Does this seem right?

[Breakfast Diva]

Yesterday was an amazingly frustrating day. After my struggle with the "Gorilla", I had an even more frustrating interaction with "Godzilla" (TA). I'm so tired of fighting the fight...these big corporations whose sole goal is for you to fit nicely into their box. The human element is gone. I won't go into gory detail about my TA struggle, but I can tell you that their rep at the PAII conference agreed with me, 2 TA reps on the phone agree with me, but the person who has their finger on the button to alter my listing is refusing unless I have a letter from some official of my county that my location should be changed to the town I'm really in, not the town my address is in. I do have one hope left. I'll be working on that tomorrow.
For any aspiring innkeepers out there, be forwarned that when you choose to have your b&b in a rural, non-city location you will have more struggle and less power to those "powers that be",

 

[gillumhouse]

Update:
I called bb.com and discussed the problem. I suggested they credit me back the balance since it was obvious that I wouldn't be able to use it if the Golieth kept up bidding. They refused. I then asked if I could use that money to do an "inn of the month" bid. They refused. I was pretty heated at this point. They were telling me that I had to just leave the money in that account or continue to bid to a level that the other property would drop out. Sure! how long do they think my measly $50 would last at that rate!?!?!
They finally said the only thing they would/could do was to match my $50 with another credit for $50 so I could continue to up the bids. I agreed, but I'm not happy. All that this will accomplish is that even if I win some of the bids, the rate will be so high that none of the other b&bs will be able to compete when my now $100 is depleted. At the rate these bids are at, the $100 will only last a week or so if I try for the more popular towns or region.
I can totally understand that wouldn't give me a credit, but really, what would be the matter with me using that money somewhere else in the company????
My only consolation is that I know that the Golieth will now be spending a lot more money each month..

I suggested they credit me back the balance since it was obvious that I wouldn't be able to use it if the Golieth kept up bidding. They refused. I then asked if I could use that money to do an "inn of the month" bid. They refused. I was pretty heated at this point. They were telling me that I had to just leave the money in that account or continue to bid to a level that the other property would drop out.
And you seriously expected a different answer????? You were talking to the gorilla!
.

And you seriously expected a different answer????? You were talking to the gorilla!

Nope! At least I got a little something out of it though

.

I used to answer the questions on the newsletter to keep my account stocked. Each time they used one of my responses, I got $25 in the account. I think I put $50 in total over the years. Of course when I told them to stick it in their ear, I had a credit of $125 or so even after all my 1 cent per clicks.....

 

[Innkeeper To Go]

Yesterday was an amazingly frustrating day. After my struggle with the "Gorilla", I had an even more frustrating interaction with "Godzilla" (TA). I'm so tired of fighting the fight...these big corporations whose sole goal is for you to fit nicely into their box. The human element is gone. I won't go into gory detail about my TA struggle, but I can tell you that their rep at the PAII conference agreed with me, 2 TA reps on the phone agree with me, but the person who has their finger on the button to alter my listing is refusing unless I have a letter from some official of my county that my location should be changed to the town I'm really in, not the town my address is in. I do have one hope left. I'll be working on that tomorrow.
For any aspiring innkeepers out there, be forwarned that when you choose to have your b&b in a rural, non-city location you will have more struggle and less power to those "powers that be",.

I won't go into gory detail about my TA struggle, but I can tell you that their rep at the PAII conference agreed with me, 2 TA reps on the phone agree with me, but the person who has their finger on the button to alter my listing is refusing unless I have a letter from some official of my county that my location should be changed to the town I'm really in, not the town my address is in.

What a nightmare.
Can you get back in touch with the TA rep you met at the PAII conference? Do you have a name/card?
If that's not a possibility, can you go back to each of those 2 reps who agreed with you on the phone?
You need an internal advocate if you're going to have any chance of success with that sized gorilla. Treat the reps who have agreed with you so far as if they are your advocates. You might be surprised that they will be. Go back to them and ask for their intervention.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Yesterday was an amazingly frustrating day. After my struggle with the "Gorilla", I had an even more frustrating interaction with "Godzilla" (TA). I'm so tired of fighting the fight...these big corporations whose sole goal is for you to fit nicely into their box. The human element is gone. I won't go into gory detail about my TA struggle, but I can tell you that their rep at the PAII conference agreed with me, 2 TA reps on the phone agree with me, but the person who has their finger on the button to alter my listing is refusing unless I have a letter from some official of my county that my location should be changed to the town I'm really in, not the town my address is in. I do have one hope left. I'll be working on that tomorrow.
For any aspiring innkeepers out there, be forwarned that when you choose to have your b&b in a rural, non-city location you will have more struggle and less power to those "powers that be",.

