Bookiply / Booking.com

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
Quiterio
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2015 8:20 pm
Location: Cadiz Province, Spain
Contact:

Bookiply / Booking.com

Post by Quiterio »

We decided to stick with Bookiply after they took over Spain-Holiday, at least until we've used up the credit arising from the balance of our subscription.

However, now that we're getting bookings from Booking.com, which we never really wanted to go with, we're confused as to how to respond to bookings. In the past we have always emailed our clients a bookings form, on which they could set out their preferences (e.g. double bed or 2 singles), and if they gave us their home address we could send them our brochure, because we think it's nice to have as hard copy.

More importantly we could tell them where we are, how to get here, and how to contact our agent for access.

Since Booking.com doesn't reveal the customer's email address, how can we do any of these things?

Do we just have to hope they find us via Satnav and turn up on the day (which is, of course, what happens if you book a hotel)
User avatar
Vera
Posts: 439
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:45 am
Location: Vera,Almeria, Spain
Contact:

Post by Vera »

We decided not to continue with Spain Holiday or bookiply but are with bookingdotcom not our first choice but they do generate about 35% of our bookings. If you log in to their extranet you can see guests phone numbers, their unique bookingdotcom email address and you can msg them through their website. We send every booking a personal email with directions etc and it works very well.
User avatar
CSE
Posts: 4414
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:34 pm
Location: Galicia

Post by CSE »

With Booking you can contact the guest via the intranet.
It works well if the customer response. You can link to your website where it gives how to arrive instructions.
I have used Booking to also reserve "whole lets". Once one owner asked to correspond via email, away from the Booking intranet. Something went wrong. I question what the owner had said in an email with Booking and the property was immediately removed from the site.
So maybe do not try an contact guests outside "the system".
All reservations should be made in compliance with what is on the listing in Booking.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
User avatar
roxytoo
Posts: 1701
Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2005 8:23 am
Location: Spain Costa Blanca

Post by roxytoo »

Quiertero I understood that if you went with Bookiply they had to refund you the balance of your subscription?
Quiterio
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2015 8:20 pm
Location: Cadiz Province, Spain
Contact:

Post by Quiterio »

They didn't offer a refund, but have reduced our commission payments by the amount they owe us. Which was okay by us.

Thanks for the advice about using Booking.com's intranet.

However, I couldn't find a way to get on to this intranet, so asked Bookiply how to do this. Apparently it's not available to me, because Booking.com's client is Bookiply, not me. They advised phoning the customer, and failing that, that they would "reach out" to the guest via Booking.com on my behalf.

It seems strange to me that they'll let you have the customer's phone number but not their email address. I don't really relish "cold calling" my customers, especially if English isn't their first language, although I suppose an SMS message isn't that different from an email.

What was wrong with the old method?!
User avatar
Vera
Posts: 439
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:45 am
Location: Vera,Almeria, Spain
Contact:

Post by Vera »

Bookiply make bookingdotcom seem like the good guys now. We have had great guests with booking, they tend to become repeat direct bookers as well.
Why pay bookiply as well as bookingdotcom?
User avatar
CSE
Posts: 4414
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:34 pm
Location: Galicia

Post by CSE »

oh that is bad.
Time to remove the Bookiply layer from that complexity.
What happens if the guests write and ask a question or say a notice that their plans have changed slightly?
Gusts may well expect the owner to reply. If the said message has to go via Bookiply how long will it take to get to you and how long before your reply is forwarded to the guest?
Any issues in communication of course will not reflect on Bookiply, but on on your property.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
Post Reply