No Shows

Bed & Breakfast / Short Term Rental Host Forum

Help Support Bed & Breakfast / Short Term Rental Host Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

JeannineIrish

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 15, 2008
Messages
221
Reaction score
0
This has not happened often, but his is the second time this year that I can remember. Just wondering how other innkeepers handle it or how to avoid it in the future.
A guest never shows and when you contact them they say that they never received the Reservation Confirmation. Both times it was a Webervations request. The first time I was able to get in touch with the guest because I had her cell phone number. She was pretty irate because she had gotten into town and had to find a place to stay. She had typed her e-mail address incorrectly so she never heard from me. She was already checked into a hotel and I didn't charge her.
Monday a couple from Germany were supposed to check in for a two night stay and never showed. They had supplied no cell phone number. I e-mailed him today and he replied back that he had never received my Reservation Confirmation and had made other arrangements. How can we as Innkeepers be sure that our confirmations are being received by the guests? One of the advantaqges of on-line booking is not having to make and receive phone calls.
Some people respond when they receive my confirmation saying that they are looking forward to staying with us. Do any of you call to make sure that guests have received the confirmation?
 
I always request the guest in the Webervations confirmation letter to respond by email to indicate that they have received the confirmation. If they don't respond then I call them. This has worked for me.
Riki
 
I have never had that problem. I click the little box at the bottom of the webervations accepted/declined box that sends a copy of the webervations confirmation to my inbox which if needed, shows proof of reservation. I charge a deposit immediately. I send another confirmation letter generated from my reservation software.
Using my method, the guest has 3 ways of checking on their reservation 1) charge card, 2) webervations generated e-mail, 3) detailed confirmation letter
The only problem I've ever had is just the opposite. A prospective guest "thinks" they put through a reservation but has made a mistake and the reservation wasn't done correctly. They will call me saying they never received a confirmation and I have to inform them they don't have one.
 
Another option is to request automatic notice of receipts when your guests open those emails. This is a setting that is built into all email software.
 
Another option is to request automatic notice of receipts when your guests open those emails. This is a setting that is built into all email software..
When I receive those in my e-mail, I almost always respond "no".
 
i had very few no shows. very few.
i charged a deposit at the time of reservation. so the guest saw that money charged to their cc right away.
also, a copy of the confirmation email came to me from webervations and i saved them in a special email folder. if the guest email was wrong, i'd get a notice saying the webervations email did not go through. then i'd be on the phone trying to reach them. since i had a 14 day cancellation policy, if i couldn't get them by email or by phone (extremely rare) i'd put something in the snail mail.
 
I just got a webervations that came through without an e-mail address. This happens several times a year. I called them and got their e-mail address, but I don't like doing that.
If John is out there, maybe he can give some input. Is there a way Webervations can be setup so that the reservation will not go through if there is not an e-mail address given? I can't imagine a scenario where someone would put through an online reservation and not have an e-mail address.
 
Another option is to request automatic notice of receipts when your guests open those emails. This is a setting that is built into all email software..
TLE041 said:
Another option is to request automatic notice of receipts when your guests open those emails. This is a setting that is built into all email software.
I don't think that this option is built into Webervations.
 
i had very few no shows. very few.
i charged a deposit at the time of reservation. so the guest saw that money charged to their cc right away.
also, a copy of the confirmation email came to me from webervations and i saved them in a special email folder. if the guest email was wrong, i'd get a notice saying the webervations email did not go through. then i'd be on the phone trying to reach them. since i had a 14 day cancellation policy, if i couldn't get them by email or by phone (extremely rare) i'd put something in the snail mail..
seashanty said:
i had very few no shows. very few.
i charged a deposit at the time of reservation. so the guest saw that money charged to their cc right away.
also, a copy of the confirmation email came to me from webervations and i saved them in a special email folder. if the guest email was wrong, i'd get a notice saying the webervations email did not go through. then i'd be on the phone trying to reach them. since i had a 14 day cancellation policy, if i couldn't get them by email or by phone (extremely rare) i'd put something in the snail mail.
In both of these cases I did not get an email saying that the e-mail was undeliverable. We have never charged deposits but I may start doing that.
 
