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Richardloram
I am ex-forces, ex-probation officer, ex-band manager and ex-therapist - think I am now retired - done enough ! Doing this full time as an income. Best thing I have done for a long time great way to earn a living. Based in a Victorian town house running a B'n'B - old school meet and greet - cooked breakfast - showing the great city of Liverpool off to it's max. I love cycloing and aiming to have this as an option for guests staying here - best way to see any city - if you can ride a bike x
yeah would go along with that - we have alot to give in many many ways - yes we benefit from the system / corporation etc - my view is that the booking .com is great for me and I love it as I have said before - but they could be so much more if they took onboard alot of the collective ideas 'we' have 'here' - it is after all 'just' a very powerful and well organised web-site with alot of advertising - which could be seen as not a particuarly strong position by someone with alot o capital wanting to do the same. I do not in any way want to bring it down I want to make it go higher - spiritual growth yes with out doubt the best thing and best journey to take - peace and love
Hi Katerinka - thanks thought that was he case but still maintain it is a insane loss to Booking.com not to evolve their system by having someone who could pull many ideas and suggestions together. This is after all how the Toyota model works - one mimiked by many many companies the world over. I guess going back to a previous point I made - a company run purely for profit by people frequently detached from the working environment they 'manage' - often have very little creativity or 'out of the box' thinking skills - or indeed little idea of how things are run in relaity on the 'shop floor' - so this would a great example of how they could use us to show they care and value us - but I guess this may be against the 'laws' of how a corporation is run. Disappointing I guess
HI - I am no expert on this but to me if it is not in booking.com it hasn't happened - I get lots of reservations then cancelations (mainly due to them not reading all the info about the house which says there are shared bathrooms and not en-suite - for prices I charge do you think I'm on drugs?) - however when this happens it is always show on the booking.com web-site - that is the booking and the cancellations. Whilst this has been immensely annoying and a waste of my time it has been clear and I can see what has gone on - hope this helps or someone can help you that Knows more - where does your feed to excel come from ? Kind Regards Richie
HI - I am just trying to understand the booking system here - Glenroy111 you seem to be pretty clued up - so do Booking.com take the deposit ahead of time off guests and do you get that in advance? Or do you not get anything till they pay you a month after the booking has passed - or there abouts ? Kind Regards everyone for responses
My proposal to Booking.com - if this forum is read by them - I would have thought it was as it is the best free info they can get on their buisiness practice - is...... If every booking was charged a booking fee instantly then there would not be the 'booking for fun' - previously described. If this was a nominal fee of say £/$ 5 it would probably iradicate these cancelations massively - and if it didn't then us hosts could be compensated for the time we have to spend putting them in and out of our systems. Booking .com could even take a £/$ or 2 - and give us the rest. I appreciate this would ruin their not needing a credit card claim to book - but I think everyone uses one in the end to book - don't they and the claim is surely a bit useless in this light.
I would also question Booking.com about why more than half my cancellations are made by their 'genius' guests - surely this lack of care when booking(which I think alot of it boils down to) should make them consider slightly less 'genius' - or maybe their 'genius' status is based on how many rooms they book - in which case no wonder so many cancel !
HI - yes I always send out a welcome and thank you message - however I found found that the more assistance and info I give to guests the more likely they are to cancel - this is how it feels. I am a small B'n'B outfit in Liverpool UK and have huge numbers of cancelations - mainly due to people not taking time to read details of the house and the fact the two bathrooms are shared. I do see this as a serious pain on the arse - as you have to unbook etc - however not sure if this is a price worth paying as the rooms are booked up agin within a few weeks. At first it really upset me but now bit more relaxed about it
My personal approach is - advertise on booking site that cooked brakfast os available if you want this then book it - I provide a continental style breakfast for free - so most people are not bothered about paying for something they may feel they don't need. Yes this does cost me a little bit more - but to me it's all about good customer relations - and look at the reviews I get must have some impact and pays in other ways
Yeah been there - I keep my own big diary and as soon as I get a booking on one of their diaries I update the other - then add to big material one - was a bit of a pain at first but after a while (I suspect when I put my prices up a fiver) you get used to it. Not sure if one site looks at the other and gets the hump when you go with another but as soon as I started with booking.com the booking for air B'n'B booking dried up and only had 3 in last three months ! However my house is now full every weekend till June so can't complain - although too many cancellations which is a pain - all best Richie