General Help and Questions

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We added guest auto-merge back in October of 2021. You can read about that in the blog post.

Auto-merging handles incoming bookings, not existing guests, so guests that were created before should be manually merged. You can do that on the CRM > Contacts list.

Has this been updated yet?  I just had a repeat guest book for 2023.  It shows as "Repeat" to the 2022 booking but not to the 2021 booking.  I have several multi repeat guests that it only shows some of their stays. Do I need to merge them all manually?

Thank you

Lucinda

I don't sell any extras like that (other than cleaning/pet fees, etc.), but there's a nugget of interestingness here: in the travel agency industry, the travel agent is paid the lesser of the booked revenue or the actual revenue. If a guest books a hotel or car for 3 days/nights and extends their stay/rental, the travel agency only receives commission on the 3 days, not any additional days. And if the agency books it for 3 days/nights but the customer checks out/returns after 2, the agency only gets commission on 2. TAs sort of take it in the shirt either way, but it is how it has historically been done.

Vrbo really shouldn't be able to grab additional commission on stuff not booked through them. Maybe the OR team needs to go back to Vrbo and bring this up in light of how commissions work with other parts of the travel industry? Ultimately, it's OR that reports the revenue to Vrbo, so OR could change this, but they need to clear it with Vrbo first, I'd imagine.

That sounds like you're looking for our optional paid ProConnect setup service:

https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/proconnect-setup-overview

Please write in to our Helpdesk for more information.

How do I do that ? I cant find the delete button or disable. I just need to change the address.  Mistype. 

Also if there a professional person that can help set it up properly?

Hello,

Today the colour of Blocked Off Events in Ribbon view has changed from the colour of my properties to the colour of my properties with a very distracting stripey effect. Please can you tell me how to disable this stripey effect and revert the colour to the normal colour of my properties without the stripe?
Sabina

Looking forward to those updates!

Are you aware that you pay commission to VRBO for extra services you sell to your guests (e.g. airport transfers)?

So, you add an extra service (a manual surcharge) to a VRBO booking in OR and VRBO gets a commission on this extra service (e.g. on airport transfers, on a guided tour etc.).

I've just realised this and I'm terrified.

I understand that a compulsory  cleaning fee that is automatically added to the booking is a part of the price and VRBO charges a commission on this but non compulsory extra services?! Why? How is this logical?

Hi all... I have a pool/hot tub liability waiver that I want my guests to sign before they arrive.  What's the best way to have them do this?  I'm thinking of setting up a Template and then a Trigger.  Thoughts?

Thanks so much for this - I appreciate it! I wish there was a way these could link to VRBO as well. But at least I got it on my website.

You could still record the reviews directly in CRM > Reviews for that property -- they just wouldn't be attached to a booking.

That is what I was afraid of. Thanks for the response. 

No, reviews can only be written against an actual Booking, not a Block.

I have some reservations that my PM put in our house. To avoid confusing, I have entered those as blocked off time, since they are technically not my bookings. These renters have left reviews on the PM site and I would like to be able to add them to OR. Is this something that is possible? 

Kristine 

When using the Vrbo API connection, this countdown clock can be ignored:

https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/channel-management-api-integrations-vrbo-common-issues-questions#booking-request-countdown

Hi All,

I just finished my API integration with VRBO and have started to receive booking inquiries (I'm not doing instant book at the moment). I know the messaging is quirky. I have responded in VRBO to the guests, and accepted the bookings in OR. However, the 24 hour countdown is still going off in my VRBO inbox and there are no bookings in my VRBO Reservations page. Am I still good to go? Thanks in advance.

Please delete my post. I will mail a check. 
thank you

@Bruce: Although the potential exposure is limited due to the way OR works (no real customer-facing ability to make changes), it's probably not a good idea to expose private information like guest name, confirmation number, and your phone number on a public web forum that Google and the entire world can read. A question like that is better directed to OR's help team via direct email, as Ken indicated.

SUPERHOG and Safely both have similar background checks both as part of their insurance product, and SUPERHOG also offers it as a standalone product without purchasing insurance through them. The issue is that they don't talk to each other, so each service's background check reliability is only as good as their own database. SUPERHOG is UK-based and apparently has a pretty sizable database in the UK but their US presence is still small. Safely seems to be a bigger name in the US but I don't think they have a background-check-only solution. I haven't heard of Webflow until now. Just be aware that these background check services aren't necessarily panaceas since only a tiny fraction of hosts use them and there's no industry-wide shared database.

 I did not suggest watching cameras. I suggested minding overoccupancy (however you do it). And yes it is why VRs are being banned. In my own HOA we are fighting against a neighbor who snuck in  and bought a house in our HOA where rules say "no commercial activity" but since it is an old HOA, the bylaws did not specifically mention VRs as commercial activity as VRs were not a thing when HOA was formed 30+ years ago.  he frequently rents to large noisy parties, does not monitor them and the whole street is up in arms considering legal action. 

That's not at all why STRs get banned. It's about taxes, lobbying by hotel industry, and taking away housing from locals. You should know that Victoria. But sure, I'll start watching my cameras like a hawk, and will swoop down and charge the guests a fee and/or kick them out for sneaking an extra person in. Because that's what I want to do with my time..... NOT!  :) 

Ever occurred to you that owners/managers who allow over occupancy are the reason that localities ban short term rentals? You may not care if they bring 20 people into 2 bd place, but the neighborhood might. I just wish ownwrs/managers thought just a little bit outside their direct profit box.

Another reason to not allow over occupancy is when property is on well/septic. Overoccupying can stress those systems to the point of failure, and remediation will be way more than any deposit. Airbnb will not pay for it either. 

That kind of micro-management is fine if you only have 1-2 rentals and you have nothing better to do. For me, I want automation. I care not if they sneak extra people in or they have bad reviews or whatever. If they damage something I can charge their deposit. If it's really bad, I can use AirBNB's host guarantee, if they burn the place down I have insurance. I like to spend my limited time on Earth building my business and enjoying life.

Here is a new background check service for hosts. Only $5/ report. They're super fast, they don't ask the guest a bunch of questions causing them to not book, and give you a report on how the guest has behaved in previous rentals. Past is the best indicator of the future!https://checkflow.webflow.io/

Here is a new background check service for hosts. Only $5/ report. They're super fast, they don't ask the guest a bunch of questions causing them to not book, and give you a report on how the guest has behaved in previous rentals. Past is the best indicator of the future!https://checkflow.webflow.io/

Here is a new background check service for hosts. Only $5/ report. They're super fast, they don't ask the guest a bunch of questions causing them to not book, and give you a report on how the guest has behaved in previous rentals. Past is the best indicator of the future!https://checkflow.webflow.io/

Here are our general instructions:

https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/cancelling-a-booking

If you need more specifics, please write in to the Helpdesk for assistance.

-- deleted --

Hi all... so, I have a guest checking in on Sunday and checking out on Tuesday of next week.  They've stated they're coming in for a funeral.  The name and address on the reservation and the name and address on the credit card are completely different.  Address of booking person in Philadelphia and address of credit card in somewhere in Mass....  I don't know if this is a red flag or if it's just an odd case.  I will also tell you that the initial security deposit hold of $350 failed.  The guest stated it was flagged at the bank as possible fraud and said it should be all set so go ahead and rerun it which I did and it 'looks like' it went through....  Thoughts?  Am I paranoid?!  haha

You can do it either way, or both, as you prefer.