Global communication follow up (April 3, 2020)
Hi everyone,
Last week, we promised to share more detail about our ongoing work to support you in these incredibly challenging times.
Today we are announcing changes regarding our Force Majeure policy and how this will impact guest cancellations triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak. You can read more about that here.
We thought this would also be a good moment to give you a little insights into how you have been using the community during this time.
Since we added the #coronavirus tag, there have been almost 200 corresponding posts. In some cases, you have been able to support one another and where possible, we are guiding you to the new Coronavirus resources now available in Partner Help. In cases where we don’t have an answer, we have been working internally to update the Coronavirus FAQ as soon the right advice becomes available.
We have created a dedicated landing page with all recent news and up-to-date information on the Coronavirus and recommend you regularly check there for updates.
Every day, we are seeing you connect in the Community and share your experiences. In March we saw over 4,000 new engagements - and we want to thank you for continuing to support one another during this time.
Sergei and the Community Team
I've seen an email saying that Booking.com will no longer apply Force Majeur and will allow hosts / partners to handle cancellations etc, and that a new tool is coming in the Booking.com system to allow us to move bookings ourselves to alternate dates ..... potentially good news .....
If you can do that, It not a good news. It is a SUPER SUPER GREAT NEWS.
Here is one of the changes Booking.com has made to the application of force majeure
For bookings made from 6 April 2020 onwards
(Force majeure procedures put in place as a result of government-imposed travel restrictions due to the coronavirus do not apply).
BOOKING.com does not endorse guests in any way.
Do you really think that as long as the health crisis exists, we will make reservations?
I think BOOKING.com really takes us for ***.
My establishments are present on other platforms and believe me, financial compensation is put in place for existing bookings.
Other partners have understood that without the Hosts, more partners, more travelers
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
What kind of financial helo BdC is offering?
Travelers should apply to travel insurance, not to us! This is not our fault and we are hurting the most. If guest respect non-refundable policy, ( which btw, they CHOOSE to have to get a discount,) they will be out of $100-200 in average, and we are out of thousands of dollars and we are left with mortgages and rent to pay for next 3-4 month with no income at all.
BdC, This is absolutely NO help !!!
A minimum offer from Booking.com was a lover commission fee for some time and some pieces of information on how to prepare in different countries...
I have been with Booking.com for many years, now I really wait for just, a little support in return, in a very sad and difficult time.
Hi from Lucy, Le Balcon des Jasses, France
What a load of rubbish!! How is that supporting partners?!? Nobody in their right mind would be making reservations anywhere at the moment- as for Making sure guests know the risks from non refundable bookings - that does not need an explanation to anyone - it is what it says on the tin!! Oh and thanks bdc for letting me have control of my own cancellation procedure again post corona!!! Gobsmacked doesn’t even cover it! You’ve done a grand job for yourselves and “your” guests!
You are right to be pissed off... Just too easy to have allowed a free cancellation. I work on a number of platforms, plus take direct bookings. Many guests opted to book ahead or take a credit. No such options with booking.com. With no end in sight to this nightmare, booking,com would be better partnering with an insurance firm and offering Booking Protection. I always travel with insurance - guests should do the same.
It is what I have been saying. Travelers should apply to travel insurance, not to us! This is not our fault and we are hurting the most. If guest respect non-refundable policy, ( which btw, they CHOOSE to have to get a discount,) they will be out of $100-200 in average, and we are out of thousands of dollars and we are left with mortgages and rent to pay for next 3-4 month with no income at all. BdC, This is absolutely NO help !!!
MMB...............150% totally agree....well said and the problem is ..when this is over BDC will spend a fortune on advertising to encourage bookings again and we the "partners" will have no say in what they do,and BDC will say reduce price, get the booking but they are such a GIANT in this Hospitality arena and they of course will not give any discounts to us BUT , ..Sad but that is the truth !!!.I have always admired BDC but recently very very dissapointed with them..............I used to really enjoy the Community and the friendly laughable comments but now.....All I see is negativity towards BDC and their actions towards us as Partners..........sorry guys but it is true !!!..We hardly get any answers from BDC but just ..."we are working on it"... Lets hope it improves for ALL our future..........Be safe Guys and Girls..........Michael/The Pinnacle Queensland.
