Does anyone use EVOLVE?

[Gino26]

I get alot of e-mails from a company called EVOLVE,,, another vacation booking company that uses multiple booking companies            ( homeaway, airbnb, VRBO, etc) to list your property and to hopefully generate more reservations for the homeowner.  Has anyone actually done this ?  How did airbnb get involved with these people ?

[Kevin-and-Allison0]

They cancelled my trip without notifying me. I found out two weeks before by logging into my Airbnb account. Never again. 

[Brett493]

A lot of people are under a very miss conception of Evolve app, it is just a platform that uses all the other platforms and uses an algorithm to set the prices. They have nothing to do with the property being good or bad that is up to the host. Of course they do have recommendation and rules, but it really comes down to the property owner. For their service they get 10% which is actually higher than the other platforms but I see a lot of people complaining about I would never rent through Evolve or Airbnb or any of the other ones that really comes down to the unit Airbnb or Evolve does not own any of them and they never see the place or been to the place. But with that question, is it better that your place is on an algorithm or just pay a flat price? That is the question for me?

[Yvette65]

Interesting. I called them this morning since I need to take a break after 19 years and keep three places going. A renter destroyed my cottage, not from any of the sites. The Guest was staying 6 months and went away for one month. They never bought oil. It was their responsibility. Three pipes on the second floor broke. Fireman and Oil company feel the flood could have been going on for three weeks. The Cottage is a 100 percent loss.  So today, needing a break since it is very traumatic to work so hard to build a business and have the police come to tell you to get to the address. The person who interviewed me about me wanting to perhaps work with them, his name was Craig; he was from Colorado.  I felt I would have been better off talking to a Bot. I asked tons of questions and told him about the loss and devastation to my business, and all he wanted to do was close the deal. I will be 71; I have 585 5-star reviews. I love what I do, but this past trauma and loss and other events have broken me. I have my website and ask if I could still book from my site and my return Guest. He said no! I then asked about payment, and he said Evolve holds my money for one month. This is my only income. Based on his energy and attitude, and not being about to book my own Guest and them holding my money. I would never go with their company.  No one can care for you property like you. Be very careful when looking for people to help you.Happy Booking.

[Muslim4]

I think I tried it earlier. It wasn't available in our country or there were some other restrictions. Perhaps there were any change since that time. Those aggregator services hypothetically save time, but I think they have a big disadvantage because of the different rules, standards, policies each rental services use. 

[Chris21375]

I just started using them it’s been 1 month.  They have booked 6 bookings so far. Not all at the higher prices I was charging on just Airbnb, but way more bookings so far. I have had a good experience with the staff too so far so good. I’m so happy I’m not making beds all the time! I got pretty good at it but man it’s exhausting. 

[Calvin181]

We are staying at a home in Phoenix managed by Evolve and they are terrible.  We’ve had a few issues and the only reply we’ve gotten is a generic email.  The home was not cleaned well, dirt/used bed sheets with pubic hair and stains…just to name a few. Stay away

[Jodie195]

I don’t know whether to be flattered or flabbergasted. Evolve set my rental at $10,820/night!!! (Should be maybe 125/night). When I called customer service, they said it was “just a placeholder” but no one removed the placeholder. And oh yes, they have no idea how long it will take to fix the error. And then the solution was to block my unit off as owner-booked, or to “resign the listing.” Unbelievable!!! Apparently, you either have to take their atrocious incompetence, or leave it. BEWARE!!!!

[Zheng49]

I have never used Evolve's services before but I went to their website just now. 

The look and feel is similar to Airbnb and they also allow you to book properties there. The only problem is there aren't a lot of properties on the website. For example, when I searched for a 2 night stay in Toronto sometime in April, there is only 1 property lol.

Did a similar search in New York, and there are only 6 lol.

But anyways, I wouldn't let someone else manage my property since taking back control of the listing can be problematic. At most, you could add them as a cohost, but I feel like a cohost that does everything else except for cleaning would be redundant. The only valuable thing a cohost could do is basically just cleaning services. 

