VERY delayed payments with VRBO/Homeaway?
Manvel, TX · Member since 2014 · 309 posts · 127 votes
We've been using AirBnB for the past year with no problem. Bookings were slumping so we listed with VRBO and got a 2 month reservation within 24 hours. HOWEVER, the guest payed on 5/31, and they say we will not receive payment until 7/3. What the heck?!?!
I looked on the community forum and found a message saying that for your very first time using their payment system, they would hold it for 30 days. I called customer service since it did not seem possible that was correct. Yes, it is correct. Also, since 30 days falls on a Friday, they'll be disbursing it on Monday, and oh by the way, it will take 5-7 days for you to receive payment after it's disbursed.
Looking through the forums it appears that there are big problems with their payment processor. Do any of you know of workarounds for the terrible payment system?
I’ve been waiting 3 weeks for a payout of $2,351. I called HOMEAWAY/VRBO/EXPEDIA10 days ago and they promised they would send it on May 12, 2020. They did not send the payment to my bank. I’m glad I recorded that call.
What’s concerning is they paid several smaller payments in the meantime that were booked WEEKS after the reservation for the reservation of $2,351.
My conclusion is that HOMEAWAY/VRBO/EXPEDIA have a serious problem; a lack of working capital. As a result, they are are improperly using owner’s rental fees to fund daily operations. They are not paying out the larger amounts for that reason. By paying the smaller amounts they think we will be satisfied.
HOMEAWAY/VRBO/EXPEDIA is protecting its employees and executives salaries to our detriment. It’s criminal. They are being dishonest and hiding their the fact that they on the verge of bankruptcy.
I guess it would have been good to see this first:
@Leigh Ann Smith I've never heard of a 30 day hold before, even on new bookings. We started using VRBO in November and never had any such hold. They do work similar to Airbnb though in that they don't process payment until 1 day after the check in (then it still takes the 5-7 days to receive payment.)
Is 7/3 the check in date? Also, since the booking is over 30 days, they typically disburse payment in 2 parts, so not sure if that might have something to do with it as well
@Leigh Ann Smith, I know that when we started, the payments were on hold until closer to the persons stay until you had some experience. I believe the idea is that they don't want someone creating an account, taking a bunch of reservations and getting paid and then shutting down their account. I believe their is a seasoning time frame then you can call them and get it switched over to a quick deposit into your account.
@Leigh Ann Smith, I know that when we started, the payments were on hold until closer to the persons stay until you had some experience. I believe the idea is that they don't want someone creating an account, taking a bunch of reservations and getting paid and then shutting down their account. I believe their is a seasoning time frame th
en you can call them and get it switched over to a quick deposit into your account.
@Leigh Ann Smith this wasn't the case when I signed up for VRBO but it may well be now. They've had fraud issues as @John Underwood mentioned.
Side note, the VRBO payment processing system is a pain to deal with in general, hopefully this is the last time you'll have to call them, they aren't speedy or generally pleasant in my experience. :(
Good to know about the fraud motivation, @John Underwood . But you'd think that after the guest checks in, it should be fine to process the payment if they didn't hear about any problems from the guest. I believe this is a very new policy. The check-in date was today. My guest paid her first half-payment on 5/31, and they won't send the payment to us until 7/3 (+5-7 days to receive it!).
@Leigh Ann Smith, Once VRBO gets going the payment process works great. I can download a detail spreadsheet for all my payments within a date range I specify.
One a side note I got my first Airbnb reservation finally and I haven't received any payment from Airbnb. I typically get the first payment that was taken by VRBO in a short time frame.
I don't know with airbnb is holding this payment and it doesn't work very well as compared to VRBO from my point of view.
@John Underwood Airbnb pays out the day after the guest checks in.
