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Insinuating Airbnb will be upset we are discriminating for asking Vrbo guests for ID but not Airbnb guests?

Now you've heard of it! Many times actually through these threads actually. 

I am not talking about Fair Housing laws. I'm talking about Airbnb having a very hard line against anything that smacks of discrimination. That is the reason we're made to accept service animals on Airbnb, for example, even though the ADA does not require transient housing to accept them. Anytime you are using different rules for different guests, you expose yourself to an issue with the OTA. I have never heard of anyone losing a guest because they asked for ID after stating it was required on the listing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We are so lucky that OwnerRez has worked hard to give us what we've asked for in the ability to have guests upload their ID so that we do not have to do this manually. This is an amazing tool. If you do not want to ask for ID, then that is fine. But it is best practice to have as much information on guests as possible in case there are issues. I have never lost a booking because we ask for ID. We state it clearly in our listing that ID is required. Also, note that asking some for ID and not others can be seen as a discriminatory practice. All or none. The benefits of requiring an ID of all guests are many, including having their information in case you have to take them to small claims, and for them to be better guests because they know that you know who they are. Add to that the renter's insurance, plus the security deposit, all listed as required in your listing, and you end up with a well-behaved group of future guests. And if a guest backs out because they don't want you to know who they are, be forewarned that you may be dodging a bullet. 

Bren, I am happy they included this but I not asking you to run my business and yes I did lost booking by asking photo ID and I had even bad review because of it and I started this 3 weeks ago. Thank you. I personally think simple upload feature would do it, currently the only option to add the field is on one form and I can choose it it optional or required. Not sure how can I use it if I say it "Display NO" option.

Paul

Lol. I don't think Vrbo or Airbnb guests are protected classes from discrimination. 

Every market and business is different btw. You might not lose guests over asking for ID on certain platforms, but others might. 

From reading it is optional. You don’t have to include in the booking. 

It appears can source code can be used in separate email. 

We are so lucky that OwnerRez has worked hard to give us what we've asked for in the ability to have guests upload their ID so that we do not have to do this manually. This is an amazing tool. If you do not want to ask for ID, then that is fine. But it is best practice to have as much information on guests as possible in case there are issues. I have never lost a booking because we ask for ID. We state it clearly in our listing that ID is required. Also, note that asking some for ID and not others can be seen as a discriminatory practice. All or none. The benefits of requiring an ID of all guests are many, including having their information in case you have to take them to small claims, and for them to be better guests because they know that you know who they are. Add to that the renter's insurance, plus the security deposit, all listed as required in your listing, and you end up with a well-behaved group of future guests. And if a guest backs out because they don't want you to know who they are, be forewarned that you may be dodging a bullet. 

What you said!!!!

We are so lucky that OwnerRez has worked hard to give us what we've asked for in the ability to have guests upload their ID so that we do not have to do this manually. This is an amazing tool. If you do not want to ask for ID, then that is fine. But it is best practice to have as much information on guests as possible in case there are issues. I have never lost a booking because we ask for ID. We state it clearly in our listing that ID is required. Also, note that asking some for ID and not others can be seen as a discriminatory practice. All or none. The benefits of requiring an ID of all guests are many, including having their information in case you have to take them to small claims, and for them to be better guests because they know that you know who they are. Add to that the renter's insurance, plus the security deposit, all listed as required in your listing, and you end up with a well-behaved group of future guests. And if a guest backs out because they don't want you to know who they are, be forewarned that you may be dodging a bullet. 

I also believe that there should be more flexibility in selecting which channel we require upload of ID. 

Also, unless I am missing something,  I do not want to FORCE potential guest to upload a picture on initial booking since the may not have it readily available for booking. So, I would choose OPTIONAL.

However, later on I want to send them reminder to upload the picture. This option is seems to me missing and I am worried  about that if I force guests to upload the picture on my website at the time of booking I will loose the booking. There must be some other solution.

I do not think collection of ID at the time of digning of the Rental Agreement is required, it is needed to just collect it later for chargebacks.

