Foreign Perspectives

You always get a lot of peculiar phone calls around this time of year.

“I just booked a room on your website. Can you tell me if it has a bathroom?”. Well, no we couldn’t because they had quite literally just booked the room and it can take a few hours before we get the confirmation email or fax….. about 70% of the French who book online make phone calls within 5 minutes of making the booking to confirm that we’ve received it.

“I’m on your website right now. It says that there’s a room available. I want a room with a bathroom.”. Yes, it’s EUR 57. “No, it isn’t it says that it’s EUR 49”. That’s for the room with a shared bathroom, the room you want is EUR 57. “Can’t I have it for EUR 49?”. Well, no, but you can have the room with a shared bathroom for EUR 49. “But, I want an ensuite room”. Yes, that’s EUR 57….. We get a LOT of conversations like that one!

“I’m on your website right now. Can I book over the phone?” Yes, I just need a credit card and expiry date. “I’m paying by Cheques Vacances”. That’s OK, I still need a credit card number to guarantee the room. “I’m paying by Cheques Vacances I don’t need to give you a credit card number.” Yes, you do, we need it to guarantee the room…. after 10 mins of this he cancelled the booking that he hadn’t made.

“We’re here for the room.” Have you a reservation? “No, but we checked online a few days ago and you had rooms available today.” Yes, but we’re full today. Did you make a reservation?…. Surprisingly we’ve been getting a number of people lately who’ve just checked availability a few days earlier and assume that we won’t get bookings after they check.

A new development this year is that people are starting to book online whilst they’re on the way. Then they phone to check that we’ve received the reservation about a minute after they logout. Very confusing as the latest lot arrived about 10 minutes later.

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