the same price - I would rather have someone renting than no-one! However, I think that for July/ August its important to show that you are fully booked if you are, otherwise its a waste of time for the person enquiring and you in answering, if you have no alternatives to offer. I do not intend keeping my calendar 'truthfully' up to date at other times of year if there is the possibility of offering alternative accomodation to potential customers should the cottage they originally enquire about be booked.
I believe the calendar is very important. A number of people who have spoken to us while booking expressed suprise at our calendar being accurate and have appreciated it. I think peoples time is important and it can be quite an ordeal looking for a place to stay.
We have a dig at people who mess us about sending out multiple enquires, but this is a response to poor availability data generally. We did toy with the idea of keeping availability showing to build a database of customers for future years but eventually decided it wouldn't be the way we would want to be treated (the litmus test) and didn't do it.
I do see your point though about wanting to get the enquiry so you can sell other properties. It does seem reasonable while you have others to offer but once you are booked I believe you should show this is the case so people can get on with finding their vacation spot.
We have a dig at people who mess us about sending out multiple enquires, but this is a response to poor availability data generally. We did toy with the idea of keeping availability showing to build a database of customers for future years but eventually decided it wouldn't be the way we would want to be treated (the litmus test) and didn't do it.
I do see your point though about wanting to get the enquiry so you can sell other properties. It does seem reasonable while you have others to offer but once you are booked I believe you should show this is the case so people can get on with finding their vacation spot.
I think the importance lies more in updating the availability calendar.I think it is important to have an availability calendar.
As someone who uses a myriad of different web services in my line of business, I can see the problem owners have with listing on various rental sites, which all seem to have their own proprietary availability calendars - it gets out of hand!
They only really work if you are advertising on one rental site and that site allows you to cut & paste their calendar system into your own web site.
Clexane,
In March I used a well known rental site (who shall remain nameless) to try and find a suitable place in France for my aunty - 10 people (5 couples). The availability calendars on most of them appeared out of date and didn't work properly on my computer (Mac OSX)
Not only that, but when I entered search criteria to throw out only places suitable for 10 people, it threw out places for 2, for 4 etc. I re-entered the criteria and again, same result.
So, I decided to load up the shortlist with as many as I could find which were suitable and sent block enquiries.
I never heard from anyone!
When I wrote to the site owner to ask what the problem could be they said they decided not to send any of my enquiries on to the owners because of high volume of enquiries emanating from my IP address! And, that if I wanted, I could tell them which places I was interested in and they forward my enquiries. So I gave up.
I eventually found somewhere through a brochure.
That is true!We have a dig at people who mess us about sending out multiple enquires, but this is a response to poor availability data generally.
In March I used a well known rental site (who shall remain nameless) to try and find a suitable place in France for my aunty - 10 people (5 couples). The availability calendars on most of them appeared out of date and didn't work properly on my computer (Mac OSX)
Not only that, but when I entered search criteria to throw out only places suitable for 10 people, it threw out places for 2, for 4 etc. I re-entered the criteria and again, same result.
So, I decided to load up the shortlist with as many as I could find which were suitable and sent block enquiries.
I never heard from anyone!
When I wrote to the site owner to ask what the problem could be they said they decided not to send any of my enquiries on to the owners because of high volume of enquiries emanating from my IP address! And, that if I wanted, I could tell them which places I was interested in and they forward my enquiries. So I gave up.
I eventually found somewhere through a brochure.
* * * CALENDARS ARE OUR FRIENDS * * *
It is extremely annoying and time-consuming for renters when there is no availability calendar. If (and it's a big "if") they decide to consider properties without calendars, they must send out multiple inquiries, wade thru rejections, try to match up those properties which are available with the reams of printouts they have (it's really hard to keep all the properties you are interested in straight in your mind while weeding thru the availability rejections), etc, etc, etc.
You were fortunate enough to have a potential renter explain that he was abandoning you because of the lack of calendar. Most just move on without saying anything.