Hi Michael - Greetings from Scotland. I work with a number of the big booking platforms and take direct booking, they are all good at driving business. BDC is probably the best. I know my business, as I am sure you know yours, I diss their advice every time. I control the price. It is tedious they always want to discount. I have always gone for yield over occupancy. They dropped the ball over these free cancellations, but they have brought the world to my business, and for that, I am a fan. Cheers. Lochgoilhead, Scotland.
Thanks Sergei for feedback...
Hopefully we will all be back to normal very soon but Greece is in lockdown until end of April...
Wish all well.
I think if it is only end of April then it would be great. But I am not sure if we can open for summer. And if yes then probably only for domestic travel because borders will stay closed for some time, flights are canceled or reduced etc.
Lockdown will probably be extended...
Even domestic travel will slow down...will people have enough money to travel after such a long period of lockdown???
Everybody will be faced with enormous economic problems...
Wish you all well.
Pibomarco...................In "Aussie" good-aye mate.........How is it going with you, in Australia like the rest of the World a complete disaster !!! We have had 60 cancellations so far in All the apartments we look after with unfortuneately no or little hope for the future............people are frightened to travel and of course no flights/Borders closed .....BUT the Champagne is still cold so take care and talk again soon.......................Michael.
Hi Maria............back again (only because of you and your so Positive attitude)......You be careful in beautiful Greece and lets hope it ends sooner than later............Beast.
Oh! Michael how nice to join us again...
Your huge experience is so vital for all of us...especially in these difficult times we are all facing and have to find new ways to approach this new travel situation...
Until this ends please stay safe...stay at home and enjoy it...
A beautiful Greek song that gives hope...
“Be patient
and the sky will become more azure
Be patient
a lemon tree is blossoming in the neighborhood...”
Please Stay healthy...please stay at home....
Dear partners LOTS OF LOVE and blessings to you all. Please stay safe and positive, xxxx Tx M you are one very special lady x
Thank you Moira, and all the best to you, your family and your love too.
Thanks Moira for your sweet words and blessings...
We only live once so why not just live it well???
Thank you Sergei for update. Please pass all of our comment especaily about the Force Majeure policy to your relevant team as well. Thank you.
It great that finally Booking.com remove Force Majeure policy for new booking from 06 Apr' 2020. But I think it too late to do that as most of people are no longer travel or cannot travel right now.
Anyway it great to see that Booking.com hear our voice and make improve. Thank you very much.
Please keep up the good work.
Bandara Hotels.....Yes ..too damn LATE for many of us But at least they are beginning to hear us..............let us hope it continues.Michael.
PS Maria thks........Beast.
B.Com. latest notification 6th April gives nothing. Cxld. F.M. because no one making bookings. Prior 6 April F.M. still in place (when most bookings for coming season were made). So to recap -B.Com still treating us like fools. We the accommodation providers have put B.Com (and the other OTA's) where they are today and have allowed them to increase control by never challenging their actions. Without the Accommodation Providers B.Com (+ Other OTA's) are nothing and have no business. Without them (Nothing lasts forever) the world will not stop travelling if and when B.Com and the likes disappear will adapt by using their technology to secure bookings because that what people do. The world as we know it has absolutely no loyalty other than to themselves/ourselves. Most Accommodation Providers have their own website, most have secure booking sites, most can handle their own payments, most have channel managers and if not why not? most are affiliated to local tourisim associations (i.e. B &B Assoc. Local Tourist Organisations, Self Cat. Assoc. Hotel Associations etc.) - All it takes is a deep breath and guts to step back, start limiting availability, group together and make challenges and see the effect that will have on The B.Com's of the world. Thanks to the B.Com's of the world (I think) we are all pretty well placed on the search engines - so no longer on the 50th page another positive.
