Things that wasted your time or need to change

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One biggie that wasted a lot of our time this year was the WiFi network. About 80% of our guests said they couldn't connect to it. We have spent probably 40 hours or more and several hundred dollars trying to fix it. In the latest round of 'fixes' we finally called our DSL provider and complained that our bandwidth was being artificially limited, that we could get 3 computers connected but as soon as the 4th one hit, bam, everyone was knocked off.
The tech support guy told us we needed to up the service to double what we have now even though we told him we've already done that twice this year to no avail. He said that was the only option. We called sales and the salesman told us we couldn't upgrade, this area doesn't support that level of speed. However, he said, he lives in a house full of geeks and they run on the same internet pakcage we have with no problems, so we should try this and he gave us a list of things to do. (Interesting that sales knew more about the problem than service did, but we take our help where we can get it.)
Another trip to the WiFi hardware store, another 2-3 hours spent setting up a whole new router and we'll see how things go when we're full again and everyone has their electronics on.
If it wasn't an absolute requirement, I'd dump WiFi for guests altogether. It's not worth the grief we've gotten.
 
Another thing that needs changing is my attitude. It did not serve me well this year. Need to look at that over the winter and see how I can help myself keep a happy face on more often than I do.
Looking at dumping some packages that don't sell. Adding some that will earn us more money for things we do for free right now. Tired of being taken advantage of. Which might have something to do with the attitude problem.
wink_smile.gif
 
One biggie that wasted a lot of our time this year was the WiFi network. About 80% of our guests said they couldn't connect to it. We have spent probably 40 hours or more and several hundred dollars trying to fix it. In the latest round of 'fixes' we finally called our DSL provider and complained that our bandwidth was being artificially limited, that we could get 3 computers connected but as soon as the 4th one hit, bam, everyone was knocked off.
The tech support guy told us we needed to up the service to double what we have now even though we told him we've already done that twice this year to no avail. He said that was the only option. We called sales and the salesman told us we couldn't upgrade, this area doesn't support that level of speed. However, he said, he lives in a house full of geeks and they run on the same internet pakcage we have with no problems, so we should try this and he gave us a list of things to do. (Interesting that sales knew more about the problem than service did, but we take our help where we can get it.)
Another trip to the WiFi hardware store, another 2-3 hours spent setting up a whole new router and we'll see how things go when we're full again and everyone has their electronics on.
If it wasn't an absolute requirement, I'd dump WiFi for guests altogether. It's not worth the grief we've gotten..
What brand of router are you using?
 
We were charging a weekday rate and a weekend rate. Plus on weekends once a month, there is a popular flea market nearby that opens on Thur - Sun, so we were charging the weekend rate on those certain weekdays. Is that clear as mud to you? ;) Anyway, we decided to raise our weekday rate to the same as weekend. Now we charge the same rate everyday and that has made things easier for us..
Mtatoc said:
We were charging a weekday rate and a weekend rate. Plus on weekends once a month, there is a popular flea market nearby that opens on Thur - Sun, so we were charging the weekend rate on those certain weekdays. Is that clear as mud to you? ;) Anyway, we decided to raise our weekday rate to the same as weekend. Now we charge the same rate everyday and that has made things easier for us.
Hear hear! I get lost when I go to a website and have to go through the obstacle course of room rates. When I see that, I think "No wonder people just call" if I can't work it out and i do this every day... Just tell me how much it is per night, thank you very much. Now for packages etc, it is another animal.
BY THE WAY, that was what tanked this year for me, so I am rethinking it. In a nutshell, I offered this fantastic picnic package, but...it was for a two night stay only because I wanted my hamper back, well no one booked it, at all, this entire year. I have discovered those who splurge on a "package" will only stay one night - anniversaries and bdays mostly. So what will I do? I am thinking IF I can buy these picnic hampers at walmart next year I will include them into the package. They sat there all summer long this year, not in years past, so not sure if they will be there next spring, summer and fall.
Now for me, this is the thing - I don't want to pre-purchase a bunch of them, I HAVE NO PLACE TO SToRE THEM, I really don't, not in the least. But for all the marketing on it no one wanted it for two nights. dang it.
.
Joey Bloggs said:
BY THE WAY, that was what tanked this year for me, so I am rethinking it. In a nutshell, I offered this fantastic picnic package, but...it was for a two night stay only because I wanted my hamper back, well no one booked it, at all, this entire year. I have discovered those who splurge on a "package" will only stay one night - anniversaries and bdays mostly. So what will I do? I am thinking IF I can buy these picnic hampers at walmart next year I will include them into the package. They sat there all summer long this year, not in years past, so not sure if they will be there next spring, summer and fall.
Now for me, this is the thing - I don't want to pre-purchase a bunch of them, I HAVE NO PLACE TO SToRE THEM, I really don't, not in the least. But for all the marketing on it no one wanted it for two nights. dang it.
JB, I pack my lunches in insulated bags the size of a brown bag lunch with a carry handle. I get them from the Sheltered Workshop for $5.50 printed with my logo and contact info. Each guest gets a bag and then they DO take them to work with their lunch (I have had feedback that they do). put a bottle of cold water, a sandwich, cuke spears & baby carots, a small container of Pringles (because it is a "hard-shell"), 3 mini-muffins from that morning, and napkins. I also include a .5 oz bottle of waterless hand cleaner in one of the 2 bags. That small amenity gets a LOT of thanks. I think it cost me about $60 for 90 of them. When I give them their lunches, I tell them the bags are theirs as a gift of the Gillum House. of course, I have built the cost of the bags into the package price.
Since my packed lunch packages are either bike, motorcycle, or horse, the fact they are brown bag size and with a handle makes them OK. A hamper would be too big to deal with.
Bag.jpg

