Our VRBO won’t give us a refund

[sweetpeama]

Could a list of those property owners offering through VRBO and not giving refunds be done be started and then contacting them with this.
You Hello Owner of the property that I was going to rent near WDW that I am not now that the parks are going to be closed during the time I was going I was wondering if you were going to refund my money
Owner No your past the cancel day
You I just want to let you know that there is a list of VRBO owners by locations that have been effected by these closures and how they are responding to guests who are having to cancel their vacations with litle to no warning at no fault of their own would you rather I state that you at least gave a 75% refund plus my cleaning fee or that you kept my entire amount
Owner You can't do that
You oh yes I can and I will because I don't feel that those VRBO owners who are giving at least partial refunds should be grouped in the same catagory as people like you.

Now the only question I have is something like this illegal. I would tag Jack the Attorney who has been on the shows a few times to talk about legal issues but can not for the life of me recall his disboards name. If someone someone knows his disboards name and wants to tag him somehow go right ahead.
I do think that there could be a list of those who did not get refunds for their VRBO rentals when they had to cancel their vacations due to covid-19 made with the stipulation that if someone wanted to know the name of the owner they contact that person through the private message feature, So let's say 2 years from now I am interested in a property and I know that CinderellaDreamer rented and did not get a refund for this I can send a message and say I am looking at renting this property do you know any information. If it is the same property CinderellaDreamer can respond back to me that this is the one that I was refused a refund for. I can then use that information to decide if I am going to rent from them or not. Personally I can guarantee that I will not be renting from that person.

 

[lorenae]

We rent our Florida home on Airbnb. Here is Airbnb’s statement on this today:


We have guests booked in April, and we haven’t heard from them whether they wish to cancel or not. I have no idea what they will do. However, if they cancel, whenever it is, they will get a refund. It’s not their fault that travel is ill-advised, that they may find that they can’t even keep their flights, they may be sick themselves, etc.

I would love to be able to keep their money- but that is the wrong thing to do and I would never do that to someone. The house is available to them, and no one else can book until/unless they cancel. That’s just the cost of doing business, and I would never punish them for trusting me.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

I don’t see how the owner can in good conscious deny a refund. It’s like they are taking the potential guest’s money without services being rendered. Sorry about your luck. Could have been anyone. Doesn’t look good for future business.

The guest is deciding not to receive the services, not the owner. Both parties entered into the contract knowing the cancellation terms.

It's a crap scenario on both sides.

 

[Brianstl]

You are renting accommodations and are guaranteed nothing but the accommodations. The accommodations are available to you. The owner is not responsible for Disney closing the parks. Would it be nice if the owner would try to work something out or offer a partial refund? Sure, but they are under no obligation to do so.

This is the risk you take when you go with a rental and that risk results in a reduced cost in the price you would pay vs. staying in any similar kind of accommodations at a hotel.

 

[Rxdr2013]

This makes me nervous for my cruise in July. I booked a vrbo for 2 nights in San Juan PR. I actually did get their insurance plan. I am hoping everything will be better by then, but who knows. I am also in the middle of trying to contact hotwire for a hot rate booking refund of Art of Animation for mar 27-30. No luck getting thru on phone, but I have emailed them. Of course this time I got my in-laws to book thru hotwire too, you know it was such a better deal! Doubt they will listen to me and book hotwire hot rate again.

 

[Ashleybs]

We rent our Florida home on Airbnb. Here is Airbnb’s statement on this today:
View attachment 480773

We have guests booked in April, and we haven’t heard from them whether they wish to cancel or not. I have no idea what they will do. However, if they cancel, whenever it is, they will get a refund. It’s not their fault that travel is ill-advised, that they may find that they can’t even keep their flights, they may be sick themselves, etc.

I would love to be able to keep their money- but that is the wrong thing to do and I would never do that to someone. The house is available to them, and no one else can book until/unless they cancel. That’s just the cost of doing business, and I would never punish them for trusting me.

Good for you for seeing it this way!

I couldn't keep someone's money in good conscious either.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You are renting accommodations and are guaranteed nothing but the accommodations. The accommodations are available to you. The owner is not responsible for Disney closing the parks. Would it be nice if the owner would try to work something out or offer a partial refund? Sure, but they are under no obligation to do so.

I agree with this

This is the risk you take when you go with a rental and that risk results in a reduced cost in the price you would pay vs. staying in any similar kind of accommodations at a hotel.

I don't agree with this.

Booking through VRBO doesn't have anything to do with costs. You may end up paying less but it's up to the owners what they charge. It's not about not staying in a similar kind of accommodation at a hotel and somehow getting less.

