Is Dorset-uk.info a legitimate OTA?

[Pengman]

This will only be of interest to owners with properties in Dorset, UK, but I recently came across Dorset-uk.info and was surprised to find my property listed by them, even though I don't have an agreement in place with them because they're not an OTA that I have 'opted in' to via my property/channel manager (who don't actually list them as an OTA you can 'opt in' to).

Most of the reviews on the site are taken from Booking.com leading to speculation that they are a front end to Booking.com. However, I've checked with Booking, and they're not a partner of theirs.

So who are they? The bottom left of each web page refers to the Hotel Reservation Network, and I note from the Companies House website that Hotel Reservations Network Ltd (note the extra 's') is a company that was dissolved in 2017, so it doesn't appear to be them. The 'About Us' page says they are a 70 strong developer's team - that's a lot of people - so where are they? And why are they targeting Dorset - there's no comparable sites of Devon-uk.info, or Cornwall-uk.info which would arguably be better hunting grounds anyway. Their 'Terms & conditions' link doesn't work - if it did it would surely specify who they were as it would have to establish the legal relationship between them (the site) and its users. And I'm pretty sure that under what used to be called the 'distance selling regulations' a website has got to specify on the site information on exactly who a user is coughing up money to.

They're nothing to do with the local authority run site 'visit-dorset.com' (I've spoken with them and checked)

And where are they getting their data from? Their data on my property appears up to date, including prices. I'd be surprised if they could pull all that from another OTA, but what do I know?

And I note guests have to pay 100% up front. Where does that money go? I've never provided Dorset-uk.info with my bank or merchant bank account details, so they can't pay me online.

So if you own a property in Dorset UK, see if you're listed on Dorset-uk.info and comment here if you are and what your view on that is.

[zebedee]

Is this a scam site that will take money from people “booking” over a short period of time then disappear with the money???

[SusanMay]

Looks dodgy to me. I've looked at a few entries and they have definitely grabbed booking.com pricing, availability and reviews but also seems to have some inaccurate info, one talked about Weymouth as the locality when the flat was in West Bay. Have you tried the Dorset-uk.info "contact us" page to ask them?

[CSE]

The image along side Our Story has the same group of pole as this stock image.
http://www.dorset-uk.info/templates/des ... bout-2.jpg
I cannot find the exact copy. Stock images no mater the subject screams a warning to me.
I cannot find anything about a company name or how they treat privacy issues. That also screams warning. Not adding anything about GDPR is a breaking the law.

[Pengman]

Have you tried the Dorset-uk.info "contact us" page to ask them?

Yes - I messaged them about 2 weeks ago - no reply. The site looks dodgy to everyone I speak to.

[zebedee]

So what are you going to do?

I think you must report this officially. You may have guests turn up at your property believing they have booked with you and paid to stay. It won’t be pretty if they do.

Action Fraud. Trading Standards. Both good places to start. No point in just discussing it here .
Sorry, don’t mean to seem harsh, but people may be getting robbed right now., Let us know the outcome please

[CSE]

I would water mark your images on any OTA. with something like "Property name and the OTA"
Thus you can see where you and prospective clients can see where businesses details have been copied from.
OTAs do not like property websites to be water marked but when the water mark is the OTA I have never had a rejection.

[Garri]

You would think that with a team of 70 developers at least one of them would know how to set up an SSL certificate for their website

The site isn't secure:

https://dorset-uk.info

[Pengman]

I think I've got to the bottom of this. Although Booking.com have told me that Dorset-uk.info are not a direct affilliate of theirs, I figure they're an indirect afffiliate of Bookings. There are others sites who do the same thing, one of which is LateRooms dot Com https://www.laterooms.com/ , part of the Snaptrip Group. If you look closely at this site, virtually everything is pulled from Booking. What's more, anyone can apply to Booking online to become an indirect affiliate. Another indication is that the LateRooms.com's favicon is actually Booking's favicon (see image attached), although for whatever reason Dorset-info's favicon is different. So my feeling now is that it's legitate and a guest's booking is presumably via Booking.com, although I can't be certain of this. As for rates, the rates offered for stays at my property are exactly the same as my rates on Booking.com, so I gess Booking must part with some of their 15% commission and send it to the indirect affiliate site. Nice work if you can get it!

[CSE]

I tried a dummy reservation on the dorset-uk.info website and somehow I got a pop under page from booking.com