VRBO won't refund Sanibel stay for next week

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Friends of mine canceled their Florida trip that would have been right in the middle of the hurricane. VRBO said the only way they would get a refund is if they had insurance, thankfully they did. VRBO said no excuse, including mandatory evacuations would get a refund without insurance.

Makes you wonder how much of a kickback VRBO gets from the insurance companies.

This is true of every single vacation rental agency in the OBX. In NC, its perfectly legal as long as the renter is offered insurance, which every one of the NC contracts includes. You have to affirmatively decline the insurance. I have no idea what Florida law says about the issue.

[Anonymous]

Where is OP?? We’ve got 23 pages of people invested in knowing the outcome!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends of mine canceled their Florida trip that would have been right in the middle of the hurricane. VRBO said the only way they would get a refund is if they had insurance, thankfully they did. VRBO said no excuse, including mandatory evacuations would get a refund without insurance.

Makes you wonder how much of a kickback VRBO gets from the insurance companies.

This is true of every single vacation rental agency in the OBX. In NC, its perfectly legal as long as the renter is offered insurance, which every one of the NC contracts includes. You have to affirmatively decline the insurance. I have no idea what Florida law says about the issue.

I think the above scenario is a bit different in that this "friend" cancelled because a hurricane was on its way. Presumably they could have enjoyed a few days of vacation. In this scenario, I agree that they would need insurance.

I own a beach rental property (that is managed by a management company), and I would absolutely refund OP (I have had to refund folks after storms/hurricanes caused significant damage, because of no AC, because of no pool). S*** happens when you own a rental property. OP should absolutely leave a bad review explaining the situation. The owner is a garbage person. How long are they going to hold people to a contract that they can't deliver on because of a "hurricane" that has long since dissipated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends of mine canceled their Florida trip that would have been right in the middle of the hurricane. VRBO said the only way they would get a refund is if they had insurance, thankfully they did. VRBO said no excuse, including mandatory evacuations would get a refund without insurance.

Makes you wonder how much of a kickback VRBO gets from the insurance companies.

This is true of every single vacation rental agency in the OBX. In NC, its perfectly legal as long as the renter is offered insurance, which every one of the NC contracts includes. You have to affirmatively decline the insurance. I have no idea what Florida law says about the issue.

I think the above scenario is a bit different in that this "friend" cancelled because a hurricane was on its way. Presumably they could have enjoyed a few days of vacation. In this scenario, I agree that they would need insurance.

I own a beach rental property (that is managed by a management company), and I would absolutely refund OP (I have had to refund folks after storms/hurricanes caused significant damage, because of no AC, because of no pool). S*** happens when you own a rental property. OP should absolutely leave a bad review explaining the situation. The owner is a garbage person. How long are they going to hold people to a contract that they can't deliver on because of a "hurricane" that has long since dissipated.

While I agree with you that owner should refund deposit, and VRBO should support the renter in this case, I don't agree that anyone could have "enjoyed a few days of vacation" when an entire area is locking down/rolling up and many were already on the road evacuating.

I also don't understand why you use quotes around hurricane. There is absolutely no question this was a hurricane and one of the worst in U.S. history. And you are correct that the storm itself is over but have you even looked at the damage left behind? Sanibel is virtually demolished; that's a hell of a lot different than a/c that doesn't work or a pool out of order.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just looked on VRBO and there are rentals listed on Sanibel and Captive for today! that is criminal.

Some of the people who posted those listings might have died in Ian.

Or maybe they are hoping to book residents who come back to the island whose homes were destroyed but need a place to stay as they go through what's left. Or, for contractors to stay on the island as they help with repairs and reconstruction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where is OP?? We’ve got 23 pages of people invested in knowing the outcome!

Probably got a refund once the property manager could reach the owner to confirm and doesn’t want to come back and admit she threw a temper tantrum over something that turned out to be a nothingburger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is OP?? We’ve got 23 pages of people invested in knowing the outcome!

Probably got a refund once the property manager could reach the owner to confirm and doesn’t want to come back and admit she threw a temper tantrum over something that turned out to be a nothingburger.

Is that true, Op??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends of mine canceled their Florida trip that would have been right in the middle of the hurricane. VRBO said the only way they would get a refund is if they had insurance, thankfully they did. VRBO said no excuse, including mandatory evacuations would get a refund without insurance.

Makes you wonder how much of a kickback VRBO gets from the insurance companies.

This is true of every single vacation rental agency in the OBX. In NC, its perfectly legal as long as the renter is offered insurance, which every one of the NC contracts includes. You have to affirmatively decline the insurance. I have no idea what Florida law says about the issue.

was not true for us in 2020. Our rental company told us they would offer a pro rated refund if there was a mandatory evacuation (we were in Corolla), but only Hatteras got the order. But if there had been one we would have gotten a refund for those days. I can't remember which rental company it was but it was one of the big ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends of mine canceled their Florida trip that would have been right in the middle of the hurricane. VRBO said the only way they would get a refund is if they had insurance, thankfully they did. VRBO said no excuse, including mandatory evacuations would get a refund without insurance.

Makes you wonder how much of a kickback VRBO gets from the insurance companies.

