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2cat_lady

2cat_lady

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 24, 2014
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I have a rep coming tomorrow to try and sell me onto them. Offering 12% commission for the first year, back to the standard 15% afterwards. Looking for parity with B**king. No contract. I'm hoping it could fill empty rooms in my slow season.
I know--OTA very evil. But it's really helped since it's only our second year and we're a little off the beaten path.
But if you're with them, what do you like/dislike about them? Hassle or helpful?
 
Probably the worst part is once you list with them it's very hard to get them to remove your info if you change your mind.
So, what happens is, they continue to use your name in Google searches but you have no availability thru them so they show 'No Availability at this time' and then point those folks to other properties they have a contract with.
Not sure if they have started giving you real guest info or not. That is a big gripe with my friends. They never know how many guests are coming and they don't get enough info about the guest.
 
12%... I wish!
They work in a 2 rep system, the one you meet to sign up and the person behind them. The person we have behind is fantastic! She makes it a pleasure. They offer two systems, they collect or you collect. To be honest, I like the they collect. If you get a reservation from a country that you normally don't get that is hotel collect, you should validate the card with an auth for a small amount, if you don't do deposits. Or you may just want them to offer only they collect. They pay you with a virtual CC, so you can deposit the money right away.
 
Morticia said:
Probably the worst part is once you list with them it's very hard to get them to remove your info if you change your mind.
So, what happens is, they continue to use your name in Google searches but you have no availability thru them so they show 'No Availability at this time' and then point those folks to other properties they have a contract with.
Not sure if they have started giving you real guest info or not. That is a big gripe with my friends. They never know how many guests are coming and they don't get enough info about the guest..
Click to expand...
For the most part, we get real guest info, but some of their affiliates don't provide as much.
 
I am currently with them through B&B dot com, but am planning to change to working direct.
What Mort said about not removing the data has been true. We were once affiliated with them through another party. When we stopped our information stayed on their site with a constant 'no availability' shown.
Before I would sign up I would highly recommend getting in writing that they will remove your listing and not use your B&B name in any way once you part ways.
In the last few months they have started providing both email and phone numbers for guests. So I contact all and verify the reservation info.
 
Guys be careful with them, they are different to bkin.com as they take the customers money in advance.
I know your thinking big deal right? Well this gives them some leverage over your prices.
Example: Your rate = $105 and they advertise your property for $102, a lot of bookings will go to them over the other ota including your website. They give you a virtual CC details and tell you to charge the $105 minus their commission of 15%. You will never know they do this unless you search for it.
Sometimes they do this, sometimes its the same price, they can mix it up depending on who is searching. But is it worth it?
 
Evan said:
Guys be careful with them, they are different to bkin.com as they take the customers money in advance.
I know your thinking big deal right? Well this gives them some leverage over your prices.
Example: Your rate = $105 and they advertise your property for $102, a lot of bookings will go to them over the other ota including your website. They give you a virtual CC details and tell you to charge the $105 minus their commission of 15%. You will never know they do this unless you search for it.
Sometimes they do this, sometimes its the same price, they can mix it up depending on who is searching. But is it worth it?.
Click to expand...
Evan, they can do that. Of course the last time they did that to me... I changed my availability for them went to 0. I spoke to my area manager, told them that I don't like them undercutting me, because that was part of the deal as well. They put my prices back to normal and I gave them availability again.
In my case, what I have seen is some bookings from corporate accounts that I would otherwise be locked out of. I know that they discount for pensioners, but it comes out of their end, never mine. And that's not on their public website, it's members only. (But to be honest, the pensioners usually won't book with me... too many stairs, which I make them put in the description.)
 
Thanks for all your points of view.
They have a small presence in my neck of the woods which I see as a positive. Them collecting the money for me would be great. I'm a terrible pushover for a sob story when it comes to cancelling. At least they can deal with that at their end. He's sending me the contract tomorrow and I'll have a good look at it. Contract as in-- same as B**king--don't lower prices on my site, etc. we'll see. If it can just fill my empty spaces, it's good for me. 12% for one year is in writing. Made sure of that.
 
