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gillumhouse

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OK, I said I would give opinion of the phone service while I was in Europe. We did one day as a trial and then started in earnest on May 26. I cannot locate my June statement, but May was included since the May bill came while I was in Europe.
May - (including a Holiday recoupment fee of $10) was $41.06 (their statement says as of May 23)
June (subtracting the $41.06) the June bill was $173.15 they said I was over the 50 minutes by 66 I think.
July bill - I called and stopped the service on July 2 I think but since I am sometimes scattered, I will say no later than July 3. Once again there was a $10 holiday recoupment fee and I was billed for the entire month of July - no pro-rate. The bill that arrived today was for $115.54.
The B & B acoss the mountain got my June business (I am happy about that since at least someone got something from it) and I had about 10 room nights booked in July (one rez was 2 rooms for 3 nights with my ditherer who probably sucked my minutes). I am upset about the July bill and will be calling the tomorrow to make sure they understand I a DONE and was DONE when I called to take my phone back from their service. I called my number and reported I was taking my phone back before I did the #73. Now would one not think calling in to say I am taking back my phone was enough? I had no knowledge of the referrals until the innkeeper called to thank me. There was no e-mail saying referred to.... But I did get a lot of e-mails about calls needing to be returned instead of them just calling the numbers I had given for anything requiring a return call - I gave them my cell number AND my daughter if mine could not be reached (there were no calls in my voicemail when I got back either).
So final opinion is this was a once in my lifetime. I will not and would not recommend it unless one was going out of the Country for an extended length of time. IF I ever do leave the country again, I will transfer my phone to a friend and pay her. She knows B & B and what I do. And will stop charging me when I take my phone back.
This company rep may be upset by my review here, but I am upset about another bill. I stated in the beginning it was ONLY for while I was away, not an on-going thing. Their records should have shown NO activity since the beginning of July. I am done.
 
[COLOR= black]No, we are not upset about the review because we understand this is your perception and everyone's needs are different. We also understand that anyone can say anything online without any facts to back up their statements – anyone doing business today understands this is the new world we live in. I am sure every innkeeper has seen a review from one of their guests and thought it was not justified – we feel the same way about your post. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]The fact is that our cancellation policy is clearly stated on our month to month agreement on the first paragraph. The policy simply states that cancellations need to be in writing. Unfortunately, you decided to call into the call center and tell the receptionist that “I am taking the phones back” which is a common term used by many clients when they are disconnecting call forwarding for the day. No one would remotely take that statement as a request to cancel – especially not anyone in business. Since we now know that your call into our receptionist was an attempt to cancel your service we will take a look at your usage and credit from the last day you forwarded to Calling Inn. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]We have many Inns that find they couldn't be as successful without our service and a few which would prefer to handle things on their own. Our genuine interest is the success of the B&B industry and our innkeepers. We sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. [/COLOR]
 
Wow I didn't even see a name of a company on this thread. I guess I had to read between the lines to decipher it.
 
Wow I didn't even see a name of a company on this thread. I guess I had to read between the lines to decipher it..
I am willing to say as a first time ever doing something like this, that I was partly culpable - but to be charged when nothing wes used - I never turned the phone back to them so once again, whether you use it or not, you pay. I guess with jet lag, returning the car, and getting ready for in-coming guests the day after arrival (one of the 3 room nights I was dealing with WAS booked by them for me for which I say thank you and the e-mail made it possible for me to make it a 2-night) home I neglected to write a letter. As I said already, it was expensive, but a lesson learned. There are companies that can charge when you just sit there even if you do not use it. All I am saying is this - be aware! I was not.
I consider myself a learning tool for others.
 
