| Q 1. | How does it work? |
| Q 2. | How much does it cost, and why should I donate? |
| Q 3. | How can we receive HALF PRICE or FREE membership renewals? |
| Q 4. | For my HALF PRICE or FREE membership renewal, who should I recommend this site to? |
| Q 5. | How do I know which of my friends I recommended this site to have joined, and when? |
| Q 6. | What is the difference between my Membership I.D. and my property listing code? |
| Q 7. | Will our name, address, phone number, etc., go out to everyone on the Internet? |
| Q 8. | What do we do if we receive several enquiries? |
| Q 9. | How many swaps can we have each year? |
| Q 10. | How can we be sure our swap is happening? |
| Q 11. | What do we do in an emergency and we cannot commit to a swap? |
| Q 12. | How do we update our personal information? |
| Q 13. | How do we add/update our listing details? |
| Q 14. | Why is there no specific box or boxes for 'Number of Travellers' information? |
| Q 15. | What is So Simple Holiday Swaps Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions? |
| Q 16. | How can I see the newest listings? |
| Q 17. | How can I find my Favourites, and view my Tour Planner? |
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| Q 1. | How does it work? |
| A 1. | Like everything else in life, this site only works if you use it.
Holiday Swaps is the vacation alternative where you stay in my holiday accommodation and I stay in yours.
You simply contact the other owner, make your arrangements, preferably fill out an agreement, and have free holiday accommodation in a different place.
You may live in the UK and wish to visit the US. A suitable swap in the US may want to visit Australia. A member in Australia may want to visit near you. By using some organising skills, a favourable result can be achieved for all concerned.
Please note the code number of your listing. When you contact another member to arrange a swap, give them your code number so they can easily find your listing.
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| Q 2. | How much does it cost, and why should I donate? |
| A 2. | Membership is free until we have 500 members. After that......I haven't decided yet, but it will probably be Au$22 per year. (Click 'Links' and click 'Currency Converter'.) This will allow members to have two listings. Any extra listings will require a separate membership.
Any fixed amount at all is to make sure that all those who join are genuine and serious about enjoying the benefits of holiday swapping. The amount is about one third of that charged to join most home swap sites, and one tenth of the annual cost charged by timeshare companies just for property maintenance.
I will probably include a voluntary donation’s box. The site has cost me real time and real money to create and administer, and will continue to do so. I am the designer but my programming skills are limited, so I have to pay a programmer to do all the technical work. There are also the annual domain and hosting costs. I hope to continue not having advertisements in the swap modules.
I originally set up the site to avoid Eileen and I paying $20,000 for a timeshare. I thought why not start a website where we could swap the holiday apartment we already own? I only thought of charging to cover my domain and web hosting costs, and some of my time.
Any fee would not be payable by existing members until their annual renewal date. If you didn't want to pay, you would simply not renew.
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| Q 3. | How can we receive HALF PRICE or FREE membership renewals? |
| A 3. | Any member may recommend this site to their friends by LOGGING IN and using the Tell A Friend email modules on the site. If a recommended person joins, they MUST enter your five digit I.D. number in the field box on the Registration page designated "Recommended By". This I.D. number is sent to them automatically with the email.
If you tell your friends through your normal communication you will have to tell them your I.D. number.
One new member recommended by you entitles you to HALF PRICE annual renewal when due. Two new members entitles you to a FREE renewal. |
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| Q 4. | For my HALF PRICE or FREE membership renewal, who should I recommend this site to? |
| A 4. | Anyone you know who has a holiday apartment, house, condo, villa, cottage or cabin; a timeshare; a hotel, motel, resort, retreat, or spa; an inn or pub; a B&B; a farmstay; a caravan, campervan, motorhome, off-road vehicle set up for camping, or a van park; a yacht, houseboat, or canalboat, in charter or not; anyone who runs tours, safaris, or charters; or anyone who may be interested in doing a home swap for a holiday. |
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| Q 5. | How do I know which of my friends I recommended this site to have joined, and when? |
| A 5. | You will receive an email advising that someone you recommended the site to has joined and entered your I.D. number in the Box 'Recommended By' when they registered. You may check a historical record of people who have done this by logging on to the site and clicking on the link 'Edit Your Personal Details'. On the RHS is a link to 'History of Recommended Members'. |
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| Q 6. | What is the difference between my Membership I.D. and my property listing code? |
| A 6. | Your membership I.D. number is a five digit number beginning with "0". It is to be given to your friends if they wish to join. You receive membership fee (when we have them) discounts if they join and enter your I.D. number on the joining page. You only have one membership I.D. number.
Your property listing code is a six digit number beginning with "1". It is allocated to each listing you add. When you log in with your username and password, and 'edit your listing details' it appears at the top of the page when you select a listing. You can have more than one listing and listing code.
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| Q 7. | Will our name, address, phone number, etc., go out to everyone on the Internet? |
| A 7. | No, they will not. Visitors browsing through the site will find only the general description of your swap, along with the accompanying photos. No personal identifying information will be available to them. Only members of the site will have access to this information, and only what you allow to be viewed. |
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| Q 8. | What do we do if we receive several enquiries? |
| A 8. | Always always always reply to every contact!
Find the Full Details page for their listings and save them to your 'Favourites'. Try to decide which holiday swap you would prefer and commence negotiations. If you are able to take more than one holiday within a reasonable time you may wish to commence negotiations with more than one party. This may be particularly handy if you are planning an extended tour of a country or countries.
