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Message responses……

I respond to questions very promptly but it appears I am not getting answers back. It looks like my answers are unread. 
I can’t work out if I’m doing something wrong or if customers don’t read their messages as they would on other sites?? 
 


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M Adamopoulou 1 year ago

Hi Janine and welcome to the club!!!

 

No, guests don’t read messages…you are not the only one having communication problems..

 

Once guests make reservations BDC and starts sending them advertising mess so guests think that you message is from BDC and they ignore you…

 

Try to personalize your messages…this has worked for me…

 

Wish you all the best…

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janine Austin 1 year ago

Thank you, 

I try to be prompt with all responses, and so far have had zero responses to those messages. 
 

would you send a secondary messages as a prompt for them to open it? I don’t want to sound desperate for an answer but equally I don’t want them to think I’ve ignored them! 
 

thank you janine 

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M Adamopoulou 1 year ago

Hi Janine,

 

This is only a Partner Community and I am only a partner like you sharing my little experience…

Dear ´

FULL_NAME],

Thank you for your booking at [PROPERTY_NAME]. We are delighted to host you from [CHECKIN_DATE] for [CHECKOUT_DATE].

Our facilities are easily accessed on a “self-check in” basis (if you have a local cell phone, I can set it up to open the driveway gate) however, please let us know your expected arrival time, and we will be sure to look out for you at (name of property)I am also on WhatsApp (+27 MY NUM BERR) and adding me as a contact can be helpful as we can communicate around your arrival.

We provide coffee, tea, milk, sugar and rusks in the apartment's kitchen as part of the service.

If you have any special needs, please let us know so that we can make your stay as comfortable as possible.

 

We look forward to welcoming you to Suites on 74!

Kind regards,

Gisela Wullschleger

[PROPERTY_NAME]

 

This is just an example of a personal message I send to my guests…

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janine Austin 1 year ago

Thank you for the above, I ask all for their email adrenal and explain that I will forward them all of the information they will require.

This works well on other sites yet I’m not getting the replies through BDC.

within that email I send them an attachment with a picture of the gateway they are looking for, a what 3 words pinpoint, all of our do’s and don’t and I also ask for dietary requirements so that I can get their welcome hamper just right.

so far on other sites I’m scoring 9.8 but I’m not getting past the forst message on BDC ?! 

i
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Isle of Wight … 1 year ago

Guests should be able to see messages in the Booking.com app (which they rarely use), in their email (often filtered to junk/trash or ignored due to the high volume of marketing emails from Booking.com) or in their Booking.com account (which BDC don't like to tell them about)

Throughout every listing, we add "check your emails including junk/trash folders" and "install the booking.com app" etc etc etc at every opportunity. It's in Policies > Key Collection (or whatever it's called) where we say how to get the keys and follow it with "check emails etc etc". It's in the automated responses to check-in and check-out times. It's in our profile (property descriptions) etc etc etc. We ask BDC to add it to The Fine Print - they've done it for some, but not all properties (policy decisions or technical reasons apparently, which depend on the particular support person).

Yet still they don't read messages.

BDC say "the guest can phone you". But the guest shouldn't need to phone us if they read their messages. The last thing a guest wants is to get lost, unable to get into a property, etc. But BDC just don't care ......

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janine Austin 1 year ago

Thank you, 

as a newbie I’m finding the use of the site difficult. I’m glad you have mentioned similar issues because I honestly thought it was just me! 

your suggestion of asking people to check junk folders etc is good and something I had not considered 

 

thank you 

 

 

i
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Isle of Wight … 1 year ago

You've still got the little catch 22 problem .... you need to contact them in the first place but they don't see whatever you send them ......

In policies, always require a phone number and address .... but beware that BDC do not verify phone numbers and the guest might use a landline number or work number etc .... they might also have used an old number because it was stored in the BDC system from a previous booking .... who knows .... it's all pot luck .....