If you manage multiple properties, then you might either:
1. Have an availability calendar for each one. This is what we do for our three properties. I display three availability calendars side-by-side on ONE webpage and we now regularly get people booking multiple units from us, mainly families/friends traveling together. They can easily see which dates are free across all three properties. (We intend to soon offer properties for other people and I will add a simple page/calendar for each of them.)
2. Put a note on your website: "If your dates are already booked, please email for details on other properties that we have available."
Given how many renters refuse to consider properties without calendars, I think you may be losing more business than you realize... as well as losing more business than you can make up by routing to other properties. Looking at things from another perspective, it might be nice for you to be able to route guests to other properties, but it would be much nicer for them if you just provided the information they need when they need it (eg, while they are surfing).
On the other hand, even with our availability calendars, I regularly get emails from people asking to be put on a waiting list, double-checking to see if we might have a cancellation, phonecalls to "be sure" they read the availability calendars correctly and then asking for recommendations to other places, etc.
The point being: a booked calendar isn't necessarily going to drive someone away if they love what they see on your site!
I personally think having an up-to-date availability calendar is a very important courtesy that owners should provide on their websites.
Golly gee, Deb, how do you really feel about this??? , she asks herself, crawling down from the soapbox.
You were fortunate enough to have a potential renter explain that he was abandoning you because of the lack of calendar. Most just move on without saying anything.
If you manage multiple properties, then you might either:
1. Have an availability calendar for each one. This is what we do for our three properties. I display three availability calendars side-by-side on ONE webpage and we now regularly get people booking multiple units from us, mainly families/friends traveling together. They can easily see which dates are free across all three properties. (We intend to soon offer properties for other people and I will add a simple page/calendar for each of them.)
2. Put a note on your website: "If your dates are already booked, please email for details on other properties that we have available."
Given how many renters refuse to consider properties without calendars, I think you may be losing more business than you realize... as well as losing more business than you can make up by routing to other properties. Looking at things from another perspective, it might be nice for you to be able to route guests to other properties, but it would be much nicer for them if you just provided the information they need when they need it (eg, while they are surfing).
On the other hand, even with our availability calendars, I regularly get emails from people asking to be put on a waiting list, double-checking to see if we might have a cancellation, phonecalls to "be sure" they read the availability calendars correctly and then asking for recommendations to other places, etc.
The point being: a booked calendar isn't necessarily going to drive someone away if they love what they see on your site!
I personally think having an up-to-date availability calendar is a very important courtesy that owners should provide on their websites.
Golly gee, Deb, how do you really feel about this??? , she asks herself, crawling down from the soapbox.
Debk, good points... it is frustrating for us but even more frustrating sometimes when calendar shows available dates only to receive an email from owner saying it's already booked!
We had one situation whereby we were told the place we wanted was available - despite calendar saying otherwise. The owner said it was booked. Then, after a week emailed to say it was now available. By that time it was too late. To his credit, he was honest enough to admit that using the availability calendar was a pain to use.
Chaos really.
When you put yourselves in our shoes with all the candidates we're looking at, print outs, bad web sites etc etc, it becomes a joyless and stressful experience.
Some big rental sites out there have too many instances where the calendar itself is actually unavailable, nevermind the dates!
We had one situation whereby we were told the place we wanted was available - despite calendar saying otherwise. The owner said it was booked. Then, after a week emailed to say it was now available. By that time it was too late. To his credit, he was honest enough to admit that using the availability calendar was a pain to use.
Chaos really.
When you put yourselves in our shoes with all the candidates we're looking at, print outs, bad web sites etc etc, it becomes a joyless and stressful experience.
Some big rental sites out there have too many instances where the calendar itself is actually unavailable, nevermind the dates!
Last edited by Garri on Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
Abritel have a filter that only properties that have been updated in the last seven days will be shown. I think this is a great idea as it saves the renters time and encourages people to stay up to date if they want their property to be seen.
More of this (and a connection to rentors.org) and the world would be a better place
More of this (and a connection to rentors.org) and the world would be a better place
Amen. We rented for years before becoming owners and felt like you do.Garri wrote:... it becomes a joyless and stressful experience.