@Ariel Smith @Peter R. @John Underwood , please take a look at the message I just posted, "Annnnd I think my first VRBO guest is a scammer". I could use some advice from other hosts pretty quickly. :-/
I have just started using VRBO and still not received any payments . The 30 days from receipt of payment from first guests came and went . The 5 to 7 business days after they release funds cane and went . Then I was told they had required additional information about me. That was provided and I was told I would receive money by the end of the week . WEednesdsg evening I was asked for all of my information again ? Now, who knows when I shall receive any payments . 2 guests have come and gone so far, third one booking in on Friday . Not a cent in my account . Also , as an example, I have a UK bank account . Once I release money from that account to my USA account it takes 2 hours . When I sold stock recently it took 48 hours . I guess. VRBO are using carrier pidgeons or Pony Express . Extremely unimpressed so far .
@Leigh Ann Smith As soon as you said “2 month guest” I assumed scammer, regardless of the rest if the story. Anything over 30 days they have tenant rights and you’ll have to evict if they don’t leave. I would never accept a booking that long. Scam city. Then again my market average is only 2-3 days so it would be a giant red flag.
I would call VRBO. Call 3 or 4 times until you can get someone in the Texas office they seem to be the most helpful.
AirBnB started an early payout program a few months ago and it's not bad. They only charge a 1% fee and give you half the money 3 days after the guest books and the remainder as usual. It's invite only but I expect it to roll out to seasoned hosts. We've been using it for about 3 months.
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1917/what-is-early-payouts-for-hosts
Hi - if someone still sees this thread I’m hoping you can help me out. We just had our first VRBO rental and there are no signs of getting paid even though the guests paid HomeAway. We have more guests coming in a few days, but i have no desire to continue doing this for free. The customer service chat said I’ll get an e-mail explaining everything; i should let the next guests in and I’ll get in....then they hung up on me. I have no idea WHEN i’ll Get paid. I would appreciate any invite on how to get this resolved. Thank you, K
@Karen Prodromo, the first question to ask if do you have a "pay-per-booking" (PPB) listing or a subscription listing? If you have a PPB then the payment is not released to you until the day after your guest checks in (just like Airbnb).
If you have a subscription listing then the answer is "it depends". LOL
See the information at the link below:
https://help.vrbo.com/articles...
One of the factors is that Vrbo/Homeaway has recently begun to be their own payment processor, instead of VacationRentPayment (VRP). So the older listings might still be using VRP while newer listings' payments might be handled through the in-house merchant processor.
"Funds will typically be disbursed one business day after check-in and should be available in your bank account 5–7 business days later. In some cases, disbursements may be delayed if the booking was made last minute or close to the check-in day. This is because the credit card payment from the traveler needs to fully settle in our payment system before the payment to you will be released.
You can check in your account when a payment is due to be disbursed to you. To find the disbursement date for a payment, view the payments section of the reservation. You can also view your Payout summary report to see an overview of the funds you have received after commission and fees withheld from rental amounts have been deducted.
Please note for a first time user, your first traveler payment through our system is disbursed to your bank account one day after your traveler’s scheduled check-in date or 30 days from the date of your traveler's payment, whichever date is later. Any other traveler’s payment(s) made in the interim will be disbursed 30 days from the date of the first traveler payment or one business day after the interim traveler checks in, whichever is later."
We've been using Airbnb with no problem but after a recent slump we signed on with VRBO even knowing there would be a delay in payment and their fee was higher than Airbnb. We had several guests with VRBO and after 30 days they finally initiated a payment that was immediately returned by my back saying the information did not match their records. I called VRO and they could not explain why and issued a trouble ticket to their billing team. The ticket went unanswered and I called back and they apologized and issued another trouble ticket. After a couple weeks I got an email while on vacation if the issue was still a problem and when I didn't respond in 40 minutes (I was on the beach) they emailed me saying since I didn't respond they are closing the case as he had to leave for the day. I called them again to have a new ticket issues. A couple weeks later I got an email to have me re-enter my payment information. When trying to enter my payment information I kept getting an error message. I called again and a new trouble ticket was issued and absolutely response until I went viral on social media and I got a response for the escalation team saying they will assist. However they never got back to me nor responds to my emails. After posting on their Facebook page the social media team refers me to emails previously sent - which as explained here never even closely came to a resolution. This has now been going on for months and they owe me thousand and no resolution in site.
