VRBO bait and switch - WWYD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VBRO's terms and conditions are slanted towards the owner. They can cancel up to 30 days prior with no penalty. They can cancel inside of that window and pay a penalty to VBRO (worth it if you can rent for more than the original booking plus the penalty). I'd sue the owner for breach in local small claims court. Either default them and let the judgment collect interest before seeking to enforce it or force them to fly here to defend the case.

I should't need to point this out, but you start out correct and say the terms are in the owner's favor. And then - screw that - sue them. What?
If OP agreed to those terms, small claims court will still follow that.

If no one shows, you get a default judgment. If they do then you waste their time and money. Either way it's a win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VBRO's terms and conditions are slanted towards the owner. They can cancel up to 30 days prior with no penalty. They can cancel inside of that window and pay a penalty to VBRO (worth it if you can rent for more than the original booking plus the penalty). I'd sue the owner for breach in local small claims court. Either default them and let the judgment collect interest before seeking to enforce it or force them to fly here to defend the case.

I should't need to point this out, but you start out correct and say the terms are in the owner's favor. And then - screw that - sue them. What?
If OP agreed to those terms, small claims court will still follow that.

If no one shows, you get a default judgment. If they do then you waste their time and money. Either way it's a win.

She’s not going to have a hard time getting her money back that’s already been paid! Especially since it went through VRBO.
I guess if wasting time is the ultimate goal, then it’s good advice. But OP is likely to miss out on other rentals the longer she waits. She isn’t going to force them to honor this rate as she thinks.

[Anonymous]

Do not cancel

Make the host cancel

In the meantime, make other arrangements

[Anonymous]

There is no way the owners are going to honor this rate if the real rate is truly double. Tons of time to re-rent it as most people don't start booking summer travel until December or January. I don't see what OP hopes to gain here. There isn't that big a penalty for owners to cancel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No fraud, you got the winter rate in the summer, but I assume you knew that?

THIS.

Both of you are nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a property on VRBO and only now did we update our summer rate for next year with our beach house.

The owner just has nit updated their winter rate for next summer. But OP knew that because the rate was likely too good to be true.

I would have done the same thing. Tell OP that this is our summer rate which we just updated and give her the chance to book at correct rate. If she doesn’t want to, she can cancel the booking. If she doesn’t cancel within 1-2 weeks, then I would as the owner.

BTW, full payment was likely not made by OP if it’s VRBO. It’s a despot which would be refunded. And the owner likely won’t see any if the money until after OP has actually checked in.

OP again - I did not know that. Why would I know your seasonal rates if you haven't posted them anywhere for me to see. YOU are the offeror of your property for rent. This is basic contract law. Legally this is a bait and switch under most deceptive trade practices acts.

When I was irritated with the whole issue but was fairly resigned to being practical and letting it go, but the people dogpiling on me for something a mistake that wasn't at all my fault makes me want to sue this host just to make a point. God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a property on VRBO and only now did we update our summer rate for next year with our beach house.

The owner just has nit updated their winter rate for next summer. But OP knew that because the rate was likely too good to be true.

I would have done the same thing. Tell OP that this is our summer rate which we just updated and give her the chance to book at correct rate. If she doesn’t want to, she can cancel the booking. If she doesn’t cancel within 1-2 weeks, then I would as the owner.

BTW, full payment was likely not made by OP if it’s VRBO. It’s a despot which would be refunded. And the owner likely won’t see any if the money until after OP has actually checked in.

OP again - I did not know that. Why would I know your seasonal rates if you haven't posted them anywhere for me to see. YOU are the offeror of your property for rent. This is basic contract law. Legally this is a bait and switch under most deceptive trade practices acts.

When I was irritated with the whole issue but was fairly resigned to being practical and letting it go, but the people dogpiling on me for something a mistake that wasn't at all my fault makes me want to sue this host just to make a point. God.

^^Should be "when I originally posted"

[Anonymous]

They can cancel your booking, refund your money, and book with someone who will pay double. This is what some hosts do. Not many but it happens. It's awful. Yes, I imagine it's illegal but no one cares in vrbo land. At least Op, you are being given the chance to match - what they now know they could get from someone else. You have been given the 1st chance. Op, if you get mad re: this stuff on vrbo, you do not have a thick-enough skin for how vrbo operates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a property on VRBO and only now did we update our summer rate for next year with our beach house.

The owner just has nit updated their winter rate for next summer. But OP knew that because the rate was likely too good to be true.

I would have done the same thing. Tell OP that this is our summer rate which we just updated and give her the chance to book at correct rate. If she doesn’t want to, she can cancel the booking. If she doesn’t cancel within 1-2 weeks, then I would as the owner.

BTW, full payment was likely not made by OP if it’s VRBO. It’s a despot which would be refunded. And the owner likely won’t see any if the money until after OP has actually checked in.