There are Associtations, Legal Bodies all over the UK making challenges to our UK government to the B'coms of the world. I am sure these bodies exist throughout the rest of the world. Time to get them all talking together which will allow us to take back control of our own properties etc. We had it in the day of the High Street Travel Agent - maybe it is time now to revisit that model and update it. To be able to talk to someone the it is not a robotic monalouge with better localised knowledge would be a refreshing change for the visitor
If you really think B.Com is on the side of the Accommodtion Provider - think again - they are not - they adjusted an enforced policy (purely to suit themselves) as they knew its worth to them had run it's course as NO CUSTOMERS WERE BOOKING OR LIKELY TO BOOK ANY TIME SOON.
We on the other hand can use this quiet time to explore other options, group together (2.5 m of us) 10% of that would be a good start / figure to aim for. All it takes is for each of us on this community platform to speak with providers in our immediate area, involve our local tourisim authority, Associations etc. - who knows where it will lead
What we should not lose sight of is the control that B.Com has exercised over this period and what that tells them they can do in the future - worse to come!! We are allowing that to happen.
B.Com started life purely as a accommodation facility platform (just like the tourist associations) and we have condoned what they have become today. We all know the world will not be the same after Coronavirus and the recovery will be a very long road - Time we should be relying on ourselves rather than the B.Coms who say they are putting 'Tools' in place to aid in the recovery but just wait the 'Tools' will be 'loaded' with 'conditions' that will be driven by discounting, effect visibility restrictions on our properties etc, = 100% s.....d!
We can instigate change if we want to if not then we should not be commenting on the policies in place and carry on along with the status quo and put up and shut up or consider other opportunities that might better get us through the challenging times and create a better platform for the future.
Wow... you covered a lot of ground. In theory there is nothing I would disagree with.
I am not going to defend the likes of booking.com or the other big booking platforms. The reality is I use them just as much as they use me. As a booking agent and holiday home owner, I set my base rates, the guests pays the booking agent commission. I open up only dates I want help to sell. Yes, a lot of work - but that is using the tools at my disposal to let these booking platforms work for their money.
I have been in the travel business for 49 years. I know life as a travel agent, tour operator and accommodation provider. The days of depending on search engine optimisation agents to get your little website on the 1st page of Google are gone. That battle is lost. Fact is, the big booking agents transformed my business. There are few guests who come that do not direct book for their next visit. That is using them.
I am not seeing how we can put the genie back in the bottle. booking.com have a loyalty to their customers, but they also have a loyalty to their accommodation providers. They have let us down during this desperate time with their systems lack of options. We should have been able to offer guests to hold a payment as credit, or change dates earlier than this. We should have been able to at least cancel and retain an admin charge. Guests would have understood that. All hindsight.
May we salvage something out of this year. Too early to tell.
Good luck.
LéonardGow
You may have almost 50 years of experience, but it's useless to post comments without reacting even in substance you are right about how these platforms work.
But BC has gone beyond the limits. You seem to accept that our clients have been reimbursed without our agreement.
We use them as they use us, in agreement with you, which makes us "partners".
So we should share the risk
Which is not the case today.
I regret to see in this forum so much surrender
Sincerely
Hi Craigmoniecottage,
I absolutely agree with you.
Several hosts offer to meet to work without B.C, but I don't see any follow-up.
In another post, I proposed to create a community of disgruntled owners but no response.
There are a lot of comments from really angry hosts against B.C but it just stops at these posts.
So what to do?
On my side, I leave B.C for sure but I stay on the platform waiting for refunds from them.
as a result of refunds given to clients without my consent.
In another post, a landlord has proposed to hire a lawyer to obtain compensation but for this we need to create a community.
In any case, I expect as many hosts as possible to respond to your comments.
