VRBO is now charging renters a service fee--What's up?
Mar 22nd, 2016, 01:57 PM
#61
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You can transfer money between personal paypal accounts.
I hope everyone put out or upset by this vents to VRBO in some way (might not help, but made me feel better!).
I have no idea how to go about paying for properties on VRBO now, if I find an owner with a place I want to rent who has a phone number. The owners didn't used to see my cc number, but I guess now they will have to have cc business accounts set up (in itself a pricey thing to do, I think), or accept Paypal (I haven't had personal checks in years, and cash is out of the question; maybe cashiers checks or money orders?)
I hope everyone put out or upset by this vents to VRBO in some way (might not help, but made me feel better!).
I have no idea how to go about paying for properties on VRBO now, if I find an owner with a place I want to rent who has a phone number. The owners didn't used to see my cc number, but I guess now they will have to have cc business accounts set up (in itself a pricey thing to do, I think), or accept Paypal (I haven't had personal checks in years, and cash is out of the question; maybe cashiers checks or money orders?)
Mar 22nd, 2016, 05:53 PM
#64
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My wife and I own a nice beach condo. We price it competitively and have been platinum VRBO subscribers. Just last weekI had a multi year repeat customer balk at the service fee. I had to try and explain the fee. Probably going to lose them. I never thought I would say this but I really hope there are some high power attorneys out there that will take Homeaway to the cleaners - I'm thinking billions here. Hopefully the pain will become too great and they will back off this stupid fee and leave things be. Between taxes, insurance, maintenance, mortgage payments, etc, there isn't a lot left over. So to cut my rent to offset the service fee isn't an option.
Mar 25th, 2016, 12:28 PM
#66
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As a vacation home rental owner and a subscriber to vrbo and homeaway I am very angry that my guests who we try so hard to provide good service to are being ripped of by these service fees. We can stop this. All vacation rental home owners could spend 15 minutes a day finding a venue to publicize this. Such as this one. The word will spread and soon travelers will know that there are ways to avoid these fees. We should all be listing on HomeEscape for free and avroa.org for a small fee. Work on our branding so guests can find us easily. Develop your own website if you haven't already. I give my guests very personal service and I know a lot of other homeowners do too. The big companies are so sure that what guests want is instant booking. I know that guests like knowing that we appreciate their business and realize their vacation time is precious to them. Here is an example of an email that I sent to 1500 former guests this week. If anyone id interested in plagerizing go right ahead 
***Avoiding Service Charges added by vacation home advertising companies***
Whether a future trip to St. John is in your plans or if you plan to stay in a rental home elsewhere this applies to you:
Please be aware that the majority of the major vacation rental advertising sites such as Homeaway, VRBO, Flip Key, and Tripadvisor are now charging user fees to guests. Homeowners and property managers pay a hefty fee to advertise on these sites. The new service fees are being added to the total we charge for our rental which you the guest pay.
In most cases you can avoid this. You can research these sites in order to find a house that suits you and check the owner’s reviews. You should be aware that the rental sites mentioned above will deliver results in order to place homes that book the most rentals using their service fee so you might want to search by price or be sure to scroll down the list. The perfect place for you could easily be at the bottom of the list.
Once you have found the right home try to contact the owners directly. If they have a personal website this is easily done. If not you may need to be bit more creative in your search. Some new sites such as HomeEscape.com or Avroa.org don't charge a fee to travelers, but because they are just starting out they don't have many listings.
Homeaway and VRBO in particularly are spinning this to guests as it helps guarantee your rental. It does not do any such thing. Good reviews from former guests do. It also claims to provide 24/7 support. That refers to their phone lines being open. They cannot not provide any assistance with emergencies that might occur in your rental house during your stay. Only the owner or property manager can do that.
As homeowners we appreciate our guests' business. We do our best to maintain our homes and provide great customer service. We pay to create our website and promote our business. We feel strongly that guests are being ripped off by these new fees. We all need to get the word out that these new fees are easily avoidable. Book directly with the homeowner!