I just got a webervations that came through without an e-mail address. This happens several times a year. I called them and got their e-mail address, but I don't like doing that.
If John is out there, maybe he can give some input. Is there a way Webervations can be setup so that the reservation will not go through if there is not an e-mail address given? I can't imagine a scenario where someone would put through an online reservation and not have an e-mail address..
Breakfast Diva said:
I just got a webervations that came through without an e-mail address. This happens several times a year. I called them and got their e-mail address, but I don't like doing that.
If John is out there, maybe he can give some input. Is there a way Webervations can be setup so that the reservation will not go through if there is not an e-mail address given? I can't imagine a scenario where someone would put through an online reservation and not have an e-mail address.
This happened once and I did call them. I think that sometimes the Webervations Reservation Confirmation is ending up in people's spam folder. I will also add that they need to respond to my confirmation and if I don't hear back than I will call them.
Thanks for all your helpful suggestions.
 
Another option is to request automatic notice of receipts when your guests open those emails. This is a setting that is built into all email software..
If Irish is using the Webervations software to auto send the confirmation email, then this is a mute point as there is not setting to provide confirmation of receipt from the guest. Secondly, not all email software provides receipt confirmation - mine does not.
Irish - If you are using Webersations software to send out the confirmation email directly to your guest, you may wish to reconsider this move. Many, many of my guests stated they never received their confirmation email, either by calling, emailing or just when they showed up for their reservation. This is due to the fact that Webervations emails appear to be spam by a large number of email softwares and many do not bother to check their spam and have it on auto delete at days end.
I have had a much better success rate in the message being received after doing the following:
I have the canned message (with my addtions including a request for a reply stating the email was recieved) in Webervations and then have the email sent to MY inbox. From there I forward to the guest using MYemail@myb&b.com. This does add an additional step but in the long run has saved me from having having questioning calls etc.
 
I always sent a personal confirmation letter with a bold request to please reply so that I know you have received the confirmation. If I didn't hear back right away, i always called to finalize confirmation.
 
Jeannine I am one of the proponents of guest inputting their email address TWICE like you do on every online form you have ever filled out in this world! I might start a thread called webervations so John can see that suggestion again. I have had this recently as well, it was a word, so when it bounced back I spelled it correctly and it worked.
 
Also if you are using REQUEST vs a real reservation then guests might not think they even had a booking to begin with. I am having more and more call esp aol accounts to say they did not get it.
What I have is this... They put their info in and where it says "Thank you blah blah blah" after they click the booking, I have IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A CONFIRMATION WITHIN 5 MINUTES PLEASE CALL THE INNKEEPER AT - 123-456-7893 This helps!
Because we get a copy does not mean they got a copy.
 
Another option is to request automatic notice of receipts when your guests open those emails. This is a setting that is built into all email software..
TLE041 said:
Another option is to request automatic notice of receipts when your guests open those emails. This is a setting that is built into all email software.
Most people have this turned off, I know I do.
 
I just got a webervations that came through without an e-mail address. This happens several times a year. I called them and got their e-mail address, but I don't like doing that.
If John is out there, maybe he can give some input. Is there a way Webervations can be setup so that the reservation will not go through if there is not an e-mail address given? I can't imagine a scenario where someone would put through an online reservation and not have an e-mail address..
Breakfast Diva said:
I just got a webervations that came through without an e-mail address. This happens several times a year. I called them and got their e-mail address, but I don't like doing that.
If John is out there, maybe he can give some input. Is there a way Webervations can be setup so that the reservation will not go through if there is not an e-mail address given? I can't imagine a scenario where someone would put through an online reservation and not have an e-mail address.
He responded to that about 6 months ago - people can still book online with an email account. They go to the library or a friend does the booking for them and won't put their own email addie down. I am starting a new thread to get his attention. Please post this over there... :)
 
