I Hate Greed. It is a Deadly Sin.

[FlagCraig]

Planning a trip this June to Florida beach. Wife likes it so I set it up for her birthday. 7 hour drive....not bad.
We have done the VRBO for renting condo's before so I chose this route again. As usual, you give all info and payment info and the owner has 24 hours to accept.
Our rental was for 4 nights and VRBO said this condo was available for my dates when I applied and they processed my request with approval for these dates.
I get email from owner rejecting request because it is the first week of prime season and they will only rent on a weekly basis during this time of year and VRBO didn't update the site.
In their response to me they say I can upgrade to a week no problem.
I say wrong keep your condo this is pure and simple GREED. I own my own business and if this happened I would honor the customers request and have VRBO change dates for future rentals.
What happened to doing the right thing? With me customer service is and always will be number 1. I learned this during my fast food days 45 years ago and never forget. Best work experience I ever had and it paid $2.10 an hour.

 

[ws23jrt]

I had business in Las Vegas some years back and when attempting to make a reservation for one nite I was led to believe that Vegas was full that night so I got a reservation at a hotel in Boulder.
I was behind a newlywed couple (that had also reserved a room at this place) and watched a twenty-minute conflict where this couple was being turned away because all the rooms were taken.
When my turn came to claim my "reservation" I was hit with triple the cost of what was on my reservation copy. Their explanation was that sometimes Vegas just overflows and they have to make do as best they can to "accommodate" (rob their customers).

 

[steve from staten island]

Im sorry about your plans and i hope you still can take your wife somewhere nice and you both have a great time. Forgive me but i dont know what VRBO is. Is this a on line thing? If so I can only tell you I'm a old school kind of guy in every sense of that word. I dont book anything on line. I speak to the rental agency or the hotel staff and make reservations through them. Ive never had a problem except once when a rather expensive historic resort we spend one weekend a year out conveniently forgot to tell me the main dinning room was under renovation's. Your right however not updating there information is not your fault but again it sounds like a third party was involved and it also may not be the owners fault either. The booking agency should have made it right but in todays world nobody or mostly nobody wants to take responsibility for there mistakes. Best of luck to you

 

[Lets Roll]

I have a beach house with my project in the garage next to rental houses .. It kinda tense sometimes because I grind and paint on my days off. I wish they would just go down to the beach. ha ha Those rentals are probably cheaper.

 

[Ironbuilt]

I'm sorry to hear that your vacation plans fell apart FlagCraig. Like Steve, I was also wondering about this VRBO, so I Googled it. If they didn't update their site, they should be responsible to make good on your rental. I agree that customer service is an all but forgotten courtesy, but I bet that if you contact this VRBO, and throw in a few BBB and bad review threats, they will make good on it. Please keep us posted and best of luck on your vacation plans.

 

[69Coronetrt]

Sorry you are disappointed but. Meh. Little thing in life. Move on.

You’re right, the agency is right, he’s right. But it’s a real liberal use of the word greed.
His property, his price, his choice.

 

[65hemi]

We have had good luck with VRBO over the last 7 or 8 years. But we had one guy in Palm Springs jack up the rental rate a few hundred dollars when we tried to reserve. We went somewhere else.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I learned this during my fast food days 45 years ago and never forget. Best work experience I ever had and it paid $2.10 an hour.

Wow, you were living large on $2.10 per hour. My first job in 1975 paid $1.85 per hour to start.

 

[rumblefish360]

Wait! They said upgrade. Upgrade to what? With no additional cost?

 

[Gone]

Wow, you were living large on $2.10 per hour. My first job in 1975 paid $1.85 per hour to start.

In Georgia in 1975 (when I also had my first job) it was $1.25. I thought I had hit the big time when I got my first raise...a quarter an hour more!

 

[super-bee_ski]

Planning a trip this June to Florida beach. Wife likes it so I set it up for her birthday. 7 hour drive....not bad.
We have done the VRBO for renting condo's before so I chose this route again. As usual, you give all info and payment info and the owner has 24 hours to accept.
Our rental was for 4 nights and VRBO said this condo was available for my dates when I applied and they processed my request with approval for these dates.
I get email from owner rejecting request because it is the first week of prime season and they will only rent on a weekly basis during this time of year and VRBO didn't update the site.
In their response to me they say I can upgrade to a week no problem.
I say wrong keep your condo this is pure and simple GREED. I own my own business and if this happened I would honor the customers request and have VRBO change dates for future rentals.
What happened to doing the right thing? With me customer service is and always will be number 1. I learned this during my fast food days 45 years ago and never forget. Best work experience I ever had and it paid $2.10 an hour.

so sorry to hear this
Unfortunately, it's all about the money
They JUST DONT CARE

 

[FlagCraig]

Update. Owners sent me a Blah Blah Blah email. Won't waste my time responding. My point was GREED and they got it. When you're the owner you are responsible top to bottom. No if, ands or buts.
Unlike in these cars, I am an expert in Customer Service and I have the years of service to prove it. The way they handled this was flat out wrong thus loosing a customer. Hope they eat those dates.
Bottom line is I moved on and found another condo. As a wise man once said Giddy Up.

 

[Johnpat]

Reminds me of the movie Summer Rental
with John Candy

 

[69Coronetrt]

“I am an expert in Customer Service”

Then you know:

Customer Service requires empathy. It requires understanding misunderstandings. It requires composure when things go to ****. It requires emotional maturity. It requires mediation skills. It requires ownership and not placing the blame on others.

 

[biomedtechguy]

What happened to doing the right thing? With me customer service is and always will be number 1.

Greed..."little picture" myopic view of customer service. I am a big picture guy, and my way of handling clients by being fair and not squeezing every penny I can from them gives me something much more valuable in return-LOYALTY. That is a foundation that you can build a business on!