plambers

Hi. I have sent Micheal 2 e mails (one in Nov and one late Dec.) for our upcoming Paris May trip and have not heard back yet. For those of you that have hired Michael for day tours, how long does he usually take to respond? Any other recommendations out there? thanks

Michel_Paris

I think if you do a seach here, you will find that promptness with replies is not one of his strong points.

plambers

Michel, I had seen that but 2 months seems like enough time to respond, no? Just wondering if I ought to look elsewhere.

Michel_Paris

I've never used him, but everyone who has seems to like him, and some say to "keep trying" until he answers. To me, it seems like an unprofessional way to run a business...but then he gets raves...I believe if you search here, there have been a couple of other names mentioned.

tomboy

I have friends who, if on a Monday we make a date for coffee on Friday, will call on Thursday night to ask if we're still on, since I didn't call them during the day Thursday to verify the Friday date.
Puzzles me, since I figure that one need only call to cancel what's on a calendar.
I think Michael figures that, since he got your e-mail, it's confirmed unless he responds to the contrary, and that he needn't discuss a one day plan 5 months in the future, that two weeks prior is sufficient, and that the time saved from not discussing an eight hour tour for 150 days could better be spent on attention to tomorrow's client.
Yes, it'd be nice if he'd confirm, but he doesn't, and it works for both him and his clients. Note that if he hadn't received your e-mail, you would have received the system equivalent of "not at this address".
Did you send your e-mail with "Return Read Receipt" checked?

Christina

I am sure the above is not the case -- that he assumes you have an appt. even though you've never even discussed it. At least that's how I read your email, that you have written an initial query to him (probably asking about availability and rates), and he has never responded. No one would operate a business by assuming there was an appt. from just an inquiry.

I have no history, but from every email I've read about him on here, he sort of picks one email out of the pot to respond to as he gets more inquiries than he wants to fulfill. Sort of like a lottery, I guess. And if he is busy and booked up, he does not respond to other people to decline. Some hotels in France do that, also (at least smaller ones, I will amend that -- small ones in Provence have done that to me a lot, and some small family-run hotels in Switzerland have also) it's an unusual way of doing business that I was not used to -- that you don't respond to inquiries if you are not free -- as you might think it gives you a bad reputation, and it's also just inconsiderate.

Michel_Paris

OK, but he's not my friend, so business rules would apply.

If I sent an email to a B&B saying I'll take the room, I would expect to get something back saying "great you're booked", or they take a deposit on credit card or cheque,etc..I would not feel comfortable just showing up and then finding out...computer crashed, oops didn't email you back to say no, was sure sent a response saying sorry, etc..meanwhile, you don't have a room.

Sending more than one email to someone saying are interested and not hearing anyting back, and then hoping that everything is booked, seems a bit...hopeful.

Note that I've head nothing but good things about him...it's just not proper to not let people know one way or another. Even if he did an "auto-respond" to say that "email received, consider it booked unless otherwise notified" would be perfect. To not respond at all os to be criticized

Gretchen

Christina is most certainly correct. You do not have a date lined up with Michael until he replies. I would send a lot more e-mails. He is busy, sometimes his computer is down, he may be out of the country. Try again. He's worth it. Super nice guy.

lauraallais

We have made arrangements with Michael in May. I emailed him to find about availability in September. He responded fairly quickly with availabe dates.

I think emailed him back to tell him which date we would like to book. When I did not email back after a week, I sent a follow-up email, to which he did resond. He let me know that we are listed in his calendar for our requested date.

I'm not sure if this helps you, but it a summary of my experience so far.

Good luck!

lauraallais

Whoa, lots of typos...
"...find out about availability..."

"I then emailed him..."

Sorry.

lauraallais

Yikes another.

"When HE did not email back after a week, I sent a follow-up..."