Best Regards,
Susan
Susan Brierley
www.CalabashCottages.com
(340) 776-6368
16128 Spring Garden
St. John, VI 00830
***Avoiding Service Charges added by vacation home advertising companies***
Whether a future trip to St. John is in your plans or if you plan to stay in a rental home elsewhere this applies to you:
Please be aware that the majority of the major vacation rental advertising sites such as Homeaway, VRBO, Flip Key, and Tripadvisor are now charging user fees to guests. Homeowners and property managers pay a hefty fee to advertise on these sites. The new service fees are being added to the total we charge for our rental which you the guest pay.
In most cases you can avoid this. You can research these sites in order to find a house that suits you and check the owner’s reviews. You should be aware that the rental sites mentioned above will deliver results in order to place homes that book the most rentals using their service fee so you might want to search by price or be sure to scroll down the list. The perfect place for you could easily be at the bottom of the list.
Once you have found the right home try to contact the owners directly. If they have a personal website this is easily done. If not you may need to be bit more creative in your search. Some new sites such as HomeEscape.com or Avroa.org don't charge a fee to travelers, but because they are just starting out they don't have many listings.
Homeaway and VRBO in particularly are spinning this to guests as it helps guarantee your rental. It does not do any such thing. Good reviews from former guests do. It also claims to provide 24/7 support. That refers to their phone lines being open. They cannot not provide any assistance with emergencies that might occur in your rental house during your stay. Only the owner or property manager can do that.
As homeowners we appreciate our guests' business. We do our best to maintain our homes and provide great customer service. We pay to create our website and promote our business. We feel strongly that guests are being ripped off by these new fees. We all need to get the word out that these new fees are easily avoidable. Book directly with the homeowner!
Best Regards,
Susan
Susan Brierley
www.CalabashCottages.com
(340) 776-6368
16128 Spring Garden
St. John, VI 00830
Mar 29th, 2016, 06:15 PM
#68
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AS a property owner, we find this unacceptable! Their recent acquisition by Expedia, is the reason behind the fee. We encourage our guests to Ogunquit, ME to book with us directly to avoid such fees. Equating it to Air BnB is not right because the level of rental is different. Also, we discovered that they are promoting their hotel members along side the house rentals. Pay more, get less? Not for us.
Mar 29th, 2016, 07:36 PM
#69
"Equating it to Air BnB is not right because the level of rental is different."
If this is meant to say that VRBO is high end, Airbnb not, then you've haven't got it quite right. Airbnb has a whole range of choices, budget to budget-busting.
If this is meant to say that VRBO is high end, Airbnb not, then you've haven't got it quite right. Airbnb has a whole range of choices, budget to budget-busting.
Apr 1st, 2016, 06:12 PM
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We've been with VRBO since purchasing a rental cabin a year ago. In fact, our subscription is up in one week and we have to make a decisions as to renewing. We have opted out of their autorenew as advised on sites ranting about the new fees.
We issue our own rental agreements and collect payment via credit card or check from our guests that come to us through VRBO/HomeAway. The new service fees started showing up when we clicked on their "tell us how you get paid" link, or something to that effect. We have no need for their online booking nor do we need them to process credit cards. The instant we told VRBO about our payment metnods the quotes that are sent through their system started showing the service fees with no way to edit them out. That is one sneaky way to introduce their greed to us and our guests. I called and was told there was no way to edit this out and that we would now be responsible for charging this service fee to our guests and also responsible for paying this fee, that we would have to collect, to VRBO. Now, I understand that service fees are standard on other sites. We use AirBnB and Flipkey/TripAdvisor, which have guest fees, but we don't pay a subscription fee to use those services. I really hate this practice of double-dipping.
I am 50/50 right now on continuing with VRBO and hope that an alternative site takes root from this company's greed. What I have yet to figure out is, how do they plan on forcing me to collect this fee and how to they plan on forcing me to pay it to them given that guests contract with us and pay us directly.