 
We were charging a weekday rate and a weekend rate. Plus on weekends once a month, there is a popular flea market nearby that opens on Thur - Sun, so we were charging the weekend rate on those certain weekdays. Is that clear as mud to you? ;) Anyway, we decided to raise our weekday rate to the same as weekend. Now we charge the same rate everyday and that has made things easier for us..
Mtatoc said:
We were charging a weekday rate and a weekend rate. Plus on weekends once a month, there is a popular flea market nearby that opens on Thur - Sun, so we were charging the weekend rate on those certain weekdays. Is that clear as mud to you? ;) Anyway, we decided to raise our weekday rate to the same as weekend. Now we charge the same rate everyday and that has made things easier for us.
Hear hear! I get lost when I go to a website and have to go through the obstacle course of room rates. When I see that, I think "No wonder people just call" if I can't work it out and i do this every day... Just tell me how much it is per night, thank you very much. Now for packages etc, it is another animal.
BY THE WAY, that was what tanked this year for me, so I am rethinking it. In a nutshell, I offered this fantastic picnic package, but...it was for a two night stay only because I wanted my hamper back, well no one booked it, at all, this entire year. I have discovered those who splurge on a "package" will only stay one night - anniversaries and bdays mostly. So what will I do? I am thinking IF I can buy these picnic hampers at walmart next year I will include them into the package. They sat there all summer long this year, not in years past, so not sure if they will be there next spring, summer and fall.
Now for me, this is the thing - I don't want to pre-purchase a bunch of them, I HAVE NO PLACE TO SToRE THEM, I really don't, not in the least. But for all the marketing on it no one wanted it for two nights. dang it.
.
Joey Bloggs said:
BY THE WAY, that was what tanked this year for me, so I am rethinking it. In a nutshell, I offered this fantastic picnic package, but...it was for a two night stay only because I wanted my hamper back, well no one booked it, at all, this entire year. I have discovered those who splurge on a "package" will only stay one night - anniversaries and bdays mostly. So what will I do? I am thinking IF I can buy these picnic hampers at walmart next year I will include them into the package. They sat there all summer long this year, not in years past, so not sure if they will be there next spring, summer and fall.
Now for me, this is the thing - I don't want to pre-purchase a bunch of them, I HAVE NO PLACE TO SToRE THEM, I really don't, not in the least. But for all the marketing on it no one wanted it for two nights. dang it.
JB, I pack my lunches in insulated bags the size of a brown bag lunch with a carry handle. I get them from the Sheltered Workshop for $5.50 printed with my logo and contact info. Each guest gets a bag and then they DO take them to work with their lunch (I have had feedback that they do). put a bottle of cold water, a sandwich, cuke spears & baby carots, a small container of Pringles (because it is a "hard-shell"), 3 mini-muffins from that morning, and napkins. I also include a .5 oz bottle of waterless hand cleaner in one of the 2 bags. That small amenity gets a LOT of thanks. I think it cost me about $60 for 90 of them. When I give them their lunches, I tell them the bags are theirs as a gift of the Gillum House. of course, I have built the cost of the bags into the package price.
Since my packed lunch packages are either bike, motorcycle, or horse, the fact they are brown bag size and with a handle makes them OK. A hamper would be too big to deal with.
Bag.jpg

.
the bag is cool (ha small pun) but as well as being an excellent "free" gift it takes your marketing with it everywhere it goes! ie back to the office when they get home.
 
