If this were a movie, you might call it, “Hotel-Review King Meets Vacation-Rental Honcho.”
TripAdvisor CEO Stephen Kaufer casts doubt about the reliability of HomeAway’s vacation rentals — and HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples expresses caution about the integrity of TripAdvisor’s vacation rental reviews.
In separate interviews, the two CEOs expressed respect for the other company, but went at it nonetheless.
Kaufer says TripAdvisor, which took control of FlipKey two years ago and recently acquired HolidayLettings in the U.K., is making a big push into vacation rentals, but acknowledges “we have a long way to go to become known as the place to go for vacation rentals.”
He pays some homage to vacation-rental leader HomeAway.
“In the vacation-rental space, they don’t have the brand but they have the reach and the product offering right now and they are doing very well,” Kaufer says. “I give them a lot of credit for it.”
But, here come the zingers.
“I want them [consumers] to have a totally safe experience and it’s still a little on the risky side when you rent a property from HomeAway because you are sending a check off into the wilderness and you don’t have a lot of guarantees that you will have a great time,” Kaufer says.
Kaufer adds: “They [HomeAway] don’t have the breadth and depth of reviews that we do and the types of reviews they have, let’s just say I wouldn’t put my faith in them.”
So, how’s that for some irony: The head of TripAdvisor, which has been challenged — sometimes too vociferously, in my opinion — over the integrity of its hotel reviews, is casting aspersions about HomeAway’s reviews.
But, Sharples of HomeAway, with its 850,000 reviews, fires right back.
“As a newcomer to the business, I’m surprised he’s [Kaufer's] trashing the very owners that he’s attempting to attract,” Sharples says. “Travelers who stay at vacation rentals are extemely happy with their experiences, and as the largest company in this category, we work harder than anyone to assure it is safe for all.”
If you peruse HomeAway.com, there sure is a preponderance of positive consumer-written reviews.
Sharples says property owners view the consumer reviews, perhaps 12-24 hours before they are posted, and can dispute them if the reviewer never stayed at the property, booked it somewhere else, is blackmailing the property owner to get a deposit returned, or if the review is “overly malicious.”
An example of being overly malicious, Sharples says, is if guests write that they arrived at the property, a window was stuck, and then give the property a review of one star out of a possible five.
“Only a handful” of reviews don’t get posted or come down off the site for such reasons, Sharples says, adding that 90% to 95% of guests are satisfied with their stays.
Kaufer’s diss of HomeAway’s reviews “is a bit of a head-scratch,” Sharples says. “For TripAdvisor to make the reviews the issue is a natural for them to do because that is what their business is.”
He acknowledges that when HomeAway acquired VRBO, its review process, which he labeled a “guestbook approach,” had to be cleaned up because the owners had a lot of power over them.
But, Sharples proceeds to call into question the integrity of some of TripAdvisor’s vacation-rental reviews.
He says that when TripAdvisor signs on listings from property management firms, they are allowed to import whatever reviews they already had in their database so that “a process beyond TripAdvisor drives a lot of those reviews.”
TripAdvisor spokesman Kevin Carter says that is not how the process works.
“TripAdvisor allows management firms to import their guest records, which allows TripAdvisor/FlipKey to send personal emails to guests inviting them to review the specific property they stayed in,” Carter says. “Once a guest has submitted their review, the content is processed through an authentication filter, applying proprietary verification techniques and specific supplemental processes unique to the vacation rental category.”
“Neither TripAdvisor nor FlipKey provides functionality that allows users to submit existing reviews or self reviews,” Carter says.
Sharples believes that TripAdvisor’s raising of the HomeAway review issue and implying there is great risk is off-base because reviews are only one element of HomeAway’s audit process.
Sharples says HomeAway has 650 employees and “half are focused on trust and safety.”
“Bad renters and properties are kicked off the site,” Sharples says.
Sharples agrees with Kaufer that HomeAway faces challenges in brand awareness, and says its Super Bowl ad “took our awareness numbers from very small to small.”
The 15-minute video which HomeAway created about the Griswolds triggered 2.5 million views, Sharples says.
Kaufer and Sharples likely would agree that TripAdvisor and HomeAway will do battle in the vacation-rental market, but will come at it with different strengths and weaknesses.
HomeAway has reach, but little brand awareness, while TripAdvisor has brand awareness and little reach.
Although HomeAway is the market leader, it commands only a small portion of the massive vacation-rental market.
And, this means there is room for plenty of players.
Says Sharples: “I don’t spend sleepless nights worrying about TripAdvisor.”
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Related Links:
Part One of Four: TripAdvisor boss not sold on Google Travel
Part Two of Four: TripAdvisor CEO explains link policy, feels the hotel love
Part Three of Four: TripAdvisor boss sees competitive advantage growing
“And, this means there is room for plenty of players.”
Yes, there is. As a vacation rental owner and vacation rental user, I am happy for reviews as they provide some context. But they fall short no matter what traditional vacation rental portal you find them on. Most are written anonymously and don’t address many details I as a vacation rental owner want to highlight or want to know as rental guest.
One alternative to reviews on traditional portals is social media, specifically the new Facebook application, http://www.secondporch.com
Second Porch allows owners and rental guests to connect in a much more transparent fashion than traditional sites do.
My advice to vacationers is to read the reviews, seek out people you may know or know of on sites like Second Porch and ask plenty of questions of the owner.
Sylvia: I agree that getting hotel/vacation rental recommendations through your social networks, as you say SecondPorch is doing, is a great option. TripAdvisor has Trip Friends, as you know.
