More info from Booking.com
In the Daily Report yesterday TRM were critical of OTA’s – Online Travel Agents – like Booking.com.
To illustrate their extraordinary arrogance at mining the tourists – (they imagine we work for them at your expense?) i.e. See ref. 2 & 3 below –
If you read this Daily Report regularly you will know TRM does have a wide range of different room rates for regular inmates as many stay for several weeks for fishing, but under Booking.com’s contractural rules we are not allowed to publish or market offline rates online ?
What commercial arrogance! They insist on bullying tactics to favour the OTA’s? Unbelievable!
Tourists really get ripped off by booking through OTA’s – Online Travel Agents suck! It is a commercial scam.
So if you wish to book for a few days you can save on their excessive fees – bypass them and always book with TRM direct –
ross@tongarirorivermotel.co.nz
or free phone 0800 187688
BOOKING.COM CONTRACT UPDATE
Dear partner,
First, let me thank you for your trust in Booking.com and the business we do together. We appreciate our partnership and what you do for our mutual guests every single day.
I would like to ask for a minute of your time to personally inform you of the outcome of the recent agreement reached between the Commerce Commission NZ and Booking.com, whereas Booking.com has agreed to extend the commitments it has rolled out in the European Union to all accommodations in New Zealand (the “Commitment”).
Please accept this letter as an official notification of the Commitment and confirmation and assurance of how we intend to continue to do business together going forward (see below).
Here is a summary outlining of what changes for you pursuant to the Commitment.
1 You may set different room rates and offer different conditions and availability on different OTAs
This means you don’t have to offer the same room rates, conditions and availability on Booking.com as other OTAs. This gives you greater flexibility to manage your offering across distribution channels.
2 You may offer lower rates or better conditions through offline channels (such as telephone bookings and walk-ins) provided you do not publish or market offline rates online
We have had feedback that our partners want the ability to discount through offline reservation channels without having to give us the same or better rates. From now on, we will not require the same or better rates in respect of rooms sold via offline channels, provided that you do not market those offline rates online (e.g. on your website or on meta-search sites).
3 There is no restriction on the unpublished room rates or conditions you may offer, provided you do not market those rates online
We understand it may be important for you to offer special rates to your loyal customers through non-public channels (such as closed-user groups) or to negotiate special rates on a bilateral basis (e.g. a special private group discount). Through the Commitment we have clarified this position.
4 Parity with your own direct online channels and some availability
Going forward under the amended provisions, you are still contracted to give Booking.com parity in respect of room rates and conditions offered on your own website (which includes meta-search sites such as Trivago, Kayak, Tripadvisor or Google Hotel Finder when they redirect the consumer to your own website for booking). As set out above, we no longer require you to give us the same availability as our competitors, but in order to give meaning to our relationship, we require at least some availability in respect of all rooms and room-rate types.
Pursuant to the Commitment, our contract with you is partly changed in respect of the relevant provisions. The relevant provisions that have been amended as a result of our Commitment (and shall apply pursuant to your continued use of our service) are available through the following https://admin.booking.com/hotelreg/terms-and-conditions.html. The rest of the contract with you remains unchanged.
The Commitment (and the relevant changes to our relationship) will take effect as of 1st November 2016. With your continued use of our service after 1st November 2016, we trust and assume that you accept and acknowledge the changes made to our contract following the Commitment.
We believe that these changes will give you more pricing and condition flexibility, while ensuring a positive experience for consumers and ensuring that Booking.com can continue to help generate global customer leads for you to help you further grow your business.
We are pleased with this outcome and look forward to continuing our partnership with you and thank you for your loyal trust, patience and understanding pending the outcome. We will work hard to attract the best rates, conditions and availability that you have to offer on Booking.com – by providing you better service and terms than our competitors. As always, if there is anything we can be doing to make this relationship work better for you, please reach out to us.
No specific action is required from you. Should you have any questions about this letter, please do not hesitate to reach out to your contact within Booking.com who will be happy to assist.
Thank you for your continued support and partnership.
Sincerely,
Booking.com B.V.
Gillian Tans
CEO
And as if that isn’t bad enough here is another OTA suffering poor attitude…
Expedia rep tells customer “F**k you!” in shocking reports
Teacher and mother Cara Viramontes shared screenshots with CBSLA of an email she received from Expedia with the words “F**k you!” and a notification her $600 trip had been cancelled.
The email was allegedly sent after she had filled in a customer service survey with an unfavourable employee review. “I was honest,” she told the local news site. “I said: ‘You know what, the lady wasn’t helpful. I asked to speak to a supervisor and she wouldn’t let me speak to a supervisor.’”
Perhaps more distressing than the use of expletives, the Expedia email also notified her of a trip cancellation she had not requested. “No one can believe a company as credible as Expedia would ever do something like this,” Ms Viramontes added.
According to the reports, Ms Viramontes rushed to call Expedia’s customer service line but was informed that it was her fault the reservation had been cancelled. At this point, she sent the department supervisor a screenshot of the ‘f**k you’ email. “It’s clear as day what was written and I haven’t received a response,” she said. “Nothing.”
Expedia responded to a request for comment from CBS2, saying: “We take this matter very seriously and have opened up an investigation analyzing every click and action made by our customer service agents.” The online travel agency also noted it would rebook Ms Viramontes’s flights, refund her money and send her a $500 voucher.
What do you think? It begs the question: would accommodation providers get away with something like this? Arguably, the nature of online reviews prevents it because a guest booking direct who receives poor service will simply share their experience in a two-minute review, which would immediately harm the provider’s reputation. The same rule doesn’t seem to apply to OTAs because there is no real review-outlet equivalent, other than to do as Ms Viramontes did and turn to the local news.