Paul

If the field is of type BOOKING (which it will be), and you add it to the check out/rental agreement form, that will be when booking already happened and they are e-signing the rental agreement. Actually, I am thrilled to collect ID when they sight the RA, because many don't send it AFTER and I have to chase them by sending repeat emails/texts. The OR staff explained above that you can make the field optional (or not use it at all). Just collect  ID after like you do now (if you do). But for those of us who want a smooth all-in-one process, this is a BIG improvement. 

I also believe that there should be more flexibility in selecting which channel we require upload of ID. 

Also, unless I am missing something,  I do not want to FORCE potential guest to upload a picture on initial booking since the may not have it readily available for booking. So, I would choose OPTIONAL.

However, later on I want to send them reminder to upload the picture. This option is seems to me missing and I am worried  about that if I force guests to upload the picture on my website at the time of booking I will loose the booking. There must be some other solution.

I do not think collection of ID at the time of digning of the Rental Agreement is required, it is needed to just collect it later for chargebacks.

Paul

This is great feature!

Will I be able to only require guest to upload ID only for specific channels like Vrbo and Direct Booking since Airbnb already did ID verification?

Airbnb doing supposed "verification" does 0 for the owner in case there is damage or dispute and you have to go to a small claims court. Airbnb will NEVER release the ID THEY have collected to you the owner short of a court order and even then they will fight it tooth and nail.. I do not know why do some owners think that Airbnb will back the owner - Airbnb does "verification" for their own purposes such as to make sure that credit card payment clears. IMO you should keep a consistent ID collection policy across ALL channels that you use: Vrbo, Abb, TripAdvisor, Booking dot com etc etc etc. 

 reply

This is great feature!

Will I be able to only require guest to upload ID only for specific channels like Vrbo and Direct Booking since Airbnb already did ID verification?

It can only be included/excluded by property, not by channel or other criteria. You could make the field optional but that would make it optional for everyone.

Airbnb doing supposed "verification" does 0 for the owner in case there is damage or dispute and you have to go to a small claims court. Airbnb will NEVER release the ID THEY have collected to you the owner short of a court order and even then they will fight it tooth and nail.. I do not know why do some owners think that Airbnb will back the owner - Airbnb does "verification" for their own purposes such as to make sure that credit card payment clears. IMO you should keep a consistent ID collection policy across ALL channels that you use: Vrbo, Abb, TripAdvisor, Booking dot com etc etc etc. 

THANK YOU!! Such a great feature. You all rock. 

This is great feature!

Will I be able to only require guest to upload ID only for specific channels like Vrbo and Direct Booking since Airbnb already did ID verification?

The custom field file format option has been released!

The File format option can be used for all custom field types, but only Booking type custom fields can be shown to guests on checkout/quote acceptance or rental agreement signing. If you select "file" as the format, you can also show this field during the checkout process to capture a file upload (e.g., JPG, PNG, PDF) from the guest.

Only the file name will be rendered using the custom field code. No image or thumbnail is available to show back to the guest. This is for security purposes at this time. You can insert the field code into the rental agreement or messaging template to remind them that they have uploaded "X" file name as part of the process.

Learn more here:

• Custom Fields
• Capture Additional Fields from Guests

THANK YOU

The custom field file format option has been released!

The File format option can be used for all custom field types, but only Booking type custom fields can be shown to guests on checkout/quote acceptance or rental agreement signing. If you select "file" as the format, you can also show this field during the checkout process to capture a file upload (e.g., JPG, PNG, PDF) from the guest.

Only the file name will be rendered using the custom field code. No image or thumbnail is available to show back to the guest. This is for security purposes at this time. You can insert the field code into the rental agreement or messaging template to remind them that they have uploaded "X" file name as part of the process.

Learn more here:

• Custom Fields
• Capture Additional Fields from Guests

Wouldn't it be cool if OR built its own vacation rental marketplace/search functionality that listed all of our properties and linked to our direct booking websites?  Like a mini-airbnb/vrbo specifically for OR clients. This could help boost our direct bookings. 

Hello! I'm a relatively new user and just noticed that a feature I previously used in PriceLabs is no longer available and it looks like it is related to OR.

