Surprised to see Vacasa houses being listed on Airbnb

Stacey22
Level 2
Albion, CA

Surprised to see Vacasa houses being listed on Airbnb

I recently noticed that there are new listings in my area on airbnb and that they are Vacasa vacation rentals. This surprised me and seems a bit inappropriate given they have their own platform to run on. I may have assumed wrong all along but I thought airbnb was for the individual, not for other hosting companies. Has this always been going on and I missed it or is this a new thing and a sign of where airbnb is headed?

Thank you for your time,

Stacey

14 Replies 14
Clare0
Level 10
Templeton, CA

@Stacey22 Many vacation rental companies list on Airbnb.  Luxury Resorts has listing all over the world on Airbnb.  This has been going on for a long time.  🙂

Marit-Anne0
Level 10
Bergen, Norway

@Stacey22

Anyone and their cousin can list on airbnb.  

Flag those listings.  If you read the terms of service, they aren't "really" allowed to rent here since they do not "own" the property.  They can be "co-hosts" if Airbnb allows for it in the area of the rental.  If the Vacasa corporate logo is all over it, it's got to come down.   

 

 

I totally agree that a rental companies such as "Vacasa" shouldn't be allowed to act as hosts renting out other owners properties.

Michael753
Level 1
Los Angeles, CA

We rented a property from Vacasa and they cancelled the listing less than 2 hours before check in because they had accidentally double booked us. They gave us no help and told us it was airbnb's problem, even though we had paid for the rental 4 weeks beforehand and the second party (who booked the house directly through Vacasa we learned) had only booked the house a few days before we arrived. They obviously do not know how to synch their calendars or perhaps they prioritize listings that are booked directly on their site. The whole experience was so stressful for our family and involved backtracking an hour's drive, spending the night in an expensive last minute hotel and then booking another more expensive property for fewer nights due to Vacasa's error. They did not help us with any of this, but instead told us to call Airbnb bc they claimed Airbnb made the double booking mistake. Airbnb was very helpful but I still do not see on the rental's airbnb page, a notice that Vacasa cancelled on us so late (Day of, 2:30pm for a 4pm arrival), and there is no place on Airbnb to leave feedback about Vacasa as an unreliable host, which is frustrating to me.

There are enough examples of this that perhaps we could file a complaint with the BBB ?  I discussed my experiment with Airbnb.  The representative had zero idea of who to connect me with to discuss Vacasa's poor business practices.  

Trying to call Vacasa is an endless loop of the buck getting passed.  

As a consumer, I don't feel protected.  I'm so sorry to hear about your experience.  We all need to keep sharing. 

Amber253
Level 1
Memphis, TN

Agreed. They should not be allowed to list properties on Airbnb if they are going to continue to treat travelers the way they do. We had a similarly terrible experience booking with Vacasa. We didn't find out that we couldn't stay at the property until we got there and the access code to the house didn't work. After talking to two very rude Vacasa employees (both the local Nashville contact and a representative in Portland) we were also left to find an expensive hotel last minute on the day before New Year's Eve.

 

Airbnb did refund us for the stay but that is hardly enough to compensate for the additional cost and stress while traveling.

We need to collectively communicate about these practices.  I'm sorry this happened to you.

Russell267
Level 1
Laguna Beach, CA

I setup a vacation on Airbnb with this Vacasa company and 2 hours before we were supposed to checkin they cancelled our whole vacation. When I called they have zero emotion and just cancelled our whole vacation. Stay away from this company. Here is what it looked like when they messaged me:

 

[Link removed due to safety reasons - Community Center Guidelines ]

Bob Milne is their SVP of Operations.  I can't believe this happened to you.  I don't feel protected as a consumer. 

Aimee176
Level 2
Mt Vernon, OH

Finding out the unit I am renting for a week was not listed by an owner, but by a third party management company, I started to do some research.  I discovered I was paying quite a bit more to rent a condo for a week using Airbnb versus the management company (Vacasa) directly.  It's the same exact unit - Vacasa listed it on Airbnb, but they also have it listed in their own platform.  

 

I called Vacasa about this.  Three of the four representatives told me to solve the problem by cancelling with Airbnb and re-booking with them.  This is so unethical.  The fourth representative I spoke to communicated to me that I was paying almost $300 extra "because Airbnb has benefits that Vacasa doesn't". I replied, "Oh?  I see. Can you tell me the benefits?"  She could only reply with, "Well, Airbnb has a more flexible cancellation policy".  I asked "what else" she said, "I don't know.  Some people just prefer Airbnb."  I was  flabbergasted.  

 

None of them will give me a number to corporate.  I have done my own research and have reached out to communicate with their SVP of Operations.  Curious to see what he has to say...

 

ps - I also had a very generic and basic email response from a Kendall D. at Vacasa like Russell (who posted in this thread in June of 2021)

 

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Thank you for this information.  I am looking to book a Vacasa property through Air B and B and compared it to the price on the Vacasa website.  It's about 500 more through Air BB and the only difference I could see is the more lenient cancellation policy.  Air BB is 5 days.  Vacasa is 30 days minus "booking fee and associated taxes" which I have been unable to find a published number for these fees.

Angela2983
Level 1
Gresham, OR

I too was duped.  We have some family members who are no longer going to be able to attend my mother-in-law's memorial and we tried to cancel 3 weeks before the trip.  Found out that the "host" is Vacasa and no refunds are allowed on Airbnb's site.  However, on Vacasa's site for the exact same house, you get a refund.  Airbnb says it's Vacasa's policy, Vacasa said it's Airbnb's policy. We just want a smaller house so our daughter and her family can stay home due to Covid complications.

Heather1529
Level 1
San Diego, CA

Vacasa does it again! Reserved a rental on AirBnB 6 months in advance for my fiancé and my wedding and sure enough, 3 weeks out and they just cancelled. The only property they have available is 30min away from the venue, however it appears AirBnB has a property right down the road from the one that got cancelled. Actively trying to switch locations, let’s hope they are willing to cooperate. Stay tuned.