2cat_lady said:
Thanks for all your points of view.
They have a small presence in my neck of the woods which I see as a positive. Them collecting the money for me would be great. I'm a terrible pushover for a sob story when it comes to cancelling. At least they can deal with that at their end. He's sending me the contract tomorrow and I'll have a good look at it. Contract as in-- same as B**king--don't lower prices on my site, etc. we'll see. If it can just fill my empty spaces, it's good for me. 12% for one year is in writing. Made sure of that..
Click to expand...
2cat_lady said:
Thanks for all your points of view.
They have a small presence in my neck of the woods which I see as a positive. Them collecting the money for me would be great. I'm a terrible pushover for a sob story when it comes to cancelling. At least they can deal with that at their end. He's sending me the contract tomorrow and I'll have a good look at it. Contract as in-- same as B**king--don't lower prices on my site, etc. we'll see. If it can just fill my empty spaces, it's good for me. 12% for one year is in writing. Made sure of that.
Click to expand...
Don't think Exp won't call you and ask you to let 'this guest' off the hook. Booking did that when the weather was bad. There were penalties if you didn't give the guest the money back for not showing up. And the guest WILL call you directly because they know it's easier to deal with the owner than a faceless corporation. (I always refer them to Booking saying I can't do anything until Booking tells me it's ok to cancel.)
 
Evan said:
Guys be careful with them, they are different to bkin.com as they take the customers money in advance.
I know your thinking big deal right? Well this gives them some leverage over your prices.
Example: Your rate = $105 and they advertise your property for $102, a lot of bookings will go to them over the other ota including your website. They give you a virtual CC details and tell you to charge the $105 minus their commission of 15%. You will never know they do this unless you search for it.
Sometimes they do this, sometimes its the same price, they can mix it up depending on who is searching. But is it worth it?.
Click to expand...
Evan said:
Example: Your rate = $105 and they advertise your property for $102, a lot of bookings will go to them over the other ota including your website. They give you a virtual CC details and tell you to charge the $105 minus their commission of 15%. You will never know they do this unless you search for it.
Click to expand...
While they can advertise a lower price, you can make this a no no in the contract.
They do not provide CC details as THEY charge the customer. The property receives payment minus the commission after the stay. Different from Bking as Bking invoices you for commissions for a month prior.
So actually the 12 (or 15)% commission is less because you are not being hit with CC processing fees.
 
Morticia said:
2cat_lady said:
Thanks for all your points of view.
They have a small presence in my neck of the woods which I see as a positive. Them collecting the money for me would be great. I'm a terrible pushover for a sob story when it comes to cancelling. At least they can deal with that at their end. He's sending me the contract tomorrow and I'll have a good look at it. Contract as in-- same as B**king--don't lower prices on my site, etc. we'll see. If it can just fill my empty spaces, it's good for me. 12% for one year is in writing. Made sure of that..
Click to expand...
2cat_lady said:
Thanks for all your points of view.
They have a small presence in my neck of the woods which I see as a positive. Them collecting the money for me would be great. I'm a terrible pushover for a sob story when it comes to cancelling. At least they can deal with that at their end. He's sending me the contract tomorrow and I'll have a good look at it. Contract as in-- same as B**king--don't lower prices on my site, etc. we'll see. If it can just fill my empty spaces, it's good for me. 12% for one year is in writing. Made sure of that.
Click to expand...
Don't think Exp won't call you and ask you to let 'this guest' off the hook. Booking did that when the weather was bad. There were penalties if you didn't give the guest the money back for not showing up. And the guest WILL call you directly because they know it's easier to deal with the owner than a faceless corporation. (I always refer them to Booking saying I can't do anything until Booking tells me it's ok to cancel.)
.
Click to expand...
I think we should use our face book to explain what we are dealing with . Help them understand . So we are not faced with so many issues. Especially since reporting to place like B ki ng not letting us used there tab system for logging in problems. Also using some cards like Amx.
costumers do not understand we cant take AMX. AllB has to do is add this few lines to their web site and all would be fine. We told them 5 years ago and again this month. their pat answer is we are looking into that! Yay right ( not). I bet things would change for the better. Why do they not collect 15% off of the clients . We advertise for them by giving them our business.
Then they would not have to worry about our web sites trying to get back our investments. After all it is clients that are using them to find a place to stay . They are providing a quick way for them to find a place in the city they wish.
 