[COLOR= black]No, we are not upset about the review because we understand this is your perception and everyone's needs are different. We also understand that anyone can say anything online without any facts to back up their statements – anyone doing business today understands this is the new world we live in. I am sure every innkeeper has seen a review from one of their guests and thought it was not justified – we feel the same way about your post. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]The fact is that our cancellation policy is clearly stated on our month to month agreement on the first paragraph. The policy simply states that cancellations need to be in writing. Unfortunately, you decided to call into the call center and tell the receptionist that “I am taking the phones back” which is a common term used by many clients when they are disconnecting call forwarding for the day. No one would remotely take that statement as a request to cancel – especially not anyone in business. Since we now know that your call into our receptionist was an attempt to cancel your service we will take a look at your usage and credit from the last day you forwarded to Calling Inn. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]We have many Inns that find they couldn't be as successful without our service and a few which would prefer to handle things on their own. Our genuine interest is the success of the B&B industry and our innkeepers. We sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. [/COLOR].
Calling Inn said:
[COLOR= black]No, we are not upset about the review because we understand this is your perception and everyone's needs are different. We also understand that anyone can say anything online without any facts to back up their statements – anyone doing business today understands this is the new world we live in. I am sure every innkeeper has seen a review from one of their guests and thought it was not justified – we feel the same way about your post. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]The fact is that our cancellation policy is clearly stated on our month to month agreement on the first paragraph. The policy simply states that cancellations need to be in writing. Unfortunately, you decided to call into the call center and tell the receptionist that “I am taking the phones back” which is a common term used by many clients when they are disconnecting call forwarding for the day. No one would remotely take that statement as a request to cancel – especially not anyone in business. Since we now know that your call into our receptionist was an attempt to cancel your service we will take a look at your usage and credit from the last day you forwarded to Calling Inn. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]We have many Inns that find they couldn't be as successful without our service and a few which would prefer to handle things on their own. Our genuine interest is the success of the B&B industry and our innkeepers. We sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. [/COLOR]
Gotta say, this rather condescending response is NOT doing your company any favors. A simple "We're sorry, we didn't realize you meant to cancel when you phoned" would have sufficed.
 
When we were out of the country and had no phone service (although I admit that both trips were for a much shorter time than your vacation), I changed the biz voice mail message to say that the inn was closed for that period of time, please don't leave a message that needed to be returned before such and such a date, but please book online! Any questions, we would check email several times a day and would be happy to get back to them via email.
It worked beautifully for me. But we also got almost all our reservations via our website and not from phone calls. And, we took one vacation during our dead time of the year in the Summer. Maybe that could be a consideration for the future for you.
 
[COLOR= black]No, we are not upset about the review because we understand this is your perception and everyone's needs are different. We also understand that anyone can say anything online without any facts to back up their statements – anyone doing business today understands this is the new world we live in. I am sure every innkeeper has seen a review from one of their guests and thought it was not justified – we feel the same way about your post. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]The fact is that our cancellation policy is clearly stated on our month to month agreement on the first paragraph. The policy simply states that cancellations need to be in writing. Unfortunately, you decided to call into the call center and tell the receptionist that “I am taking the phones back” which is a common term used by many clients when they are disconnecting call forwarding for the day. No one would remotely take that statement as a request to cancel – especially not anyone in business. Since we now know that your call into our receptionist was an attempt to cancel your service we will take a look at your usage and credit from the last day you forwarded to Calling Inn. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]We have many Inns that find they couldn't be as successful without our service and a few which would prefer to handle things on their own. Our genuine interest is the success of the B&B industry and our innkeepers. We sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. [/COLOR].
Calling Inn said:
[COLOR= black]No, we are not upset about the review because we understand this is your perception and everyone's needs are different. We also understand that anyone can say anything online without any facts to back up their statements – anyone doing business today understands this is the new world we live in. I am sure every innkeeper has seen a review from one of their guests and thought it was not justified – we feel the same way about your post. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]The fact is that our cancellation policy is clearly stated on our month to month agreement on the first paragraph. The policy simply states that cancellations need to be in writing. Unfortunately, you decided to call into the call center and tell the receptionist that “I am taking the phones back” which is a common term used by many clients when they are disconnecting call forwarding for the day. No one would remotely take that statement as a request to cancel – especially not anyone in business. Since we now know that your call into our receptionist was an attempt to cancel your service we will take a look at your usage and credit from the last day you forwarded to Calling Inn. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]We have many Inns that find they couldn't be as successful without our service and a few which would prefer to handle things on their own. Our genuine interest is the success of the B&B industry and our innkeepers. We sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. [/COLOR]
Gotta say, this rather condescending response is NOT doing your company any favors. A simple "We're sorry, we didn't realize you meant to cancel when you phoned" would have sufficed.
.
Is there a back story here? Gillum, did you send a copy of your post to this company? I didn't understand the original post and wouldn't have known what phone service you were talking about if they hadn't responded here
Don Draper said:
Gotta say, this rather condescending response is NOT doing your company any favors. A simple "We're sorry, we didn't realize you meant to cancel when you phoned" would have sufficed.
Totally agree with you DD!
And the following statement ....
''No one would remotely take that statement as a request to cancel – especially not anyone in business.''
tells me I would probably not want to do business with Calling Inn. Shouldn't Calling Inn's 'receptionist' have asked what Gillum's statement meant?
 