Does anyone have experience suing these idiots?
@William Gibbs Your situation is one reason I don't use those vacation rental sites. I get most of my initial rental inquiries through Craigslist. They pay me rent after I show them the STR. Sometimes I give them a drug screen first. But that's another story.
I’ve been waiting 3 weeks for a payout of $2,351. I called HOMEAWAY/VRBO/EXPEDIA10 days ago and they promised they would send it on May 12, 2020. They did not send the payment to my bank. I’m glad I recorded that call.
What’s concerning is they paid several smaller payments in the meantime that were booked WEEKS after the reservation for the reservation of $2,351.
My conclusion is that HOMEAWAY/VRBO/EXPEDIA have a serious problem; a lack of working capital. As a result, they are are improperly using owner’s rental fees to fund daily operations. They are not paying out the larger amounts for that reason. By paying the smaller amounts they think we will be satisfied.
HOMEAWAY/VRBO/EXPEDIA is protecting its employees and executives salaries to our detriment. It’s criminal. They are being dishonest and hiding their the fact that they on the verge of bankruptcy.
Only last week I experienced a delay of my $2700 payment from VRBO. Calling customer service I was basically told I would be paid when I get paid attitude!!!
Miraculously my payment email arrived a few hours later. My advise is for the whole community to keep pressure on delayed payments. I note that on the day of my phone call in the background CNBC had an interview with the CEO of Expedia talking his share price up. These people need to be monitored closely. They obviously have problems.
Hi Leigh Ann
I’ve only just spotted your posting.
I’ve been with HomeAway for around 8yrs and generally the service has been acceptable however, since they teamed up with VRBO everything’s gone to pot especially where payments are concerned.
This year has been a nightmare I expected and accepted things would be very diffIcult for everyone considering COVID-19 epidemic however, I still think payments have been delayed for far too long. I’ve literally waited for months for payments to reach my account, I had guests made an instant payment May of this year I don’t expect this payment in my account until mid Aug!
Totally unacceptable, this needs to change or I take my business elsewhere.
Les U.K.
I’ve only just started viewing these reviews and experiences, makes horrendous reading, very worrying, I’m still waiting for payments to be released into my account after instant payments were made months ago.
My Fiance' and I own 5 condos on Lake Erie in Port Clinton, Ohio. We have been with VRBO for 18 years. They were an outstanding Advertising agency when we signed up and only charged $175 per year per condo. We handled all the scheduling and finances. Since Expedia bought them out they want their fingers in the pot WAY TOO MUCH. We are now charged $500 per condo and they want to handle the money and CHARGE OUR CUSTOMERS. Recently they have DELAYED paying us for 6 rentals that have been there and already gone. These people paid Expedia weeks ago and EXPEDIA HASN'T PAID US. My advice to new owners is to advertise through Air BnB and NOT VRBO. Air BnB chargs 3% and VRBO charges either the yearly $500 plus 3% per booking or 8% per booking if you don't pay the annual fee.
I have been a host on Vrbo for many years. I started with CYBERRENTALS when they were a one room office. They sold to HOMEAWAY, who became VRBO, and now VERBO. This season I had very few bookings and I am always fully booked. In checking my account, someone had gone in and changed my email and phone number. The phone was from Dominican Republic! Luckily I had security questions on file ( as I could not sign in on my owners account because the codes were being sent to the fraudulent email and phone) and I reached a customer support rep who spent a long time, but deleted the fraudulent info and replaced my own info and contacts information. That was in early June. On July 4th, Vrbo deposited $6714.75, which was a final payment for a booking of mine, into someone else’s account! I have been trying ever since to get my funds. Vrbo says that my account was hacked ( evidently for a second time)… but how do I know this is the case and that someone on the inside did not divert my funds? I have used the same bank for my payouts, for 12 years! After restoring my information in June and removing the fraudulent info… did No one on their security team notice that my payout was being sent to an entirely new bank?