We've booked VRBO for FlipKey (which is through TripAdvisor) in the past for certain places because it made sense to do so..a townhouse in Austin because we had 5 adults and wanted to be in the same general space, a place in The Lake of the Ozarks because it was in the same community we had been staying before at a place the in-laws knew and the community was in a perfect location, a condo in Hawaii because it had the most fantastic views right on the beach and was away from the hustle and bustle--it was def. less than many hotels right on the beach but there were other factors in play too, etc.

If you had just said this is the risks you take with a rental I would have agree with you. However, there are risks with hotels too. Certain situations you may find yourself in a more favorable position with a hotel, particularly a large hotel chain, though. But that's still not dependent on price.

 

[ozliz]

Could a list of those property owners offering through VRBO and not giving refunds be done be started and then contacting them with this.
You Hello Owner of the property that I was going to rent near WDW that I am not now that the parks are going to be closed during the time I was going I was wondering if you were going to refund my money
Owner No your past the cancel day
You I just want to let you know that there is a list of VRBO owners by locations that have been effected by these closures and how they are responding to guests who are having to cancel their vacations with litle to no warning at no fault of their own would you rather I state that you at least gave a 75% refund plus my cleaning fee or that you kept my entire amount
Owner You can't do that
You oh yes I can and I will because I don't feel that those VRBO owners who are giving at least partial refunds should be grouped in the same catagory as people like you.

Now the only question I have is something like this illegal. I would tag Jack the Attorney who has been on the shows a few times to talk about legal issues but can not for the life of me recall his disboards name. If someone someone knows his disboards name and wants to tag him somehow go right ahead.
I do think that there could be a list of those who did not get refunds for their VRBO rentals when they had to cancel their vacations due to covid-19 made with the stipulation that if someone wanted to know the name of the owner they contact that person through the private message feature, So let's say 2 years from now I am interested in a property and I know that CinderellaDreamer rented and did not get a refund for this I can send a message and say I am looking at renting this property do you know any information. If it is the same property CinderellaDreamer can respond back to me that this is the one that I was refused a refund for. I can then use that information to decide if I am going to rent from them or not. Personally I can guarantee that I will not be renting from that person.

I think this is very harsh. These are often regular people with an investment or holiday property and the income from renting through VRBO may be going to mortgage repayments, taxes, etc. There’s a big difference between renting through a multinational chain who may have a buffer to address such downturns the virus is going to cause versus the everyday person who may already be out of the income they live off (what if they’re in casual employment or the service industry and likely to get laid off if customers are all stuck at home). While it’s nice if owners are willing and able to provide a refund, if you’re past the cancellation date why should they be the one to bear the cost? We’re all likely to financially suffer from this virus, the only thing you can rely on is the terms in your contract or travel insurance policy.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

I think this is very harsh. These are often regular people with an investment or holiday property and the income from renting through VRBO may be going to mortgage repayments, taxes, etc. There’s a big difference between renting through a multinational chain who may have a buffer to address such downturns the virus is going to cause versus the everyday person who may already be out of the income they live off (what if they’re in casual employment or the service industry and likely to get laid off if customers are all stuck at home). While it’s nice if owners are willing and able to provide a refund, if you’re past the cancellation date why should they be the one to bear the cost? We’re all likely to financially suffer from this virus, the only thing you can rely on is the terms in your contract or travel insurance policy.

To pile on: What if the homeowner could have rented their property to someone that was coming to Florida for a non-Disney reason and still would be coming later this month? Their property was not available for booking due to OP's reservation so they lost that rental.

It seems like a lot of people think it's a simple "I'm not staying so I shouldn't pay" but there is a lot that goes into this. I'm sure the host would love to not be in this situation just like the OP but it kind of is what it is.

 

[MDIME]

I own a vacation rental on the coast of Maine. I have a 60-day cancellation policy i.e. no refunds if cancelled within 60 days. With each new reservation, I email each guest a confirmation along with the very strong suggestion to purchase trip insurance. With that said, I had my first COVID19 cancellation yesterday. He was about 65 days outside of his Check in day and he knew this (Yay for guests that are on top of things!) Of course I refunded his $ bc that’s the policy, I did offer for him to wait a few weeks to see how it plays out and would still offer a 100% refund. I also have dates available in September that have a higher rental rate but I offered him the rate he booked if he wants to move his dates. He was super appreciative but opted to cancel bc he is traveling with his elderly parents. If the situation arises of cancellation within the 60 days, then I will just take it on a case-by-case basis.
Moral of the story: TRIP INSURANCE, BUY IT. ALWAYS.

