Annnnd now I think my first VRBO guest is a scammer

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Annnnd now I think my first VRBO guest is a scammer

Leigh Ann Smith
Manvel, TX 路 Member since 2014 路 309 posts 路 127 votes

So, this woman paid $573 in advance and she owes another $573 on the day of check-in, which is today.  Yesterday she messaged and asked if she could check in early.  She's from out of town and is working nights at a hospital on a contract.   She was going to come at 10 and go to sleep before going back in tonight.  I said yes.  

She showed up at 10 a.m. and the 2nd payment wasn't in yet.  I showed her around and said that I hadn't received the 2nd payment.  She said, "Oh, it'll just take a couple of clicks on my phone to send it."  I said great, and went on back home.  Yes, that was mistake #1.  Then I started figuring out this mess about VRBO holding our funds and noticed she still hadn't made the 2nd payment. 

I gave her time to get her sleep in then went back over late this afternoon.  I told her about the VRBO payment problems, still not really suspecting any problem with her.  I told her I had just sent her a 2nd payment request through VRBO.  She picked up her phone and said okay, she'd take care of it.  She also told me that after she gets off work in the morning, she's off for a couple of days, so she's driving home.  You guessed it - she still hasn't made the 2nd payment.  So, I'm suspecting she doesn't have any intention of paying it....not today, in any case.

I'm thinking I need to text her and tell her that if she hasn't made the payment by the time she leaves tonight (about 10:30 p.m.), then she needs to take her things with her and I'll send a cancellation through VRBO.  I hate to come off as threatening like that and potentially lose a 2 month reservation, but.....

Any suggestions on how to handle it?

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Peter R.Pro Member
Investor 路 Orlando, FL 路 Member since 2016 路 152 posts 路 86 votes
9y

@Leigh Ann Smith if their check in was today, has VRBO warned you the payment did not go through?  Usually VRBO requires guests to fully pay before the check in.

I'd also go take a look at the VRBO payment download and see what name was on the credit card.  That's a big red flag usually, if the names don't match.

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  • Rachel Fazio
    Rental Property Investor 路 Little Rock, AR 路 Member since 2017 路 134 posts 路 71 votes
    9y

    I actually had an experience like that just recently. My (very first nightly rental!) guests had a credit card problem, wanted to reserve for a week but checked in and paid for one night because that was all they could get on their card. The next day they made a $500 payment to the card and thought it would clear instantly but it didn't; they showed me the screen shot of the payment, etc. etc. Long story short, they gave me an envelope with $200+ cash in it to hold, and I let them stay the second night. The third day their credit card cleared and they stayed 9 more days after that without payment issues.

    Although I am all for the protection the websites offer, they are not perfect and most people are not as financially responsible as those of us on the landlording side of things. You may want to think creatively if you really don't want to lose the rental. On the other side of things, those guests were not the best fit for me and the ones I've had since, sans payment issues, have been much better fits. So it's kind of 6 one way half dozen the other.

    Let us know how it goes!

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  • Peter R.Pro Member
    Investor 路 Orlando, FL 路 Member since 2016 路 152 posts 路 86 votes
    9y

    @Leigh Ann Smith if their check in was today, has VRBO warned you the payment did not go through?  Usually VRBO requires guests to fully pay before the check in.

    I'd also go take a look at the VRBO payment download and see what name was on the credit card.  That's a big red flag usually, if the names don't match.

    1Reply
  • Leigh Ann Smith
    OP
    Manvel, TX 路 Member since 2014 路 309 posts 路 127 votes
    9y

    I'm on it!  Thanks, @Peter R.

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  • Kevin Lefeuvre
    Los Angeles, CA 路 Member since 2016 路 565 posts 路 391 votes
    9y

    I don't think there's a big risk in your case for a two months stay. She's paid for one month already if I read you correctly. 

    Isn't she rather trying to check your place and leave an option for a shorter stay if she doesn't like it? 

    I would be more patient given there are 28 nights to go until the 2nd month.

