General Help and Questions

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How to set up template to be sent from another member of our team? 5 replies

Ken T
Jun 10, 2024 10:56 AM
OR Alum Member for 6 years 1704 posts

There are two different options available here, which may be able to get something close to what you want.

1. You can set up different Themes with different return email addresses.  These are assigned to different properties, so, this way you can have specific return email addresses used for each property.

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

That function won't do what you're after here, though.

2. In an individual email template, you can control the return address directly.  Normally you leave the default field codes, so the system automatically sets the return addresses dynamically based on your other settings, such as Theming:

But, although that is the default and is recommended, it doesn't have to be that way - you can manually replace this with the specific sender name (Jackie) and her specific email address, and that's what will be used when this specific template is sent out.

Note that the domain name of Jackie's email address will need to have been verified, in order for the message to be sent with the proper Verified status.  Otherwise, it'll use our generic inquiryspot emails as well as Jackie's, which can lead to false spam detections.

How to set up template to be sent from another member of our team? 5 replies

Ted W
Jun 10, 2024 8:52 AM
Member for 2 years 23 posts

We split the duties here a bit wherein I handle all the rental activity, marketing, etc, but another person (Jackie) handles customer service from arrival to departure.  We'd like to set up a triggered template to come from Jackie introducing herself and offering to the guest to be of assistance during their stay.  Is it possible to set up separate "from" email triggers or do they all have to come from the main email address on our account?  Thanks

charging a processing fee only for those that use a credit card 4 replies

Ken T
Jun 8, 2024 10:50 PM
OR Alum Member for 6 years 1704 posts

Not really - while you can set up a processing fee, this is not recommended because guests consider it a nuisance fee, and, it is not automatically assigned or removed based on payment type.  You have to do that manually on a booking-by-booking basis.

https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/charging-guests-a-credit-card-fee

And, it is not possible for OwnerRez to accurately distinguish between credit and debit cards on the fly and add or remove fees that way either.

charging a processing fee only for those that use a credit card 4 replies

Fatma S
Jun 8, 2024 12:45 PM
Member for 1 year 14 posts

Is there a way to charge a processing fee for those that only use a credit card for our direct booking site and VRBO integration? We will accept debit card payments but without the processing fee

Thanks Everyone

 

-Fatma

Last minute discounts 4 replies

Ted W
Jun 8, 2024 10:07 AM
Member for 2 years 23 posts

Thanks Ken, you're the best!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  Ted

Last minute discounts 4 replies

Ken T
Jun 8, 2024 10:02 AM
OR Alum Member for 6 years 1704 posts

Sure, that's a Last Minute Discount.  Here's how to do it:

https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/last-minute-discount 

Last minute discounts 4 replies

Ted W
Jun 8, 2024 8:29 AM
Member for 2 years 23 posts

Does OR have a way to automate discounting rents when it gets to within 2 weeks of arrival date or do I need another service such as Pricelabs?  Thanks

Cannot book on Hosted Websites 1 reply

Ken T
Jun 7, 2024 6:28 PM
OR Alum Member for 6 years 1704 posts

I took a look, and it looks like the Action in the Book Now button has gone missing, which is why it isn't doing anything - it should point to the Book Now page.  You can fix that in the menu headers area as discussed here:

https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/hosted-websites-header-customizations-video

I don't want to do screenshots from your specific account in a public forum, so if what I've posted is too vague, please write in to our Helpdesk for more detailed and specific instructions.

Cannot book on Hosted Websites 1 reply

Undercard_Wonder
Jun 7, 2024 6:22 PM
Member for 2 years 74 posts

Hi,

I can't find that anyone else brought this up, so hoping someone here has an issue to this issue, which is now at least a week old (when I first noticed it).

On any my four hosted websites, the "Book Now" button doesn't work (no response), so I cannot take any bookings through them.  Has anyone else experienced this? If not, you might want to test it.

Help? Any ideas? Thanks.

Antony

Widget layout question 1 reply

Robertxc
Jun 7, 2024 3:32 PM
Member for 4 years 1 post

Hi, I want to make a widget for my website, but I am not able to figure it out. Can someone please tell me if it's possible to create an inquiry widget that only has the input fields and not the photo. Basically, the bit in the red box in the screenshot.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice. :-)

 

 

Zapier integration 7 replies

Robert P
Jun 6, 2024 4:33 PM
Member for 2 years 73 posts

I started a separate thread in the Feature Requests with a request for OwnerRez Actions related to Inquiries to be added to the OwnerRez Zapier Integration. That way when an inquiry comes in, it could be used as a trigger for a number of Zaps. You can take a look at it here: Add Inquiry Actions to the OwnerRez Zapier Integration to Accept Inquiries from ANY Source (and LOTS more!).

Unfortunately it has received ZERO votes.

It is hard to believe most OR users are here on these forums and actively participating or thinking about what could make OR better.

Where can I find and change a "Lead Time" for booking? 1 reply

Mike and Elena S
Jun 6, 2024 3:51 PM
Member for 2 years 1 post

The below instructions came from old version of ownerez and I was able to set up a lead time following this instructions. Now, I cannot find this function, please assist. Thank you! 