[Jodie195]

I just signed up one property with Evolve, and they listed it at $10,820/night!!! Believe me, it's not a mansion. And when I called to complain about it, they could only say it was "human error," that the price was a "placeholder," and they would ask their "revenue dept" to fix it. How long? No one knows. In the meantime, they were just going to block off my unit as "owner-booked." It's now a couple of hours later, and some sites are listing my unit at $12,000/night; others at the same $10,820/night. Only in the owner portal is it at a somewhat reasonable $161/night. By the way, when I said I would like some accountability and asked to speak to a manager, I was told that the manager would say no different. I asked them to take the listing offline while it is at that ridiculous price, and they said the only thing they could do was book it as "owner-booked" or get it delisted completely. So, basically, if you don't like incompetence, tough! They don't care. I would say beware of these people. Maybe it was just my rep. His name was Sam Collins. Vastly incompetent! And the rep I spoke to today who basically told me to suck it up was Sean. 

[Vivian1506]

They need to be out of business.  See my other posts.  And I was a renter.  The property I used was great, but I thought I was booking through Travelocity.  Surprise surprise.  Then what I tried to change dates I was rudely awakened to a huge 'dynamic pricing increase'.  Their words.  But they could not break it down for me or show me in their conditions where this is legal. 

Now I won't book through Travelocity as I might be guided to pay through Evolve.  And  I have used Travelocity for years.  What is going on that all these layers are so necessary?

Where can we complain?  Trying to at least state on BBB.  Attorneys Generals need to hear about this too. 

[Jon5023]

yes, I use it and we get 30-40% of our bookings off AirBnb because of their platform.  They also provide more help with up-front customer service and booking management.   their price algo sucks and they don't have any sort of seasonal capability, but beyond that it is good. 

[Matthew294]

we use it currently, they charge a 10% fee and if you decide to leave, you cant keep any of your reviews, they also seem to be dodgy on how much air BNB actually pays them, ive noticed a 12% difference in the price paid to me, and what airBNB was quoting for those days, so in all you may be paying up to 22% on your income, not to mention the 10% you have to pay to the state..

their main selling point is that they list your booking on all the sites, however almost all of our bookings come from airBNB so to me its not really that much of a feature..

they do some of the leg work for you, but is it worth 22% of every day you rent your location? I dont think so.

Id avoid them 

[Eboni14]

They seem to be a scam. I made a reservation and had to cancel. I canceled within the full refund period but never received my refund. I had to submit a dispute to my credit card company to receive a refund. 

[Pamela1471]

From a renter perspective, evolve are terrible. They are difficult to reach, communication is poor and the people I spoke with were hostile.

I have had a terrible experience with them; they are clearly just money-grubbers with no value-added for the guests. Trying to call them is frustrating; poor telephone lines and no-one who can speak English properly. They just say that they will call back and they never do. 

They may tell you they get more bookings for you as a host, but I for one will never, ever book a property they manage. So, be careful, you may be lose more bookings than you realise.

[Emma4018]

My Partner and I recently stayed in an EVOLVE rental in Aptos, CA, and had a terrible experience! We found BLACK MOLD in the closet attached to the only bathroom. We contacted EVOLVE customer support, and they told us it was "its paint, according to the owner." Fortunately, my partner and I took photos of the mold and other issues with the rental (missing smoke alarm, dirty floors, incredibly damaged walls and doors, no way to cover glass front door, etc.) We sent them all of these photos, as well as YouTube videos on how to diagnose black mold and the California health and safety code that states it is illegal to rent out a property with black mold without disclosing the issue at the time of rental agreement signing. After all of this they offered us a $250 refund. We rented the property for 3 nights, costing $1048 total. We checked out after 2 nights as I have severe asthma and could not breathe due to the black mold. After more arguing, threatening to charge back on my credit card, and threatening to sue, they begrudgingly gave me a $550 refund. At this point, I was so tired of dealing with their customer service agents who treated me like an idiot that I gave up. I WOULD NEVER RENT FROM EVOLVE AGAIN!!!!