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BDC discounting listed prices without permission

We have a situation that BDC are offering discounts below our listed prices- we are offering rooms they are advertising them 9% cheaper than we listed them on their own web site- and this runs all summer until October.

We now have customers who booked direct (at the standard listed room rate which is exactly the same as listed on BDC) who are being offered cheaper prices via BDC and several are asking for refunds we are already into losing hundreds of euros if we match the rates that BDC are bombarding junk emails to our regular customer at, it will be thousands of euros.

This is ridiculous that we are being undercut on our own property on the standard listed rate- ***!

We did not agree to this or opt into this promotion- is there a way to opt out?

When we listed with BDC we didn't realise we were doing a deal with the devil

 


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fluff 4 years ago

There may be  a reason for this, especially if the discounts you are finding are marked as "Booking Basics".

The BDC Bots go crawling around the net, as do the the Bots of all other major OTAs.

BDC Bots seem to concentrate on the rate of your cheapest offer, if in their crawling they find a cheaper rate these are thrown into a 12 week rolling average. 

Let's say OTA "Z" or any other online presence you have directly or indirectly, puts up a rate for your property at 10% below your normal rate. BDC Bot then finds this, chucks it into the averaging pot and drives your "price quality" score with BDC down.

You also find this wrong/mistaken price and have it removed, possibly within 24 hours of it occurring, TOO LATE, it's in the melting pot and will stay there for up to 12 weeks. Any other Bot findings go in there too. Once your price quality score falls below a certain percentage level (no, I have no idea how that is calculated) it triggers the system to price match your lowest rate to the lowest that the Bots found, keeping BDC the lowest price on the net. You may find your individual information on this in the "Analytics" section, "Price Quality Dashboard".

 

 

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Leandri Klopper 4 years ago

Heya,

Fluff has excellent points there and it's possibly what has happened.

Or, perhaps you ran a promotion on the Opportunities tab and didn't realise it? Check on your extranet under Promotions to see if one is activated. 

I know there is a special that they suggest we run that goes all the way to October. 

Best of luck. 

Also, Hello Fluff! 

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fluff 4 years ago

Hi Leandri! We both still exist then :-)

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Info 4 years ago

Thank you for the information- I have checked all the other sites we are listed on and they all have the same rates- there are not even any seasonal changes so this is not correct. We are only active with BDC- Expedia TA and Air BNB are currently not live as we have little capacity left this summer.

We have not any active promotions via booking.com or alternative sites. Our accommodation is also the cheapest available in the town (with very little competition) we are in so absolutely no need to discount further.

We have listed less accomodation this year as we have more private customers- so I assume BDC are trying to claw some of our bookings back by undercutting us.

Very disappointing that we have lost money refunding private clients who thought they were cherished customers and we were looking after them- but no its cheaper on the internet!!!!!

 

 

 

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Info 4 years ago

Just had this from BDC - unbelievable

I'm sorry to inform you that there is no possibility to exclude you from this program. This is an exclusive discount our guests will get from our side. We cover of course all the discounts for you. We received in the past very often the information that owners want that we should give the guests the discounts and not the partners. Additional for you you will have an higher visibility for potential new guests due to that.

Maybe they should consider that undercutting their clients own listed price will only piss people off- looks like we will switch our availability to Expedia- well done BDC - another satisfied customer!!!

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fluff 4 years ago

When will these agents realise that discounting OUR rates will only drive us away to other agents.

At best it's short sighted, at worst extremely stupid and totally lacking in business acumen.

All it does is start a price war between OTAs, all matching/beating the other's offer.

Any discount should be approved by the property. Do they they ever remember we are supposed to be "partners"?

I very recently found Agoda were applying an unsanctioned discount to the Indian market only on my property, in reaction to that BDC applied a price-matching discount to my rates WORLDWIDE!! The Agoda discount is now gone but the BDC one will continue for up to 12 weeks. The property gets clobbered every time.

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Leandri Klopper 4 years ago

Oh boi,

That's not good. So far I've been very lucky in the sense that I have asked for and approved all discounts given on my property. I will definitely keep an eye on it. 

I suggest you keep hassling them?

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Thuild - Your … 4 years ago

This happened to me too.

I have my own website where I route guests who call us for a reservation.

Imagine my surprise when they book not via my website, but through BDC at a rate that I have not approved at all!

Well, I couldn't really cancel because that's the rate I have told the guest over the phone, but that one is not inclusive of the 18% commission (yeah, we pay that much to BDC).

I have since raised my general prices on BDC with 30%, screw them for screwing us.

I want to deter any potential guest from booking via BDC with these shenanigans.

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Reservenz 4 years ago

Just had that happen to me this week. It is not peak season for us so hopefully it will not be too bad.  Two years ago Agoda did the same thing, in peak season, it was called secret sale. When I eventually got to speak to a human I was told it agreed to as part of their T&Cs . I eventually won my battle but so stressful. Agoda are part of Booking.com!!!

 

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Thuild - Your … 4 years ago

It's the same pot of manure. Agoda always shown super low prices when you look up my property. Prices that my Channel Manager does NOT send to them. 

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Leandri Klopper 4 years ago

Concerning. All very concerning. 

I don't want to fall victim to this but raising my rates will significantly lower the amount of bookings.