How many on this site are tired of getting screwed by Homeaway?

Question

I have had enough. It used to be a good deal. Pay their annual fee. get advertising. Self manage your property. manage your calendar. Then the service fees started. They went from a few hundred per year on my one unit to a couple  thousand. Their  company revenues had to sky rocket. Then they stopped paying you upon the deposit and made us wait till the guest arrived. They also force you to use their payment system which is high. And now I am not sure I will get paid. I am at least two weeks past due on a late May guest.   And of course, no one to talk to.  Indefinite hold to talk to anyone. I am at a loss.  I cant renew with them if its stays like this. They have lost it.

Julie McCoy · Answer

@Arlan Potter I'll take this over AirBNB screwing me out of five figures of revenue by unilaterally deciding to refund my guests in full.

John Underwood · Answer

I have no complaints with Vrbo.

They provide 95% of my bookings.

I have noticed the taxes and fees are ridiculous to the person renting my house. Yet people are booking like crazy, at least on Vrbo.

Joseph Bafia · Answer

A little over a year ago, I agreed with what Arlan stated.  I thought it was ridiculous what VRBO/Homeaway was charging and I knew I had a better way and was not about to pay these fees that I could keep myself.  Bought into Lodgify and set up my own booking platform, paid the one time fee and all profits come to me.  Advertised on Instagram & Facebook and waited for the reservations, money and NO fees to start rolling in.  ....and waited, and waited, and waited.

I booked 1 reservation through that platform (and it was someone in my home neighborhood that I verbally promoted it to).  I now agree with John Underwood.  We book 90%+ with VRBO, a few with Airbnb and I've sine scrapped Lodgify.  Have no issues with them.

We don't have to like or agree with these sites, but they bring me awesome business through their exposure.  I could list with a Mountain Management Property Listing company in our area that books for people and they want 30-40%.  I self manage and am willing to pay VRBO because I charge what I need to charge knowing what the fees are, so although I do understand what Collin says about "affecting my rents", the alternative is what?....nothing.  I'll take what I'm getting today (we have almost every day booked from June-Sept so far) and we make good money doing it.

VRBO/Airbnb are vehicles you don't have to use, but I'll take them all day long!

Mark Miles · Answer

100% agree with Joseph. Half the nation is unemployed yet we’re all rich thanks to Airbnb and VRBO, and yet we sit here and complain nonstop. Seriously, WTF is wrong with us?

Michael Baum · Answer

I have a single rental and I am not seeing thousands of dollars in fees. I came onboard and I have been paid when the guest stays so I actually thought that was the norm. I plan ahead so it isn't a problem for me.

Paul Sandhu · Answer

I use Craigslist for my 23 STRs.  I'm getting screwed by the virus and the crude oil war between Russia and Iran.  Went from 73 refinery contractors in my STRs to 2 in about a 4 week period.

Collin Hays · Answer

POST OF THE YEAR!  ;)

Ken Latchers · Answer

I see the same complaints on a couple Facebook groups. I have no idea what owners are thinking when they whine about one of the big three OTAs. VRBO sucks. Airbnb stinks! booking.com is useless!

the problem is the owner, not the OTA.  You know they have limitations.  They are really there to make a profit for their owners or stockholders.

First,  you should never be on one OTA.  I've seen people who got the listed and it ruined  everything.

You should be on VRBO and Airbnb and booking.com!  You should sync calendars across them.  You should keep your prices higher because you will get more  inquiries .  You should use instant booking. You should master  the process and settings and wording and pricing on each.

For Heaven's Sake, stop whining. It is the owner's fault for the most part. We are in a pandemic.

Jessie Leonard · Answer

Ditto to what John Underwood was saying, VRBO is fine by me but they charge high taxes, fees that my guests are paying and not complaining.

Collin Hays · Answer

Those ridiculous taxes and fees paid by the guest are dramatically affecting your rents, whether you know it or not.

How many on this site are tired of getting screwed by Homeaway?

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