We were charging a weekday rate and a weekend rate. Plus on weekends once a month, there is a popular flea market nearby that opens on Thur - Sun, so we were charging the weekend rate on those certain weekdays. Is that clear as mud to you? ;) Anyway, we decided to raise our weekday rate to the same as weekend. Now we charge the same rate everyday and that has made things easier for us..
Mtatoc said:
We were charging a weekday rate and a weekend rate. Plus on weekends once a month, there is a popular flea market nearby that opens on Thur - Sun, so we were charging the weekend rate on those certain weekdays. Is that clear as mud to you? ;) Anyway, we decided to raise our weekday rate to the same as weekend. Now we charge the same rate everyday and that has made things easier for us.
Hear hear! I get lost when I go to a website and have to go through the obstacle course of room rates. When I see that, I think "No wonder people just call" if I can't work it out and i do this every day... Just tell me how much it is per night, thank you very much. Now for packages etc, it is another animal.
BY THE WAY, that was what tanked this year for me, so I am rethinking it. In a nutshell, I offered this fantastic picnic package, but...it was for a two night stay only because I wanted my hamper back, well no one booked it, at all, this entire year. I have discovered those who splurge on a "package" will only stay one night - anniversaries and bdays mostly. So what will I do? I am thinking IF I can buy these picnic hampers at walmart next year I will include them into the package. They sat there all summer long this year, not in years past, so not sure if they will be there next spring, summer and fall.
Now for me, this is the thing - I don't want to pre-purchase a bunch of them, I HAVE NO PLACE TO SToRE THEM, I really don't, not in the least. But for all the marketing on it no one wanted it for two nights. dang it.
.
Joey, maybe think of something other than a picnic basket. Like a nice large gift bag, nice paper plates, etc. Stuff that you don't expect back. I don't know exactly but you get the idea.
.
Mtatoc said:
Joey, maybe think of something other than a picnic basket. Like a nice large gift bag, nice paper plates, etc. Stuff that you don't expect back. I don't know exactly but you get the idea.
But the point is NO ONE BOOKED the package. I don't want to give them something that is not a picnic basket. That is what it is all about. If they want to pack a lunch they can get one at subway.
cry_smile.gif

 
We were charging a weekday rate and a weekend rate. Plus on weekends once a month, there is a popular flea market nearby that opens on Thur - Sun, so we were charging the weekend rate on those certain weekdays. Is that clear as mud to you? ;) Anyway, we decided to raise our weekday rate to the same as weekend. Now we charge the same rate everyday and that has made things easier for us..
Mtatoc said:
We were charging a weekday rate and a weekend rate. Plus on weekends once a month, there is a popular flea market nearby that opens on Thur - Sun, so we were charging the weekend rate on those certain weekdays. Is that clear as mud to you? ;) Anyway, we decided to raise our weekday rate to the same as weekend. Now we charge the same rate everyday and that has made things easier for us.
Hear hear! I get lost when I go to a website and have to go through the obstacle course of room rates. When I see that, I think "No wonder people just call" if I can't work it out and i do this every day... Just tell me how much it is per night, thank you very much. Now for packages etc, it is another animal.
BY THE WAY, that was what tanked this year for me, so I am rethinking it. In a nutshell, I offered this fantastic picnic package, but...it was for a two night stay only because I wanted my hamper back, well no one booked it, at all, this entire year. I have discovered those who splurge on a "package" will only stay one night - anniversaries and bdays mostly. So what will I do? I am thinking IF I can buy these picnic hampers at walmart next year I will include them into the package. They sat there all summer long this year, not in years past, so not sure if they will be there next spring, summer and fall.
Now for me, this is the thing - I don't want to pre-purchase a bunch of them, I HAVE NO PLACE TO SToRE THEM, I really don't, not in the least. But for all the marketing on it no one wanted it for two nights. dang it.
.
Joey Bloggs said:
BY THE WAY, that was what tanked this year for me, so I am rethinking it. In a nutshell, I offered this fantastic picnic package, but...it was for a two night stay only because I wanted my hamper back, well no one booked it, at all, this entire year. I have discovered those who splurge on a "package" will only stay one night - anniversaries and bdays mostly. So what will I do? I am thinking IF I can buy these picnic hampers at walmart next year I will include them into the package. They sat there all summer long this year, not in years past, so not sure if they will be there next spring, summer and fall.
Now for me, this is the thing - I don't want to pre-purchase a bunch of them, I HAVE NO PLACE TO SToRE THEM, I really don't, not in the least. But for all the marketing on it no one wanted it for two nights. dang it.
JB, I pack my lunches in insulated bags the size of a brown bag lunch with a carry handle. I get them from the Sheltered Workshop for $5.50 printed with my logo and contact info. Each guest gets a bag and then they DO take them to work with their lunch (I have had feedback that they do). put a bottle of cold water, a sandwich, cuke spears & baby carots, a small container of Pringles (because it is a "hard-shell"), 3 mini-muffins from that morning, and napkins. I also include a .5 oz bottle of waterless hand cleaner in one of the 2 bags. That small amenity gets a LOT of thanks. I think it cost me about $60 for 90 of them. When I give them their lunches, I tell them the bags are theirs as a gift of the Gillum House. of course, I have built the cost of the bags into the package price.
Since my packed lunch packages are either bike, motorcycle, or horse, the fact they are brown bag size and with a handle makes them OK. A hamper would be too big to deal with.
Bag.jpg