When we were out of the country and had no phone service (although I admit that both trips were for a much shorter time than your vacation), I changed the biz voice mail message to say that the inn was closed for that period of time, please don't leave a message that needed to be returned before such and such a date, but please book online! Any questions, we would check email several times a day and would be happy to get back to them via email.
It worked beautifully for me. But we also got almost all our reservations via our website and not from phone calls. And, we took one vacation during our dead time of the year in the Summer. Maybe that could be a consideration for the future for you..
Samster said:
When we were out of the country and had no phone service (although I admit that both trips were for a much shorter time than your vacation), I changed the biz voice mail message to say that the inn was closed for that period of time, please don't leave a message that needed to be returned before such and such a date, but please book online! Any questions, we would check email several times a day and would be happy to get back to them via email.
It worked beautifully for me. But we also got almost all our reservations via our website and not from phone calls. And, we took one vacation during our dead time of the year in the Summer. Maybe that could be a consideration for the future for you.
I did not get to choose when I went - I really wanted to go the end of April and be back by Memorial Day. That did not work out for Fred and he was sending me the plane ticket. I also knew that if I was going to go, it was going to be long enough to REALLY see things and it was. It also ended up being a good thing since I was occupied for 6 weeks that included April, giving me the financials to cover while I was gone etc. I also did not want anyone to know we were not here and do not want to use the word closed until the day I last lock the door. It was a learning experience - I now have call forwarding in my phone line and forward to my cell phone when we go out. One is never too old to learn.
 