Hey, I wouldn’t stop at reviews and talking to your friends. I would also consult professional reviews, guidebooks. The more information the merrier, right?
Hi Dennis. I totally agree that the more informed you are, the better choices you can make. (about most anything in life
Do you know of any guidebooks or professional reviews that deal with vacation rentals, especially on an individual basis? (i.e. reviewing the individual condo unit rather than the complex, for example)
I know you can find hotel reviews, destination reviews and even restaurant reviews in guide books or through professional reviewers, but I have not seen personally the vacation rental industry in specific terms in such resources.
If you know of any, please advise me on what they are. I would be interested in seeing what they say.
Thanks!
I agree with both, and from an outsider that owns a vacation rental, needs that positive and negitive feedback, to find out what would be more inviting to our guests. There are only a couple problems with these sites:
1. In my rental some of our guests before leaving write a lovely note about their stay on the counter saying thank you and all..and some take the time out and fill out the form on trip advisor, Since we have a common area computer,we get penalized for guest using that computer to write reviews. (Like I have time to configure new email addresses). You get penalized since its your computer and it has the same IP number so it thinks you are making spam reviews..Found this out first hand, by getting penalized from TripAdvisor, I went from being a rental at #3 to Last, and with no lack in Vacation Rentals this hurts a business.
2. When you send money to these rental places, yes its like kissing your money good-bye, and not knowing what to expect. I have been in business now for 4 years, and doing good, and always look for more ways to list my rentals, Have to get the name out there some how. The other problem is that there is many, many listing that are on BOTH these sites that DO NOT have permits to be renting in the first place. NO INSURANCE, NO LICENSE, NOT BONDED, This is the thing that hurts my business, and the economy where I am.
So, Before you Risk your hard earned money, ASK the owner if they are licensed and insured, bonded and have all their permits..
People that scam and steal money understand its very easy to make money… In order for you to put your place on the web and start renting and making money or scamming, is to have a picture and a phone number, and find a listing site. Sometimes there is a fee involed for listing your rental on their site but thats peanuts compared to what you can make.
RinconRentals: Very interesting comment. What a dilemma for TripAdvisor. It sounds fairly reasonable that TripAdvisor should be very cautious about accepting reviews written from your IP address. I give TripAdvisor credit for making the assumption — albeit sometimes misplaced — that it might be the owner actually writing the review. I don’t know how to get around that one. If TripAdvisor did the actual bookings, then they could send an email to the guest after the stay asking for a review. But since TripAdvisor doesn’t handle bookings and doesn’t require proof of stay, then at least they are being cautious about not accepting reviews written on the owners’ computers.
Yes, with all the flim-flam artists out there in the vacation-rental market, it sounds like user reviews might be your friend.
I think we all agree that the purpose of reviews is to help build a picture of a reliable and trustworthy owner – to allow me as a renter to have confidence after I’ve sent my check off.
That’s where SecondPorch is great and actually where the modern web in general is great. It’s about information and giving the renter as much of it as possible prior to booking. In that sense reviews are just one part – I believe we ought to also be offering renters a view into the owners world, to see their Facebook activity, Twitter feeds, Videos, the owners personal website.
I don’t know how many owners out there embrace web2.0 but online information sharing has to be at the centre of an owners marketing pitch; to be personal and real. And that’s actually the point of VRs.
Actually, Second Porch is a benefit to me as a vacation rental owner as well as vacation rental guest. Like most owners, I do keep my property in very good condition and want to keep it that way. Knowing my renter, or knowing someone who does, is helpful for me in my own screening process. This is less of an issue for me as Sanibel Island is a nature island and attracts vacationers looking for wild life, not wild times. I have never had a problem with rental guests at either my condo or house on the Island, but there are other destinations where background on the rental guest can be a real advantage. I am totally transparent about who I am on Facebook/Second Porch and appreciate when I find that same transparency in people looking to book my places.
Reviews a very important in the world of vacation rentals…where standardization doesn’t really exist. There are marketplace sites out there that are trying to model themselves after ebay and pretty much rely user reviews to police the marketplace. A really interesting site to look out for is MetroFlats.com. Their website as a unique feel
Brian Sharples` comment that Homeaway will remove comments posted by renters that are deliberately malicious or attempting extortion does not correspond with my experience. One renter who had not even booked through Homeaway chose to make some very trivial complaints on the Homeaway website and included an obvious libel about my integrity. As his numerous customer support staff in London were totally unresponsive and unhelpful I emailed him directly with all the details. He chose not to intervene but to pass this to his corporate counsel Trey Herschap who sent the most horrifying long legal disclaimer, which in fact had no jurisdiction in the United Kingdom since it was governed by the laws of Texas. He refused to withdraw the libellous posting. I was left with no alternative but to cancel my advertising and eventually to force a refund out of Homeaway. They were then investigated in the United Kingdom by the Trading Standards Office for their extra-territorial treatment of British subscribers. Subsequently the renter took the matter to Court, where the judge made very light of his trivial complaints. The matter was dropped.
Kaufer adds: “They [HomeAway] don’t have the breadth and depth of reviews that we do and the types of reviews they have, let’s just say I wouldn’t put my faith in them.”
How about TripAdvisor reviews quality, this is from an email sent by one of their employees to me few years back regarding a questionable review of my hotel “ideal hotel”:
“We determined that the review does meet our review criteria and will remain posted on the site. Since reviews are posted by our members on our open forum, and we do not verify the information posted in them, we are unable to provide you with proof that this member ‘reserved, stayed or actually visited ideal hotel’.”
http://www.elliott.org/blog/we-are-not-crooks/
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So much for review quality!
Regards,
Nawar