Reservation Cancelled And No Assistance From Evolve
We booked a house several months ago for the middle of July. The deposit was paid and everything that needed to be done was completed. On 4/9/21 I received an email saying our trip had been cancelled because the owner had sold the property. No offer from Evolve to help finding a new property just “sorry here’s your money back”. I have emailed and called Evolve several times and have not received a response to my inquiries. Trying to find a vacation house that will accommodate a large family this close to summer is next to impossible. The real kicker is that I looked on VRBO and found the house we had reserved was listed on their site with the week we had booked. The price was $250.00 more a night. There is some shady stuff going on with this owner and the rental companies.
Reply from Evolve
Hi Scott – I’m sorry to hear your booking had to be canceled due to the home being sold. It may have appeared on VRBO after your cancellation as it does take some time for us to remove listings from all of our partner platforms so I do apologize for any confusion that caused. If you have any additional questions or need further assistance please do not hesitate to reach out, happy to help!
Experience With Evolve Vacation Rentals
Hi All,
We just had a really bad experience with Evolve Vacation rentals. We booked a place in Durham in which the description did not match the rental. When we opted not to stay, Evolve told us it was up to the owner — something i find disingenuous. Once you fully pay for a stay, the owner has no incentive to cure their posting or the experience. We were incredibly disappointed with their customer service and are not inclined to use them again.
Has anyone had any experience with Evolve? Trying to decide if this was a fluke, or if I should stick with AirBNB or VRBO going forward.
67 replies to this topic
I’m a host with them as well and looking to switch to eaither airbnb or vrbo. Suggestions?
Terrible experience with this unethical company. They will steal from owners and guests alike. Their pandemic response has been shameful. PLEASE take your business anywhere else. You have been warned.
MICE! Be wary of booking with Evolve. We are being refused a full refund after a horribly mouse-infested stay and were kept up by mice . Evolve has had very poor communication with us and continues to refuse us a full refund for what we experienced. We were offered to stay at the same location again in the future as a “fair” offer – not at all fair. We sent them videos and photos of live mice running around and droppings everywhere . Still being told we will not be given a full refund.
Never… ever… ever rent a house on air bnb or VRBO that is managed by evolve… never.
Worst App Ive Ever Used
It hums along fine for a week or two, or sometimes only a day or two, then I get an error notice from which there is no recovery. Nothing works, and none of the usual tricks like turning the phone off and on can rescue it. My wife and I have both had to delete and reinstall the app dozens of times. We use many apps of all types and do not experience anything like this with anything else we use. When its running, it does its job well enough. I wish they would make it easier to see the full financial picture of a transaction in the notifications they push. You can dig and get to it, but the relentless focus on topline Payout! is a disservice to the property owners who know very well that rosy number includes fees and often taxes that dont end up with us. It feels like they think were stupid. All that said, the reason we keep reloading this infernal app is that you can pretty much do everything you need to monitor performance and make adjustments to your properties … when its working.
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Vrbo Owners Last Minute Cancellation Recourse
We reserved a VRBO house months ago. Two weeks before our big family is set to fly cross country, I email the owner for directions to the house. He calls and says he is so sorry but VRBO rented out the his house to someone else! But VRBO promised to help me find another property he said. I told him he needed, to cancel the second reservation, or mine. But as I was speaking he was clicking away on his computer. He was refunding my money and cancelling my reservation so that put an end to that request. Then he got off the phone. When I called a VBRO agent, of course they knew nothing about helping me rebook or making a mistake. They said the owner controls the bookings, not them. Has anyone ever complained to VRBO and been listened to? I can try complaining to state consumer board. Has anyone done that and gotten redress? Its impossible to post a negative review on the VBRO site.
Real Estate Investor From Charlotte North Carolina
Great conversation, thank you all for your tips!
Airbnb basically owns the bookings in my area, no other channels drive legitimate traffic. However, given our current state I’m preparing to set-up my own website and/or post on various channels that don’t appear to offer the host insurance and I know asking the Guest for security deposit or to run background checks can be a deterrent for short stays. My preference is to house weekly stays or up to 3 months as my area doesn’t have a huge demand for vacation travel it mostly attracts work travel.
and/or anyone that can chime in, if you’re booking outside of VRBO or Airbnb like Booking.com or other, how are you all protecting your property from damages? Travel/Damage Insurance and such?