I'd like to be able to set it so that my minimum length of stay is 1 night, but for one night stays, my price is double what it would normally be.  Is this possible in OR?

GVR may be free initially to get people on board but after they monopolize the market like they inevitably do with other things, they will start charging. Mark my words. 

this is what owner rez said to me: "when Google Vacation Rentals is ready for primetime, yes we will of course integrate with them.  However, they are brand new to the market, and whenever google sees an opportunity to make money they throw their hat into the ring.  Generally it seems they'll  get bored and those ventures never come to full fruition.  Hopefully GoogleVacation Rentals will be different, but only time will tell..." and then he discussed the fee difference with another channel partner that posts listings to GVR charging 5% of bookings, versus the fee-friendly model owner rez is.

Great point.  Orkut and Google Plus come to mind

One Consideration: The other channel managers charge a lot more in fees that Owner Rez does. We had a client who wanted GVR for their house, and when I queried owner  rez and the significant difference in fees was pointed out, I stopped asking.

Yes, you're right about that.

I'm sure I'm not alone in loving OwnerRez and everyone I've had interactions with who works there.

Just not understanding what's going on with this one particular issue.

this is what owner rez said to me: "when Google Vacation Rentals is ready for primetime, yes we will of course integrate with them.  However, they are brand new to the market, and whenever google sees an opportunity to make money they throw their hat into the ring.  Generally it seems they'll  get bored and those ventures never come to full fruition.  Hopefully GoogleVacation Rentals will be different, but only time will tell..." and then he discussed the fee difference with another channel partner that posts listings to GVR charging 5% of bookings, versus the fee-friendly model owner rez is.

I don’t think beds24 does?

Agreed on the fees.  Left Lodgify because of them and everything being UTC based and support being in Spain (and I'm in Los Angeles).

One Consideration: The other channel managers charge a lot more in fees that Owner Rez does. We had a client who wanted GVR for their house, and when I queried owner  rez and the significant difference in fees was pointed out, I stopped asking.

Yes, you're right about that.

I'm sure I'm not alone in loving OwnerRez and everyone I've had interactions with who works there.

Just not understanding what's going on with this one particular issue.

One Consideration: The other channel managers charge a lot more in fees that Owner Rez does. We had a client who wanted GVR for their house, and when I queried owner  rez and the significant difference in fees was pointed out, I stopped asking.

Any word on this happening? It'd be nice to have a tag automatically added like, no card on file, then automatically removed once the tag condition is satisfied.

Thank you, but OwnerRez personnel are only human, and a single request in this thread for an update gets easily lost amidst a whole series of discussions on third party products.

There are other forums on OR where the third party discussions can continue and allow this thread to remain for what's its meant for. Please.

Agreed. Kindly of course 😊

Great news about the update for ID collection!

Meanwhile, @House of Arcade- I use Jotform to collect added information. It is set up as a registration form that collects not only a photo of the IDs (can be jpeg or pdf) , but also added emails and names of of other guests, number of dogs and their names, any identification information and their preferred welcome beverage- wine/soda.

Guest Names and emails are added as custom field definitions and they receive a welcome letter, a copy of our Touchstay Guidebook and post stay an invite to review as well.  The letter also includes an invite to join our mail list "Inner Circle" for future stays at discount when booked directly.

I keep the info through the full duration of their reservation, including the return of deposit held. 

Yes many use 3rd party options. Lots of us simply interested in updates on OR integration of this feature and like to receive updates on this in particular. 

Any day now...

Hallelujah 🙌 thank you! Within the year?

Great news about the update for ID collection!

Meanwhile, @House of Arcade- I use Jotform to collect added information. It is set up as a registration form that collects not only a photo of the IDs (can be jpeg or pdf) , but also added emails and names of of other guests, number of dogs and their names, any identification information and their preferred welcome beverage- wine/soda.

Guest Names and emails are added as custom field definitions and they receive a welcome letter, a copy of our Touchstay Guidebook and post stay an invite to review as well.  The letter also includes an invite to join our mail list "Inner Circle" for future stays at discount when booked directly.

I keep the info through the full duration of their reservation, including the return of deposit held.