Now that my country has been bankrupted by an unpopular war, we are being invaded by Europeans. I had worried that the current administration's bellicose politics would lead our more enlightened friends in Europe to boycott travel to the United States. I need not have worried. As soon as the exchange rate made it cheaper for Europeans to come here than to stay home we started getting inundated with requests to exchange homes with people from every part of Europe.
They may not like George Bush, but they love snapping up bargains, and there's no place for bargain shopping like New York City.
The Europeans are so eager to grab a deal that they will send exchange offers to any listing. We have a de-commissioned swap page on one of the sites. It clearly states that it is not for an active listing. There are no photos or other description of any home. No matter, the offers are rolling in for the non-existent listing as well.
We even tried making it clear right in the headline of our listing that we would not consider travel to Europe at this time. It says "US/Canada/Latin American swap offers only please". It might as well say "Let's Go Europe!" considering all the offers I get from the Continent.
The strangest thing is when the same person writes to me week after week, suggesting the same swap offer that I have already rejected. I get several of these overly persistent people each month. It is polite to respond to all swap inquiries, even if you are not interested. But if someone has already offered within the past few months and you have declined, you are off the hook. Ignore them. Then report them to the home exchange club.
By the way, anyone who sends me the same offer twice within a month goes right into my "bad" folder. Someone that blind to the needs of others and not creative enough to try a different approach if no one is interested in their offer will not make a good swap partner.
There is no point to repeatedly spamming each other. I just don't understand this approach. Why would I accept a swap offer the third time it is offered that month, after rejecting it twice? The home exchange clubs really need to fix this problem. Save these spammers from themselves.
A recent contact by a European who didn't bother to read my listing before making an exchange offer at least netted a wonderful personal home exchange web page. Take a look at this one:
http://www.holidaypension.cz/home_exchange_swap.html
SUBSCRIBE NOW
You can subscribe to this blog to receive each day's post. Just enter your email below :
No comments:
Post a Comment