.
Thanks for the info K, not interested in a packed lunch. It is a romantic picnic for two.
 
We were charging a weekday rate and a weekend rate. Plus on weekends once a month, there is a popular flea market nearby that opens on Thur - Sun, so we were charging the weekend rate on those certain weekdays. Is that clear as mud to you? ;) Anyway, we decided to raise our weekday rate to the same as weekend. Now we charge the same rate everyday and that has made things easier for us..
Mtatoc said:
We were charging a weekday rate and a weekend rate. Plus on weekends once a month, there is a popular flea market nearby that opens on Thur - Sun, so we were charging the weekend rate on those certain weekdays. Is that clear as mud to you? ;) Anyway, we decided to raise our weekday rate to the same as weekend. Now we charge the same rate everyday and that has made things easier for us.
Hear hear! I get lost when I go to a website and have to go through the obstacle course of room rates. When I see that, I think "No wonder people just call" if I can't work it out and i do this every day... Just tell me how much it is per night, thank you very much. Now for packages etc, it is another animal.
BY THE WAY, that was what tanked this year for me, so I am rethinking it. In a nutshell, I offered this fantastic picnic package, but...it was for a two night stay only because I wanted my hamper back, well no one booked it, at all, this entire year. I have discovered those who splurge on a "package" will only stay one night - anniversaries and bdays mostly. So what will I do? I am thinking IF I can buy these picnic hampers at walmart next year I will include them into the package. They sat there all summer long this year, not in years past, so not sure if they will be there next spring, summer and fall.
Now for me, this is the thing - I don't want to pre-purchase a bunch of them, I HAVE NO PLACE TO SToRE THEM, I really don't, not in the least. But for all the marketing on it no one wanted it for two nights. dang it.
.
Joey, maybe think of something other than a picnic basket. Like a nice large gift bag, nice paper plates, etc. Stuff that you don't expect back. I don't know exactly but you get the idea.
.
Mtatoc said:
Joey, maybe think of something other than a picnic basket. Like a nice large gift bag, nice paper plates, etc. Stuff that you don't expect back. I don't know exactly but you get the idea.
But the point is NO ONE BOOKED the package. I don't want to give them something that is not a picnic basket. That is what it is all about. If they want to pack a lunch they can get one at subway.
cry_smile.gif

.
Joey Bloggs said:
But the point is NO ONE BOOKED the package. I don't want to give them something that is not a picnic basket. That is what it is all about. If they want to pack a lunch they can get one at subway.
cry_smile.gif
If you are set on the picnic basket then you're stuck with figuring out how to get someone to book 2 nights. Do you do the picnic basket as an add on or a package deal? I think you're limiting yourself by making the artificial requirement that it be the picnic basket and not something else. My guess is some guests would really like to have a picnic lunch to stop where they want and not to have to bring everything back with them.
 
