This blog was prepared back in January, but was deliberately held back waiting to review the banning threat from Booking-dot-com. Since then TRM have experienced several other instances where they have confirmed their attitude in dealing with tourists. Turangi’s largest tourist accommodation supplier has now cancelled any involvement with them. We can understand why…
Recently we received a phone call from Europe by an upset prospective guest who booked through Book-dot-com. We cancelled his booking as there were already Booking-dot-com clients in the unit they had allocated and all other units were booked up. They still booked him in to try to claim the commission. That is not the first time! So after reviewing their lack of consideration, TRM has decided to post the following originally composed in January…
Today we have good news and other scams.
First the good news:
| Great job, you got a new 5-star review |
| Lovely couple who own this place. They are friendly and make you feel welcome. Thank you for your…etc. |
Now the “bad” news (?) from Booking-dot-com…
Dear Colleagues,
Unfortunately, we have to inform you that your property is in breach of our platform rules and policies. As such, we have taken the decision to temporarily remove your property from registration and booking on our platform in the near future.
Should you wish to examine the infringements associated with your property and contest this decision, we strongly advise you to access your Extranet account and complete the designated form to lodge your appeal within the provided timeframe.
It is important to bear in mind that a failure to comply with the platform’s rules and regulations may lead to additional suspensions or the permanent delisting of your property. We urge you to capitalize on this opportunity to settle any outstanding matters and adhere to our guidelines for the betterment of your property and its guests.
King regards,
The Booking Service
We tried, but as indicated above, we could not view their complaint as the page was blocked. We wondered why, there may not have been a complaint. It was more likely my request to be paid. I should explain:
During peak holiday time another booking-dot-client failed to show up. His booking only appeared at the last moment when we were already booked out. This was at a busy time when we were sending guests to other motels. We paid for this one guest ($170) – the Booking-dot-com booking – at another motel as all our units were full. Then he failed to arrive. The contact information provided by his OTA (Online Travel Agent) Booking-dot-com was false. The French phone number failed. His credit card details were false with no expiry date, etc. So we requested a refund from Booking-dot-com as this was not the first time they have ‘dicked’ us.
As they were clearly responsible for the booking, we thought they were claiming we had breached their regulations and deregistered us as above.
Good riddance!
Below is our background experience of our first contact with booking-dot-com to indicate what tourist accommodation providers have to endure…
Many years ago, when they first appeared and dominated all tourist accommodation website bookings, we were never consulted or asked if we wanted their booking service. They just arrived without any warning and made up their own description off our website.
The problem was their photos of TRM were not this motel but taken from our blog of the Waihohonu Hut hut up on Ruapehu.
The bedrooms showed a row of bunks. The shared kitchen showed a row of stainless steel sinks. Photo below.
Someone representing Booking-dot-com had lifted (copy & paste?) our photos from a blog we had posted thinking it must represent the motel. It may be the best tramping hut in NZ – built in 2010 with 28 bunks and flushing loos – but is not quite up to TRM standards.
We complained several times but they would not remove the photos, so we asked them to remove TRM from Booking-dot-com’s listings. Then they still featured TRM but advised prospective guests that TRM were “no longer in business”. So we had to reluctantly register back. What nice people…
Much of the information provided by them and other OTA’s has been contrived by them without our knowledge or permission. i.e. In their latest booking received after we were deregistered, their contract conditions include:
“Number of children aged 11: 1; There is no meal option with this room. Children and Extra Bed Policy: Children of any age are allowed. 1 child (up to and including 1 year old) stays for NZD 18 per child per night when using available cots. 1 child (up to and including 11 years old) stays for NZD 20 per child per night when using available extra beds. 1 person (12 years old and over) stays for NZD 18 per child per night when using available extra beds. The maximum number of extra beds is 1. The maximum number of cots is 1. The maximum number of guests is 4. ”
This is all nonsense, it does not even make sense, but when TRM tries to correct it we are ignored. We have never been consulted to approve any of their descriptions or prices. They imagine they can decide on our allocation of $ room rates for different age groups…
Then we had a squiz at the website for complaints against Booking-dot-com’s methods of business. This is a place where unhappy customers of Booking. CONCAN share their bad experiences with properties and their owners or guests (unhappy owners also). Read how long – up to six months if at all – their prospective clients have to wait to get their deposits back.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1316864141779135/
Booking.com Complaints Summary
Unresolved complaints: 1517 (92%)
To avoid any disappointment, we strongly advise any prospective tourist guests to always book direct (i.e.- email ross@tongarirorivermotel.co.nz) as the best booking method so you are in direct contact with the motel operators and can keep a record of the booking. Then you can save on the OTA’s booking commission as well.
If you have any doubts about the deliberate duplicity by foreign online booking sites, you might enjoy the following rave by an Australian entrepreneur, Dick Smith – posted a few years ago but is just as relevant today.
Then after all that we consulted a friend, who is more familiar with all this computer language, to check it out.
She immediately twigged onto it and replied the complaint and deregistration threat from Booking-dot-com was all a scam!
Oh Dear… We should have realised when they signed off their letter “King regards”.
Perhaps it is time we gave up…