We issue our own rental agreements and collect payment via credit card or check from our guests that come to us through VRBO/HomeAway. The new service fees started showing up when we clicked on their "tell us how you get paid" link, or something to that effect. We have no need for their online booking nor do we need them to process credit cards. The instant we told VRBO about our payment metnods the quotes that are sent through their system started showing the service fees with no way to edit them out. That is one sneaky way to introduce their greed to us and our guests. I called and was told there was no way to edit this out and that we would now be responsible for charging this service fee to our guests and also responsible for paying this fee, that we would have to collect, to VRBO. Now, I understand that service fees are standard on other sites. We use AirBnB and Flipkey/TripAdvisor, which have guest fees, but we don't pay a subscription fee to use those services. I really hate this practice of double-dipping.
I am 50/50 right now on continuing with VRBO and hope that an alternative site takes root from this company's greed. What I have yet to figure out is, how do they plan on forcing me to collect this fee and how to they plan on forcing me to pay it to them given that guests contract with us and pay us directly.
Apr 2nd, 2016, 05:56 AM
#71
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We have been owner-clients of HomeAway for 6 years and are unhappy about these new fees. We abandoned the typical property management system here at our Outer Banks beach house because it was expensive and they didn't take care of our property like we wanted. Now, HomeAway is forcing us to take online payments by adjusting their algorithms so that owners who choose not to use online booking go to the bottom of their property searches. This tactic is well advertised on their part. What is not advertised is what happens after owners choose to book online. We are now being assessed by YapStone, the party HomeAway uses to collect and disburse rents. Then, after vetting us, they will offer us one of two options: standard payments (which will deposits rents into our account at the time of booking) or Check-in payments, in which they will allow renters to put their final payment in up to 3 days prior to their check in. YapStone then has the right to hold that payment for up to 30 days before they deposit it into our account. That means that our renters can come and go before we ever see a payment. I haven't heard the results of our assessment yet, but I will bet the only people who are approved for standard payments are the Property Management companies who are using HomeAway as another advertising vehicle for their inventory. I imagine that as an indpendent homeowner, I will be waiting for YapStone to release my money to me after my renters leave.
Apr 6th, 2016, 05:40 AM
#74
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I have been using VRBO for 15 years, as both a renter and an owner. I am now done with them. I will not rent from them and I am actively looking for another site to list my property. I have not done a complete search yet but I found HomeEscape and will look for others also. I have no problem paying a fee or a subscription but the way this was done is unforgivable. This is a perfect opportunity for a new site to take the lead. All I want is a good solid platform that helps me manage bookings. Come on .com entrepreneurs show us what you got, there is enough interest to make it happen right now. We are all ready!
Apr 6th, 2016, 08:10 AM
#75
"Come on .com entrepreneurs show us what you got, there is enough interest to make it happen right now. We are all ready!"
If it's a startup you're wishing for, VRBO but not VRBO, I cannot imagine that the unrest would translate into owners abandoning a known quantity, even one that comes with some dissatisfaction, and go to a site with no traffic and no track record.
On the other hand, Airbnb would work perfectly well, except I seem to detect some snob factor among the VRBO owners, such as maxwellk above, that may prevent them from choosing this obvious alternative. They, too, charge a booking fee but users of the site have always paid it so there's no surprise. And there's no subscription fee, listings are free, the owner fee per booking small. And Airbnb will send a professional photographer to do your photos, also free. When renters think of renting private accommodation, most think Airbnb.
The choice seems to be between everyone getting ripped off on upscale VRBO, or join us regular folks on Airbnb.
If it's a startup you're wishing for, VRBO but not VRBO, I cannot imagine that the unrest would translate into owners abandoning a known quantity, even one that comes with some dissatisfaction, and go to a site with no traffic and no track record.
On the other hand, Airbnb would work perfectly well, except I seem to detect some snob factor among the VRBO owners, such as maxwellk above, that may prevent them from choosing this obvious alternative. They, too, charge a booking fee but users of the site have always paid it so there's no surprise. And there's no subscription fee, listings are free, the owner fee per booking small. And Airbnb will send a professional photographer to do your photos, also free. When renters think of renting private accommodation, most think Airbnb.