[COLOR= black]No, we are not upset about the review because we understand this is your perception and everyone's needs are different. We also understand that anyone can say anything online without any facts to back up their statements – anyone doing business today understands this is the new world we live in. I am sure every innkeeper has seen a review from one of their guests and thought it was not justified – we feel the same way about your post. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]The fact is that our cancellation policy is clearly stated on our month to month agreement on the first paragraph. The policy simply states that cancellations need to be in writing. Unfortunately, you decided to call into the call center and tell the receptionist that “I am taking the phones back” which is a common term used by many clients when they are disconnecting call forwarding for the day. No one would remotely take that statement as a request to cancel – especially not anyone in business. Since we now know that your call into our receptionist was an attempt to cancel your service we will take a look at your usage and credit from the last day you forwarded to Calling Inn. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]We have many Inns that find they couldn't be as successful without our service and a few which would prefer to handle things on their own. Our genuine interest is the success of the B&B industry and our innkeepers. We sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. [/COLOR].
Calling Inn said:
[COLOR= black]No, we are not upset about the review because we understand this is your perception and everyone's needs are different. We also understand that anyone can say anything online without any facts to back up their statements – anyone doing business today understands this is the new world we live in. I am sure every innkeeper has seen a review from one of their guests and thought it was not justified – we feel the same way about your post. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]The fact is that our cancellation policy is clearly stated on our month to month agreement on the first paragraph. The policy simply states that cancellations need to be in writing. Unfortunately, you decided to call into the call center and tell the receptionist that “I am taking the phones back” which is a common term used by many clients when they are disconnecting call forwarding for the day. No one would remotely take that statement as a request to cancel – especially not anyone in business. Since we now know that your call into our receptionist was an attempt to cancel your service we will take a look at your usage and credit from the last day you forwarded to Calling Inn. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]We have many Inns that find they couldn't be as successful without our service and a few which would prefer to handle things on their own. Our genuine interest is the success of the B&B industry and our innkeepers. We sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. [/COLOR]
Gotta say, this rather condescending response is NOT doing your company any favors. A simple "We're sorry, we didn't realize you meant to cancel when you phoned" would have sufficed.
.
Is there a back story here? Gillum, did you send a copy of your post to this company? I didn't understand the original post and wouldn't have known what phone service you were talking about if they hadn't responded here
Don Draper said:
Gotta say, this rather condescending response is NOT doing your company any favors. A simple "We're sorry, we didn't realize you meant to cancel when you phoned" would have sufficed.
Totally agree with you DD!
And the following statement ....
''No one would remotely take that statement as a request to cancel – especially not anyone in business.''
tells me I would probably not want to do business with Calling Inn. Shouldn't Calling Inn's 'receptionist' have asked what Gillum's statement meant?
.
seashanty said:
Is there a back story here? Gillum, did you send a copy of your post to this company? I didn't understand the original post and wouldn't have known what phone service you were talking about if they hadn't responded here
Don Draper said:
Gotta say, this rather condescending response is NOT doing your company any favors. A simple "We're sorry, we didn't realize you meant to cancel when you phoned" would have sufficed.
Totally agree with you DD!
And the following statement ....
''No one would remotely take that statement as a request to cancel – especially not anyone in business.''
tells me I would probably not want to do business with Calling Inn. Shouldn't Calling Inn's 'receptionist' have asked what Gillum's statement meant?
SS,
I had posted here that I was using this service while I was gone to Germany and said I would post a review when I got back. the first 2 weeiks were so frustrating - i would get an e-mail saying new reservation and it would conclude with the statement Room Booked? NO
Here is one quote:
Room Booked: No
Reason Not Booked: Reservation Site Down/She Needs A Call Back To Check Availability
Site down? Turns out the operators had not been given access to it, the site was not down. I think this was the message that blew my cork.
Call back? I was in freaking Germany!! I also had messages about calls from locals that needed to be returned - I had left them 2 phone numbers to call in that instance and neither received ANY calls. (I used e-mail and facebook messages to my daughter to return calls.) I came unglued and posted my frustration here and then sent an e-mail to them with my frustrations. I was asked to "tone down" my post - and I did a bit (I was still in Germany). That was when I also found out that the reply I thought I was sending to them was not going anywhere - the correct e-mail was in my inbox - the sales rep had sent me an e-mail asking about my trip and that was my contact address I used to vent my frustrations.
It was a mess of misunderstanding/miscommunication/ frustration/confusion of getting DH everything HE needed to go to Iowa, pay bills ahead, allay his last minute concerns, pack, etc plus guests. In this house, i am expected to handle it whatever the it happens to be. that is why I often end up with my stuff forgotten, missed, screwed up...... I am not blaming them for all the mess, but the fact that there was NO activity and I got billed was the thing that set me off.
 
[COLOR= black]No, we are not upset about the review because we understand this is your perception and everyone's needs are different. We also understand that anyone can say anything online without any facts to back up their statements – anyone doing business today understands this is the new world we live in. I am sure every innkeeper has seen a review from one of their guests and thought it was not justified – we feel the same way about your post. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]The fact is that our cancellation policy is clearly stated on our month to month agreement on the first paragraph. The policy simply states that cancellations need to be in writing. Unfortunately, you decided to call into the call center and tell the receptionist that “I am taking the phones back” which is a common term used by many clients when they are disconnecting call forwarding for the day. No one would remotely take that statement as a request to cancel – especially not anyone in business. Since we now know that your call into our receptionist was an attempt to cancel your service we will take a look at your usage and credit from the last day you forwarded to Calling Inn. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]We have many Inns that find they couldn't be as successful without our service and a few which would prefer to handle things on their own. Our genuine interest is the success of the B&B industry and our innkeepers. We sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. [/COLOR].
Calling Inn said:
[COLOR= black]No, we are not upset about the review because we understand this is your perception and everyone's needs are different. We also understand that anyone can say anything online without any facts to back up their statements – anyone doing business today understands this is the new world we live in. I am sure every innkeeper has seen a review from one of their guests and thought it was not justified – we feel the same way about your post. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]The fact is that our cancellation policy is clearly stated on our month to month agreement on the first paragraph. The policy simply states that cancellations need to be in writing. Unfortunately, you decided to call into the call center and tell the receptionist that “I am taking the phones back” which is a common term used by many clients when they are disconnecting call forwarding for the day. No one would remotely take that statement as a request to cancel – especially not anyone in business. Since we now know that your call into our receptionist was an attempt to cancel your service we will take a look at your usage and credit from the last day you forwarded to Calling Inn. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= black]We have many Inns that find they couldn't be as successful without our service and a few which would prefer to handle things on their own. Our genuine interest is the success of the B&B industry and our innkeepers. We sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. [/COLOR]
Thanks for the feedback.
 
