There is new recommended content waiting for you. Sign in to explore!
p
Pat
A love of people and travel have led us to the lovely little village of Clarens in SA. We have recently opened our heritage home for self catering guests and we are loving this new experience.
I actually stayed as a guest and did a negative review - this ended up allowing the host to respond with a bunch of lies and to my absolute dismay, make it sound like I was just a grumpy person. Not advertising 7 flights of stairs when you specifically request no stairs in my opinion is not being grumpy. We arrived to find the "lifts" in order but to be taken out of service for 3 days (over a busy weekend period) for "routine maintenance that must happen" without any warnings. My elderly mom was forced to stay indoors the whole period as she just was not able to go up and down.
The system on Booking.com is exceptionally one sided. As a host I have had people complain of no pool when this is not advertised. Our roads are gravel in our entire village and again this results in lower scores and negative reviews. There should be some form of disputing this type of review but unfortunately, we can't and we can't rate our guests either like we do on Airbnb, not that I think this has any really impact either. It would be lovely to actually have a blacklist for guests that cause damage and are actually just horrible people in general. Years ago I worked for a Managing Director as his secretary. Each time he came back from a business trip I spent the 1st few hours of the day doing letters of complaint to the airlines, hotels, where ever he set foot in, including spas. As a result he would receive vouchers or special offers - it was nothing more than a ploy by him to obtain freebies. Disgusting I know but this is the norm for many.
The old saying "The customer is King" is my approach every time.
From the time of booking until arrival I send messages to ensure that by the time the guest arrives they are not only familiar with my number and name, but feel they are a valued friend.
Except for directions I have found that the auto response function is really not suitable or practical, for example, if someone asks about parking the auto response would say, available subject to availability.....UUUMMMMM what exactly does that mean!
A personal response giving details on parking relaxes the guest and opens the door for further friendly "chatting" which hopefully will result in good reviews.
Can anyone give me guidelines on where to see reasons for cancellations.
I have just been away on a sudden trip for 3 weeks - in that period I had not been active and have definitely seen a decrease in my bookings and had a few cancellations. There is never any explanations given and I would think it would be useful to see reasons for cancellations.
I agree that the best way to turn negative into positive is to respond to the negative comment in a friendly and positive way.
We sometimes get comments on our stairs leading to the bedrooms on 1st level despite this being clearly noted in the description and advising no children under 4 because of the stairs.
When I get a comment like "Stairs are a challenge" or "Stairs are a bit tricky and not suitable for the elderly" I point out some lovely facts about the house in my response. Examples are: -
Thank you for review which is greatly appreciated and we do agree that the stairs are rather quirky. The cottage was built in the early 1900's as a stable where the Boere (Afrikaaners) gathered for Holy Communion every quarter with their oxwagens. In the late 1960's the upper level was added and it was the 1st home in Clarens to become a double storey building. This resulted in the locals calling the cottage "Die Flets".
Thank you for review which is greatly appreciated and we do agree that the stairs are rather quirky. The cottage was built in the early 1900's as a stable where the Boere gathered for Holy Communion every quarter. In the late 1960's the upper level was added and it was the 1st home in Clarens to become a double storey building. This resulted in the locals calling the cottage "Die Flets". It has always been somewhat of a challenge, not only for the elderly and children but also to get furniture to the upper level. All furniture has been lifted over the external balcony but due to the laws around the heritage status of the cottage, we are not allowed to change any windows or doors which makes alternating the stairs impossible.
Guests are loathe to read and unfortunately it is best to pre-empt negative reviews and counter them before the guests stay. For example, should I get a booking with children, I send a general email saying thank you for booking etc and then add "please remember that there are stairs to the upper level not suitable for children under 4 or those who battle with stairs."
You don't say where you are from or what the issue is with an unpaid invoice.
I will answer from my experience and perhaps this will help.
I'm in SA and when I have had issue in past I immediately use the dispute invoice tab. They normally resolve issue within 48hrs. If client does not show or does anything wrong like early departure or damage, it is best to immediately use tabs to report that as well.
Following those steps will help you to avoid disputes and get paid.
I agree with so many of these useful tips - Making the guest feel like they did not only book a room but an experience is so important. We often get personal notes saying our warm welcome made them feel relaxed and welcome and that the extra touches made their stay special.
The journey begins from the time they book until they hopefully write a review for us online..... and then we still encourage guests to keep in touch via our Facebook page etc.
