Re: innkeeping: Beware of salesmen... they may make you laugh!

[owner-innkeeping]

At 10:18 PM 6/5/96 -0500, you wrote:
>        From one of our internet ads, we received an e-mail message under
>the heading "potential B&B guest" that turned out to be somebody peddling
>coffee.  He claimed that "a few weeks ago we had some customers visiting 
>who
>had spent a few days at your B&B a week prior.  They suggested we connect
>with you and recommend that you serve better coffee".
>        I responded with a short comment to the effect that we did not
>appreciate being solicited via a medium designed for other purposes.  
>        His next response, in addition to swearing at us, included a line
>which set us laughing. He said: "Go back through your books and look up 
>the
>customers I was talking about.  His name was John (H-something) and her 
>name
>was Annie.  They would have been there in early April or so."
>        What this saleman obviously didn't know (he does now) is that
>Rosenath B&B is new; it opened for business for the very first time June 
>1,
>1996 and had only two pre-season customers, both the last week in May!
>
>        I can see this B&B business is going to have its amusing moments.

We received the same solicitation.  We ignored it.  Unfortunately, 
unwanted
solictations come from every advertising media we use. The ones I find
irritating are the special interest magazines that see our ad in Country
Inns magazine and think that we should advertise in their limited
circulation magazine that only goes to teachers in Indiana (nothing 
against
teachers from Indiana.  They're nice people.)
Lindsay Copeland
Innkeeper
Maine Stay Inn & Cottages
34 Maine St
P.O. Box 500 A
Kennebunkport, ME 04046
(800) 950-2117
(207) 967-8757 Fax
(207) 967-2117
Web site: http://www.bbonline.com/me/mainestay