Gov. David Ige calls for 30-day suspension of visitors to Hawaii (hotel, living)

[Futuremauian]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Is VRBO atleast allowing the reservations to be postponed until a later date?

VRBO has asked Rental Owners to do this but many owners says "NO".
They also asked owners to give a 50% refund. Again, many say NO.

[hotzcatz]

So other than the AirBnB and VRBO kerfluffle, what about the rest of the island that is gonna suck wind due to lack of tourists? Not that anyone else seems to be noticing, but the economy around here is pretty much a one trick pony and someone just nuked the pony.

How can folks in a service economy work from home? Change hotel sheets via their smartphone apps? Not, that they will need to clean any hotel rooms since there won't be any tourists in them.

Why hasn't there been anyone at the airports taking the temperature of all incoming people? They have those nifty thermometers which post the temperature in light on the forehead. No contact necessary and it's done in seconds. TSA has you hold your hands up while the scanner goes around, Covid TSA has the temperature dot.

But, no need, no more tourists so maybe now folks will look around to diversify the economy.

[rya96797]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

So other than the AirBnB and VRBO kerfluffle, what about the rest of the island that is gonna suck wind due to lack of tourists? Not that anyone else seems to be noticing, but the economy around here is pretty much a one trick pony and someone just nuked the pony.

How can folks in a service economy work from home? Change hotel sheets via their smartphone apps? Not, that they will need to clean any hotel rooms since there won't be any tourists in them.

Why hasn't there been anyone at the airports taking the temperature of all incoming people? They have those nifty thermometers which post the temperature in light on the forehead. No contact necessary and it's done in seconds. TSA has you hold your hands up while the scanner goes around, Covid TSA has the temperature dot.

But, no need, no more tourists so maybe now folks will look around to diversify the economy.

This is hawaii you're talking about. We're the ones that let an infected cruise ship dock with zero testing, not even cursory temperature testing. Incompetence is the status quo

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

How can folks in a service economy work from home?

But, no need, no more tourists so maybe now folks will look around to diversify the economy.

Hawaii will always be dependent on tourism and the military. That's it. Record tourism - things are great - otherwise not so great.

There are exactly zero opportunities to diversify the economy

[hotzcatz]

How about telemarketing? We are in a timezone that would let us call them all during their dinner time while it's still working hours here? Bawhahahaha!

[steiconi]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

How about telemarketing? We are in a timezone that would let us call them all during their dinner time while it's still working hours here? Bawhahahaha!

There was a call center on BI, but it closed. I heard it was due to "unreliable staffing", but suspect they weren't paying enough to get good workers.

[WaikikiBoy]

Originally Posted by Futuremauian

Yet some VRBO owners still refuse to give refunds or even allow guests to reschedule.

Ultimately they will pay for their shortsighted intransigence.

So will Expedia who owns VRBO! We will NOT forget this! EVER!

And we will continue to remind the traveling public!

Aren’t you living on-island ? So is it a friend you’re mad for? You know, personally I understand some condo owners not providing refunds. The terms are very clear when you book that the booking is non-refundable. Many people think they are just greedy rich owners but I think the reality is that many of them are just getting by and depend on the rent to cover the bills associated with owning the unit. Booking fees, taxes, HOA fees, insurance, management fees and mortgage fees take a big bite.

If they refund the money, which the agreement said at time of booking that there would be no refunds, then that money is coming straight from their pockets because it’s likely already been spent on bills for the unit.

Anyway, they’re still going to take a hit because bookings now have dried up. It would be nice if they allowed a rescheduling, or a discount on a rescheduling, but I get that for many they may be in a tight spot also. I would hope I would be able to do that if I had a vacation rental rental.

But I also don’t think it will bite them. After this is over there will be a lot of pent up demand and people will start booking again ... and looking for the best value they can find.

[Futuremauian]

Originally Posted by WaikikiBoy

Aren’t you living on-island ? So is it a friend you’re mad for? You know, personally I understand some condo owners not providing refunds. The terms are very clear when you book that the booking is non-refundable. Many people think they are just greedy rich owners but I think the reality is that many of them are just getting by and depend on the rent to cover the bills associated with owning the unit. Booking fees, taxes, HOA fees, insurance, management fees and mortgage fees take a big bite.

If they refund the money, which the agreement said at time of booking that there would be no refunds, then that money is coming straight from their pockets because it’s likely already been spent on bills for the unit.

Anyway, they’re still going to take a hit because bookings now have dried up. It would be nice if they allowed a rescheduling, or a discount on a rescheduling, but I get that for many they may be in a tight spot also. I would hope I would be able to do that if I had a vacation rental rental.

But I also don’t think it will bite them. After this is over there will be a lot of pent up demand and people will start booking again ... and looking for the best value they can find.

I am on Maui. The rental condo is on Kauai. I agree that the owner may be in a tight spot but since it is no longer possible to even get to the condo, an exception should be made. Do you think splitting the cost 50/50 is unreasonable? The owner refused to do this. Travel insurance excludes pandemics. Who would have guessed this would happen?

The extraordinary circumstances has caused hotels to close up as well as most businesses. Virtually everyone else in the tourism industry has given refunds.
AIRBNB guaranteed refunds to anyone who wants one. We believe Expedia, the owner of VRBO, should do the same thing.

No doubt there will be bankruptcies in the rental market before life returns to normal. My point in posting is so that others know how VRBO treats it's customers in a crisis.

We won't ever use them again!

[WaikikiBoy]

Originally Posted by Futuremauian

I am on Maui. The rental condo is on Kauai. I agree that the owner may be in a tight spot but since it is no longer possible to even get to the condo, an exception should be made. Do you think splitting the cost 50/50 is unreasonable? The owner refused to do this. Travel insurance excludes pandemics. Who would have guessed this would happen?

The extraordinary circumstances has caused hotels to close up as well as most businesses. Virtually everyone else in the tourism industry has given refunds.
AIRBNB guaranteed refunds to anyone who wants one. We believe Expedia, the owner of VRBO, should do the same thing.

No doubt there will be bankruptcies in the rental market before life returns to normal. My point in posting is so that others know how VRBO treats it's customers in a crisis.

We won't ever use them again!

No, I don’t think splitting it 50/50 is unreasonable at all under the current situation.

I don’t know if it’s just Hawaii or if it’s everywhere, but I’ve found some vacation rental operators in Hawaii to be a little shakie overall. A couple examples: a few years ago (before the vacation rental crackdown) friends rented a small home in Kailua. After they returned home, they asked for their deposit back. Suddenly the owner stopped respondiing and didn’t send the deposit back. He was just going to keep it because they were now 3,000 miles away. After 3 months of no response, I told them to let him know they were going to report him for operating a vacation rental without a NUC permit. He responded immediately and sent back their deposit.

I rented a legal condo on Oahu once advertised with A/C. But when I arrived, the owner refused to give the controller that was needed to turn it on. She just said, “oh, you’ll get used to the weather”. After a couple days she finally gave me the controller.

My point is just that a lot of people get weird when money is involved.

I currently have 5 rental units and I’m expecting some tenants are going to have trouble paying rent. I am prepared to be flexible with them as needed.

So yes, I think 50/50 in your case is reasonable.

[Plantastic]

"My point is just that a lot of people get weird when money is involved."

That's the understatement of the year!


"I currently have 5 rental units and I’m expecting some tenants are going to have trouble paying rent. I am prepared to be flexible with them as needed."

That is very understanding and generous of you! This approach is what makes us a community!