VRBO requests - Should I deny this?

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I have found that almost all of the requests I am getting from VRBO are people who don’t read the listing and try to book with children. The listing clearly states its an adult only property, yet they keep on requesting to book. Then they all act confused about the pricing, but I don’t really understand why its not being made clear to them when they put through a request.

I received an inquiry this morning for a week in September. Its a good inquiry, and we will get paid $1400. She said it was for “2 people”. I sent her a reply saying:

“Thank you for reaching out about our guest house. We have the entire month of September available up until the 23rd. If you are interested in booking, please let me know who will be staying and why you are visiting. We do live on the property and just want to make sure the guest house is suited for your needs. We don’t allow children at this time. Thanks a lot and please let me know if you have any questions.”

To which she replied to me with “thanks for getting back to me, please let me know the cost and the details”. She ignored all my questions. So I am going to hit the deny button. I am not sure if I should reply again, or simply deny. I already have a bad taste in my mouth.

What would you do?

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If they won’t answer your questions, then deny.

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I go through the same thing with Air. People just don’t read! I would reply to her with your questions to give her one more try. But that’s just me. I’m not to my limit with being fed up yet. Yet… :slight_smile: BTW I’m originally from Scituate, RI. Most of my family still lives. Have great memories of No school Foster/Glocester! LOL

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Violent while drunk and he got his money back? How does that happen?

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If you are receiving a lot of reservation requests without them reading, then that is a problem. It will affect your conversion rate and VRBO will display you lower in search results. It seems there are more looney tune travelers running loose these days and they have no idea what they are even purchasing when they submit their credit card details.

Now if you are just referring to “inquiries,” then the most likely reason you are getting ones (not meeting your requirements) is because VRBO pushes the traveler to inquire on multiple properties. So the traveler may have been initially looking at one property, and then they are prompted to inquire to more that HA pushes in their face.

So I might receive an inquiry saying “how close are you to the lake and do you have a boat?” - And I would think to myself…what possible pics would even give anyone the idea that I have a boat for their use.

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I had no idea about them pushing to reach out to multiple hosts, so that makes a little more sense as far as them being only inquiries. The guest still didn’t answer my questions so I am most likely going to deny.

Langcoeur - That is awesome!! Everyone makes fun of Foster because of the “no school fawstah glawstah” lol.

FelixCat - That is really scary about the chargebacks. The only people we have booked with through VRBO were amazing and we would have them back in a heartbeat!

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You’ve seen one guest, you’ve seen one guest!

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I know it! We have been very careful with VRBO. We have gotten over 10 inquiries and only accepted the one. Airbnb has been great though. No major problems with anyone and we are on guest group number 13 right now.

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Doesn’t the credit card require a reason/proof?

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Anyone can file a chargeback with their CC company, and the company will reverse the charges… The company who accepted payment from the card can respond with proof, but it sounds like VRBO doesn’t offer help in responding, so you would lose the money. Then you could sue the guest in court which would be a total pain in the a$$!

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Plus I believe there is a charge to even question the chargeback as I understand it. I’ve never used them. I’m too afraid of all these stories!

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Yes, every time a chargeback is successful, the credit card company will add on a chargeback fee. So not only would the guests get a free trip, you would be giving a fee back to the CC company. I am going to have to switch my VRBO payments to paypal. I had no idea VRBO was that bad but I hate to remove the listing because a ton of people are finding us through it!

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I am so with you on this one. I find requests on VRBO to be more perfunctory than on Air. Maybe because VRBO does not push user photos or personal details. The prospective guests tend to write short, terse messages and indeed, I had a similar exchange where they ignored my questions and just asked more. And they are always asking about the cost – isn’t it transparent when you select you dates? Evidently not.

But I do have a lovely someone in my cottage right now for a week stay and that is the thing about VRBO folk - they tend to want longer bookings for some reason. Almost ALL my week-long renters are VRBO.

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This happens to me so frequently, that if I didn’t accept such guests, I’d be out of business!

I think guests are so distracted - she may have seen the first little bit of info on her phone then just moved on.

Maybe give her one more chance?

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This must rank as the strangest question from inquiries. The charges are listed with their inquiries, so they are asking for what? Confirmation? The same with the details, which are included with the listing; so what details are they interested in?

/Good information about VRBO @felixcat. Had no idea.

/Question - can you direct VRBO payments to PayPal? Did I read that wrong?

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Mearns,

I agree completely. These questions are what turned me off so I didn’t even bother replying.

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It sounds like a set up for a scam. If your listing is new on VRBO they may be targeting you and hope you fall for it. Mark it as spam.

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