    1Reply
  • Leigh Ann Smith
    OP
    Manvel, TX 路 Member since 2014 路 309 posts 路 127 votes
    9y

    Well.  I went to look at it, and she had made the 2nd payment.  馃槄

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  • Peter R.Pro Member
    Investor 路 Orlando, FL 路 Member since 2016 路 152 posts 路 86 votes
    9y

    @Leigh Ann Smith excellent news!  Once you get a bit more comfortable with VRBO payouts (and they stop holding your money!) you may want to see if altering your payment settings would make you feel more secure with the VRBO process.

    No matter how I break up payments for guests I always make the last payment due before check-in day.  And double check your refund policy too, you can set your levels how you like, i.e. 50% refund if cancelled a week before, or no refund, whatever works best for you.

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  • Leigh Ann Smith
    OP
    Manvel, TX 路 Member since 2014 路 309 posts 路 127 votes
    9y

    I wasn't very clear about that @Kevin Lefeuvre.  She requested to stay until 8/12.  I suggested we just do 30 days to start to make sure the tiny house would work for her and so that she wouldn't have to pay the total for a 2.3 month reservation up front.  I have the additional time blocked off for her. That also gave us an out if we didn't want her to stay longer.  She had no reviews on VRBO.

    Nevertheless, she HAD paid $573 for half a month already. @Peter R., the name does match her drivers license, however I didn't see any warning from VRBO about her not paying.  Hopefully this will be the end of the confusion.  

    I guess there is a learning curve every time you start working with a new platform.

    1Reply
  • Leigh Ann Smith
    OP
    Manvel, TX 路 Member since 2014 路 309 posts 路 127 votes
    9y

    I will definitely make that change, @Peter R.  I just went with the defaults.

    With Airbnb, the guest has to pay in full when they make the reservation, and I didn't think through the possibility of someone showing up without having completed their payment.

    0Reply
  • Matt Groth
    Contractor 路 Grand Marais, MN 路 Member since 2016 路 249 posts 路 417 votes
    9y

    We have had some issues in the past with VRBO. We get the second payment 30 days prior to check in. I wouldn't do any less than 15 days. You want all of the money in your account before the guest arrives.

    0Reply
  • Michael Greenberg
    Investor 路 Denver, CO 路 Member since 2016 路 533 posts 路 433 votes
    9y

    I have received random email requests but when I log into the website they are not there, so I ignore them.  Pay attention to the email address they are coming from.

    0Reply
  • Andrew Wong
    Investor 路 Milpitas, CA 路 Member since 2015 路 278 posts 路 155 votes
    9y

    VRBO is bad, I've had nothing but bad experiences (albeit only two) from it.

    For some reason reviewing isn't in the VRBO ecosystem culture, so it's hard to vet exactly who they are and if they're legit.

    I had to file a claim because my first VRBO guest cancelled their credit card, which in turn had me return the money. It took three months to settle that dispute, and I came away with less money than the guest had paid me due to some fees...

    1Reply
  • Ben Owens
    Ocala, FL 路 Member since 2017 路 15 posts 路 2 votes
    9y

    @Andrew Wong - Interesting experience. How many total VR visitors have you hosted for?

    0Reply
  • Jen Rogers
    Investor 路 Bennett, CO 路 Member since 2017 路 22 posts 路 6 votes
    9y

    That's interesting. I have used VRBO for the last two years and I haven't had a problem like that. While there are things about VRBO that I didn't like (the guest service fee), for the most part I was really happy with them and I had great guests. I liked that it was easy to control who was staying in property and I didn't have a problem getting in touch with my prospective guests before I accepted their reservation. I liked to have a conversation with them. I found Airbnb to be much more difficult in that respect and no longer use them because I felt as though I didn't have the control that I wanted.

    I also had my setting so that I required the full payment at the time of the reservation. I highly recommend that.

    Good luck going forward!

    0Reply
  • Jami Stufflebeam
    Savage, MN 路 Member since 2017 路 5 posts 路 1 vote
    9y
    We use VRBO exclusively and really like them. We tried flip key and airbnb but only had one rental from each and though airbnb had the money for over a month, I didn't receive it until after the guests checked-in. I cancelled the listings since we are almost always full with VRBO (85%+ occupancy). I require 50% at time of booking and 50% two weeks prior to check in. Best of luck!
    0Reply
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