What has happened to consideration for others?

During and after the Covid pandemic, there were too many stories of restaurants going out of business simply because customers lacked the consideration to cancel reservations in time for their bookings to be re-filled. More often than not, the customers just wouldn’t turn up at their allotted time. There appeared to be a trend for making reservations with severals restaurants and then going to only one of these without cancelling the other reservations. Customers who just don’t turn up for their table reservation lose that restaurant money, and if the restaurant is only small this has serious repercussions.

We have had our own similar experiences this year, with bookings for our self-catering property Esperanza 9.

In the immediate wake of the first airing of the BBC TV programme, ‘Amanda and Alan’s Spanish Job’, in late January, we had a tidal wave of bookings and Esperanza 9 was almost fully booked until the end of November. Bookings made through booking.com and Airbnb seem to be slightly more robust, but we had a flood of bookings made directly through our website.

Today, I sent information to a client who had made a booking in January for a 4 night stay in September. I had an uneasy feeling about this client, as we have past experiences of customers cancelling at the last moment. Sure enough, an email reply came through saying, “Oh apologies , we can’t travel in September…”. What part of this is acceptable? Unless we can fill those dates that have been held for 7 months, we stand to lose €600.

Of course, there are very valid reasons why people may have to cancel a booking but it would be courteous to let the provider know. Forgetting about a reservation until reminded is not a valid reason.

Unless you are rigid about taking a deposit, or setting up policies in booking.com to state that payment must be made at time of booking, this late cancellation practice seems to be on the rise. booking.com have always made it clear that having a flexible cancellation policy generates more bookings. That’s no use to us if those bookings subsequently get cancelled leaving us high and dry. These platforms provide too much protection for customers: rarely is there a reason given for a cancellation - they just cancel. Travellers often make their arrangements a couple of months in advance, so it is not always easy to pick up last-minute reservations.

What has happened to basic consideration and thought? Unless a payment has been made, customers do not give a damn about the effects of a cancellation on a small business. They think it is acceptable to give a quick, insincere apology and move on. This may be vaguely manageable if it happened rarely. The trouble is that too many reservations end this way.

During the pandemic, as many of you will know, we set up a campaign called ‘#MyTravelPledge’ to offer free holidays to health care workers once travel restrictions were lifted. The campaign became global and we had over 100 accommodation providers offering free breaks. We, personally, gave away 11 breaks at Casa Higueras. Do you know how many of those breaks actually materialised?

One.

We held dates for all the people who had been allocated these holidays and either we never heard from them again or, in one case, they just forgot. We sent them directions and welcome information before their stay, and they simply replied to say that they had completely forgotten. 4 nights that we could have filled with a paying guest. If something is given free, or if there is no up-front payment, does that render that product or service worthless?

Our business is customer-based and we try to give excellent service all round, being flexible with dates, check-in times, payment methods etc., all to ensure that visitors here have the best possible experience. Why is it acceptable, then, for customers to behave in such a cavalier manner with absolutely no recourse? Everywhere, customers have the opportunity to write reviews on places they have stayed or dined; would that we had a platform where we could leave reviews of customers who treat us with scant regard.

We don’t particularly want to go down the route of demanding upfront payment for every reservation, but we don’t have the time to keep promoting last minute availability due to a cancellation, and nor should we have to. Our tourism businesses are a part of our livelihood. All we ask is that customers consider this when they make a reservation, and treat all service providers with respect and consideration.

Esperanza 9 is available from 10th - 14th September 2025 due to a cancellation. If you would like a break in this lovely house, you can book through our website: Esperanza9.com

You may also be interested to know that Casa Alamanda Moclín, the property restored during the BBC TV programme, ‘Amanda and Alan’s Spanish Job’, will also soon be available for holiday rentals. You can express interest on their website: CasaAlamandaMoclin.com