I won't go into gory detail about my TA struggle, but I can tell you that their rep at the PAII conference agreed with me, 2 TA reps on the phone agree with me, but the person who has their finger on the button to alter my listing is refusing unless I have a letter from some official of my county that my location should be changed to the town I'm really in, not the town my address is in.

What a nightmare.
Can you get back in touch with the TA rep you met at the PAII conference? Do you have a name/card?
If that's not a possibility, can you go back to each of those 2 reps who agreed with you on the phone?
You need an internal advocate if you're going to have any chance of success with that sized gorilla. Treat the reps who have agreed with you so far as if they are your advocates. You might be surprised that they will be. Go back to them and ask for their intervention.
.

Unfortunately, that won't work. The rep I was working with yesterday was really advocating for me with the property listing dept. and communicating with them during our phone call. That's what makes it so frustrating. It's the final last person in the property listing department that needs "proof". I asked the rep yesterday if I got a letter from the chamber of commerce saying they endorse my listing in the town nearest to me, would that be enough and he thought it would. Of course, he doesn't have the final say. But, I did get that chamber letter today and will fax it to TA tomorrow. We'll see. I really do feel lik Don Quixote. The ironic thing is that I previous had us listed in the nearest town and it wasn't until I updated some info as was suggested here on the forum, did it kick me over to the wrong location. If I had just left it alone I wouldn't be in this position. Oh well, live and learn.

 

[JBloggs]

I just saw this tweet and it bugs the heck out of me and I thought of your thread.
[FONT= 'Lucida Grande']Delta loses dog 'Paco' - offers $200 credit - [/FONT][FONT= 'Lucida Grande']http://tinyurl.com/29shwm2[/FONT]
Do you thunk this family wants a CREDIT? And wants to fly DELTA ever again? This is rotten!!!!

 

[Morticia]

I just saw this tweet and it bugs the heck out of me and I thought of your thread.
[FONT= 'Lucida Grande']Delta loses dog 'Paco' - offers $200 credit - [/FONT][FONT= 'Lucida Grande']http://tinyurl.com/29shwm2[/FONT]
Do you thunk this family wants a CREDIT? And wants to fly DELTA ever again? This is rotten!!!!.

The place I used to kennel my dog in VT had it right in their policies that if my dog died on their premises they would 'get me a new dog.' I thought it was kind of heartless, but I guess they figured they'd better cover that base up front.

 

[JBloggs]

I just saw this tweet and it bugs the heck out of me and I thought of your thread.
[FONT= 'Lucida Grande']Delta loses dog 'Paco' - offers $200 credit - [/FONT][FONT= 'Lucida Grande']http://tinyurl.com/29shwm2[/FONT]
Do you thunk this family wants a CREDIT? And wants to fly DELTA ever again? This is rotten!!!!.

The place I used to kennel my dog in VT had it right in their policies that if my dog died on their premises they would 'get me a new dog.' I thought it was kind of heartless, but I guess they figured they'd better cover that base up front.
.

The place I used to kennel my dog in VT had it right in their policies that if my dog died on their premises they would 'get me a new dog.' I thought it was kind of heartless, but I guess they figured they'd better cover that base up front.

or a credit for another kennel stay? DOH!

