General Help and Questions

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I just went live on VRBO a week ago. They have my sleeping arrangements all wrong and I've spoken to them many times and they cannot correct it. I can't correct it from my dashboard. 

That prompts my question:  I heard if I had created the vrbo API account in OwnerRez it would have been completed in 2 weeks or less. All I've done so far is bring my basic VRBO info over, but I haven't started API Integration yet. I was still told I did too much and it would be months from when I start now??

So, should I just create a new VRBO (no bookings yet or anything) and then do the API Integration the quicker route?  That would be two birds, one stone on correcting my VRBO and API faster?

Sorry if this was long. Very frustrated. 😩

What is the trick to plugging in specific dates for making reports (in any/all categories)! It is practically IMPOSSIBLE to keep the date that I selected to actually stay in the tab!
I will select a date, on "from" tab and then try to select a date on the "to" tab and then this happens:

• dates revert back to what was originally there when I started
• I have the dates I want finally set in the from-to tabs and hit apply only to get a different date all together
• I'll have the from date finally stick...but when I go to from- with the date clicked on to the one I want it changes the from date to read as from date
• I finally get the actual dates I want and it won't let me apply

If this doesn't get fixed or someone share the magic secret to doing this correctly I'm going to need therapy and a new computer!
And in case it is the computer's fault - I'm using a MacBook Pro up to date with Monterey 12.4 on Google Chrome-up to date Version 103.0.5060.114 (Official Build) (x86_64)

Normally, you'd set your Theming to use your new email address:

https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/theming

I just went through all the steps and spoke to Namecheap and they got all my DNS stuff connected, etc.  Everything is showing good.

So.... do I change my email to my business email now?  Or do I leave everything in my account as my @gmail.com? 

I guess I'm just a little confused how everything needs to be set up. 

Thanks!!

Hi Brian,

Rate Adjustments for API channels are made within the Settings > API Integrations > (Channel Name) page options.

If you're connected to Airbnb or Vrbo via iCal only, you can use Settings > Channel Bridge to push rates to them, and it will allow an adjustment option in those pages too.

Paul, did you ever figure this out? I'm trying to add 3% higher rate to accommodate for commission/service charges the platforms require. Where is this able to be done on the OR website?

There could be a great many reasons, and we'd need a lot more detail and likely some screenshots showing what's wrong.  You'd do best to write in to the Helpdesk.

Hi, I have the reviews in a template, but I cannot seem to get the widget up and running correctly. I feel like I've tried just about every option.  Any tips?

It's true that OwnerRez is quite complex and powerful.  But actually, the vast majority of our clients have only a handful of properties, so, YES, it is useful even if you are still small!

I'd recommend attending one of our live demo webinars, to get a better understanding of how to use the tools:

https://www.ownerrez.com/webinars

No, there's nothing wrong with that, it's just a little more complicated potentially.  If you've gotten it configured so it's all working as you want it, no need to change it further.

Hi Fabian,

Yep, we're seeing this pretty widespread today. We've opened a ticket with Airbnb to figure out what's going on. 

Hi everyone! For some of my properties I need people to register themselves with the building but now I'm getting an error that I can't have links in my description so my check in instructions aren't being sent!

This has worked for years and suddenly today it stopped working.. 

Any workaround? 

I just got my website all set up with OwnerRez and thought I'd need to get VRBO synced up before I went live.  I "added from VRBO" and the information came over.... and I didn't realize my description would change on my homepage (didn't want that).  Any way to keep these two separate on that info?

Next, I'm reading up on API Integration and I'm wondering if it's too much for a one STR. I was hoping OwnerRez would be what I needed to trigger all the emails and messages I would like to send out and that I could also deal with all inquiries in one place (no direct bookings).  But with one STR, do I need a more simple program?

Hi Ken,

Ok, I should have read the user manual first!

I have been through and changed all the SoHo-PCB Test to SoHo-PCB and the widgets are all working now on the live domain.

I presume there is nothing wrong with having a Booking/Inquiry widget per property now that I have them there. Please let me know if this presumption is incorrect.

Thanks for you help!

Short answer: You can't currently delete a custom source.

But, we took a look at your account, and it isn't optimally configured.   It'd be easier if you did just one widget and mapped to multiple properties:

 https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/widgets#multi-property-widget 

And, the widget needs to be mapped to the new source. Some of your widgets are still linked to the test source.