I saw a post on a short term rental group that Airbnb, for example, offered the host $100 for $1,500 of damage by the guest. Despite the host providing contractor receipts and pictures of the damage. So it’s looking like the coverage Airbnb offers is being modified.
I understand that hosting in itself requires the risk of damages, would just like to know what added protection channels you guys are using. Thanks!
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Unable To Access Online
We are owners with evolve as well and I was never able to access this rental trip. I sent emails and called multiple times. Calling was incredibly frustrating since I was placed on hold at least 30-45 minutes each time I attempted. I never got the help needed to access the trip and had to work the extension of my trip via email, which was frustrating. I was disappointed to think this is the experience renters get in working with evolve for renting my property.
Reply from Evolve
Hi Kali – I apologize for any delay in response you experienced while working with us. Our teams are actively hiring to ensure our response times decrease and we provide both guests and homeowners with the service we know you deserve. If you need any further assistance please do not hesitate to reach out to us on social media. Happy to help!
How Did The Cohad Philosophy Help You Lead Through The Pandemic
The true severity of the pandemic set in after we went remote. As humans, a crisis causes us to go back to basics. I made it known to the team that they could come to me with their hardest questions and get the real answers. I confirmed to them that I was not going to suspend my commitment to COHAD during the pandemic, rather, I was going to double down on it. I think we all knew that those real answers would be scary and ambiguous…but we also knew that they were a thousand times better than any other answers because they were the truth.
I made it known to the team that they could come to me with their hardest questions and get the real answers.
For Evolve, the most alarming answer was our low case scenario. In this scenario, the travel market would be shut down or severely limited for up to two years, and therefore we would need to go into the business equivalent of a nuclear bunker in order to survive. We had more conviction than ever about the vacation rental category and our business model, and we knew that if we could just survive for those two years, we could reemerge and rebuild to new highs. But for our team, this meant that a layoff had to be on the table something that I shared with everyone from the very beginning.
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Beware Evolve Vacation Rental Changing Their Terms
For those of you that do not know yet, Evolve has changed their terms of service. You may have noticed a barrage of emails from customers because Evolve has decided not to handle customer questions after they’ve confirmed a booking. This basically makes Evolve no better than any other Channel Management company, but for 3-10 times the cost of sites like BeyondPricing. They have declared that any and all agreements signed by property owners with Evolve are null and void.
These changes are not reflected in their website presently UNLESS you log into your owner portal. I, therefore, believe they’re actively engaged in Bait-and-Switch on new property owners.
I’m not sure how they can willy-nilly cancel an agreement without consent from the other party anyway or continue to advertise services they do not intend to provide.
Furthermore, they have not actively sought to connect or establish property managers or cleaners in our area… which is also promised on their website.
Beware! This company is not at all what they profess to be. You’ll be paying 10% on a service you can get for 1%.
Evolve Vacation Rentals Recent Growth Achievements
Evolve was founded in 2011 with the goal of making vacation rental risk-free for property owners and worry-free for guests. Since its inception, Evolve has become one of the fastest-growing vacation rental companies in the U.S. and has just had its most successful year yet. To date, Evolve has generated over $2 billion in revenue for its property owners. Evolves other highlights include:
- Creating a portfolio of 19,000 homes in over 750 markets
- Having over 7 million guests book with them
- Increasing the net booking value by 78% year-over-year
- In 2021 growing its revenue per listing 38% more than the market average
- Growing the number of employees by 68% to more than 800 in 2021
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Property Manager From Eclectic Al
I started as a turnover cleaner for vacation rentals locally. I actually had a client approach me to handle his listing and guests, for a fee. And after considering for a while accepted.
It has turned into a business for me. I actually allow my owners to have as much interaction with guests as they want. So I am able to provide guest services locally, as well as cleaning and concierge, while the owners still get to be involved but dont have to do the hard work of driving from all over creation to come meet a plumber, electrician, put a faucet cover on for freezing temps, etc.
it works well since we are like a partnership. They simply get an invoice at the end of the month. I still do just turnover cleans for some clients. Even through evolve. Their big seling point is all of the exposure but what Ive found is all the exposure in the world wont help keep you rental booked without guest service being excellent.
Choosing Between Avada And Turnkey Vacasa And Evolve Vacation Rentals
There are a number of high-profile management companies available in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. When picking a company that suits your needs, its important to understand the differences between their service offerings and ours.