OP again - I did not know that. Why would I know your seasonal rates if you haven't posted them anywhere for me to see. YOU are the offeror of your property for rent. This is basic contract law. Legally this is a bait and switch under most deceptive trade practices acts.

When I was irritated with the whole issue but was fairly resigned to being practical and letting it go, but the people dogpiling on me for something a mistake that wasn't at all my fault makes me want to sue this host just to make a point. God.

Go ahead, sue VRBO and the host and waste your time and money. You won’t win.

Neither VRBO or the host intentionally mislead you. Nobody sets sumner rates 9 months before the season starts. It’s a clitch in the system that automatically carries the winter rates forward. The host responded right away and offered you a refund and the property at the correct market rate.

Sounds like you should just book a hotel if you can’t deal with something like this and typical online vacation rental stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a property on VRBO and only now did we update our summer rate for next year with our beach house.

The owner just has nit updated their winter rate for next summer. But OP knew that because the rate was likely too good to be true.

I would have done the same thing. Tell OP that this is our summer rate which we just updated and give her the chance to book at correct rate. If she doesn’t want to, she can cancel the booking. If she doesn’t cancel within 1-2 weeks, then I would as the owner.

BTW, full payment was likely not made by OP if it’s VRBO. It’s a despot which would be refunded. And the owner likely won’t see any if the money until after OP has actually checked in.

OP again - I did not know that. Why would I know your seasonal rates if you haven't posted them anywhere for me to see. YOU are the offeror of your property for rent. This is basic contract law. Legally this is a bait and switch under most deceptive trade practices acts.

When I was irritated with the whole issue but was fairly resigned to being practical and letting it go, but the people dogpiling on me for something a mistake that wasn't at all my fault makes me want to sue this host just to make a point. God.

Go ahead, sue VRBO and the host and waste your time and money. You won’t win.

Neither VRBO or the host intentionally mislead you. Nobody sets sumner rates 9 months before the season starts. It’s a clitch in the system that automatically carries the winter rates forward. The host responded right away and offered you a refund and the property at the correct market rate.

Sounds like you should just book a hotel if you can’t deal with something like this and typical online vacation rental stuff.

I lock in my summer rental in September. All places I look at have their summer rates posted for the next summer by then. It would never occur to me that their winter rates would be in the system for summer. Seems like the host should suck it up and honor the rate, but clearly the host isn't going to do that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a property on VRBO and only now did we update our summer rate for next year with our beach house.

The owner just has nit updated their winter rate for next summer. But OP knew that because the rate was likely too good to be true.

I would have done the same thing. Tell OP that this is our summer rate which we just updated and give her the chance to book at correct rate. If she doesn’t want to, she can cancel the booking. If she doesn’t cancel within 1-2 weeks, then I would as the owner.

BTW, full payment was likely not made by OP if it’s VRBO. It’s a despot which would be refunded. And the owner likely won’t see any if the money until after OP has actually checked in.

OP again - I did not know that. Why would I know your seasonal rates if you haven't posted them anywhere for me to see. YOU are the offeror of your property for rent. This is basic contract law. Legally this is a bait and switch under most deceptive trade practices acts.

When I was irritated with the whole issue but was fairly resigned to being practical and letting it go, but the people dogpiling on me for something a mistake that wasn't at all my fault makes me want to sue this host just to make a point. God.

Go ahead, sue VRBO and the host and waste your time and money. You won’t win.

Neither VRBO or the host intentionally mislead you. Nobody sets sumner rates 9 months before the season starts. It’s a clitch in the system that automatically carries the winter rates forward. The host responded right away and offered you a refund and the property at the correct market rate.

Sounds like you should just book a hotel if you can’t deal with something like this and typical online vacation rental stuff.

This is nonsense, any rental site lets you set the dates your property is available and the rates the property rents for on those dates. Even if for some strange reason it doesn't let you set variable rates in advance and forces you to only have one rate at a time, then it's the owner's responsibility to delist their property for the dates they don't want to rent it out at those rates. This is 100% on the owner for being too lazy or stupid to properly manage their bookings. If it's available for booking at an advertised price, that's the price.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I would lodge a formal complaint with VRBO, and state that I want my payment refunded.

I would ask for a refund and for them to block those dates for the owners since they’re trying to extort you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t know the rates for the property at that time, don’t list it for that time yet.

Exactly. The rental owners on here who are somehow trying to make this OP’s fault because they believed what was on the listing and didn’t read the owner’s mind are ridiculous.

Stuff like this is why I stopped using VRBO and AirBnB. OP, stop dealing with shady amateurs and call a reputable local rental agency.

[Anonymous]

I agree this is the owners mistake and I also agree that while OP is technically in the right she has no recourse. You should just let it go OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree this is the owners mistake and I also agree that while OP is technically in the right she has no recourse. You should just let it go OP.

This.

Find someplace else before everything books up.