Treading lightly when they come to a forum of hundreds of innkeepers would be a wise move. Very wise move. Considering CEO of Paii and many B&B State Associations are on this forum as well. Not to mention all of us innkeepers who run in circles of dozens of other innkeepers.
Again, just like the TA mgmt responses, "We are sorry we did not meet your expectations, we appreciate your feedback and..." Is always a smart reply.
We always watch the mgmt response, how THAT is handled speaks volumes. And given the oppty to respond should be very valuable in this situation, you might think.
(I thanked them for their feedback, there is no changing the comments now, I used quotes)
 
K-sorry about going through this, goes to show you that none were really doing their job of ":caring" for your Inn and the phone calls that needed to be addressed-its common now a days its called "pass the buck" i suppose a "receptionist" is not really an important job, but the truth is that is the MOST IMPORTANT position in your company as it is the companies first Impression...no amount of "sorry" is going to make it better, they should have just said that they would take care of it and that is all or a rep should have called you back when the "receptionist" got the call. Not good customer service and that is what sells a company like that-THE CUSTOMER US usually RIGHT!
 
Sorry K! Sounds like the service dropped the ball in many cases and many reasons you went with the service was to provide callers with information that a home answering system would not be able to cover.
While there are contractual policies that you needed to follow, they did NOT provide the service you were paying them to do. THEY dropped the ball.
Thanks for being the guinea pig with this. I will stick to my home voice system and direct them to my website where most bookings come anyway.
 
Sorry K! Sounds like the service dropped the ball in many cases and many reasons you went with the service was to provide callers with information that a home answering system would not be able to cover.
While there are contractual policies that you needed to follow, they did NOT provide the service you were paying them to do. THEY dropped the ball.
Thanks for being the guinea pig with this. I will stick to my home voice system and direct them to my website where most bookings come anyway..
copperhead said:
Sorry K! Sounds like the service dropped the ball in many cases and many reasons you went with the service was to provide callers with information that a home answering system would not be able to cover.
While there are contractual policies that you needed to follow, they did NOT provide the service you were paying them to do. THEY dropped the ball.
Thanks for being the guinea pig with this. I will stick to my home voice system and direct them to my website where most bookings come anyway.
Quite honestly I was hoping to come home and give them a "glowing review". I think I am easy going - I am willing to roll with the punches to a degree. I accepted the explanation about the operators not being given access - although I would THINK making reservations which means access to the booking system would be high on the priority list. It bothered me a lot that they asked for phone numbers to call if there were questions that could not be answered - if it is indicated a return call is needed, I believe that falls under the category of calling a number I provided. When I turned on my cell phone (DH considered it too complicated so he was given a basic phone w/new number - the one I forwarded immediately butto the wrong e-mail) there were NO VOICEMAIL messages to indicate anyone tried to call me. No missed messages either. My daughter's cell was the alternate - she received no calls and after I got them notified with the new number for DH, he did not receive any calls. One just the day before I got back I knew about because of the name in the e-mail, they did not even give me a number (it was in my cell phone so I could not message my daughter to have her Dad call him). We try what we can and learn from it because if you do not try, you are guaranteed to fail.
 
[COLOR= #1f497d]Kathleen,[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]I signed onto this forum today to clear up some misconceptions. As your sales rep I do sincerely apologize for any miscommunications that occurred between you and our center. I have spoken with our corporate office to make sure that your account was credited last week and it had already been taken care of. Normally our business thrives on a long term relationship as we get to know the Inns and they get to know us. Everyone settles in so to speak. I know that it was a learning experience for you and we honestly do appreciate the opportunity.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]While you were in Europe, I reached out to you a couple of times when I noticed you were online to see how things were going on a business level as well as to drop a few “Hi ya’s your way.” [/COLOR]J[COLOR= #1f497d] I’ve tried to provide you with the best customer service possible while you were in Germany as I do genuinely care about all of my clients. You told me this was your first real vacation so I wanted to make sure everything went smoothly because I know it is very hard for the B&B industry to take a break! I even logged in and voted for your hometown everyday so that you guys could win the contest money! I know you didn't win (Boo!) but I did hear the "whooo hooos" 10 times a day in the effort to help! [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]Based on our relationship, all I would've asked is if you could've given me the opportunity to rectify any of your concerns before venting on an open forum. I do sincerely wish you the best and look forward to seeing you in the future. [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]Mindy[/COLOR]
 