Hi Riad Shiraz - I think accommodation providers are (as we all are at present) somewhat shocked at the situation the world is actually in and still considering their options. I do think there is an increase on the site but it is slow. I keep posting that everyone who is on this platform should speak to their colleagues that they know and those that are close by. Let them know about the site and direct them to it. It is only by gathering the numbers that we can progress with this. Also all the government tourisim bodies, relevant associations should also be contacted. I don't know where you are located but the UK government (MP's), all tourisim bodies in the UK, associations from B & B's to hoteliers are all involved in this now and it is being debated at all levels and that needs to happen throughout the world and then we can start looking at moving forward/away etc
So speak with colleagues in the same position and get them on this site.
Hi Riad SHIRAZ, it's what I have already told B.COM that a lot of hotels will get together and fight back in the courts. To do this we do need just one hotel to be determined to go the distance and have a judge decide the legality of B.COM arbitrary, unilateral imposition of FM.
In the UK, as I have pointed out, there is no such statutory, or common law definition of force majeure or a force majeure event in British Common Law.
An international company has no legal entitlement to enforce such a self declared state on UK businesses and in other independent states where jurisdiction lies with the government of the individual country.
To help this valiant hotel a crowd-funding site should be established and be in no doubt, I personally, would make a contribution.
I would also make a contribution. I am in no doubt that it would the right thing to do. I doubt we will be re-opening any thime soon and the more we go on the more avenues we will / are finding for revenue once the world starts moving again. So all we have to do is take the first steps.
Hi Leonard - Good to see a new face on the platform and from a great location also Totally in tune with you I was born into this business (I am now 63)learned to count cleaning bottles and putting them on shelves, as well as being brought up in our own properties and latterly owing my own I also worked with the big players so again no stranger to the working of group/independant tour/travel operators. Used to dealing with all the TA's and paying 8/15/20% commissions all my life and really at ease with that. I don't have a problem with how B.Com started out - I completely got it and when I signed up to them 12 or so years ago I was one of 4-6 in our village to do so (took another 4/5 years before others followed).I was happy enough with their product - marketing facility for bookings and enjoyed the returns and ease of bookings. I fully understood then and now how they operate and I unlike many have only ever used them as a booking/marketing facility I do not utilise any of their other services i.e. vcc. genius bookings etc. I drive my own business and make my own decisions and have done so successfully over the years, any mistakes along the way -down to me. I usually operate at around 85/90% occupancy (seasonal operation) using, like you different platforms with a mix of accommodation available utilising the OTA's when I want them most - I discount as and when I want to not when they say to.
However, the good (which I like you have also enjoyed) should not overshadow the bad and Coronavirus has just brought that very fact home to roost by the hand B.Com and the other OTA's have played over this and if there is a time now to challenge for change it is possibly now.
The 6th April update is nothing but laughable and not the olive branch they claim - basically shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. They still maintain they will utilise FM whenever they choose, taking nothing to do with cxls. for bookings after 6 April is a joke but keeping in place the mess they made prior to this (when the majority of advance bookings are placed) is no joke and will be the death for many accommodation providers. Coronavirus apart from the sheer misery it has caused in the world has highlighted the hold that the OTA's have and allowing this to pass with just a few comments on these partners forums sets the stage for them to carry on riding rough shod and I do feel if accommodation providers are so fed up with the system now is the time to challenge further or why post on this platform. Nothing lasts forever and there will be someone in the wings (just as the OTA's once were) waiting to fly.
I have no problems on the search engine pages and indeed am usually visible above or just below B.Com but I do get your comments about that and not everyone can achieve that without paying for it but it does not mean you have to be controlled by the OTA's whos aim and end goal is to control all aspects of the business - The genie in the bottle well I don't think it is a foregone conclusions after all even global companies go T... Up.
Loyalty well all those years ago when I signed up I understood the animal and was under no illusion whatsoever but I like you used it to my benefit and have coasted along with it does'nt mean to say it can't/should'nt be challenged. There are thousands in this so called 'partnership' really suffering (the posts are evidence of this) and B.Com's lack of loyalty to its accommodation providers is testament to that and that is not right.