When we moved into our cottage which became our guest house, there were these awful dead sticks everywhere in the garden. I remember so well telling my husband as soon as we are unpacked we are going to pull out all these dead sticks.
The next thing we got the most beautiful display ever - the sticks became covered in tiny white flowers. This happens twice a year and it transforms these dead sticks completely.
My advice is to wait and see what is in your garden before pulling out anything - you never know you may be as surprised as we were.
Hi Martina,
I actually stayed as a guest and did a negative review - this ended up allowing the host to respond with a bunch of lies and to my absolute dismay, make it sound like I was just a grumpy person. Not advertising 7 flights of stairs when you specifically request no stairs in my opinion is not being grumpy. We arrived to find the "lifts" in order but to be taken out of service for 3 days (over a busy weekend period) for "routine maintenance that must happen" without any warnings. My elderly mom was forced to stay indoors the whole period as she just was not able to go up and down.
The system on Booking.com is exceptionally one sided. As a host I have had people complain of no pool when this is not advertised. Our roads are gravel in our entire village and again this results in lower scores and negative reviews. There should be some form of disputing this type of review but unfortunately, we can't and we can't rate our guests either like we do on Airbnb, not that I think this has any really impact either. It would be lovely to actually have a blacklist for guests that cause damage and are actually just horrible people in general. Years ago I worked for a Managing Director as his secretary. Each time he came back from a business trip I spent the 1st few hours of the day doing letters of complaint to the airlines, hotels, where ever he set foot in, including spas. As a result he would receive vouchers or special offers - it was nothing more than a ploy by him to obtain freebies. Disgusting I know but this is the norm for many.
Good luck from a cold Clarens!
I agree Maria there's always those that don't reply. If possible I then call and ask if they received my message and if I can help on any other way.
It seems to be a winning method for me.
Take care.
The old saying "The customer is King" is my approach every time.
From the time of booking until arrival I send messages to ensure that by the time the guest arrives they are not only familiar with my number and name, but feel they are a valued friend.
Except for directions I have found that the auto response function is really not suitable or practical, for example, if someone asks about parking the auto response would say, available subject to availability.....UUUMMMMM what exactly does that mean!
A personal response giving details on parking relaxes the guest and opens the door for further friendly "chatting" which hopefully will result in good reviews.
Dear All,
Can anyone give me guidelines on where to see reasons for cancellations.
I have just been away on a sudden trip for 3 weeks - in that period I had not been active and have definitely seen a decrease in my bookings and had a few cancellations. There is never any explanations given and I would think it would be useful to see reasons for cancellations.
Thanks in advance!
I agree that the best way to turn negative into positive is to respond to the negative comment in a friendly and positive way.
We sometimes get comments on our stairs leading to the bedrooms on 1st level despite this being clearly noted in the description and advising no children under 4 because of the stairs.
When I get a comment like "Stairs are a challenge" or "Stairs are a bit tricky and not suitable for the elderly" I point out some lovely facts about the house in my response. Examples are: -
Guests are loathe to read and unfortunately it is best to pre-empt negative reviews and counter them before the guests stay. For example, should I get a booking with children, I send a general email saying thank you for booking etc and then add "please remember that there are stairs to the upper level not suitable for children under 4 or those who battle with stairs."
Hope someone will find this helpful.
Hi stevew407,
You don't say where you are from or what the issue is with an unpaid invoice.
I will answer from my experience and perhaps this will help.
I'm in SA and when I have had issue in past I immediately use the dispute invoice tab. They normally resolve issue within 48hrs. If client does not show or does anything wrong like early departure or damage, it is best to immediately use tabs to report that as well.
Following those steps will help you to avoid disputes and get paid.
Hope this helps.
Good luck,
Pat
I agree with so many of these useful tips - Making the guest feel like they did not only book a room but an experience is so important. We often get personal notes saying our warm welcome made them feel relaxed and welcome and that the extra touches made their stay special.
The journey begins from the time they book until they hopefully write a review for us online..... and then we still encourage guests to keep in touch via our Facebook page etc.
When we moved into our cottage which became our guest house, there were these awful dead sticks everywhere in the garden. I remember so well telling my husband as soon as we are unpacked we are going to pull out all these dead sticks.
The next thing we got the most beautiful display ever - the sticks became covered in tiny white flowers. This happens twice a year and it transforms these dead sticks completely.
My advice is to wait and see what is in your garden before pulling out anything - you never know you may be as surprised as we were.
