VRBO/Homeaway question...Is this normal?

[RoxMonster]

We are looking into homes to rent for our vacation next summer since they sometimes rent a year out. I have used VRBO one other time to book a cabin and it was wonderful and no problems.

The two houses we are looking at (one through VRBO and one through Homeaway--different rental companies/owners) do not accept credit cards. They only let you pay via personal check or money order. When we did the cabin through VRBO, we charged it, and I liked having that extra security in case anything shady did happen on the owner's end. At least we'd possibly have some recourse through our CC company. I am leery of sending off a personal check or money order (admittedly don't know much about money orders, though. Any protection if something were to happen?)

Both properties have 15+ 5 star reviews online. Would the payment limitations give you pause/would you rent through someone who didn't allow credit cards?

[Deleted]

I think that's shady, honestly. Do you mean sending them directly to the owner, or paying by electronic check on the VRBO site?

If it's through the site, I'd consider it, but if they are asking you to send it directly to the owner, NO WAY. At best you have no protection if something went wrong, and at worst it could be a scam.

There are so many options out there (have you checked out airBNB?) that I would not take a chance, I'd just go with something else.

[ijack]

IMO it's not at all uncommon for places to not take CC. Will they take paypal?

[RoxMonster]

Jul 27, 2015 16:54:01 GMT -5 ijack said:

IMO it's not at all uncommon for places to not take CC. Will they take paypal?

One place specifically said no Paypal. The other didn't mention it, so I could ask.

@buckybells It is not through the site; it is directly to the owner. Well, in one case, it is through a rental management company and not just one person, but it is sent to them directly. 

I have not checked airBnB but am open to it. Is it pretty much the same thing as VRBO? 

[Deleted]

Jul 27, 2015 16:57:28 GMT -5 RoxMonster said:

Jul 27, 2015 16:54:01 GMT -5 ijack said:

IMO it's not at all uncommon for places to not take CC. Will they take paypal?

One place specifically said no Paypal. The other didn't mention it, so I could ask.

@buckybells It is not through the site; it is directly to the owner. Well, in one case, it is through a rental management company and not just one person, but it is sent to them directly. 

I have not checked airBnB but am open to it. Is it pretty much the same thing as VRBO? 

Yeah, airBNB is similar, though I believe they require you to pay with a credit card and warn you not to pay owners directly. I have used them quite a bit recently and been very happy. Personally, I feel good booking through them because they offer a guaranty that if you set it up through the site, they will take care of you if things go wrong. 

I don't feel good about sending my money to a stranger in another location without that sort of guaranty (ETA: Am I spelling that wrong, lol? It looks funny to me but spellcheck isn't correcting it). It's entirely possible nothing will go wrong, but if there is no recourse if things go wrong - what then, KWIM? 

I actually booked a place through VRBO this summer and cancelled because I found a place on airBNB that was significantly cheaper (and just as nice). Not sure if that was a fluke though.

[1confused1]

All my rentals through VRBO (I have rented a lot through them) have been paid by check.

[InBetweenDays]

Our last VRBO (house in Mexico) only took checks. We paid 1/2 when we booked and 1/2 a month before travel. The owner had been very easy to communicate with about the house (prior to booking) and had numerous rave reviews.

[orangello]

I am also uncomfortable with this, but have done it before. If they've got multiple good reviews I think you'd be fine.

[devonpow]

We rent houses frequently through vrbo and many require us to pay by check. It's very common.

[pagas]

My last VRBO was paid by personal check. There wasn't an issue.

[devonpow]

Also most frequently we put down an initial deposit then they mail us the full lease which we sign and return with the balance.

[RoxMonster]

OK hearing that more people do it this way makes me feel better. I have just never paid for accommodations for any trip via check. Not wanting the CC fees on their end makes sense.

[luckyval]

The cabin we rented last year was check only. Not a rental company - just a couple that lived in one cabin and rented out two others down the road from them

[keyslover]

Yep. We have never had issues either.

[dirtyred]

We've done VRBOs that only take checks without any issues.

[AllieHound]

We just rented a house via TripAdvisor/HomeAway with a check directly to the owner and we had no issues.

[whitemerlot]

We rent through a property management company in FL every year and they have tons of houses and are check only.

[RoxMonster]

OK. It sounds like this is actually pretty normal. I feel better now if we decide to go with one of these houses. I am going to e-mail each owner for more info and see how quickly they respond, etc. and go from there.

[Deleted]

I think vrbo tells you to call the owner before sending money. But my understanding is if they have lots of good reviews you should be fine because it's not easy for a property to list there so they try to make it not worth it for scammers. In the past I've also had lucked finding some properties mentioned on trip advisor or goo gin the owners/parts of their ad.

I had the same worry

[isabel]

You could also check HomeAway. Same concept.

[loira]

H and I rented a condo in Spain years ago, before the existence of AirBnB. I can't remember what site we used, but the condo and owner had a load of good reviews. We had to send a deposit by bank transfer, then pay the owner (who lived in the flat above) the rest in cash at checkout. It worked out just fine and we had a lovely time.