[COLOR= #1f497d]Kathleen,[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]I signed onto this forum today to clear up some misconceptions. As your sales rep I do sincerely apologize for any miscommunications that occurred between you and our center. I have spoken with our corporate office to make sure that your account was credited last week and it had already been taken care of. Normally our business thrives on a long term relationship as we get to know the Inns and they get to know us. Everyone settles in so to speak. I know that it was a learning experience for you and we honestly do appreciate the opportunity.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]While you were in Europe, I reached out to you a couple of times when I noticed you were online to see how things were going on a business level as well as to drop a few “Hi ya’s your way.” [/COLOR]J[COLOR= #1f497d] I’ve tried to provide you with the best customer service possible while you were in Germany as I do genuinely care about all of my clients. You told me this was your first real vacation so I wanted to make sure everything went smoothly because I know it is very hard for the B&B industry to take a break! I even logged in and voted for your hometown everyday so that you guys could win the contest money! I know you didn't win (Boo!) but I did hear the "whooo hooos" 10 times a day in the effort to help! [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]Based on our relationship, all I would've asked is if you could've given me the opportunity to rectify any of your concerns before venting on an open forum. I do sincerely wish you the best and look forward to seeing you in the future. [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]Mindy[/COLOR].
Mindy,
I acknowledged that your e-mail was the only one I had and was how I was able to get several concerns straightened out. I also accepted culpability as a customer who - like our guests did not know my head from shinola - really did not know what to expect. The one day "test" (and mid-week at that) really did not give an understanding of what was. I was not on it long enough to get the e-mail notification, etc. I suggest you use me as YOUR guinea pig also. It could have been a wonderful experience for both of us.
My suggestiions are this:
Have an offering for the periodic vacation people (some go away several times a year)
Do a one week trial (or at least 3 days) so e-mails will flow etc.
After the period starts, send an e-mail from support or whoever the client needs to contact with the short message - if you need to contact us, use this address. The cc@ was all I had to reply to....
Spell out in the support e-mail - in one sentence - contact THIS e-mail address when issues arise or ready to discontinue service.
I was buried in details of arangements, for me, fr DH, the house, mail, all my normal obligations, down to taking out the garbage and emptying the refridgerator. At that, one detail of some rutabagas that DH COULD have taken care of but left to me had to be done via an e-mail to a dear friend with house keys.
None of my comments were directed at a person, it was company practices. It was a streeful time (and I think geting ready for a big trip is stressful for anyone).
 
[COLOR= #1f497d]Kathleen,[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]I signed onto this forum today to clear up some misconceptions. As your sales rep I do sincerely apologize for any miscommunications that occurred between you and our center. I have spoken with our corporate office to make sure that your account was credited last week and it had already been taken care of. Normally our business thrives on a long term relationship as we get to know the Inns and they get to know us. Everyone settles in so to speak. I know that it was a learning experience for you and we honestly do appreciate the opportunity.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]While you were in Europe, I reached out to you a couple of times when I noticed you were online to see how things were going on a business level as well as to drop a few “Hi ya’s your way.” [/COLOR]J[COLOR= #1f497d] I’ve tried to provide you with the best customer service possible while you were in Germany as I do genuinely care about all of my clients. You told me this was your first real vacation so I wanted to make sure everything went smoothly because I know it is very hard for the B&B industry to take a break! I even logged in and voted for your hometown everyday so that you guys could win the contest money! I know you didn't win (Boo!) but I did hear the "whooo hooos" 10 times a day in the effort to help! [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]Based on our relationship, all I would've asked is if you could've given me the opportunity to rectify any of your concerns before venting on an open forum. I do sincerely wish you the best and look forward to seeing you in the future. [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]Mindy[/COLOR].
" venting on an open forum"
Well I FOR ONE AM GLAD SHE 'vented' on this form.It is called freedom of speech. We're all adults and can read what has happen your side and hers.
IF someone perceives there is a problem it should be looked at to ensure all is right and remedial action taken as necessary. It is good INN HOME is reimbursing their charges BUT! they have failed to provide the expected service.
IT goes to prove to me that if you want to have things just right whether that be reservation system or booking agents or call centres your best to be able to do it yourself. They either go down, have glitches, or fail to keep their clients informed.
 