Now we get to fill our rentals with everything we always wanted... my husband is adamant about little matching sugar and cream serving sets, plus basket or soccer balls with directions to the nearest park ...
... I need coat hangers with skirt clips, along with basic office supplies (paperclips, notepad, stapler, etc) and local guidebooks and music CDs.
And, of course, PC with internet access.
After reading this thread, I think I am now convinced that our personal website should have a calendar. All of our listing sites do have calendars and we use rentors.org, but it's hard to keep those up to date sometimes.
The back end of our website includes an administrative section which has a calendar. I use it to keep track of bookings (paper records for me are only a backup). So it is by definition accurate, since if it's not in the calendar, it isn't booked!
It should be only a modest about of time and trouble to make this calendar viewable in some form by the public. I've only held off on doing that because I want people to inquire even if their first-choice week is booked.
The back end of our website includes an administrative section which has a calendar. I use it to keep track of bookings (paper records for me are only a backup). So it is by definition accurate, since if it's not in the calendar, it isn't booked!
It should be only a modest about of time and trouble to make this calendar viewable in some form by the public. I've only held off on doing that because I want people to inquire even if their first-choice week is booked.
Brooke
Debk, I'd admire both your attention to detail.
We rented a place, over xmas and new year, a couple of years ago in Frigiliana (Andalucia). It was described as 'rustic'. Photos in brochure were excellent - all the tricks of the trade e.g. stand on chair and take pictures to give impression of larger space etc etc.
We discovered that 'rustic' was a euphemism for 'ropey'.
Now, I'm all for a bit of authenticity but in my opinion, the owners were taking the proverbial!
The place was lousy. Its redeeming qualities were excellent roof terrace, or rather views from it as the terrace itself was ropey, I mean rustic, and the town itself was really nice.
One thing I have noticed with rental sites is the lack of customer reviews. We're happ, and used to, using sites such as Amazon where reviews can tip our decision to spend 10, 20, 30 quid or whatever.
But, we're being asked to make a decision on holiday homes where we're spending much more than that and spending x amount of our precious time there, without being able to base our decision on reviews.
We rented a place, over xmas and new year, a couple of years ago in Frigiliana (Andalucia). It was described as 'rustic'. Photos in brochure were excellent - all the tricks of the trade e.g. stand on chair and take pictures to give impression of larger space etc etc.
We discovered that 'rustic' was a euphemism for 'ropey'.
Now, I'm all for a bit of authenticity but in my opinion, the owners were taking the proverbial!
The place was lousy. Its redeeming qualities were excellent roof terrace, or rather views from it as the terrace itself was ropey, I mean rustic, and the town itself was really nice.
One thing I have noticed with rental sites is the lack of customer reviews. We're happ, and used to, using sites such as Amazon where reviews can tip our decision to spend 10, 20, 30 quid or whatever.
But, we're being asked to make a decision on holiday homes where we're spending much more than that and spending x amount of our precious time there, without being able to base our decision on reviews.
Vrooje, it is a tricky one, availability calendars.
What would be good is if you could use one calendar on all of your rental listing sites. It's easily done, probably find it's just one line of code, or few lines of javascript that calls up your calendar which you would host yourself.
But not sure the listings sites would welcome that, for obvious reasons.
The other solution is to develop a script that updates all your calendars automatically as soon as you, or your agents, take a firm booking.
I can understand though, the desire to receive enquiries despite dates not being available.
Like I said, it's a tricky one.
What would be good is if you could use one calendar on all of your rental listing sites. It's easily done, probably find it's just one line of code, or few lines of javascript that calls up your calendar which you would host yourself.
But not sure the listings sites would welcome that, for obvious reasons.
The other solution is to develop a script that updates all your calendars automatically as soon as you, or your agents, take a firm booking.
I can understand though, the desire to receive enquiries despite dates not being available.
Like I said, it's a tricky one.