I created a custom source for when I was developing our Wordpress website which pointed to a test domain.

I created a further custom source for the live domain.

Our website is now live on its permanent domain but the custom source for the test domain is still there though the test website is not accessible.

I got an Inquiry for a booking this evening and it shows the test custom source name in the Via Listing Site column.

I can't find an option to delete the test custom source name.

If I haven't explained this very well then:

SoHo PCB Test points to Widget/Email Matching Domain mytestdomain.com

SoHo PCB points to Widget/Email Matching Domain sohopcb.com

How do I remove SoHo PCB Test?

I should add that the Wordpress Plugin points to the live domain - soho-pcb.com.

Why would the Inquiry show the Via Listing Site as SoHo PCB Test?

TIA

Thanks!  Much easier on the eyes... and I can even pick an entirely different color for blocked dates.  My color and pattern sensitive brain cells are delighted.

Here are our general instructions for extending a stay:

https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/extending-a-stay

I'm wanting to offer my guests a discount for extending their stay, or coming in a day earlier, to help cover one night gaps in my calendar. How do I go about this exactly when they have already paid for their trip up front?

Thanks

Felicia 

Not sure. I checked "subscribed." We'll see what happens.

Thanks!

On the third party alerts page, under the space for the email address, there is a selection "Subscribed" or "Unsubscribed." Subscribed to what? 

3rd party emails? 

On the third party alerts page, under the space for the email address, there is a selection "Subscribed" or "Unsubscribed." Subscribed to what? 

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the prompt reply.

You are correct, email protocols are very old, buggy and unreliable!

We do use OR verified email.

We use very simple messages - no emojis or anything like that.

The main culprits for sending mail to Junk are Gmail and Yahoo. 

It seems email is becoming increasingly useless as a means of communicating these days!

Thanks for replying anyway....

Unfortunately, there is no way to be absolutely sure the emails sent to your guests won't end up in their spam folders instead.  The nature of the Internet email system originated half a century ago, and was never designed for how it's used today.  The best we can do is to work within existing systems, and lower the likelihood that your emails will be viewed as spam.

1. If you're not using the OwnerRez Verified Email system, and an email address from a domain you own, you should do so - it's a straightforward way to significantly reduce the risk of spam identification.  Free Gmail accounts are notorious for spam, so you don't want to use those if at all possible.

2. Does the content of your emails look like spam?  There are a number of testing tools and resources on the Internet you can use to see how spammy your standard emails are:

https://www.mail-tester.com/

https://blogs.constantcontact.com/how-to-avoid-spam/

3. Many email client programs include the ability to add addresses or domains to a whitelist, that the inbox knows not to flag as spam.  You can ask your guests to look into this and add yours.  However, every client is different, so they'd have to research how to do that themselves.

4. Sometimes, if your guests simply add your email address to their address book, your messages are automatically accepted.

5. Even with all of the above, anyone receiving any email can flag it as spam manually.  If you are getting regular spam complaints, perhaps the problem isn't computer systems in between, it's what your messages look like in the inbox?  For example, if you are using many emojis in your subject line, that's a hallmark of spam.

We have verified our domain but even so many times the emails we send from OR end up in the guests' Junk/Spam mail folders.

We are now in the somewhat crazy situation of having to text everyone to ask them to check their Junk folder whenever we send out an email.

Are we doing something wrong...Is there a work around anywhere for this?

Any help appreciated!

If you are using API connections with Airbnb and Vrbo, yes, a length-of-stay discount will also be sent there.

Unfortunately, at the present, not with Booking.com - you'd have to configure the discount directly in Booking.com control panel.

If I apply a 7 day discount does this translate across to Airbnb, Booking and VRBO?

You do have the widgets set up correctly, however you're using Wix which adds an extra iFrame that blocks communication between pages -- see screenshot.

This is required on Wix free plans, but if you're using a paid Wix plan you may be able to get them to remove that outer iFrame that they add. Contact Wix support and see if they can help. If they give you steps to remove the iFrame, let us know so we can document it for others!

Most likely, that's because you had existing bookings with the security deposit required.  Turning that off affects new bookings, but not already-existing ones.

Hello, we have disabled damage deposits but guests are still prompted for pay a damage deposit when they sign the rental agreement.  What am I missing?