RENTALO.COM - ADVERTISERS BEWARE!!

This email was sent to me from a very upset vacation home owner, has anyone else experienced this?

We have had an unpleasant experience with Rentalo.com. This is still not resolved and want to use your portal to report what has happened as a warning to all other potentail owners who might be drawn into advertising via this website.

We received many, many spam emails over several months inviting us to trial their site on a free trial basis.

We resisted because of the need to give credit card details for a supposed Free Trial. However we were given written offers and verbal assurances that such trials were FREE and enticed into giving it a go on the basis of if it works fine, but if it doesn't it has cost us nothing more than some of our time. We allowed ourselves to be talked into doing your sponsored listing by their Sales people as they said this is more eye catching. Although we realise now, the way Rentalo operates this would have made little difference....so another red herring.

You need to understand that on Rentalo, most enquirers make a destination enquiry rather than specific property enquiry, and from what we were seeing, they were mainly last minute type enquirers looking to pay minimal money. 
Our sponsored listing was to cost $399 for 15 months which we understood to be 3 months free trial plus an annual subscription once it was proven and working, with a editing fee within this of $75.  
Our unsatisfactory trial which we moved to end prematurely leaves us $200 out of pocket.

I did all the edited text and picture work so spent hours getting it ready. Then it was all loaded up, but not as we sent.......so I had to go back and re-do editing work.
A service which Rentalo charges you a premium for.
Then when the quality of enquiries was poor and not in our market segment I was told they had not set the filter settings correctly for enquiries.

Additionally I spent a great deal of expense calling long distance on about 5 occasions trying to sort out the manner of the listing presentation, the problems of text and rates and then finally having made the decision that Rentalo was not providing a suitable return decided to cancel the trial.

At this stage it became clear that by entering into a sponsored listing with them, they do not then honour the basis of the free trial arrangement that they lured us into running the test with them in the first place.
Tucked away in their small print they state they are entitled to keep 50% of the annual fees paid for one of their sponsored listings.
There's little wonder they try so hard to persuade you to have a sponsored listing then, after initially trying to hook you with the free trial marketing blurb.
They did not make it clear that by agreeing to a 'sponsored listing', we as new advertisers were in any way altering the basis by which our initial period with them was then not still a free trial.

BEWARE - when this is all pointed out to them, they choose to hide behind their terms and conditions rather than doing the right thing ! They even acknowledged their failings in displaying the advert.
 
The website of this organisation is given credence by approvals from Internationally known brands such as the New York Times, Travel & Leisure, National Geographic, but these are related to functionality for the traveller, not for the sharp practices experienced at the hands of Rentalo.com as a disappointed new advertiser/customer.

YOU ARE WARNED - best thing to do is delete their spam emails and not give this organisation the opportunity.

I am shocked that this kind of practise goes on. I shouldn't be really, because as with any business sector, where there is money to be made, there will be unscroupulous traders.

If you have paid by credit card, then you should be able to claim your money back. Even PayPal offers recourse, but you will need proof that you have been led to believe something that didn't happen. It sounds to me as though you have ample proof with the emails, and the unwarranted payments.

You need to stop these people, and as a result put other unscroupulous business people off from offering similar services.

I definitely can believe it.  In today's atmosphere you almost have to be ready for it when dealing with some companies on the internet.  I would recommend some research on the firm before using it. 

Tsk. Bad practice. Even with approvals from well-known publishers, they'll lose a lot of customers once word goes around regarding this.

Well, word has been going around for a long time about Rentalo.com's unethical business practices, but they are still in business!  I have never heard a good thing about rentalo besides the banners they put on their site saying they have been recommended by New York Times and National Geographic (is that even true?....because I could not find anything about rentalo on those sites).

Anyways, has anyone ever been pleased with their services?

Hello to everyone in the Vacation Rentals Community. My name is Frank Suarez and I work for Rentalo.

Thank you for this space to able to share ideas and answer concerns from property owners.

Allow me to take this opportunity to address Mirko’s post regarding his experience with Rentalo.

The emails that we send to property owners (paid and none paid) are real inquiries from real travelers. We have a network of travelers and travel agents that recommend properties to us, and in turn we send inquiry notifications to these property owners. Each email is clearly marked with opt out links in case anyone would like to opt out.

We do have a free trial offer which allows property owners to try our service for free for 60 days with no obligation and with no risk. This free trial requires a credit card for security purposes. As stated in the activation page, the property owner will have to contact us after the 60 days to cancel and not be charged for the year.

What I gathered happened in Mirko’s case, is that instead of signing up for our free trial offer, he signed up with one of our representatives for a 1 year account. The 1 year account (whether Premium or Sponsor) does not have 2 free months to try the service, and this is where I believe the confusion may have arisen.

Let me clarify as well that most inquiries on Rentalo are “private” inquiries and not destination inquiries as pointed out by the post. The ratio is almost 2 to 1 private inquiries to destination inquiries. The average of inquiries is for travelers looking to travel within 1 month, which we find to be fairly standard in the travel industry. We do understand that some property owners may receive more public inquiries and for last minute stays, depending on how they have their account setup or depending on the type of property they have.

Regarding the editing, Rentalo includes this feature for Sponsor accounts. I would love to look into your specific case to see what may have happened. Most owners are very satisfied after their listing is edited and optimized.

Rentalo has been in business since the mid 90’s and currently has an A rating from the Better Business Bureau http://www.seflorida.bbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=7002136

We offer a toll free number, live chat and email support for property owners that are overseas and need support. We also have a Customer Service team that can call you back or attend to your needs.

I cordially invite Mirko and any property owner to please contact us and give us your feedback. Our phone, chat and email are open to your questions and suggestions.

Thank you once again for this time and this space.

Frank Suarez

Frank,

Welcome to the community and thank you for giving us your end of the story.   I personally like your site both from a visual and functionality perspective.  I like the fact that your website also uses a slightly different business model than most other vacation rental portals.   Your company has shown professionalism in responding and dealing with this complaint.