Dissappointment

[Autocar]

My wife had a trip to Miami Florida planned sense March of last year. Booked a house in March though Booking dot com then a the middle of March paid for a 12 passenger van through Avis car rental there in Miami International Airport. Was flying out on the 18 of February 0n the 17 she got a text at one in the afternoon stating there was roof maintaince and they  cancelled her house gave them a call they gave us two other houses but they only had two bedrooms and there was seven ladys going so this didn't work . We called the house that cancelled but couldn't understand the guy but he hung up on her and wouldn't answer the phone again.We scrambled around and found a another place that was big enough six thousand plus but told her to get it. Again Booking dot com gave here a confirmation number plus the key code to get into the house. They fly into Miami and go to the Avis booth and the lady said she could not have the van they rented it rented for three thousand a week . My wife gets her paper work out and shows the lady where she rented this van . Still wouldn't give a inch, called for the manager and he never showed up so after standing there waiting for two hours they give up and get a taxi . They drive to this new house and there is three cars parked in the drive and there is a cat in the window looking back at them. The key number wouldn't work and I told her she was lucky someone didn't come to the door and shot her. They go back to the airport an setting there for 30 plus hours they decide to come back home, two of the girls were able to get a flight back on Sunday and the rest couldn't get out till Tuesday. So a thousand dollars later they flew back on Tuesday. She got the money back from the houses and the car rental but I think it is pretty sad when this can happen. 

[Tom King]

I'm sorry they had that trouble.

I don't know anything about Booking.com, but we have a lake house on Vrbo and AirBnb.  It costs a lot more to book the house through V because of all the fees they tack on.  We have the rental price by the day the same on both, but A only adds one fee so it ends up significantly cheaper.  Vrbo ends up taking at least 28%, and we don't get paid anything until at least a week after the visitors leave.

To book, we have to give a pre-approval of the rental, and then they pay and get the booking through the service.  We have to go immediately to the one not booked through to block out the days rented on the other service.  We can't have any direct contact with the renters until they show up, and that includes no personal phone numbers or emails.  All the messages go through the rental service.

I've heard of all sorts of problems with these bookings, but I think most vacation houses are owned by people that don't even live close to them.  We only live a couple of hundred yards away, so that sort of thing should never be a problem.

I don't know how to tell if there would be a problem before someone shows up at those places.  The last renters had never used a gas stove, so I had to go show them how to turn it on.  That's about the extent of the "trouble" we have had.

[charles mann]

Im gonna let my wife read this. Maybe then she will understand why a vacation is me coming hm from work after 2-4 wks on the road, and want to stay at hm or within a 4 hr drive. 

It sucks your wife and friends had to go through that mess. At least they got some of their money back. 

[Onthesauk]

We've been using Vrbo or AirBnb for 2 to 3 months every winter and never had a big problem with either.

[metalspinner]

The rental van doesn't surprise me at all. I rented a van last year at our local airport. They didn't have it when I went to get it... no apologies.  Called the rental agency across the street from the airport, as I was driving over there and booked the van. 3 minutes later I pulled in and they DIDN'T have the van... no apologies. 
I booked a third agency in Knoxville for the van. I get there to pick it up But he didn't want to "give up" his last van. I just unloaded on him - and I NEVER do that. Needless to say, I drove away with that van. 

Online bookings remove the human element from transactions and these bookings are mostly made by agents from afar. Even if the rental place is local. So they don't know the vehicle is actually on the lot. 

I can't even imagine the frustration your wife and friends had with all the cancellations of their trip. What a mess. 
Is there a cancelation policy on these home rentals that was violated?

[Autocar]

Yes I looked into it, after talking with a lawyer I found out that I would have to get a attorney from Florida. After a few dead ends I found one that said for five bucks they would tell me if we had a case. So five bucks later they said they would be interested in the case but a moment later they took forty nine dollars more out of our credit card. After around ten thousand dollars in this so called trip I got the feeling to throw the towel in and grin and bear it. She got most of her money back and still waiting on Avis Rental to give it back. Tickles me how everyone is so nice to take your money but when there is a problem there's no phone numbers to talk with a live person. This kind of thing just reinforce to me why I am so happy to cut timber by myself and live in rural America !

[SawyerTed]

Sorry your wife, her friends and you had this ordeal.  Some people don't care how their decisions have ripple effects and customer service is an inconvenience for many in the hospitality industry now days. 

I learned many years ago that trip insurance is cheap when stuff like that goes wrong.  We always purchase trip insurance for rentals, airfares and trips where car travel is more than four hours.  It's paid off more than once during hurricane season.