I will be surprised if we see 20/30% of our usual business this year you might be in a better position due to the catchment areas around your location - I will be over the moon to be proven wrong with my estimation. None the less hard work ahead for us all!. All the best
My goodness, reading your reply, it’s like talking to myself… Slightly ahead of you at, 65.
The big boys are all bullies. The only way I can deal with them without getting stressed is fooling myself that I am using them, and not the other way around. I take what I want and leave the rest. We know our markets.
*** has just been on Twitter firing off at AirBnB still being open on Skye. He should do his homework. You can go on to the VisitScotland website right now, search for self catering in Skye over Easter - and 11 properties appear. He hasn’t got the message, it is home owners who control the availability. Just getting everyone worked up and stoking anti-holiday-home anger.
Anyway, hopefully we can salvage some of this year. Again, I agree, the 6th April booking updates from Booking.com are next to useless. The horse has well and truly bolted.
All the best: Leonard
Graigmoniecottage,
Here's someone who doesn't surrender
I hope all the hosts will understand that
B.Com. is just laughing at us with latest notification 6th April and that we can react together.
Leaving aside the ones that follow B.C along like little puppy dog
Hi I have just had a demand from B.Com to re-imburse a guest for a cancellation (they had been offered alternative change of dates) that B.Com allowed without any consultation from myself. They have a stated (as they have with everyone) that they will re-imburse and charge me. I have drawn to their attention the post made by Harlingford Hotel and advised that any re-imbursements B.Com make to guests is up to them but I will not be held responsible/accountable for these and think that all of us should sign from the same Hymn Sheet.
Again I would say legal actions are possible and if we all got together and set up a crowd funding page and contributed then this would indeed be a quick and relatively economical way of thaking that option forward.
Kilmkichael House Loch Ness Scotland
Hi Leonard - God help you when you get to my age - hopefully you will have retired gracefully. There is a new post out from B.Com have not really read it yet but I think it is an appearance of a further backdown now trying to be more proactive in guiding the bookings prior to 6 April to re-booking (like what they put out 3 days ago) but it is I think worded a little different so hopefully they are waking up and smelling the *** they have created - we will see.
Yes unfortunately the politicans wade in before seeing the whole picture. I myself remain open from end of May but as soon as the new recommendations are released sometime tomorrow I think, I will then block off accordingly. You are right however, where we are in the Higlands availability is still open for loads every day and I think (hope) it is because owners are just not bothering to maintain their availability. I did have someone last week from Spain asking for accom. this week end - you can imagine my response.
Anyway I do hope we can salvage some of this year with or without the help of the OTA's.
Keep posting and all the best.
Charlotte
To our friends, hotel owners and managers, there just might be a glimmer that the *** at Booking.com are starting to listen.
Of course, a cancellation came up whereby Booking.com ordered us to refund the customer and, after I replied that it was a contractual reservation – prepaid, non-transferable and non-refundable – as their website T&C’s, they told me it was in OUR contract with Booking.com T&C’s paragraph 2.10 Force Majeure Event.
I was not having this, so I pointed out in return that:
There is no statutory, or common law definition of force majeure or a force majeure event in British Common Law.
Also, according to OED and Chambers Dictionaries the definition of FM is…superior power (Covid19) an unforeseeable or uncontrollable course of events, excusing one from fulfilling a contract.
Which meant in effect that as Booking.com was making our contract with the customer null and void then, by the same logic and LEGAL principle, the Booking.com contract quoted as giving them the power to make refunds on our behalf without permission was, effectively, null and void also.
Finally, we got a positive response from Lisa O and Sergei admitting this was indeed the case and they would contact the customer to inform them that a change of dates was the only option.
They admitted they can’t have it both ways, if the contract with the customer is null and void because Booking.com has issued a state of FM, then, the contract with Booking.com is also null and void.
Any payment made by Booking.com to a customer without our permission, is a liability ONLY for Booking.com. We are not legally obligated to then refund Booking.com.