The choice seems to be between everyone getting ripped off on upscale VRBO, or join us regular folks on Airbnb.
Apr 6th, 2016, 09:46 AM
#76
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I wouldn't put it in such bald terms; there's a large range of type of accommodations on VRBO (but maybe not rooms in a house where the owner lives).
There are still ways around the gouging fees if the owner lists a phone number or other contact, and I bet that they would take checks or money orders (if they aren't set up with or desire to have cc ability) if a renter didn't want to deal with the new vrbo crap. Bet we'll see more of that, actually.
There are still ways around the gouging fees if the owner lists a phone number or other contact, and I bet that they would take checks or money orders (if they aren't set up with or desire to have cc ability) if a renter didn't want to deal with the new vrbo crap. Bet we'll see more of that, actually.
Apr 6th, 2016, 09:54 AM
#77
I'm going to guess that, after a transition period, direct contact information will no longer appear on listings. Just a guess but it seems the logical next step, "in order to serve you better". Watch out when they say they want to serve you better, it means they want to serve themselves better, standard corporate procedure.
Apr 27th, 2016, 10:42 AM
#78
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I have advertised on VRBO for 12 years and I am LIVID about their "service fee". My bookings are down by 80% this year.
ATTENTION TRAVELERS:
HOW TO BOOK WITHOUT PAYING VRBO's horrid "DISSERVICE FEE":
Yes, you can do this even if the ad has an istant "book it" button.
When wanting a quote or wanting to book.
JUST CALL THE OWNER'S PHONE NUMBER
or
click on "SEND EMAIL"
DON'T click on "get an instant quote" or the instant book now button if there is one. Just contact the owner directly by phone or email.They have set it up so, there are messages that pop up constantly that you MUST book through checkout on the VRBO in order to book the property. That is a LIE! Just call or email the owner directly!
As an owner who has complained by phone and email to VRBO many times about this "disservice fee", I can tell you they have trained their customer service reps to aggressively force us to have the "book it now" feature. They think if we have it, the traveler will think they have no choice but to click on it, and then they are roped into paying the service fee. I tried it just to see if it would improve my bookings. When it didn't and I tried to turn it off myself, as I used to be able to, I discovered that they have disabled an owner's ability to do so. We now have to call customer service to get "book it now" turned off. When I called them to turn it off, the rep was VERY aggressive about leaving it enabled. I am sure they have trained these people to do this. As an owner I feel our rights to manage our properties ourselves are gradually being taken away by VRBO. After 12 years I will look elsewhere for advertising next season. Their CORPORATE GREED has destroyed the website!
ATTENTION TRAVELERS:
HOW TO BOOK WITHOUT PAYING VRBO's horrid "DISSERVICE FEE":
Yes, you can do this even if the ad has an istant "book it" button.
When wanting a quote or wanting to book.
JUST CALL THE OWNER'S PHONE NUMBER
or
click on "SEND EMAIL"
DON'T click on "get an instant quote" or the instant book now button if there is one. Just contact the owner directly by phone or email.They have set it up so, there are messages that pop up constantly that you MUST book through checkout on the VRBO in order to book the property. That is a LIE! Just call or email the owner directly!
As an owner who has complained by phone and email to VRBO many times about this "disservice fee", I can tell you they have trained their customer service reps to aggressively force us to have the "book it now" feature. They think if we have it, the traveler will think they have no choice but to click on it, and then they are roped into paying the service fee. I tried it just to see if it would improve my bookings. When it didn't and I tried to turn it off myself, as I used to be able to, I discovered that they have disabled an owner's ability to do so. We now have to call customer service to get "book it now" turned off. When I called them to turn it off, the rep was VERY aggressive about leaving it enabled. I am sure they have trained these people to do this. As an owner I feel our rights to manage our properties ourselves are gradually being taken away by VRBO. After 12 years I will look elsewhere for advertising next season. Their CORPORATE GREED has destroyed the website!
