Now more than ever, it's important to make sure that you're getting all of your inquiries whether from the HomeAway Network of sites (HomeAway.com, CyberRentals.com, A1Vacations.com, GreatRentals.com, TripHomes.com and VRBO.com) or any of the other vacation rental websites—basically wherever you advertise your vacation rental home!

Spam filters have had to get tough to combat Spammers—perhaps, too tough.  Across the web, non-Spam emails are regularly being routed into bulk mail folders or rejected outright.  To fight the never-ending battle with Spam, most email services have built Spam filtration programs, so that, in theory, Spam never should reach your inbox.  The problem is that now many important emails are being sent to the junk or bulk mail folder, or worse, being rejected outright.  This is especially unfortunate for vacation rental owners, who rely on receiving inquiries to run their business. 

The problem seems to be across the board, discriminating against no one, however it seems to be more prominent with AOL, Yahoo!, and Hotmail email addresses.  A recent study by Ironport Systems showed that approximately 85 million pieces of Spam were sent each day in 2006 and experts only expect it to get worse in 2007. 

How can you tell if you're receiving all of your inquiries? 

On the HomeAway Network: Log into the Owner's console on HomeAway.com and click on the “Inquiries” button at the top of the page.  The page should display recent inquiries by property number and date.  To see if you've been receiving all of your inquiries, compare the inquiries on this page to the inquiries in your email inbox.

Fortunately, there are a few steps that you can take to minimize the risk of missing an inquiry.  Some email services like AOL allow you to manipulate your Spam filter settings, while others like Gmail do not.  Check with your email services for your specific options.

On other Vacation Rental websites:  Log into your account, most vacation rental websites have an area within their site where you can view your most recent inquiries.   

How can you prevent valuable inquiries from being rejected or undelivered?

For AOL users:

·        Click the “Mail Options” button at the top left hand corner of your screen. 

·        Select “Block Unwanted Mail” from the menu. 

·        On the Mail and Spam Controls menu, click the radio button that says “Allow mail from all senders” and make sure that blocked mail be diverted to your Spam folder and not deleted. 

·        If you're still noticing that inquiries are being routed to your Spam folder, uncheck the “Mail filtered by AOL's Advanced Spam Filter box.”  This will mean that more Spam makes it into your inbox, but so will your inquiries. 

For most non-AOL users:

·        When an inquiry is filtered into your Spam folder, click “Not Spam” to notify your email service of the error.

·        Add the @HomeAway.com domain to your safe senders list.

·        Check your bulk or junk mail folders periodically.

·        Contact your email service.  Sure, it might be a pain, but if you're not getting your inquiries, you're missing out on valuable business.

            Another option:

Consider setting up an email account that's designated for your incoming inquiries.  Many owners have opted to sign up for a Gmail account (Google's free email service) because of their large inbox space allowance and the ability to send large files (like photographs).  If you use this mail account only for your inquiries and do not post it on your personal website, you shouldn't have as much trouble with Spam. Since HomeAway and most other vacation rental websites sends inquiries through a contact form, only those renters that you reply to will have your email address.

The safest method:

Regardless of your email service, all owners should regularly log into the owner';s section of all the websites on which you advertise to check for inquiries.  All inquiries that come in are saved on the site, so an inquiry will show up here even if it never makes it to your email inbox. 

Using anti-Spam programs requiring the sender to send a confirmation reply:

Renters find these to be inconvenient and will often skip to the next listing as opposed to take the extra effort to reply.  It seems silly, but you must remember that most renters searching the web for vacation accommodations have very short attention spans.  One consolation: These inquiries will always be waiting for you on the Owner console when you login to HomeAway.com.

 Also, be aware that your reply emails be not be getting to inquirers:

If you are responding to potential renters and never hearing from them (especially AOL email addresses), your reply emails may be getting blocked by their Spam filters.  If you think this might be the case, give the renter a call.  This will make sure that the renter hears from you and could also motivate them to choose your property over others whose owners.

Glossary

bulk mail folder:  A folder within most email clients where suspicious email is directed.   Sometimes called a junk or Spam folder.

email client:  A program that is used to read and send email.  Also called a Mail User Agent (MUA).  Ex:  Outlook, Eudora, Opera, Lotus Notes, Mozilla Thunderbird.

email filtering:  The process of categorizing incoming email messages.  Most often used to sort Spam messages into a bulk or junk folder.

email service: A free or commercial service that gives users the ability to send, receive, and organize email messages either through an email client or on the web.  Ex: AOL, Yahoo!, Hotmail, Gmail.

Spam:  Unsolicited bulk email that is most often unwanted, commercial, and sent by automated means.

© HomeAway 2007

How to Receive Inquiries    You've posted your listing. Now what? Answers to the most commonly asked questions.