The 'Tour Planner' will allow you to keep track of your timetable. With all the other contacts, you should reply and inform them that you are already in negotiations with another member, but that you will keep a record in your 'Favourites' of their enquiry for a later date. |
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| Q 9. | How many swaps can we have each year? |
| A 9. | As many as you want. This is especially useful if you intend to take an extended tour of a country or countries.
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| Q 10. | How can we be sure our swap is happening? |
| A 10. | You and the family you are exchanging with should sign an agreement. There are examples on our site. Using facsimile or post, both parties should receive a signed copy.
Then both parties should purchase their airline tickets. These should then be exchanged by faxing, posting copies, or scanning and emailing the airline tickets between each other.
While this is done to ensure peace of mind for both parties, this should all happen diplomatically as offence may be taken. |
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| Q 11. | What do we do in an emergency and we cannot commit to a swap? |
| A 11. | Panic! Well it works for me.
If you are swapping with your own home, and you have no other property, try to arrange alternative accommodation for your guests. This may cost you money but it is better than losing your reputation. Maybe another member in your area has a property available. Maybe your house is big enough to accommodate everybody, at least for part of your guest's stay.
If your guests are to be staying in your holiday property you don't have a problem. Just negotiate another time for you to travel, if possible. |
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| Q 12. | How do we update our personal information? |
| A 12. | If you want to update your personal information you need to login to the site using the Name or Username and Password selected by you for the Holiday Swaps site.
Go to http://www.sosimpleholidayswaps.com and click on 'Member Login'.
Enter your Name or Username and Password, click on the 'Login' button, and if login is successful, click on the link 'Edit Your Personal Details' to update the personal information.
You cannot change your Name or Username yourself. If you wish to change your Name or Username you must Contact Us giving your present Name or Username, or your five digit I.D. number, and your preferred Name or Username.
You can change your Password at any time. |
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| Q 13. | How do we add/update our listing details? |
| A 13. | If you want to add/update the swap details then you need to login to the site using the Name or Username and Password selected by you for the Holiday Swaps site.
Go to http://www.sosimpleholidayswaps.com and click on 'Member Login'. Enter your Name or Username and Password, click on the 'Login' button, and if login is successful, click on the link 'Add New Listing' to add details of a new swap, or click on the link 'Edit Your Listing Details' to update the details of your existing swap. |
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| Q 14. | Why is there no specific box or boxes for 'Number of Travellers' information? |
| A 14. | I thought there were too many variables and complications with this.
We have 3 choices for "Children permitted?": "Yes", "No", and "Open for discussion". There would be many more choices to complicate things if we also allowed selectable field boxes for "Number of bedrooms", Number of double beds", "Number of single beds", etc. As this is predominately a site for swapping holiday accommodation including hotel, motel, and resort rooms and suites, B&Bs, and tours etc, there could be many circumstances where there could be different rooms or extra rooms available or portable beds and airbeds.
And then people's circumstances change, and a potential swapping contact and negotiation may not happen because of incorrect information not updated.
If required, relevant information can be entered in the 'Description'. |
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| Q 15. | What is So Simple Holiday Swaps Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions? |
| A 15. | Part I. Information Collection
So Simple Holiday Swaps collects information through our web site at several points.
We collect information which our users provide about themselves and property they own or are agents for.
We do not verify the accuracy of this information, but rely on the integrity of the users.
We collect this information through a member personal registration form and a property listing form.
Non-members cannot view personal information about any member, and members can only view personal information that the provider chooses to permit to be viewed.
We do NOT employ cookies. A cookie is a small text file that some sites may place on your computer's hard drive to be a unique identifier.
Part II. Information Usage.
The information collected by So Simple Holiday Swaps will be used for the benefit of members to view property for holiday swapping, and to contact the owners or agents of that property.
Registered users will receive announcements from us confirming their registration and renewal, and may receive announcements querying their information provided, or about important changes to our web site or policies.
The information we collect will not be used to create customer profiles based on browsing. We will not supplement information collected at our web site with data from other sources [such as credit history].
We will not share data with third parties.
We offer links to other web sites. Please note: When you click on links to other web sites, we encourage you to read their privacy policies. Their standards may differ from ours.
Our web site offers [chats, forums or message boards]. Please be advised that information posted in these venues becomes public knowledge.
If our policy on information collection or usage changes, we will advise you by email.
Part III. Access to Information
Users may access their own personal information and make changes themselves, or contact us about inaccuracies they may find. Users may delete their non-mandatory information from our database, or contact us to remove all their information.
Part IV. Problem Resolution
If problems arise, users may contact So Simple Holiday Swaps by email.
Part V. Data Storage and Security
We realise how important the security of your personal information is, but we have no control over the security of the internet as a whole, other web sites, ISPs, or your system, so it is impossible to give a 100% guarantee.
Your data is stored on a secure server by a professional web hosting company who comply with Australian industry standards. Their server utilises a modern Linux based operating system that is maintained with the latest security patches and updates. So Simple Holiday Swaps cannot guarantee this security, but we will be monitoring their performance.
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| Q 16. | How can I see the newest listings? |
| A 16. | Log in to the site - Click 'Edit your Personal Details' - On the RHS is a link to the Most Recent (10) Listings. |
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| Q 17. | How can I find my Favourites, and view my Tour Planner? |
| A 17. | Log in and Click 'Edit your Personal Details'. On the RHS are links to both. |
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