Morticia said:
2cat_lady said:
Thanks for all your points of view.
They have a small presence in my neck of the woods which I see as a positive. Them collecting the money for me would be great. I'm a terrible pushover for a sob story when it comes to cancelling. At least they can deal with that at their end. He's sending me the contract tomorrow and I'll have a good look at it. Contract as in-- same as B**king--don't lower prices on my site, etc. we'll see. If it can just fill my empty spaces, it's good for me. 12% for one year is in writing. Made sure of that..
Click to expand...
2cat_lady said:
Thanks for all your points of view.
They have a small presence in my neck of the woods which I see as a positive. Them collecting the money for me would be great. I'm a terrible pushover for a sob story when it comes to cancelling. At least they can deal with that at their end. He's sending me the contract tomorrow and I'll have a good look at it. Contract as in-- same as B**king--don't lower prices on my site, etc. we'll see. If it can just fill my empty spaces, it's good for me. 12% for one year is in writing. Made sure of that.
Click to expand...
Don't think Exp won't call you and ask you to let 'this guest' off the hook. Booking did that when the weather was bad. There were penalties if you didn't give the guest the money back for not showing up. And the guest WILL call you directly because they know it's easier to deal with the owner than a faceless corporation. (I always refer them to Booking saying I can't do anything until Booking tells me it's ok to cancel.)
.
Click to expand...
XPDA feels that they need to call you and ask. You are free to say no. They too get paid if you say no. They have never pressured me about it. But they will call. They will also try the move the reservation to a future date ploy. We say that we do not allow reservations to be moved, they must be cancelled and rebooked and the penalty applies. That ends that tactic.
As for bking, they have NEVER tried that ploy with me, if they did, I might cancel the contract on the spot. My policies are in place. We will consider a credit only if the road is legally considered closed.
We had a lady try that this year through XPDA. She didn't want to drive in the rain. We decided to let her cancel... but we also warned her that it would NEVER repeat itself.... It sent her the clear message that she shouldn't book with us again. Which is what we wanted. And our XPDA rep was surprised that we actually even considered it... until I explained what a PITA this lady was and it was our way of making sure she doesn't come to our place.
 
Jon Sable said:
Morticia said:
2cat_lady said:
Thanks for all your points of view.
They have a small presence in my neck of the woods which I see as a positive. Them collecting the money for me would be great. I'm a terrible pushover for a sob story when it comes to cancelling. At least they can deal with that at their end. He's sending me the contract tomorrow and I'll have a good look at it. Contract as in-- same as B**king--don't lower prices on my site, etc. we'll see. If it can just fill my empty spaces, it's good for me. 12% for one year is in writing. Made sure of that..
Click to expand...
2cat_lady said:
Thanks for all your points of view.
They have a small presence in my neck of the woods which I see as a positive. Them collecting the money for me would be great. I'm a terrible pushover for a sob story when it comes to cancelling. At least they can deal with that at their end. He's sending me the contract tomorrow and I'll have a good look at it. Contract as in-- same as B**king--don't lower prices on my site, etc. we'll see. If it can just fill my empty spaces, it's good for me. 12% for one year is in writing. Made sure of that.
Click to expand...
Don't think Exp won't call you and ask you to let 'this guest' off the hook. Booking did that when the weather was bad. There were penalties if you didn't give the guest the money back for not showing up. And the guest WILL call you directly because they know it's easier to deal with the owner than a faceless corporation. (I always refer them to Booking saying I can't do anything until Booking tells me it's ok to cancel.)
.
Click to expand...
XPDA feels that they need to call you and ask. You are free to say no. They too get paid if you say no. They have never pressured me about it. But they will call. They will also try the move the reservation to a future date ploy. We say that we do not allow reservations to be moved, they must be cancelled and rebooked and the penalty applies. That ends that tactic.
As for bking, they have NEVER tried that ploy with me, if they did, I might cancel the contract on the spot. My policies are in place. We will consider a credit only if the road is legally considered closed.
We had a lady try that this year through XPDA. She didn't want to drive in the rain. We decided to let her cancel... but we also warned her that it would NEVER repeat itself.... It sent her the clear message that she shouldn't book with us again. Which is what we wanted. And our XPDA rep was surprised that we actually even considered it... until I explained what a PITA this lady was and it was our way of making sure she doesn't come to our place.
.
Click to expand...
If she paid the fee, she likely not return anyway? And you get $$$
 
