My Goodness The Bottom Feeders Are Out!

[tralman]

BP will reimburse you the difference if you discount. I will not test this until august, with one week discounted 30%, but my experience so far with BP staff has been encouraging. Fall has good bookings at regular rate.
We are definitely having a great rental year, with May. June & July included-fully booked, no discounts or cancellations. Only one cancellation in august.
Hang in there, River Otter-you have a great place-See you at the Sugar Shack.

 

[Sheila]

I said I'm willing to negotiate, but I'm not willing to cut it 80%. Fortunately we are having our biggest year ever. That doesn't mean we are making money. It only means we are paying less of a loss.

I'm with you. I have finally taken the approach of asking potential guests to tell me what their budget is. In almost every case I have booked them. There are those that are absurdly ridiculous and want to rent a 3 BR, or 5 BR property for less than $50 per night and include all the fees.

For the record, I do disclose any and all information that is available to me regarding the state of the beaches and any air/water quality issues that I am aware of.

 

[RiverOtter]

BP will reimburse you the difference if you discount. I will not test this until august, with one week discounted 30%, but my experience so far with BP staff has been encouraging. Fall has good bookings at regular rate.
We are definitely having a great rental year, with May. June & July included-fully booked, no discounts or cancellations. Only one cancellation in august.
Hang in there, River Otter-you have a great place-See you at the Sugar Shack.

tralman - We're doing fine. I just had 4 or 5 bottom feeders in a row and had to vent. By the way... Your place is awesome!

For the record, I do disclose any and all information that is available to me regarding the state of the beaches and any air/water quality issues that I am aware of.

Same here, I do not want any surprises. I copy and send them links to the information threads on SoWal. So far, it the best and most accurate info out there. Thank you Dwight!

 

[Beach Runner]

All the walk overs in Seagrove have a warning sign that say do not go in the water. How do you charge these people full price when there might be a chance they might get sick with dispersants and oil in the water?

What I'm saying is that if someone who has paid a deposit is really concerned about air quality, s/he shouldn't be asking for a discount -- s/he should be asking for a refund. Asking for a discount is sort of like putting a price on health, like, "Okay, I am concerned about the air quality because my child is asthmatic, but if I can save x dollars, I'll risk it."

We have a private pool, so if the Gulf WATER is closed due to oil, I have offered a fair discount to concerned guests. EDIT: If the BEACH is closed, that's a different story.

 

[RiverOtter]

What I'm saying is that if someone who has paid a deposit is really concerned about air quality, s/he shouldn't be asking for a discount -- s/he should be asking for a refund. Asking for a discount is sort of like putting a price on health, like, "Okay, I am concerned about the air quality because my child is asthmatic, but if I can save x dollars, I'll risk it."

LOL! Now that's callin' the bluff

 

[gmarc]

I have a question for those that say they're having a great rental year. What % of your rentals were before the oil spilla nd what % after. its my first year renting and i made a big mistake keeping my prices a bit high early on and didn't get the summer even 1/2 booked by the time the oil hit. i have not gotten 1 rental since the oil spill as i kept my rates the same. i've had tons of inquiries offering $100 a night but i refuse to play that game due to massive wear and tear even if bp refunds some of it. i put a bp claim in 3 weeks ago and finally got a call alst night and they said everything looks in order and i should get a check today and they'd call. i heard nothing and won't believe it till i see the check. i should have lowered my rates in late may to secure the rest of summer. anyway i use it when its not used.i've also responded to some of these bottom fishers with statments like"do you also want breakfast in bed". anyway i learned alot my first year renting

 

[Beach Runner]

Don't let anyone scam you for low rates. We are booked through late August with no requests for low rates during that time period, Actually we plan to block out some time for ourselves in August because we have been so slammed. Like I said earlier, having a private pool and great views helps.