The issue here is lack of consistancy of the marketing companies policies. I say marketing companies because there are many, with new ones popping up each day, each with slightly different policies but in general they are the same.
I have done the 2 biggies... the problem I found is that they have policies in place but they are strict with some, lax with others and and disregard polices for others. Buyers have started catching on to this and question or become demanding on onset of the reservation.
When I began speaking with my rep. there were several things addressed:
1) the offer - LS was interested in making the offer a package - adding value other than just the room. This raised the cost presented and more $ back in the pocket of the merchant. They call this promotional value, if not used, these buyers (sometimes) feel cheated. Gro upon on the otherhand is (at least with me) more plain Jane. Both are interest in making the deal the best value for their dollar spent, not necessarily the cheapest.
2) Approval - this is where the polices are flaky. Once the rep writes up the proposed offer, it is turned over to the approval team who is to research to determine that the offer meets the criteria of the marketing co. Is there enough supply for the max. # agreed to sell (with accommodations they check # of room nights, # of rooms etc...) Cost, is the amount in the offer correct? Are there other advertised offers? Would the buyer really get 50% off?
There, of course, were other issues discussed but I will stay at the topic at hand. The approval area is where things can fall though the cracks. They check your site for rates and will average out the rates if they vary thoughout the offer term. For my deal, they came back stating that since I offered $10 off for booking online they had to reduce my offer by $10, my solution - remove that offer on my site! They also verified that I had ample availability for the dates the offer was good. Which of course was the case. BUT following this 2 sites and the deals offered, I have seen where the deal was almost the price offered online (everyday) or through packages they have online (everyday) even when the deal was running. This is due to the approval team not doing an adequate job and thus causing lots of heartaches for the merchant and marketing co. with complaints from the buyers. So they have the right policies in place.
The biggest headache for me are the ones that call expecting to have to battle to get what they purchased - Reason? I believe they do not trust what they purchased... either feel it is too good to be true or they have been wronged by one of the deals in the past. For the most part, once they are here, they are like all the other guests. Of course, I am not finished with this yet, and I do expect it to become more challanging as the expiry date nears and the # of available room nights dwindles.
Case in point, one guy called - yelling in the phone that he could not book because the room had a 2 night min... said his deal did not state he had to stay a 2nd night -then preceeded to tell me everything on the voucher... The one thing he FAILed to read was the rooms the voucher was valid for... Ahhh, the room he was looking at was not on the voucher!!! He later booked, stayed, had a great time and has written a wonderful review.
There will be those that are just not happy, do not feel they received what they preceived the value to be... those may post a review to reflect that. That could happen any day with any guest.
Regarding the comment someone mentioned in this tread about these being more internet savvy and would be more likely to post a review.... I thought this would be the case myself, but it is not. Many of these people get an email with the deals but have no or little idea about how to use the internet, much less where or how to write a review. Don't know how to open attachments to emails, how to print.... you name it..