Hi Liga - Well done you. Good News - True saying don't let the .......s grind you down. Perhaps the posts are starting to pay off - Lets keep it up - Good Job and never say never - Keep in touch
Harlingford Hotel,
That's great.
But for all the reimbursements already made by B.C. for which I did not give my agreement, what to do?
Hi Riad, good question. At the moment we are refusing to do any refunds back to B.com, and if they send invoices or do chargebacks we plan to challenge them.
Also, we are preparing a letter to the CEO, Mr Glen Fogel and the chairwoman Ms Gillian Tans. We hope more hoteliers would write them!
The headquarter address: Head Office, Herengracht 597, 1017 CE, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
If the above address is deleted form this forum, please email us directly.
Has anyone noticed the first two pages of this link has somehow been removed-find that very strange as all the previous postings about this topic are no longer visible. Wonder if the same will happen with Brookes pages which are at this point in time still 2 and go back 18 days from todays date 11 April.
Hello Sergei can you explain the following:
Why is the first two pages of this post no longer visible. Only the above page is visible whereas the missing two went back to about 14/18 days ago. We all Look forward to your response
It looks like B.com is removing pages from this website (there were 3, now only 1), therefore, we are re-posting this here again. It does say something about this company, doesn't it?!
Yes you are right and I am still awaiting a response about this from Sergei - very interesting
Hello Harlingford Hotel, Craigmoniecottage! Here are our Community guidelines, where you may find out what type of content is usually removed: https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/community/just-joined-bookingcom/partner-community-guidelines
Once again you avoid answering the questions I am well aware of the above that is not the question I asked, I will repeat, I asked what it was that was edited as community guidelines are a matter of interpretation i.e. B.Com might be of the opinion that they don't like something being written but as not all words, phrases etc. are not documented in the 'guidelines' it is useful to know which words phrases are not acceptable for future use. By avoiding to answer the question i.e. what was not acceptable of from what post is not helpful at all.
Once again look forward to a an explanation. Thank you
Hey Craigmoniecottage! If you receive a notification that your post or comment was edited but nothing is missing, may be it is a buggy notification, sometimes it happens. Our team knows about the problem, so we will do our best to fix it. If you're trying to say that there is censorship in the Community, I can't agree with you, and if you spend a little more time here, you will see that our partners are really free to express what they think.
Sergei,
You are talking rubbish! You have censured and deleted our posts many times!
Hello and thank you for your reply. I have not at any time mentioned the word 'censorship' as my mind does not work in that fashion/manner. As you are fully aware, I have asked on both occasions for a reasonable explanation other than 'check out our guidelines etc' as it offers no help at all as it is not expansive enough to suggest what is offensive or not with particular 'words'.
On a few occasions recently I have received a notification to say that my posts have been edited which has resulted in my asking about a more in depth explanation about the offensive /inappropriate material I have presumably posted.
I have not accused B.Com of 'censorship in the community' on the contrary only you have. I have merely asked you to expand on wording that could be construed as inappropriate so as to avoid using them in the future. However, your guidelines do suggest censorship of some degree as detailed in your guidelines so quite wrong to say you 'do not agree' - you see use of words!!
If what you are saying is correct and that this could be caused by some kind of bug on your system and that your team knows about this problem then they really should put more effort into fixing it as it has been going on for some time and I refer to posts I have made way back in the past (like a year or so ago). when nothing was removed from content but nonetheless received a notification to say it had been edited.
Once again I would also ask why this site is now just showing 1 page when in the past it showed 3 pages going back 20 or more days - again could be an error that your 'team' should check out and put right as this as you can see by some of the comments suggest material being removed - so really your own fault if suspicions are raised
Hello Harlingford Hotel, Craigmoniecottage! Will you, please, share specific examples of posts removed from the Community? As I said before we do have Community guidelines, where you can see all the details about what we edit and remove. If you don't agree with the guidelines, please, raise this question in a post, but make sure you specify what exactly you don't agree with.