Finally went off-line with FlipKey and TravelAdvisor after 3 weeks of being bullied!

[konacoconutz]

@HelenSpinelli

Ok here is the latest that I have received from FlopKey - thanks for the new appropriate name - Unbelieveable that they are threatening ME when the guest cancelled and then FlopKey, in accordance with the recommended cancellation policy which is moderate by the way - they sent me the cancellation fee - said I had every right to it and now they want it back, REALLY! So I am not responding to this threat and I am going to contact the Consumer Protection Agency and the Attorney General’s office to complain about this harassment. Also, I have already shut down the listing therefore most of this is bogus.

Hello Helen,

Call us urgently to avoid losing your listing and reservations

We’ve now made several attempts to contact you about the outstanding complaint from ______ regarding their refund on the booking cancellation . The terms and conditions of our site require you to respond when you’re contacted by either us or a traveler.

This matter is now extremely urgent. Please call us on 1-877-FLIPKEY within 24hrs of this email being sent.

If you don’t contact us, we’ll have no choice but to:

Remove your listing(s) from our siteCancel all your existing reservations and refund payments to travelers in fullRefer this matter to our legal department

By not responding to the traveler about this complaint, you’re failing to comply with your obligations under the Advertiser Agreement.

We look forward to resolving this matter with you.

Regards,

Fabio

WHAT!!! They are totally NUTS!!! I will never ever take another reservation with this crazy company ever again.

[konacoconutz]

@Reeny

Okay, more bad news about Flopkey. I was out at a coffee shop–was taking away a sandwich, donut and coffee–when my cell went. Because the voice on the other end was so bad and I was finishing up, I went outside, forgetting my donut inside, and then, crossing the street, still holding the phone, I recognized the voice as the man who had called me earlier to join up with Flop.

The first time he called, he gave me so much fawning BS, that I just filled out the Flop form without him and while he was talking. When I told him I’d done so, and asked him why I needed his help/intervention, he asked me to change the email address because he said he was working on commission. I’m like, right. Like I want you, a complete stranger, to get a cut of my rental profit. So I hung up. This time, he said he was calling on behalf of a couple who wanted to book right then and there, so he was clearly using the carrot/stick method.

I was really angry. There was the 044 prefix, which is the UK, and I only answered because a friend’s husband there is waiting for the all clear from a cancer op and I thought it was her phoning. So I get to the other end of the crossing and wipe out. My phone goes spinning away, my sandwich falls (wrapped tho) and luckily my coffee is fine.

I know that the falling part was my fault, but fck, I wouldn’t have answered if I’d known it was these idiots again–the ones who got my phone number from VRBO. And fck VRBO. Why the hell do they insist on my putting my phone number out there. I kept getting messages saying I would get more bookings if I did so.

Sorry, but i really took a tumble and all over a distracting BS call from people who sound like idiots anyway.

UN-FREEKING-believable!!! Are you telling us that they farming out their sales efforts to random people off the street??? People who then want you to fork over part of your profits to THEM??
Who ARE these guys?

[konacoconutz]

@cabinhost

And if you did have future bookings would Flipkey actually follow through and cancel guest reservations??

And would they somehow “charge” you for it on a credit card, as per the new TOS Billy Bob said he was forced to sign? God I would get rid of all your reservations on FlopKey, ASAP. If you have the contact phone numbers for the confirmed reservations, call them individually and say you are canceling on the FK site and that they can re-book with you on Air. Very alarming behavior oin the part of the so-called, widely trusted “Trip Advisor,” which so many naive travelers think offers more “trusted” booking experiences than Air.

What a nightmare!

[konacoconutz]

Reeny, is it possible that this is a scam? It sounds so off-base… maybe it’s Nigerians trolling VRBO for phone numbers? You think the guy was really representing FK? Sorry about the donut. A call from the UK is so damn weird and seems really OFF.

[konacoconutz]

@Billy_Bob_Merkowitz

I’ve lost my voice screaming at some idiot in India named Frank.

LOL… don’t you love the way they adopt Western names when their accents are so strong you can hardly understand them?!

[HelenSpinelli]

Thanks for your comments and suggestions. Actually I have no reservations from FlipKey and I have gone off line with my listing so their threats in that regard are meaningless to me. I am worried that since they have my financial information they may try to get if from my account or something like that but I think that is stepping way over the line.

I am looking forward to the referral to their attorney since I think if they review the site and the cancellation policy they will agree that I have no obligation to return the funds though they will probably try to intimidate me. Actually in a very perverse way I am waiting to see if they actually follow through on their threats since it is so absurd. Good ole Fabio actually misspelled Flip Key in the closing statement.

[HelenSpinelli]

Hi Reeny,
I received a supposed FlipKey call from some man with a foreign accent offering me some kind of services and I told him I didn’t need any services. He then proceeded to call me three and four times a day. I looked up the number on the internet and there where a number of complaints lodged against this number from FlipKey hosts asking how did this person get their phone numbers so this is a REAL issue that Travel Advisor and FK need to deal with.

[cabinhost]

Reeny,

What a waste of a perfectly good donut! I’m not following this guy who called you. Is your listing displayed on Flopkey? Or was he trying to get your account set up by using his email address?

[konacoconutz]

@HelenSpinelli

Thanks for your comments and suggestions. Actually I have no reservations from FlipKey and I have gone off line with my listing so their threats in that regard are meaningless to me. I am worried that since they have my financial information they may try to get if from my account or something like that but I think that is stepping way over the line.

