{"id":1231,"date":"2017-07-21T14:32:34","date_gmt":"2017-07-21T19:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.skisilverthorne.com\/blog\/?p=1231"},"modified":"2017-07-21T17:08:05","modified_gmt":"2017-07-21T22:08:05","slug":"vrbo-messages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skisilverthorne.com\/blog\/vrbo-messages","title":{"rendered":"Don’t use VRBO Messages Use Your Own Email to Build Customer Trust"},"content":{"rendered":"

Owners and guests should not be communicating through VRBO messages<\/b>. As many owners know by now, VRBO has turned extremely hostile towards guests and owners alike. First we had the acquisition of VRBO by Expedia for $3.9 billion, a disastrous decision on the part of Expedia. VRBO may be worth a lot, but Expedia got ripped off in that deal. I wrote about this back in 2015 in my article titled, “Expedia\u2019s Acquisition of VRBO and HomeAway \u2013 owner beware!<\/a>“. The article made many predictions about what may come, and indeed is has. In 2016 VRBO knocked guests upside the head with an additional “service fee” on top of the reservation fees. The minute the service fee was rolled out guests and owners hated it. They hate it even more now that they know the service fee is nothing more than a valueless money grab on the part of VRBO. Onward to the topic of this post:<\/p>\n

Don’t use VRBO Messages – Use Your Own Email<\/h2>\n

VRBO is stealing your customers in plain sight, it’s just that simple. Two ways they do this are through their hospitality suite and their mobile app. Another way is VRBO steals your customers through their messaging system<\/b>. VRBO keeps your guests’ email away from you, and likewise, VRBO keeps your email away from your guests. They allow you and your guest to communicate through their messaging system. VRBO does not want you and the guest talking to each other directly. Below is an example of an email I recently received from a guest:
\n

\"VRBO<\/a>

Here is a typical message you receive from vrbo when a guest sends an email from the vrbo messaging system.<\/p><\/div><\/center>
\nIf you look at the email you’ll see it comes straight from homeaway.com (vrbo, homeaway, same thing). Now let’s take a look at what would happen if I replied to that email:
\n

\"VRBO<\/a>

This is what happens when you reply to the VRBO email. Notice the unique identifier code in front of “@message.homaway.com”<\/p><\/div><\/center>
\nAs you can see the reply adress in this email is “a9jnlksnkjfjlncv@messages.homeaway.com”. The identifier, a9jnlksnkjfjlncv, in front of “@messages.homeaway.com” is a unique id that VRBO has linked to your guest’s email account. When you reply to this message the email is sent to VRBO, then VRBO forwards your message on to your guest. When your guest receives email from you the address will look similar to the one I showed you, with the unique identifier in the front.<\/p>\n