undersea said:
Jon Sable said:
Morticia said:
2cat_lady said:
Thanks for all your points of view.
They have a small presence in my neck of the woods which I see as a positive. Them collecting the money for me would be great. I'm a terrible pushover for a sob story when it comes to cancelling. At least they can deal with that at their end. He's sending me the contract tomorrow and I'll have a good look at it. Contract as in-- same as B**king--don't lower prices on my site, etc. we'll see. If it can just fill my empty spaces, it's good for me. 12% for one year is in writing. Made sure of that..
Click to expand...
2cat_lady said:
Thanks for all your points of view.
They have a small presence in my neck of the woods which I see as a positive. Them collecting the money for me would be great. I'm a terrible pushover for a sob story when it comes to cancelling. At least they can deal with that at their end. He's sending me the contract tomorrow and I'll have a good look at it. Contract as in-- same as B**king--don't lower prices on my site, etc. we'll see. If it can just fill my empty spaces, it's good for me. 12% for one year is in writing. Made sure of that.
Click to expand...
Don't think Exp won't call you and ask you to let 'this guest' off the hook. Booking did that when the weather was bad. There were penalties if you didn't give the guest the money back for not showing up. And the guest WILL call you directly because they know it's easier to deal with the owner than a faceless corporation. (I always refer them to Booking saying I can't do anything until Booking tells me it's ok to cancel.)
.
Click to expand...
XPDA feels that they need to call you and ask. You are free to say no. They too get paid if you say no. They have never pressured me about it. But they will call. They will also try the move the reservation to a future date ploy. We say that we do not allow reservations to be moved, they must be cancelled and rebooked and the penalty applies. That ends that tactic.
As for bking, they have NEVER tried that ploy with me, if they did, I might cancel the contract on the spot. My policies are in place. We will consider a credit only if the road is legally considered closed.
We had a lady try that this year through XPDA. She didn't want to drive in the rain. We decided to let her cancel... but we also warned her that it would NEVER repeat itself.... It sent her the clear message that she shouldn't book with us again. Which is what we wanted. And our XPDA rep was surprised that we actually even considered it... until I explained what a PITA this lady was and it was our way of making sure she doesn't come to our place.
.
Click to expand...
If she paid the fee, she likely not return anyway? And you get $$$
.
Click to expand...
Yup. And the headache. You sort of learn when to fight and when you shouldn't.
 
what you need to be aware of is exp owns a lot of other sites - we do a lot of business with Ho te ls.com which is one of their creatures - they do 10 nights get the 11th free which works well for us as the free night comes out of our commission bill so good deal all round.
 
Jon Sable said:
undersea said:
Jon Sable said:
Morticia said:
2cat_lady said:
Thanks for all your points of view.
They have a small presence in my neck of the woods which I see as a positive. Them collecting the money for me would be great. I'm a terrible pushover for a sob story when it comes to cancelling. At least they can deal with that at their end. He's sending me the contract tomorrow and I'll have a good look at it. Contract as in-- same as B**king--don't lower prices on my site, etc. we'll see. If it can just fill my empty spaces, it's good for me. 12% for one year is in writing. Made sure of that..
Click to expand...
2cat_lady said:
Thanks for all your points of view.
They have a small presence in my neck of the woods which I see as a positive. Them collecting the money for me would be great. I'm a terrible pushover for a sob story when it comes to cancelling. At least they can deal with that at their end. He's sending me the contract tomorrow and I'll have a good look at it. Contract as in-- same as B**king--don't lower prices on my site, etc. we'll see. If it can just fill my empty spaces, it's good for me. 12% for one year is in writing. Made sure of that.
Click to expand...
Don't think Exp won't call you and ask you to let 'this guest' off the hook. Booking did that when the weather was bad. There were penalties if you didn't give the guest the money back for not showing up. And the guest WILL call you directly because they know it's easier to deal with the owner than a faceless corporation. (I always refer them to Booking saying I can't do anything until Booking tells me it's ok to cancel.)
.
Click to expand...
XPDA feels that they need to call you and ask. You are free to say no. They too get paid if you say no. They have never pressured me about it. But they will call. They will also try the move the reservation to a future date ploy. We say that we do not allow reservations to be moved, they must be cancelled and rebooked and the penalty applies. That ends that tactic.
As for bking, they have NEVER tried that ploy with me, if they did, I might cancel the contract on the spot. My policies are in place. We will consider a credit only if the road is legally considered closed.
We had a lady try that this year through XPDA. She didn't want to drive in the rain. We decided to let her cancel... but we also warned her that it would NEVER repeat itself.... It sent her the clear message that she shouldn't book with us again. Which is what we wanted. And our XPDA rep was surprised that we actually even considered it... until I explained what a PITA this lady was and it was our way of making sure she doesn't come to our place.
.
Click to expand...
If she paid the fee, she likely not return anyway? And you get $$$
.
Click to expand...
Yup. And the headache. You sort of learn when to fight and when you shouldn't.
.
Click to expand...
Agreed. We find it can be very situational and we too have learned how to move into the gray area on the rare occasion.
 

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