I am looking forward to the referral to their attorney since I think if they review the site and the cancellation policy they will agree that I have no obligation to return the funds though they will probably try to intimidate me. Actually in a very perverse way I am waiting to see if they actually follow through on their threats since it is so absurd. Good ole Fabio actually misspelled Flip Key in the closing statement.

Please keep us posted… this will be amusing to watch, as long as you are not in any danger of losing anything financially. I noticed FK never asked for my social security number and as far as I know as never reported me to the IRS. Wow, thanks for the heads up from all of you here… I might have been tempted to use them again!!!

The last guest they sent me in the summer (who walked off the property with 10 days on his reservation) was yelling and screaming at me about how much he had paid, and he was partially right. Now I have realized that they had charged him up front and full for the security deposit. That alone is such bad business!

[Reeny]

You could be right, but, they did see that I’d filled out the form and they said they were calling on behalf of Expedia. A few days earlier, I’d received an email from Expedia to the effect that they were taking on private rental properties, although they didn’t specifically say through Flipkey. I do think it’s them since the most important thing this man wanted was for me to list it under a certain email address, not a credit card number or anything else. But hey, what do I know? Maybe there is something fishier going on.

[Reeny]

No, he wanted me to change the email address that I had input as a contact email address. He said, ‘could you redo the application and use another email address?’ And then I asked why. I said, ‘Hey, I just did the form myself so I don’t understand why you’re even calling me. I can sign up on my own.’ That’s when he admitted that he would get a commission if I redid the form under a unique email address of mine. I get the feeling that the unique email address would be his proof that he’d signed me up. As it was, I’d beat him to it by filling out the form and submitting it while he was busy BSing me with all sorts of fawning talk.

And thank you for your condolences re: the donut.

[Reeny]

So is it genuine? Or is it a scam? I felt that I was speaking to a man working under boiler room conditions. He was trying very hard to get people to sign up in a certain way so that he could get a commission. He said he was from Expedia which owns (or operates) TripAdvisor.

[Reeny]

I know, but I did wonder if they were actually re-routing the call through the UK to make it seem more likely. The man had an Indian accent, said he was in Scotland and had a couple right there who wanted to book me for their trip to Montreal. That’s when I fell.

[HelenSpinelli]

Reeny - I think it was very much a scam since he kept saying he could increase my bookings and manage my property and I told him that is what FlipKey is supposed to do through their on-line platform so why would I need him and how can he be from FlipKey if he is offering the same service. Yeah when I reported it to good old Fabio who then in the next email threatened me, he said they would look into it since I had the phone number.

[konacoconutz]

@Reeny

You could be right, but, they did see that I’d filled out the form and they said they were calling on behalf of Expedia. A few days earlier, I’d received an email from Expedia to the effect that they were taking on private rental properties, although they didn’t specifically say through Flipkey. I do think it’s them since the most important thing this man wanted was for me to list it under a certain email address, not a credit card number or anything else. But hey, what do I know? Maybe there is something fishier going on.

OK. here’s what I don’t understand… This made news recently… But it’s stating that Expedia had bought Homeaway? Which has nothing to do with FlopKey? Very weird!!!

http://www.wsj.com/articles/expedia-to-buy-vacation-rental-site-homeaway-for-3-9-billion-1446672445

[konacoconutz]

@HelenSpinelli

Reeny - I think it was very much a scam since he kept saying he could increase my bookings and manage my property and I told him that is what FlipKey is supposed to do through their on-line platform so why would I need him and how can he be from FlipKey if he is offering the same service. Yeah when I reported it to good old Fabio who then in the next email threatened me, he said they would look into it since I had the phone number.

Very bizarre, all of this!!! Maybe it’s a scam and not really FK!!!

[konacoconutz]

@Reeny

So is it genuine? Or is it a scam? I felt that I was speaking to a man working under boiler room conditions. He was trying very hard to get people to sign up in a certain way so that he could get a commission. He said he was from Expedia which owns (or operates) TripAdvisor.

This is the same thing I experienced with Wimdu… although Wimdu is based in Germany… and these (American) guys openly admitted they got my stuff from Air. And even openly jacked a few of my Air photos! In the end, I turned out to like Wimdu. But that was how I was initially recruited to Wimdu.

[konacoconutz]

@HelenSpinelli

Hi Reeny,I received a supposed FlipKey call from some man with a foreign accent offering me some kind of services and I told him I didn’t need any services. He then proceeded to call me three and four times a day. I looked up the number on the internet and there where a number of complaints lodged against this number from FlipKey hosts asking how did this person get their phone numbers so this is a REAL issue that Travel Advisor and FK need to deal with.

Where did they get your phone number? Are you also on VRBO? VRBO openly lists phone numbers! I always wondered about that!

[Reeny]

I didn’t originally have mine listed. Then, I kept getting emails saying I would get more bookings if it were listed, so I reluctantly put it up. I didn’t get any more inquiries, but did get these calls. I’m very careful with my number. It doesn’t go out to just anyone. I really didn’t want to list it, but I was paying for VRBO and getting few bookings with them, so I did it.

[HelenSpinelli]

They must have gotten it from VRBO since I am listed there and get 60% of my bookings from them. I know it is not listed on FlopKey and of course not Air so it has to be them.