 

[Lewisc]

Moral of the story: TRIP INSURANCE, BUY IT. ALWAYS.

Trip cancellation insurance generally excludes cancellation due to epidemics and pandemics.

 

[lovethesun12]

Moral of the story: TRIP INSURANCE, BUY IT. ALWAYS. ☺

No, not always buy trip insurance. I rarely buy trip insurance (other than what I have through my credit card/work for medical) because it doesn't always cover cancellation anyway. The money is often better saved. Many people who have purchased it are not covered because it does not cover pandemics. Many purchased it and still are not recovering losses so they are out what they paid for trip insurance (often hundreds) in addition to their other losses.

 

[2Gma]

I agree this is a no win situation for either party. Travel is not considered a safe thing to do during this time. Should the renter be penalized? It's not the owners fault that people can't come, should that lost revenue fall on the owner? I realize this is an issue and that is why I asked the owner to go 50/50 with us. 50% not our fault, 50% not their fault. I understand they have no obligation to help me but it would be good from a business standpoint. I did buy the VRBO included trip insurance but it doesn't cover epidemics. VRBO Corporate response has been terrible (see my above post).

 

[wilbret]

I’d say find a twitter tag or something and make them feel it. I wouldn’t rent from a company that isn’t flexible at a time like this.

 

[georgina]

I think this is very harsh. These are often regular people with an investment or holiday property and the income from renting through VRBO may be going to mortgage repayments, taxes, etc. There’s a big difference between renting through a multinational chain who may have a buffer to address such downturns the virus is going to cause versus the everyday person who may already be out of the income they live off (what if they’re in casual employment or the service industry and likely to get laid off if customers are all stuck at home). While it’s nice if owners are willing and able to provide a refund, if you’re past the cancellation date why should they be the one to bear the cost? We’re all likely to financially suffer from this virus, the only thing you can rely on is the terms in your contract or travel insurance policy.

I agree with this. We had a B&B reservation for an event last summer. When I made the booking the owner explained that a large portion of the up-front payment would be non-refundable because they had a similar event cancel the year before and lost a lot of money on cancellations. We also paid more than the regular room rate because of the special event. DH and I agreed to that, and of course the event ended up cancelled. We still went and stayed at the B&B, and the owner did refund the premium and just charged us the regular price which I was happy about. We book airbnb and VRBO often, and I understand the rules. I have never booked in Orlando, always other vacation destinations. I have seen postings that the DVC rental places are not refunding either.

 

[lovethesun12]

I agree with this. We had a B&B reservation for an event last summer. When I made the booking the owner explained that a large portion of the up-front payment would be non-refundable because they had a similar event cancel the year before and lost a lot of money on cancellations. We also paid more than the regular room rate because of the special event. DH and I agreed to that, and of course the event ended up cancelled. We still went and stayed at the B&B, and the owner did refund the premium and just charged us the regular price which I was happy about. We book airbnb and VRBO often, and I understand the rules. I have never booked in Orlando, always other vacation destinations. I have seen postings that the DVC rental places are not refunding either.

I've never rented with VRBO/airbnb/etc but still do not agree with this. If you plan to run a rental you own a business and it should be treated that way. We have often tossed around the idea of purchasing a house in orlando to rent but I would never, ever do that unless I had the ability to cover the monthly costs if 0 people booked.

Assuming you will have the bookings needed to cover costs every single month for years is just not responsible. Yes I can understand not allowing cancellations for the normal reasons if they booked a rental because everyone would do it. But to enforce a full payment when they receive 0 service and are literally recommended by the country to stay home? Bad business.

 

[wilbret]

We have 2 condos in Panama City Beach that haven’t been rentable since Michael. That’s 17 months.

 

[RedsDrew]

Many times I’ve booked non refundable hotel rooms, flights and other travel related services - all without trip insurance. I get that it sucks. But I also get that it’s a risk. By going the lesser expensive route and not buying an insurance policy it always comes with a chance for a higher price in the end.

At this point I think the situation should not be viewed as though “This time I’m screwed.” I think it should be viewed as “Look at all the times I’ve booked travel and lucked out.”

 

[Coffee66]

We have 2 condos in Panama City Beach that haven’t been rentable since Michael. That’s 17 months.

Maybe can't rent but your insurance probably made you whole+

 

[mckennarose]

Moral of the story: TRIP INSURANCE, BUY IT. ALWAYS. ☺

Trip cancellation insurance generally excludes cancellation due to epidemics and pandemics.

And excludes natural disasters... like hurricanes, once they're "named". Hurricane Dorian taught me that one.