VRBO Host cancelled stay because he forgot to raise rates

[Mindy Jensen]

A friend made a reservation on VRBO for Thanksgiving. The host had a 5-day minimum set and non-holiday pricing in place. (Friend didn't realize it was non-holiday pricing.)

Host sends friend a cancellation notice, and when pressed, responds with "I was traveling overseas, and didn't realize I hadn't set holiday pricing or minimums."

From a traveler standpoint, this is a dirtbag move. It isn't MY fault you forgot to change pricing, and now I have nowhere to stay, I've probably already made airline reservations that will have to be canceled at my expense because YOU forgot to increase your prices, etc. 

While I imagine it sucks to miss out on increased revenue, I feel that these online portals should have a consumer protection policy in place to prevent things like this from happening. 

What is a fair solution to both parties?

[Anand S.]

I guess I'm a dirtbag. This happened to me but it was for bookings so far in advance the guest could have easily found an alternative or agreed to pay for the fair market rate. 

[Anand S.]

Here's a good example -- Super Bowl is being held in Miami this year and it completely slipped my mind to raise rates for that weekend. I also found it suspect that someone booked 4 nights over that weekend almost 5 months in advance for one of my homes. Just last week a fellow host in town asked what I was charging for that weekend and I was like, why? Come to find out other hosts are charging 3 times the average rate and requiring a 4-day minimum stay. I haven't cancelled my current booking but I raised rates on my other homes. 

[Paul Sandhu]

Here's another example.  A few years ago Metallica was going to play in Tulsa, and the date of the sale of tickets was announced a few weeks in advance of the sale date.  We immediately booked 2 rooms at a hotel within walking distance of the stadium.  A few weeks later we bought tickets for the concert the day they went on sale.  Out of curiosity, I tried booking a room at the same hotel.  Price had gone up 50%.  Tried the next day, it was completely booked.

[Kathy Cooper]

I would never had cancelled the booking - it was advertised at that price they should have honored it. It will be a negative mark in their VRBO account (I believe) for cancelling a booking themselves, for any reason. 

[Katie Jewell]

This JUST happened to me.  I booked a property on VRBO.  Paid in full.  Just over a month later, I get an email that "Unfortunately the owners can not offer the booking at this rate", and I either need to pay double, or they will cancel me.     I called VRBO, who said they would email her.  She went ahead and cancelled me anyway.  

Well, a month ago there were tons of properties at the same price point, but now, 4 weeks out, there are none.  I call VRBO and ask about their "Book with Confidence Guarantee" which states "You qualify for the Program if you incur a loss of funds due to a Protected Incident (a “Loss”);"   If I have to book a new place at 2x the cost because that's all that's left, wouldn't that be considered a loss?  

Not for VRBO.  They said there was nothing they could do.  When I asked to talk to a manager, the rep hung up on me.   I tried twitter - they responded with the same answer. 

The "Guarantee" is completely false, and clearly just a marketing scheme.   Last I checked extortion wasn't an approved business practice

[Kathy Cooper]

Good customer service is important, yet ignored alot I suppose. I believe a STR manager/owner should look at the overall picture and not just the booking bottom line. I definitely would have honored the booking and have taken the financial hit because it was my mistake. There is something to "false advertising". Our listings are advertising certain prices and we should honor them. It is really bad business to cancel because you didn't' manage holiday pricing. Booo

[Nathan Toothaker]

I am in a related situation right now as a host. 

I use a channel manager to sync my calendar between AirBNB and VRBO and also to control the pricing on each site. On the channel manager I blocked all dates starting December, 1 2022. I intend to make December available, but for a variety of reasons, I have not been ready to open my calendar that far out.

The dates got blocked on Airbnb but for some apparent technical reason, the nights did not get blocked in VRBO, but without the import from my dynamic pricing, the platform just defaulted to my minimum nightly rate. 

Someone booked this morning for December 27-31 for $125/night when the market value rate is around $450. I messaged them within 45 minutes and explained that the dates should not have even been available but we would allow those dates for them but that the rates would need to be adjusted. I apologized multiple times for the mix up. I haven't heard back form the guest yet 12 hours later.

My best case scenario is that the guest is understanding and is willing to cancel on their end but if they are not, I do plan to cancel on my end. If I end up having to cancel, I will plead my case to VRBO that it was a legit reason, but I also would be willing to deal with the penalty if need be since almost all of my bookings come from AirBNB.

Thoughts? Advice?

[Colin Thomas]

This has also happened to me a few times. I block my calendar so guests can't book more than 6 months in advance and I use Pricelabs with some custom rules for the holiday periods. If it were my mistake, I would honor the rate - and take the hit to revenue and put a plan in place (which I have now) to not let it happen again. 

Cheers!

[Jon Martin]

Quote from @Nathan Toothaker:

I am in a related situation right now as a host. 

I use a channel manager to sync my calendar between AirBNB and VRBO and also to control the pricing on each site. On the channel manager I blocked all dates starting December, 1 2022. I intend to make December available, but for a variety of reasons, I have not been ready to open my calendar that far out.

The dates got blocked on Airbnb but for some apparent technical reason, the nights did not get blocked in VRBO, but without the import from my dynamic pricing, the platform just defaulted to my minimum nightly rate. 

Someone booked this morning for December 27-31 for $125/night when the market value rate is around $450. I messaged them within 45 minutes and explained that the dates should not have even been available but we would allow those dates for them but that the rates would need to be adjusted. I apologized multiple times for the mix up. I haven't heard back form the guest yet 12 hours later.

My best case scenario is that the guest is understanding and is willing to cancel on their end but if they are not, I do plan to cancel on my end. If I end up having to cancel, I will plead my case to VRBO that it was a legit reason, but I also would be willing to deal with the penalty if need be since almost all of my bookings come from AirBNB.

Thoughts? Advice?

I dunno. I'm old school when it comes to transactions and feel that the price is the price, so if the vendor makes a mistake (even if a 3rd party is ultimately at fault) then the vendor should eat that. If this were a transaction with someone closer to me or a long time customer/client relationship that would be different, but for a simply transaction with someone unknown to me I would be firm. 

Crappy situation and something you should elevate to VRBO but I'd rather eat the cost then potentially piss off a guest who might take it out on you in the reviews, which could cost you more in the long term.