 

[Innkeeper To Go]

Yesterday was an amazingly frustrating day. After my struggle with the "Gorilla", I had an even more frustrating interaction with "Godzilla" (TA). I'm so tired of fighting the fight...these big corporations whose sole goal is for you to fit nicely into their box. The human element is gone. I won't go into gory detail about my TA struggle, but I can tell you that their rep at the PAII conference agreed with me, 2 TA reps on the phone agree with me, but the person who has their finger on the button to alter my listing is refusing unless I have a letter from some official of my county that my location should be changed to the town I'm really in, not the town my address is in. I do have one hope left. I'll be working on that tomorrow.
For any aspiring innkeepers out there, be forwarned that when you choose to have your b&b in a rural, non-city location you will have more struggle and less power to those "powers that be",.

I won't go into gory detail about my TA struggle, but I can tell you that their rep at the PAII conference agreed with me, 2 TA reps on the phone agree with me, but the person who has their finger on the button to alter my listing is refusing unless I have a letter from some official of my county that my location should be changed to the town I'm really in, not the town my address is in.

What a nightmare.
Can you get back in touch with the TA rep you met at the PAII conference? Do you have a name/card?
If that's not a possibility, can you go back to each of those 2 reps who agreed with you on the phone?
You need an internal advocate if you're going to have any chance of success with that sized gorilla. Treat the reps who have agreed with you so far as if they are your advocates. You might be surprised that they will be. Go back to them and ask for their intervention.
.

Unfortunately, that won't work. The rep I was working with yesterday was really advocating for me with the property listing dept. and communicating with them during our phone call. That's what makes it so frustrating. It's the final last person in the property listing department that needs "proof". I asked the rep yesterday if I got a letter from the chamber of commerce saying they endorse my listing in the town nearest to me, would that be enough and he thought it would. Of course, he doesn't have the final say. But, I did get that chamber letter today and will fax it to TA tomorrow. We'll see. I really do feel lik Don Quixote. The ironic thing is that I previous had us listed in the nearest town and it wasn't until I updated some info as was suggested here on the forum, did it kick me over to the wrong location. If I had just left it alone I wouldn't be in this position. Oh well, live and learn.
.

Oh no! I'm keeping my fingers crossed they accept the chamber letter for you.
And like you said, live and learn. Good for all of us to know there can be some serious glitches triggered when you update info.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Another update. With 1/2 my money and 1/2 bb.com's money, I have been bidding up the featured property cities. The trend continues. They keep going up from my bid. At the moment, they are spending $483.56 per month if the impression on bb.com are accurate. It's insane!

 

[JBloggs]

Another update. With 1/2 my money and 1/2 bb.com's money, I have been bidding up the featured property cities. The trend continues. They keep going up from my bid. At the moment, they are spending $483.56 per month if the impression on bb.com are accurate. It's insane!.

 

[EmptyNest]

Another update. With 1/2 my money and 1/2 bb.com's money, I have been bidding up the featured property cities. The trend continues. They keep going up from my bid. At the moment, they are spending $483.56 per month if the impression on bb.com are accurate. It's insane!.

THAT IS RIDICULOUS and yes I am screaming. I would not pay that a year!!

 

[Innkeeper To Go]

Another update. With 1/2 my money and 1/2 bb.com's money, I have been bidding up the featured property cities. The trend continues. They keep going up from my bid. At the moment, they are spending $483.56 per month if the impression on bb.com are accurate. It's insane!.

It's insane!

Insane in the membrane.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Another update. With 1/2 my money and 1/2 bb.com's money, I have been bidding up the featured property cities. The trend continues. They keep going up from my bid. At the moment, they are spending $483.56 per month if the impression on bb.com are accurate. It's insane!.

It's insane!

Insane in the membrane.
.

It's insane!

Insane in the membrane.

money going down the drain

 

[Innkeeper To Go]

Another update. With 1/2 my money and 1/2 bb.com's money, I have been bidding up the featured property cities. The trend continues. They keep going up from my bid. At the moment, they are spending $483.56 per month if the impression on bb.com are accurate. It's insane!.

It's insane!

Insane in the membrane.
.

It's insane!

Insane in the membrane.

money going down the drain
.

Straight down the drain. There is absolutely no way they are getting enough bookings out of that to justify that kind of expense.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Another update. With 1/2 my money and 1/2 bb.com's money, I have been bidding up the featured property cities. The trend continues. They keep going up from my bid. At the moment, they are spending $483.56 per month if the impression on bb.com are accurate. It's insane!.

