General Help and Questions

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Owner Rez looks awesome! The setup looks daunting. Are there consultants available to set it up for me?

Thanks in advance!
Julie

Note that, by the nature of the rather old technology involved, iCal calendar syncs are quite slow. They don't sync up immediately when a new event is added - they can take as long as a few hours. This is unfortunately normal, and why we recommend using API connections whenever possible.

We now support Refundable Damage Deposits as part of our built-in security deposit feature. Read the announcement here:

https://www.ownerrez.com/blog/refundable-security-deposits-quotes-can-hold-dates-batch-update-for-qb-sync

This is now finished and out live. Quotes can now hold dates. Read the announcement here:

https://www.ownerrez.com/blog/refundable-security-deposits-quotes-can-hold-dates-batch-update-for-qb-sync

I did the ical import and exports to VRBO and Airbnb and did the testing as they suggested before going full API. I am having trouble with bookings made in VRBO showing up to Airbnb calendar and also time blocks made in ownerrez showing up on Airbnb's calendar. So, I deleted my original links for the calendars and started over. It worked...but then when I tried it again with another booking and time block, it is not showing. Any thoughts or ideas appreciated.

Our categories are mapped to Vrbo categories, so we can't "just add" one - we'd need to coordinate that with them.

For those of us who are running donation campaigns, please add the specific category "DONATION" to help sift and sort contributions made by our guests to our non-taxed business contributions to such projects as reforestation, community development, and support.

Hi BlueMtnCabins,

SmokyMountains.com was (and I believe still is) working on channel integration, but we're unsure of the status to be honest. The way it works is that anyone can become a "first class channel" with OwnerRez but you have to do a lot of work up front to complete a bunch of integration steps that we outline. Channels like Houfy and HomeToGo did those steps. We then test and certify it and announce it. SmokyMountains had meetings with it and has made some progress, but it's stalled out a few times and we're unsure what their intentions are at this point. The "coming soon" rubric was placed there prematurely and we'll probably remove it soon. If you're able to apply pressure on your side, that might help.

"On which floor" is only relevant for listings that are single floor listings. You should probably leave it blank for the "Entire Home" listing.

I thought there was some talk about it. Any news? Still shows "coming soon".

Thank you. I am setting one up now for the entire home and, since our property is two stories, the "On Which Floor" option, only allows me to put one number in, instead of 1 & 2. Is there a workaround for this?

Yes, that's pretty much correct. As far as new listings on the channels for the combos, if you are using API connections then OwnerRez can push that information up for you to create the new listings. Otherwise you'll have to do it by hand and connect them just as if they were their own independent properties - which, from the point of view of the channels, they are.

I am reading the instructions on the site:
https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/combined-properties-blockoff-lockoff

I want to make sure I do this correctly. I have a townhome that has three units in it, and want the ability to rent Units 1 & 2, 2 & 3, 1 & 3, as well as the entire home.

1. Create a new property (Duplicate) for each combo, four total
2. Link Units 1 & 2, then 2 & 3, 1 & 3, and entire home.

Am I understanding that correctly?

Once the blocked properties has been established, I will need to set up messaging and triggers for each property. Correct?

Will I need to create these properties on VRBO and Airbnb also, or will OwnerRez transmit this information over?
Thank you

We've recently added the ability to create a quote that blocks time, so if you have a particular set of guests that always book the same week every year you can create a quote and check the "Hold these dates so that other guests cannot book these dates while this quote is active" box and it will hold the dates until the quote expires.

We don't yet have a general feature that would let you block dates for multiple groups of guests and let one of them get it, though -- just a quote for a particular guest. We're working on the multiple groups case :-D

Hi there,
We have many repeat guests and we are finding that for peak periods/prime dates, we would like to give them an opportunity or advantage in booking these dates. We find that many are missing out on booking during these times. Given we have a high repeat guest database, we wish to be able to 'free' the calendar for say, a 'guest group' so that guests tagged or in this group can book ahead of us freeing these dates others.
Don't know if I have made the above clear? Hope so!
Is there a way to do this or to think in an alternate way to achieve the same result?

This is a normal part of the process due to the nature of how security deposit holds work. Here's an explanation:

https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/security-deposit-holds#multiple-holds

Hi I got an alert message saying A security deposit of £100.00 was just reserved for XXXX, but a few days later I got another alert saying the security deposit for XXXX was successfully reauthorized. Why was it necessary to reauthorize a deposit?

An API link with Avalara would be amazing. There are some months where I've had copy/paste errors (mostly because the properties are listed in a different order on their site than in my OR tax report--I try to be so careful but it's easy to paste the wrong value or fat-finger something!) and have had to had it corrected after submission.

@Ken, they do have an API and appear to welcome integrations. Details here: https://developer.avalara.com/mylodge/

At the _very_ least, adding an option to export the OR tax report in a format that is compatible with their "upload a spreadsheet" option would be a big help. I can provide the spreadsheet template I got from them if that would help.

It is climbing up the todo list and we have plans for a larger guest form overhaul, but still no firm ETA as of yet.

@Paul - I wanted to check on the status of adding quantity based add-ons. Is there any progress on that?

At present, no, but they'd be welcome to reach out to us to discuss an integration.

Do you offer any integrations or possibilities with Avalara? That would make it so nice!

At this point I think it's probably better for you to write in to the Helpdesk with the specific booking you're trying to sort out.

sorry, I edited my message above to add a few more questions you probably didn't see before replying.
You're saying to record a refund in the booking, correct?
In the Line Item Detail Report I generally use for this after I record the refund I don't see the refund reported in this report. Which report would you suggest I use?

Yes, that's right, because you know what the charges really should be / were.

That makes sense. I'll need to do that manually though?
And you're saying to record a refund in the booking, correct?
In the Line Item Detail Report I generally use for this after I record the refund I don't see it reported in this report. Which would you suggest I use?

That's exactly it. I had it set to combine rents for widgets.

Thanks for helping me out.

Hi Pedro,

You should adjust the charges on those cancelled/refunded bookings to be whatever the guest actually paid. So if the booking start at $1,000 but then dropped to $200 (ie. the guest has to pay 200 for the cancellation) then the final charges on the booking should show the 200. You would then put your commission on that. The fact that a booking is cancelled should not impact the finances or reports. You can have cancelled bookings with charges and payments, and they will show up on reports.

I submit an invoice monthly to my clients for my commission. Last month I had a number of canceled bookings, some which were partially refunded and others that were not refunded at all. I'm entitled to my commission on the amount kept on those bookings but can't find a good way to capture that in a report on OwnerRez.
I typically use the Line Item report to categorize rents and cleanings and manipulate these in excel to get the data I want. I can check "include canceled bookings" but this report doesn't identify which bookings were canceled. Furthermore it doesn't report refunds.
Anyone have any suggestions?

That suggests that your Airbnb API connection may not be active. Please write in to the Helpdesk for further assistance if necessary.