Vrbo in the meantime, deactivated my listing ( that I pay for) while they investigate. So I’ve lost most of the booking season. I am in maine and we have a short season. It is now august 25 and I have had no response or help from Vrbo. I contacted their legal team many weeks ago. I’m still missing $6714.75 and it appears that I am not going to get it back. Does anyone have any ideas of what to do next? I am very disappointed in what Vrbo has turned into. I almost feel as this could be someone on the inside diverting funds. I have actually been advised to notify the FBI. In reading some of these posts, it appears that MANY hosts are now having issues with VERBO. I was a very satisfied customer for 26 years ( starting with CYBERRENTALS) but I sure am not a happy customer now! But I have 70 five star reviews on my listing, that it has taken me YEARS OF HARD WORK, to get… so I can’t quit them.
I have been a host on Vrbo for many years. I started with CYBERRENTALS when they were a one room office. They sold to HOMEAWAY, who became VRBO, and now VERBO. This season I had very few bookings and I am always fully booked. In checking my account, someone had gone in and changed my email and phone number. The phone was from Dominican Republic! Luckily I had security questions on file ( as I could not sign in on my owners account because the codes were being sent to the fraudulent email and phone) and I reached a customer support rep who spent a long time, but deleted the fraudulent info and replaced my own info and contacts information. That was in early June. On July 4th, Vrbo deposited $6714.75, which was a final payment for a booking of mine, into someone else’s account! I have been trying ever since to get my funds. Vrbo says that my account was hacked ( evidently for a second time)… but how do I know this is the case and that someone on the inside did not divert my funds? I have used the same bank for my payouts, for 12 years! After restoring my information in June and removing the fraudulent info… did No one on their security team notice that my payout was being sent to an entirely new bank?
Vrbo in the meantime, deactivated my listing ( that I pay for) while they investigate. So I’ve lost most of the booking season. I am in maine and we have a short season. It is now august 25 and I have had no response or help from Vrbo. I contacted their legal team many weeks ago. I’m still missing $6714.75 and it appears that I am not going to get it back. Does anyone have any ideas of what to do next? I am very disappointed in what Vrbo has turned into. I almost feel as this could be someone on the inside diverting funds. I have actually been advised to notify the FBI. In reading some of these posts, it appears that MANY hosts are now having issues with VERBO. I was a very satisfied customer for 26 years ( starting with CYBERRENTALS) but I sure am not a happy customer now! But I have 70 five star reviews on my listing, that it has taken me YEARS OF HARD WORK, to get… so I can’t quit them.
They told me it’s an internal issue and I’m not the only one effected. First thing I was told is that it’s a Computer glitch. Now an internal issue and many people effected. Still no money. It’s been 11 days.
Wow 8 years ago and this is still VRBO practice. Their policy which makes no sense it's like a penalty is that if you it is your first booking less than 30 days away to arrival, they will hold payout for 30 days after arrival. So in effect, you are renting a month without any rent paid to you. I can't find the logic, if after they arrive and confirm all is OK, why hold up the payment? Someone said small bookings go through it's just the large ones that are held apparently for the first payment received. Why if their already in the property! They don't give you any explanation for it and it places a hardship on the owner while they recieved their commission. They obviously use a ACH method of payout which is like a check but that's comming from VRBO, the traveler used a credit card. I wish they would at least explain why they do this to a new client. I rented for 45 days and I have to wait 30 plus 5 days to see just the 30 days rent, i will get the rest later.
I would find out where to send a demand letter to them and or ask for mediation to resolve it! It should not take this long. If fraud was committed on their website where your information should be secure, then they have insurance or they should pay you and turn it over to their insurance company.