The bottom line is your cabin is a major investment and you need to make sure that its taken care of properly while making you the most money possible.
There are 4 primary areas you need to focus on: Revenue and Fees, Marketing and Pricing, Guest Services and Maintenance.
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Evolve Vacation Rental Customer Reviews
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Do Not Use Evolve to List your Cabin!!
If you want renters that will treat your cabin like a cheap motel, Evolve is the company for you! Six months in and I am very disappointed with the number of rentals and the terrible quality of renters. Regretfully we listed our breathtaking brand new mountain modern waterfront cabin with them.
Evolve is everything that gives short-term rentals a bad reputation and is getting us banned in many communities. We have many friends that have short-term rentals for several years that they managed themselves through AirBnB and/or VRBO. Hardly one had a bad experience, yet we have had several in our first couple of months with Evolve.
Evolve is simply an intermediate host that list your property on other sites and takes all the control away from the homeowner with very little benefit in return.
Evolve nor the renter are held liable for anything, no deposit is required only a $14/night worthless $3000 insurance policy. The only one that stands to lose is the owner. A renter can destroy your house, and just walk away without even getting a bad review!
Owners cannot screen renters nor does Evolve. Anyone can rent your cabin! The party mansion loophole! Yes our house fell victim to this through Evolve!
The only information the owner gets about guest is number of guest, first name, fist letter of last name, and phone number.
You cant leave reviews on guest nor read their reviews.
Frat Party House:
Owners Beware!
Outrageous Fees Not Disclosed
I recently made a reservation for a property and ended up having to use the management company EVOLVE. Here are a list of complaints:1. This was a non refundable reservation which was stated before the full price was charged with numerous fees added and not disclosed on the Booking website.2. There was an Additional Fee of $160.00 charged which was not disclosed or explained.3. There was a fee charged for damage insurance which I did not ask for and was not initially disclosed. There was no option to opt out for damage insurance. The fee for this was just added without being disclosed.4. The total fees and tax were almost the same as the property rental amount.I have not stayed at the property yet but I will never make a reservation with Evolve managing rental property.In reply to Evolves response: Fees were not disclosed prior to paying! There was no communication about a $160.00 Additional Fee or mandatory damage insurance fee much less the rest of their fees. I dont see how a property owner can a list with a valve is the management company when they are causing potential clients to never rent the property again. I feel sorry for the property owners who dont know whats happening when they use Evolve. I highly recommend staying away from them.
Reply from Evolve
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If I Could Leave 0 Stars I Would
If I could leave 0 stars I would. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE!!!! We booked a place by them that looked great in photos but the photos were very deceiving, they tried to make it look like there was a water view of the lake in the back of the cabin and there wasnt you had to drive to get to the water that was nowhere near the cabin. Also there were several houses around the cabin that they tried to make sound secluded. The only way we knew this is because we researched the location on google maps after confirming, because something didnt seem right. Upon realizing this location was not what we wanted AT ALL, about 10 minutes later we cancelled and asked for the full refund. The host would not work with us. Did NOT give us a full refund and didnt even respond to us. They will literally ghost you. Horrible business IMO. They dont deserve anyones money because they basically took $150 of our money for NO REASON. Our booking and cancelling 10 minutes later did not inconvenience them at all but they still took our money after us asking if they would please return our money since their photos were deceiving. Just a shame. Theres plenty more GREAT places to stay with amazing hosts, dont waste your time with EVOLVE
Reply from Evolve
Evolve Vacation Rental Reviews
Evolve Vacation Rentals is a vacations rental company that offers rentals in select destinations throughout the US, as well as property management services to homeowners.
The company states that more than 9,000 homeowners throughout North America have benefitted from the company and earned over $350 million in rental income.
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Evolves Rest Easy Promise
Flexibility has been important for travelers since the onset of the COVID pandemic as many lost money on trips that were booked ahead of time. Since the demand for better flexibility increased exponentially from consumers, Evolve responded by creating its Rest Easy Promise. The Rest Easy Promise is a guarantee to guests that they can cancel a reservation within 48 hours of booking without any penalty. Additionally, if a guests plans change, they can let Evolve know within 48 hours of check-in and receive a travel credit which remains good for 2 years.
Evolve also promises its guests that what you see on their website is what you get because they check every property listed in person before it can go up on their website, but if guests are dissatisfied for any reason, Evolve will work as a virtual front desk that is available 24/7 to address their concerns.