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2018Innkeeper Reports BedandBreakfast.com Going Away Oct. 1
Innkeeper Reports BedandBreakfast.com Is No More
BedandBreakfast.com is no more (as a company) as of Oct.1, according to one innkeeper’s recent discovery. Here’s what Dave Pollack of ForFriends Inn reported:
“One of our favorite, friendly and approachable referral websites is no more! BedandBreakfast.com was purchased by Expedia Group in Q4, 2015. Now, we’re fully seeing what that means to those of us on the ‘inn-side’ – and it’s not good. In fact, it’s Expedia in BedandBreakfast.com clothes.
Expedia Will Control All Connections
“Expedia now controls the connection between inns and BedandBreakfast.com. The images, copy, policies (sort of), and programs are the same as Expedia only with the look of BedandBreakfast.com (which admittedly, isn’t too bad). As per usual, expect that connection to break on a regular basis. Today, for example, B&B.com now shows our inn as full tonight even though we have 3 rooms available. (By the way, Expedia itself shows these rooms as available but B&B.com does not. So much for that connection.)
B&B Support Phone Numbers transfer to Expedia
“Sadly, as of Oct 1 of this year, BedandBreakfast.com will hand-over all inn support to Expedia as they shut down their support phone numbers. Hello 24 hour response time.
“Expedia is also handling all Instant Bookings made at BedandBreakfast.com. Commission rates are the same 18% and the Cancellation Policy is the same that the inn specifies on Expedia.
Funds to Be Retained Longer & There’s Extra Work for You
“All funds will be retained till check-in and there’s an extra step. However, of significant note, instead of passing credit card details through to the inn as per the current Expedia model, all funds will be retained until check-in. Further, in order to trigger the release of the funds, the innkeeper must log into the back office and mark the guests as having ‘arrived’. This has been the standard in the Airbnb world for a while but it is not a welcomed extra step for professional innkeepers.
“BedandBreakfast.com while never as sophisticated as other (OTA) sites, was always a favorite. They would answer their phones with fresh-faced voices who were always helpful (think ResNexus Red Carpet Support team). Going forward, each time Expedia says ‘no’ to one of our requests or reminds us that we’re just a number to them, we will be reminded of better times with BedandBreakfast.com.
The Worst Parts
“The aspects of the deal that give me angst are:
- Expedia controlling the feed (for example, last night they showed no availability at ForFriends and yet we had 3 rooms available)
- Having to deal with Expedia Lodging Support team
- Expedia hanging onto the $$ until check-in.”
Dave Pollock, Owner, dave@forfriendsinn.com, (805) 693-0303
What to Do Now If You Are Not Continuing with BedandBreakfast.com
Some inns are Rescuing their Reviews because they don’t want to continue with BedandBreakfast.com.
- Print out all your reviews now so they won’t disappear for good
- Consider posting your reviews to iloveinns.com (We have a guest book program that can preserve everything and show it on your iloveinns listing.)
- Consider joining www.iLoveInns.com
You might not want to discontinue Expedia/BedandBreakfast.com or just continue with Expedia.
My web developer told me to sign up with www.iLoveInns.com because I need B&B links.” **
“We like the way you do business.”
“I use to be with a dozen or more directories, but now iLoveInns is one of the few because you keep showing up on my google analytics.”
“I signed up for the buy-one-get-one vouchers and keep getting reservations from it (in my offseason).”
Why Do We Hear “We like the way you do business”?
- There are No Commissions paid to iLoveInns.com
- 30 years of publicizing bed and breakfasts including 2 million B&B books, persuaded many Fortune 500 companies to use their advertising dollars to promote the B&B industry. ($50 million)
- The www.iLoveInns.com website
- InnTouch newsletters – the quickest way to keep up with Inn Marketing
- The Inntouch iPhone app
- The JCPenney 65% discount card
- The optional BOGO program
Join This Week to…
- Save $40 on any level of membership
- Get a minimum of 4 links to your reservation system – that’s one of the main reasons some of our members have stayed on the first page of Google
- Get linked to your social media outlets and have your feed showing on your listing
- Pay ZERO in Commissions
- Get Direct Bookings
Contact: DRingler@iLoveInns.com
The No-Commission Website & More Benefits As a Member of I Love Inns
We’ve been No Commission books (50 B&B guides published) and a No-Commission website for 2 decades. Plus! the guests you get from i Love Inns are the fans who LOVE B&Bs and country inns. And they’ve signed up for our newsletter to learn more about inns.
Plus:
- List your specials and have them show on both your Listing AND on our specials page:
- Included In i Love Inns Newsletters to Consumers Sent to 50,000 Top Tier inn fans
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