[COLOR= #1f497d]Kathleen,[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]I signed onto this forum today to clear up some misconceptions. As your sales rep I do sincerely apologize for any miscommunications that occurred between you and our center. I have spoken with our corporate office to make sure that your account was credited last week and it had already been taken care of. Normally our business thrives on a long term relationship as we get to know the Inns and they get to know us. Everyone settles in so to speak. I know that it was a learning experience for you and we honestly do appreciate the opportunity.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]While you were in Europe, I reached out to you a couple of times when I noticed you were online to see how things were going on a business level as well as to drop a few “Hi ya’s your way.” [/COLOR]J[COLOR= #1f497d] I’ve tried to provide you with the best customer service possible while you were in Germany as I do genuinely care about all of my clients. You told me this was your first real vacation so I wanted to make sure everything went smoothly because I know it is very hard for the B&B industry to take a break! I even logged in and voted for your hometown everyday so that you guys could win the contest money! I know you didn't win (Boo!) but I did hear the "whooo hooos" 10 times a day in the effort to help! [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]Based on our relationship, all I would've asked is if you could've given me the opportunity to rectify any of your concerns before venting on an open forum. I do sincerely wish you the best and look forward to seeing you in the future. [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]Mindy[/COLOR].
The Sales Rep said:
[COLOR= #1f497d]Kathleen,[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]Based on our relationship, all I would've asked is if you could've given me the opportunity to rectify any of your concerns before venting on an open forum. I do sincerely wish you the best and look forward to seeing you in the future. [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]Mindy[/COLOR]
What she did was type up a very matter-of-fact summary of her experience, it was the farthest thing from "venting" as you can get. She didn't even specifically identify your company, anyone reading for the first time would have had NO CLUE what company she was talking about, only those of us who had followed the other thread knew what the specifics were.
So once again your company has shot itself in the foot, IMO. You all should really learn when to just leave well enough alone. As a professional business, you should be more concerned with satisfying your customers and less concerned with having the last word.
 
When we were out of the country and had no phone service (although I admit that both trips were for a much shorter time than your vacation), I changed the biz voice mail message to say that the inn was closed for that period of time, please don't leave a message that needed to be returned before such and such a date, but please book online! Any questions, we would check email several times a day and would be happy to get back to them via email.
It worked beautifully for me. But we also got almost all our reservations via our website and not from phone calls. And, we took one vacation during our dead time of the year in the Summer. Maybe that could be a consideration for the future for you..
Samster said:
When we were out of the country and had no phone service (although I admit that both trips were for a much shorter time than your vacation), I changed the biz voice mail message to say that the inn was closed for that period of time, please don't leave a message that needed to be returned before such and such a date, but please book online! Any questions, we would check email several times a day and would be happy to get back to them via email.
It worked beautifully for me. But we also got almost all our reservations via our website and not from phone calls. And, we took one vacation during our dead time of the year in the Summer. Maybe that could be a consideration for the future for you.
I did not get to choose when I went - I really wanted to go the end of April and be back by Memorial Day. That did not work out for Fred and he was sending me the plane ticket. I also knew that if I was going to go, it was going to be long enough to REALLY see things and it was. It also ended up being a good thing since I was occupied for 6 weeks that included April, giving me the financials to cover while I was gone etc. I also did not want anyone to know we were not here and do not want to use the word closed until the day I last lock the door. It was a learning experience - I now have call forwarding in my phone line and forward to my cell phone when we go out. One is never too old to learn.
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I don't think there's really anything wrong with using the word "closed". Many businesses close for vacations, renovations, repairs - especially during a slow or "off" season. We also didn't choose the timing of one of our trips when we were out of the country, since it was attached to a business trip for my dh in his other job. We had a pretty good occupancy rate and had plenty of bookings online while we were gone. Being able to check email and respond was essential!!
I always have neighbors (that we hire as housesitters for a small sum) stopping by a couple of times a day to check on things, so that anyone driving by would see some activity at both houses and not presume that no one was here. It's also good in case anything unexpected happens....in July we had couple of giant tree limbs fall between our house & garage and land on both roofs!!!
 
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