Managment Software with Double Booking Alerts?

Question

I had a double booking yesterday. The worst kind. They both showed up at the house at the same time and that's how I found out about it. I checked my Your Porter calendar and sure enough two bookings on top of each other. In this instance it appeared to be a VRBO glitch but it did cost me a cancel on Airbnb.

Should be fairly easy for YP to alert me when there is a booking on top of a booking but it doesn't.

Anyone aware of a PMS that can do this? Thanks!

Should be fairly easy for YP to alert me when there is a booking on top of a booking but it doesn't.

Anyone aware of a PMS that can do this? Thanks!

Justin Anderson · Answer

I've spoken to the the director of the API development for vrbo on the phone a few times and they are legit.  (Software dev is my background)

He lamented the fact that they don't have a mature API and was constrained by their other internal priorities.  They don't have a solid timeline for updates (at that time) but knew exactly what needed to be done and how to do it.  Once upper management makes it a priority, I'm sure they'll do well.

Leora Merrell · Answer

@Mark Miles

Haha! That’s so true! And their app is terrible! BUT, I’m never put on hold if I have to call them and the guests that book on VRBO are top notch. Way less high maintenance than Airbnb guests. So far it’s been worth the pains. For now anyway....

Luke Carl · Answer

@Joe C.

Long story short the platform will find the guest somewhere else to stay.

Joshua Strickland · Answer

Smartbnb sends me an email alert when a booking can’t be synced so I know to follow up and call VRBO or Airbnb when this situation happens. Have only had it happen right after a booking so far though so not sure about later down the road.

Jerry W. · Answer

I only run 2 units and have had problems with double booking.  My most recent was an over lap of one day on a longer stay.  Luckily I had the other unit open and they agreed to free upgrade to it.  I actually lost my superhost status over a double booking that occurred when my town's internet went down for a day, when it came back on I was double booked.  I looked to see who booked first and told the other party the problem, and cancelled the last booking, and promptly lost my superhost status.  I now double check every booking immediately myself.  I wish I had too many so I was unable to do this, but I have set AIR BnB to autobook on my best house and permission only with AIR BnB.  I do like the guests I get from VRBO better than from AIR BnB, but AIR BnB outbooks the other by better than 3 to 1.  I really wish VRBO would have cohosts like AIR BnB, that has been a huge help in guest requests and cleaning.

Nancy Bachety · Answer

@Justin Anderson Hours to sync? That’s just no acceptable and if so, I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often. Yes, a VA can go and block manually but c’mon, we can fly a drone above Mars and we can’t stop double bookings?

Mike V. · Answer

@Luke Carl I know you’re not a fan of OwnerRez but I recently connected to their API and all bookings are handled through OR. I was told at the time of booking both Airbnb and vrbo api pull the data from OR making this impossible. The new Airbnb api works fantastic and allows me to message in Airbnb through OR.  All communication, payments etc push through OR and there’s really no reason for me to ever log into either. I didn’t think I could love ownerrez more but they found a way.

Justin Anderson · Answer

Even if you only allow instant book from one platform, you still have to wait X hours for the calendars to sync.  You can have a VA block manually or some PMS systems will sync more quickly, but the bottom line is there is always that window where a double booking can happen.

Joe C. · Answer

@Luke Carl Can I ask you how you handled this situation? If that was me I'd feel like I would be responsible for finding them a new place to stay, pay for it, etc. I'm just curious if I'm unrealistic in how to handle something like that because thankfully it has never happened to me.

Nancy Bachety · Answer

Sorry that happened and I have no answer to your question, sadly.

Not a solution, but how about instant book on only one of those platforms instead of both?

Managment Software with Double Booking Alerts?

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