Another option is to request automatic notice of receipts when your guests open those emails. This is a setting that is built into all email software..
If Irish is using the Webervations software to auto send the confirmation email, then this is a mute point as there is not setting to provide confirmation of receipt from the guest. Secondly, not all email software provides receipt confirmation - mine does not.
Irish - If you are using Webersations software to send out the confirmation email directly to your guest, you may wish to reconsider this move. Many, many of my guests stated they never received their confirmation email, either by calling, emailing or just when they showed up for their reservation. This is due to the fact that Webervations emails appear to be spam by a large number of email softwares and many do not bother to check their spam and have it on auto delete at days end.
I have had a much better success rate in the message being received after doing the following:
I have the canned message (with my addtions including a request for a reply stating the email was recieved) in Webervations and then have the email sent to MY inbox. From there I forward to the guest using MYemail@myb&b.com. This does add an additional step but in the long run has saved me from having having questioning calls etc.
.
Copperhead said:
If Irish is using the Webervations software to auto send the confirmation email, then this is a mute point as there is not setting to provide confirmation of receipt from the guest. Secondly, not all email software provides receipt confirmation - mine does not.
Irish - If you are using Webersations software to send out the confirmation email directly to your guest, you may wish to reconsider this move. Many, many of my guests stated they never received their confirmation email, either by calling, emailing or just when they showed up for their reservation. This is due to the fact that Webervations emails appear to be spam by a large number of email softwares and many do not bother to check their spam and have it on auto delete at days end.
I have had a much better success rate in the message being received after doing the following:
I have the canned message (with my addtions including a request for a reply stating the email was recieved) in Webervations and then have the email sent to MY inbox. From there I forward to the guest using MYemail@myb&b.com. This does add an additional step but in the long run has saved me from having having questioning calls etc.
I would think that Webervations would be able to come up with a fix for this so we as Innkeepers don't have to do double the work. Joe Blogs asks John B in another thread about this.
 
I always sent a personal confirmation letter with a bold request to please reply so that I know you have received the confirmation. If I didn't hear back right away, i always called to finalize confirmation..
catlady said:
I always sent a personal confirmation letter with a bold request to please reply so that I know you have received the confirmation. If I didn't hear back right away, i always called to finalize confirmation.
You can't bold or underline in Webervations.
 
Also if you are using REQUEST vs a real reservation then guests might not think they even had a booking to begin with. I am having more and more call esp aol accounts to say they did not get it.
What I have is this... They put their info in and where it says "Thank you blah blah blah" after they click the booking, I have IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A CONFIRMATION WITHIN 5 MINUTES PLEASE CALL THE INNKEEPER AT - 123-456-7893 This helps!
Because we get a copy does not mean they got a copy..
Joe Bloggs said:
Also if you are using REQUEST vs a real reservation then guests might not think they even had a booking to begin with. I am having more and more call esp aol accounts to say they did not get it.
What I have is this... They put their info in and where it says "Thank you blah blah blah" after they click the booking, I have IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A CONFIRMATION WITHIN 5 MINUTES PLEASE CALL THE INNKEEPER AT - 123-456-7893 This helps!
Because we get a copy does not mean they got a copy.
I'm talking about the acceptance to the Request. If they get their copy of the request, they should also get the Confirmation. Looks like both may be going into their SPAM or they are not receiving it at all because they typed their e-mail address incorrectly. Thanks for starting the other thread addressed to John B.
 
I always sent a personal confirmation letter with a bold request to please reply so that I know you have received the confirmation. If I didn't hear back right away, i always called to finalize confirmation..
catlady said:
I always sent a personal confirmation letter with a bold request to please reply so that I know you have received the confirmation. If I didn't hear back right away, i always called to finalize confirmation.
You can't bold or underline in Webervations.
.
I think you can, I believe the custom messages will take HTML script, so you can at least get the bold.
 
Back
Top