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I am so frustrated with VRBO’s booking system. I have instant book on Airbnb and it makes it so straightforward. With VRBO, I have instant booking on and people can also request to book and then all I have to do is approve them and it will charge their card. But people almost never do that!
Nearly every inquiry I get is an inquiry I have to approve, and then it sends them a payment request. And they always take their sweet time to pay. Half of people I never hear from again, and the other half complete the payment a week later. So I don’t block dates for anyone until payment is made because there is a good chance I won’t hear from them again and could lose an Airbnb booking.
This is the third time in as many months that I woke up to see that someone had instant booked on airbnb, and then hours later the VRBO guest I had been answering questions for all week finally decided to pay for the booking - for the same night!
If this happened on airbnb, the date would show as no longer available since my calendars are synched and the payment could not be made. But not on VRBO. So now I have to cancel another VRBO reservation, which sucks.
I already have the calendars synched to block bookings. The problem is that if a VRBO starts an inquiry on Monday, but doesn’t make a payment til Sunday, I have no idea if they will actually complete the booking or not. And when the calendar is blocked, it doesn’t complete them from making a payment since they have already technically started the booking inquiry and been approved. So if an Airbnb guest books Saturday night and VRBO guest makes payment Sunday morning, then they have just paid for a booking that technically I approved them for but the date is no longer available.
@barefootNM -
I get about 90% of my guests from VRBO/Homeaway, so I’m familiar with them (and I have subscription, too). VRBO/HA shoppers usually research carefully and book ahead of time, so they don’t feel rushed. They are frequently older and more cautious. That’s particularly true for the larger properties. I’ve had the “BIN” (Book it now" - the 24-hour option) on for about a year, and less than one-third of my bookings use it as the first contact.
First - I recommend you do not have instant book on for both sites. I’ve picked AirBnB, since AirBnB has guest verification, and the AirBnB clientele tends to book closer to their travel date, so they want to instant book to be sure they get the property. VRBO travelers are used to the back-and-forth a little more, so most of them are happy with the 24-hour yes/no window of the “Book Now” option.
For VRBO, do NOT select “Reply and pre-approve”. Either reply with just a quote, or just reply. The pre-approval is what is getting you into trouble, since they get a message that all they have to do is pay and the place is theirs - and that option stays open for three to nine days (I can’t remember which).
I could not agree with you more. They took $3700 from my VISA. Sent me a confirmation email with no information about the rental. Nothing! Called a dozen times got passed around everywhere. No one could give me the address and a reservation payment receipt to show the front desk, no physical address to even KNOW WHERE TO GO when my wife and two young daughters land in a foreign country! No phone number nothing. When I called the last time 12 hours before leaving to the airport, I got a phone number. I had to write it on a napkin. They said they could not send an email! I have never seen anything like this! WORST WORST WORST! So disorganized. Still have not confirmed with the location. nightmare.