 

Lead TimeThis rule controls how far ahead of arrival the booking must be made. You can allow same-day bookings or require some days of lead time between the booking date and arrival. For further clarification, one-day advanced notice for all bookings does not mean that "check-in is allowed greater than 24 hours from the time the guest books." One day advanced notice does mean "no sooner than tomorrow."To make changes, navigate to Properties > the specific Property > Rules > Change > Booking Window > Lead Time.

For example, if your Property's Lead Time is set to the OwnerRez default setting of "1 Day from now," a guest can book a reservation at 11:54 PM the night before to arrive the following (tomorrow) afternoon.

Why no "trigger" for "Booking Request" on Airbnb? 3 replies

BlueHeronSTR
Jun 6, 2024 10:55 AM
Member for 3 years 5 posts

I see there's an "inquiry" trigger available, but nothing for "Booking Request" (or request to book).

90% of my initial messages coming in from guests on airbnb are "Booking Requests", and I have a need to immediately respond with my list of house rules to ensure they are in agreement, before I accept their request. Sometimes there's a one or two hour delay before I see the guests initial request to book, so when I manually send the "house rules" message, they are no longer monitoring the airbnb messaging. I've had to either "decline" or accept the risk. For new airbnb members I decline, for established guests with good reviews I accept. In either case, i need an automated response with house rules.

Any plans to create a booking request trigger?

Custom Field Definitions based on Listing Site? 2 replies

Chelsea V
Jun 4, 2024 7:09 PM
Member for 4 years 9 posts

OK. Good to know something like that could be in the works. Thank you. 

Custom Field Definitions based on Listing Site? 2 replies

Ken T
Jun 4, 2024 11:57 AM
OR Alum Member for 6 years 1704 posts

At present, there is not.  We are currently working on overhauling many aspects of this process though, so something along these lines may well be possible in the future.

Custom Field Definitions based on Listing Site? 2 replies

Chelsea V
Jun 4, 2024 11:54 AM
Member for 4 years 9 posts

Hello,

I wonder if it is possible to collect a piece of guest information at checkout only for guests from certain listing sites. At checkout I ask "how did you hear about us?" and created a custom field definition {BXLEADSOURCE} to collect that information. That's all great for direct bookings, but it seems redundant that a guest who books through VRBO are being asked to tell me that they found out about us on VRBO.

Is there a way to only ask the question for direct bookings?

 

Thanks,

Bobby

 

Channel Bridge can no longer download Airbnb bookings 1 reply

Ken T
Jun 4, 2024 10:46 AM
OR Alum Member for 6 years 1704 posts

No, Channel Bridge is still functional, so this is unexpected.  Give it another try after a few hours, but if you're still getting the error, please write in to the Helpdesk with full details and a debug log as discussed here:

https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/channel-bridge-common-issues-questions#debug-log 

Channel Bridge can no longer download Airbnb bookings 1 reply

Maria M
Jun 4, 2024 12:36 AM
Member for 3 years 14 posts

Hi,

When I attempted to run channel bridge to download Airbnb bookings for payment reconciliation, I got this.

Analyzing your Airbnb bookings: staying 12/1/2023 to 6/3/2024 Finding csrf token Found csrf token V4$.airbnb.com$QBAqQIOu5Po$87GEOpKowfgq_LYzctdFuqX92_2H6rCZXtmooI1kgug= Kicking off Airbnb Transaction CSV download Error occured while initiating CSV download. Ignoring. Downloading bookings page 1 Found 0 bookings in 00:00:01 Found 0 matching bookings in 00:00:01 Analyzing your Airbnb future payouts Downloading future payouts page 1 No additional matching bookings by future payouts Done in 00:00:00 No bookings found

I noticed there was "Error occured while initiating CSV download. Ignoring.".

Is Channel Bridge tool deprecated and this is what's expected going forward since Airbnb payment sync is now in place or is this unexpected?

Thanks,

Maria

Zapier integration 7 replies

Robin E
Jun 3, 2024 10:12 PM
Member for 5 years 3 posts

Trying to do something similar. Do you have a trigger to turn on pool heat/cooling if the guest has paid for it? I can't seem to figure out how to do it based on my conditions vs the OR integrated conditions.

 

Thanks

Credit Card processing recent developments 5 replies

Adria H
Jun 3, 2024 12:55 PM
OR Team Member Member for 3 years 175 posts

James- Was the Elavon processing to which you are referring not the popular Costco sponsored plan?

 

We reached out to Elavon/Costo and got this answer:
We (Costco) only offer IC Plus to businesses that process over $1 mil annually.  STR are no longer being boarded under MCC 6513 – they are now listed as lodging due to VISA rules.   

 

We found this:

https://usa.visa.com/content/dam/VCOM/download/merchants/visa-merchant-data-standards-manual.pdf

It's an official Visa document, and it says on pg. 87:6513 Real Estate Agents and ManagersThis MCC must be used for the payment of management fees, rental commissions, rental payments, and other payments at real estate agents, brokers, and managers engaged in the rental and management of residential and commercial properties. This MCC should also be used for payments of deposits for real estate purchases.