Apr 28th, 2016, 04:25 PM
#79
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We list 3 homes in Costa Rica and one in the USA & pay over $2000 a year for these subscription listings. An owner has the option to pay no subscription fee and reservations are booked directly through the site for an 8% fee per booking, plus the traveler fee. We opted to pay the subscription (and have been with them for 12 years) so we could control and vet our guests and they could do the same with us. Our homes are luxury homes, in a foreign country, in a remote area, not child proof and we do not rent to large groups of people under 25 years of age (i.e spring breakers, bachelor parties...). When these sites book for you, there is absolutely ZERO control over who books. If you want to remain independent of their booking system, owners are penalized with listings being buried at the end which makes them look less desirable. We have MANY reviews, we contact and speak with our guests- we run our own business. NOW we are being told that unless we let them do this for us, we will be penalized by losing ranking- even with excellent reviews, constantly updated calendar & following all their rules. I had no idea of this new traveler fee and when one guest wrote asking why I was charging a $499 ( PER HOUSE) fee and I had no idea what it was, they were very confused- so was I.
For those comparing this to AirBnB, or other sites like that-no comparison. They charge no subscription fees. You get to add your listing for free- limited photos, limited text, no way to vet guests BEFORE they book (doubles the amount of time and the fees are not refundable if after you finally do get to contact them they decide it is not for them). They offer very many low rent rooms and broom closets along with complete homes but when we listed there for a very short time, every single request came through asking for ridiculous deals- we did get HUNDREDS of hits but why bother if every request was bargain hunter). They also automatically reduce the rate of a house if guests rents for more than a week, you cannot set your own cancellation policy. Owners have zero control and cannot save time by having direct contact with guests until AFTER a reservation has been made. But I don't blame them. THEY do all the work. But when an owner pays for a subscription, we PAY for those leads and should not be blocked from seeing them. But what is being threatened by Home Away & is being rolled out to any who are not strong armed into agreeing to their "Book It Now" feature- no contact details are going to be provided thereby cutting the owner completely out of our own discretion & experience and leaving rentals to a bunch of people who work in a call center and probably don't make enough $$ to even consider going on a vacation.themselves AirBnB is more of a bargain hunter site as far as I can tell. But at least they are not double dipping both owners and travelers. When my renewals come in Nov, I will NOT be re-listing. Inquiries have dropped by over 80% since these changes and it is not only with me- after reading many forums, I see many people are having these issues as well as many people I know in my area who also rent their homes.
For those comparing this to AirBnB, or other sites like that-no comparison. They charge no subscription fees. You get to add your listing for free- limited photos, limited text, no way to vet guests BEFORE they book (doubles the amount of time and the fees are not refundable if after you finally do get to contact them they decide it is not for them). They offer very many low rent rooms and broom closets along with complete homes but when we listed there for a very short time, every single request came through asking for ridiculous deals- we did get HUNDREDS of hits but why bother if every request was bargain hunter). They also automatically reduce the rate of a house if guests rents for more than a week, you cannot set your own cancellation policy. Owners have zero control and cannot save time by having direct contact with guests until AFTER a reservation has been made. But I don't blame them. THEY do all the work. But when an owner pays for a subscription, we PAY for those leads and should not be blocked from seeing them. But what is being threatened by Home Away & is being rolled out to any who are not strong armed into agreeing to their "Book It Now" feature- no contact details are going to be provided thereby cutting the owner completely out of our own discretion & experience and leaving rentals to a bunch of people who work in a call center and probably don't make enough $$ to even consider going on a vacation.themselves AirBnB is more of a bargain hunter site as far as I can tell. But at least they are not double dipping both owners and travelers. When my renewals come in Nov, I will NOT be re-listing. Inquiries have dropped by over 80% since these changes and it is not only with me- after reading many forums, I see many people are having these issues as well as many people I know in my area who also rent their homes.
Apr 28th, 2016, 10:58 PM
#80
Blondie, you are sorely ill-informed about how Airbnb works. Rather than making dopey assumptions, do your homework, then try it, you might like it. They give you all the control you want, among the other misconceptions.