This is true of every single vacation rental agency in the OBX. In NC, its perfectly legal as long as the renter is offered insurance, which every one of the NC contracts includes. You have to affirmatively decline the insurance. I have no idea what Florida law says about the issue.

was not true for us in 2020. Our rental company told us they would offer a pro rated refund if there was a mandatory evacuation (we were in Corolla), but only Hatteras got the order. But if there had been one we would have gotten a refund for those days. I can't remember which rental company it was but it was one of the big ones.

You had the insurance. That’s how it works. They don’t ask you if you want the insurance, you automatically get it, and they will only take it off if you proactively decline it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends of mine canceled their Florida trip that would have been right in the middle of the hurricane. VRBO said the only way they would get a refund is if they had insurance, thankfully they did. VRBO said no excuse, including mandatory evacuations would get a refund without insurance.

Makes you wonder how much of a kickback VRBO gets from the insurance companies.

This is true of every single vacation rental agency in the OBX. In NC, its perfectly legal as long as the renter is offered insurance, which every one of the NC contracts includes. You have to affirmatively decline the insurance. I have no idea what Florida law says about the issue.

was not true for us in 2020. Our rental company told us they would offer a pro rated refund if there was a mandatory evacuation (we were in Corolla), but only Hatteras got the order. But if there had been one we would have gotten a refund for those days. I can't remember which rental company it was but it was one of the big ones.

You had the insurance. That’s how it works. They don’t ask you if you want the insurance, you automatically get it, and they will only take it off if you proactively decline it.

I didn’t have the insurance. I know how insurance works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends of mine canceled their Florida trip that would have been right in the middle of the hurricane. VRBO said the only way they would get a refund is if they had insurance, thankfully they did. VRBO said no excuse, including mandatory evacuations would get a refund without insurance.

Makes you wonder how much of a kickback VRBO gets from the insurance companies.

This is true of every single vacation rental agency in the OBX. In NC, its perfectly legal as long as the renter is offered insurance, which every one of the NC contracts includes. You have to affirmatively decline the insurance. I have no idea what Florida law says about the issue.

was not true for us in 2020. Our rental company told us they would offer a pro rated refund if there was a mandatory evacuation (we were in Corolla), but only Hatteras got the order. But if there had been one we would have gotten a refund for those days. I can't remember which rental company it was but it was one of the big ones.

You had the insurance. That’s how it works. They don’t ask you if you want the insurance, you automatically get it, and they will only take it off if you proactively decline it.

I didn’t have the insurance. I know how insurance works.

Okay, well i'm not sure where you rented from but we've rented from pretty much all of them and that's how it worked. I guess yours was the outlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends of mine canceled their Florida trip that would have been right in the middle of the hurricane. VRBO said the only way they would get a refund is if they had insurance, thankfully they did. VRBO said no excuse, including mandatory evacuations would get a refund without insurance.

Makes you wonder how much of a kickback VRBO gets from the insurance companies.

This is true of every single vacation rental agency in the OBX. In NC, its perfectly legal as long as the renter is offered insurance, which every one of the NC contracts includes. You have to affirmatively decline the insurance. I have no idea what Florida law says about the issue.

was not true for us in 2020. Our rental company told us they would offer a pro rated refund if there was a mandatory evacuation (we were in Corolla), but only Hatteras got the order. But if there had been one we would have gotten a refund for those days. I can't remember which rental company it was but it was one of the big ones.

You had the insurance. That’s how it works. They don’t ask you if you want the insurance, you automatically get it, and they will only take it off if you proactively decline it.

I didn’t have the insurance. I know how insurance works.

Okay, well i'm not sure where you rented from but we've rented from pretty much all of them and that's how it worked. I guess yours was the outlier.

To add, we've had to do a mandatory evacuation before (we never take the insurance) and did not get a pro rata refund. The people who took the insurance did for the length of the evacuation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friends of mine canceled their Florida trip that would have been right in the middle of the hurricane. VRBO said the only way they would get a refund is if they had insurance, thankfully they did. VRBO said no excuse, including mandatory evacuations would get a refund without insurance.

Makes you wonder how much of a kickback VRBO gets from the insurance companies.

This is true of every single vacation rental agency in the OBX. In NC, its perfectly legal as long as the renter is offered insurance, which every one of the NC contracts includes. You have to affirmatively decline the insurance. I have no idea what Florida law says about the issue.

was not true for us in 2020. Our rental company told us they would offer a pro rated refund if there was a mandatory evacuation (we were in Corolla), but only Hatteras got the order. But if there had been one we would have gotten a refund for those days. I can't remember which rental company it was but it was one of the big ones.

You had the insurance. That’s how it works. They don’t ask you if you want the insurance, you automatically get it, and they will only take it off if you proactively decline it.

I didn’t have the insurance. I know how insurance works.

Okay, well i'm not sure where you rented from but we've rented from pretty much all of them and that's how it worked. I guess yours was the outlier.

I don't know what to tell you. It is the only time I've ever gone to the OBX and Hurricane Isaias came through. I don't know how it normally works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is OP?? We’ve got 23 pages of people invested in knowing the outcome!

Probably got a refund once the property manager could reach the owner to confirm and doesn’t want to come back and admit she threw a temper tantrum over something that turned out to be a nothingburger.

Is that true, Op??

There is no reason at all to believe this is true. I think this pp thought there were being really clever. Embarrassing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Send an email to a bunch of senior executives Expedia, including their CEO. Trust me.

OP, did you do this?

Why would OP contact Expedia?

Because Expedia owns and operates VRBO.