It's insane!

Insane in the membrane.
.

It's insane!

Insane in the membrane.

money going down the drain
.

Straight down the drain. There is absolutely no way they are getting enough bookings out of that to justify that kind of expense.
.

Now they're raising the bids by 5 cents each time. They have some arrogance thinking it's ok to monopolize the entire region. I've still got about $85 left in my account.

 

[Innkeeper To Go]

Another update. With 1/2 my money and 1/2 bb.com's money, I have been bidding up the featured property cities. The trend continues. They keep going up from my bid. At the moment, they are spending $483.56 per month if the impression on bb.com are accurate. It's insane!.

It's insane!

Insane in the membrane.
.

It's insane!

Insane in the membrane.

money going down the drain
.

Straight down the drain. There is absolutely no way they are getting enough bookings out of that to justify that kind of expense.
.

Now they're raising the bids by 5 cents each time. They have some arrogance thinking it's ok to monopolize the entire region. I've still got about $85 left in my account.

.

It really is not good behavior on their part. At this point, when they've changed the way they're bidding to 5 cents over whatever bid coming in, they are deliberately monopolizing the market.
They sure must not be interested in referrals from other inns.
Or maybe they're just stupid enough to think that if someone else is interested in it, that it must be really really worth it.

 

[Copperhead]

Another update. With 1/2 my money and 1/2 bb.com's money, I have been bidding up the featured property cities. The trend continues. They keep going up from my bid. At the moment, they are spending $483.56 per month if the impression on bb.com are accurate. It's insane!.

It's insane!

Insane in the membrane.
.

It's insane!

Insane in the membrane.

money going down the drain
.

Straight down the drain. There is absolutely no way they are getting enough bookings out of that to justify that kind of expense.
.

Straight down the drain. There is absolutely no way they are getting enough bookings out of that to justify that kind of expense.

And if they ARE, we are all doing something wrong and we need to find out what they are doing.
Geesh, no wonder the gorilla said no to you, they see a sucker and they plan to suck every cent out of them that they can.

 

[Innkeeper To Go]

Another update. With 1/2 my money and 1/2 bb.com's money, I have been bidding up the featured property cities. The trend continues. They keep going up from my bid. At the moment, they are spending $483.56 per month if the impression on bb.com are accurate. It's insane!.

It's insane!

Insane in the membrane.
.

It's insane!

Insane in the membrane.

money going down the drain
.

Straight down the drain. There is absolutely no way they are getting enough bookings out of that to justify that kind of expense.
.

Straight down the drain. There is absolutely no way they are getting enough bookings out of that to justify that kind of expense.

And if they ARE, we are all doing something wrong and we need to find out what they are doing.
Geesh, no wonder the gorilla said no to you, they see a sucker and they plan to suck every cent out of them that they can.
.

Geesh, no wonder the gorilla said no to you, they see a sucker and they plan to suck every cent out of them that they can.

Yep. The gorilla is just loving these folks. Their neighboring innkeepers? Not so much.

 

[gillumhouse]

Another update. With 1/2 my money and 1/2 bb.com's money, I have been bidding up the featured property cities. The trend continues. They keep going up from my bid. At the moment, they are spending $483.56 per month if the impression on bb.com are accurate. It's insane!.

I would not pay that for a YEAR! That is when I told the 800 lb gorilla goodbye. They say the silver listing will bring what? 45 bookings a year? I would have been happy with 10 or 12. Looks at my web site do not count. And I know it could not be the web site because the new one was up before we said goodbye.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Another update. With 1/2 my money and 1/2 bb.com's money, I have been bidding up the featured property cities. The trend continues. They keep going up from my bid. At the moment, they are spending $483.56 per month if the impression on bb.com are accurate. It's insane!.

I would not pay that for a YEAR! That is when I told the 800 lb gorilla goodbye. They say the silver listing will bring what? 45 bookings a year? I would have been happy with 10 or 12. Looks at my web site do not count. And I know it could not be the web site because the new one was up before we said goodbye.
.

Sheesh! 45 bookings? We'd be crazy to complain about their pricing if we got 45 bookings! I wish!!!