We were charging a weekday rate and a weekend rate. Plus on weekends once a month, there is a popular flea market nearby that opens on Thur - Sun, so we were charging the weekend rate on those certain weekdays. Is that clear as mud to you? ;) Anyway, we decided to raise our weekday rate to the same as weekend. Now we charge the same rate everyday and that has made things easier for us..
Mtatoc said:
We were charging a weekday rate and a weekend rate. Plus on weekends once a month, there is a popular flea market nearby that opens on Thur - Sun, so we were charging the weekend rate on those certain weekdays. Is that clear as mud to you? ;) Anyway, we decided to raise our weekday rate to the same as weekend. Now we charge the same rate everyday and that has made things easier for us.
Hear hear! I get lost when I go to a website and have to go through the obstacle course of room rates. When I see that, I think "No wonder people just call" if I can't work it out and i do this every day... Just tell me how much it is per night, thank you very much. Now for packages etc, it is another animal.
BY THE WAY, that was what tanked this year for me, so I am rethinking it. In a nutshell, I offered this fantastic picnic package, but...it was for a two night stay only because I wanted my hamper back, well no one booked it, at all, this entire year. I have discovered those who splurge on a "package" will only stay one night - anniversaries and bdays mostly. So what will I do? I am thinking IF I can buy these picnic hampers at walmart next year I will include them into the package. They sat there all summer long this year, not in years past, so not sure if they will be there next spring, summer and fall.
Now for me, this is the thing - I don't want to pre-purchase a bunch of them, I HAVE NO PLACE TO SToRE THEM, I really don't, not in the least. But for all the marketing on it no one wanted it for two nights. dang it.
.
Joey, maybe think of something other than a picnic basket. Like a nice large gift bag, nice paper plates, etc. Stuff that you don't expect back. I don't know exactly but you get the idea.
.
Mtatoc said:
Joey, maybe think of something other than a picnic basket. Like a nice large gift bag, nice paper plates, etc. Stuff that you don't expect back. I don't know exactly but you get the idea.
But the point is NO ONE BOOKED the package. I don't want to give them something that is not a picnic basket. That is what it is all about. If they want to pack a lunch they can get one at subway.
cry_smile.gif

.
If no one booked the romantic picnic, then maybe change it to a packed lunch to go and see if they'll book that. If that doesn't sell, then forget the whole concept. Come up with another deal, like a romantic breakfast delivered to your room.
 
Okay back on track here...This is a B&B, not a restaurant, the whole package idea is to have fresh flowers in their room and a romantic picnic in some romantic place in these mountains or near a lake, river or waterfall etc. It is NOT to sell lunches.
We DO deliver breakfast to the room, we have been for a few years now. People people this thread is about what was a time waster for you and didn't work or things you will do differently, I was sharing my package that didn't sell BECAUSE it required two nights and people mostly book packages for one night, here. :) Please stop trying to FIX this.
 
Okay back on track here...This is a B&B, not a restaurant, the whole package idea is to have fresh flowers in their room and a romantic picnic in some romantic place in these mountains or near a lake, river or waterfall etc. It is NOT to sell lunches.
We DO deliver breakfast to the room, we have been for a few years now. People people this thread is about what was a time waster for you and didn't work or things you will do differently, I was sharing my package that didn't sell BECAUSE it required two nights and people mostly book packages for one night, here. :) Please stop trying to FIX this..
Joey Bloggs wrote:
Please stop trying to FIX this.
Many of us can add "trying to help JB when she doesn't want help" to one of the time wasters this year in need of change!
regular_smile.gif
It ends up wasting both her time and ours.
I learned my lesson on this one, finally, a few weeks ago, but it's comforting to me to see others also forget and offer unwanted suggestions occasionally.
On the other hand, the suggestions offered were good ones and possibly useful to others reading the thread, so I say no real harm done.
 
Okay back on track here...This is a B&B, not a restaurant, the whole package idea is to have fresh flowers in their room and a romantic picnic in some romantic place in these mountains or near a lake, river or waterfall etc. It is NOT to sell lunches.
We DO deliver breakfast to the room, we have been for a few years now. People people this thread is about what was a time waster for you and didn't work or things you will do differently, I was sharing my package that didn't sell BECAUSE it required two nights and people mostly book packages for one night, here. :) Please stop trying to FIX this..
sorry
 
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