Short term rentals (of less than one month) must be included in MCC 7011 Lodging – Hotels, Motels, Resorts, Central Reservation Services (Not Elsewhere Classified) or, if appropriate, the Merchant’s MCC.


This MCC does not include mortgage loan payments and real estate purchases. These transactions must be identified with a more appropriate MCC such as MCC 6012 Financial Institutions – Merchandise and Services; MCC 1520 General Contractors; MCC 8111 Legal Services and Attorneys.

Rental Agreements: Best way to handle changes to post-booking (signed) RAs? 1 reply

Bri
May 31, 2024 2:51 PM
OR Team Member Member for 3 years 663 posts

That's a great question!

What you might consider here is having a backup Agreement stored in your Settings > Legal Agreements that has a lower priority number set so it is not being sent out in your regular {BUFIXUP} messages when bookings are created. You could then make adjustments to that backup Agreement as needed, and manually send it from the Legal tab within the booking, using the e-Signature dropdown.

The guest would likely still receive the regular Agreement you'd usually send out, but you'd then be providing them with the adjusted Agreement after the fact for them to sign with the changes.

We'd love to discuss this in more detail with you. Would you mind writing to us at help@ownerrez.com so we can provide screenshots, maybe even a video, to show you the concept in more detail?

Listing issues with your Google Vacation Rentals 6 replies

Ryan C
May 31, 2024 10:26 AM
OR Team Member Member for 3 years 12 posts

GVR does support a minimum and/or maximum length of stay requirement on surcharges. These can be set adding the Number of Nights criteria on the surcharge edit page in OwnerRez.

OwnerRez messaging bug 9 replies

Teresa J
May 30, 2024 10:55 PM
Member for 3 years 7 posts

I contacted support and sent screen shots and details earlier today.  No response yet.

 

OwnerRez messaging bug 9 replies

Ken T
May 30, 2024 7:46 PM
OR Alum Member for 6 years 1704 posts

Please write in to the Helpdesk with specifics so we can investigate.

OwnerRez messaging bug 9 replies

Teresa J
May 30, 2024 6:34 PM
Member for 3 years 7 posts

This is a serious problem...I just found an Airbnb booking made 16 hours ago that has 2 "linked" guests on it and the trigger didn't run to send my renter agreement/guest contact info template because it "Did Not Send" and when I hover on that note it says "This trigger wasn't sent when this booking was created at May 30, 2024 5:33 AM because: No Airbnb thread found for this contact."  I had to preview the message and copy and paste it and send it manually to the guest.  This defeats the entire purpose of having templates and triggers and brings into question the reliability of the system.  I am now having to monitor everything closely to make sure messages are being sent.

Options for more than 2 payments? 2 replies

Ted W
May 30, 2024 1:19 PM
Member for 2 years 23 posts

Hi Ken, that's perfect!!! Thanks so much!!!

Options for more than 2 payments? 2 replies

Ken T
May 30, 2024 12:12 PM
OR Alum Member for 6 years 1704 posts

Sure!  OwnerRez can't set that up automatically, but, you can set bookings up manually with as many payments as you like.  Here's how:

https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/multiple-payments 

Options for more than 2 payments? 2 replies

Ted W
May 30, 2024 12:09 PM
Member for 2 years 23 posts

Wondering if there is anyway to set up for our guests to make more than 2 payments toward a reservation?  This is specifically to see if I can continue to offer the following that I routinely offered to guests (before converting to OR) that want to rebook the vacation week 1 year in the future, upon checking out this year.  We have historically allowed them to make the reservation with a small deposit if 1 year in advance, and then bill them in 2 additional payments at 6 months and 45 days prior to the next reservation's check-in date.  Is there any way to automate this option?  Thanks, Ted

Rental Agreements: Best way to handle changes to post-booking (signed) RAs? 1 reply

BlueHeronSTR
May 29, 2024 4:34 PM
Member for 3 years 5 posts

So, I did a search in forums of this topic and found that OR doesn't support "replacing existing RAs" but updated ones can be uploaded to the "files" tab within the booking, for document retention. OR really should consider addressing this because I've had several RAs which required updates after they've been signed. Luckily, the guest and I let the issue(s) slide, but it could put me (the host) in a precarious situation legally, if there were litigating circumstances!

With that said...

Whats the best way to handle RA changes?

I've got a potential guest inquiry asking to bring a pet. "The boss" and I decided to allow this one time circumstance, due to the revenue it will generate over the upcoming holiday, but our RA would need to be modified as a result.

I have Adobe Acrobat...should I simply modify after its been signed and provide the guest with updated RA?...that seems to be the easiest solution, but what if the guest refuses to sign as a result of the current "no pets" rule listed on the RA? 

...or should I temporarily modify the RA template for this one time booking?

Thoughts?

PM - How to send owner statement to two owners? 11 replies

Ken T
May 28, 2024 1:00 PM
OR Alum Member for 6 years 1704 posts