WeNeedAVacation
We are currently gathering insights to provide in-depth statistics
Consumers are asking for reviews of this business
Erie, Pennsylvania
Weneedavacation.com scams home owners and vacation goers.
Joan Talmadge is the owner of a small vacation web-sight. We are property owners using her site to advertise our rental home. Joan's review process has become an avenue for tenants who damage rental property to manipulate security deposit returns. She did not even publish our entire review when we commented on a complaint from a tenant that seriously damaged our property.
So why would she post any reviews at all if she intends to edit them? We had 2 complaints for the fiscal year of 2012 both dealing with tenants who breached lease agreement and damaged property. In Joan's own terms and conditions, she states that she does not post reviews concerning breach of lease agreement and security deposit issues...but she clearly brakes her own rules.
Most of my business associates have moved their advertising needs to HomeAway. We will be doing the same shortly. Joan's business generated $17,000.00 fiscally. HomeAways generates $735,000.00. I guess at this point I do not even have to question why.
Thanks,
Jeanette Robinson
Travel Expert Talks
Vacation Rentals: Refund, Cancellation and Safety Tips
How to find proper vacation rentals? Can you cancel and refund? How not to be scammed with a vacation rental? Mary Branum, a vacation rental expert, shares tips on how to refund a vacation rental and what to do if you have issues with renting.
Mary Branum is a vacation rental expert, owner of Galveston Island and President of STROAG.
Companies Similar to WeNeedAVacation
Thank You for Your Reply! We are processing your message.
Your comment is successfully posted.
In the 15 years of our existence and with thousands of homeowner clients, WeNeedaVacation.com has removed only 6 listings from our site, so we do not make these decisions lightly.
We did indeed reimburse this homeowner for the balance of her subscription within 24 hours of notifying her that the listing had been deactivated.
As for her complaint that we refused to view her property in person, our concerns with this listing had nothing to do with the condition of the home but rather with the business practices of the homeowner.
Since filing my complaint with ROR, Joan removed our listing from her site. I am sure she will not reimburse us for the remainder of our subscription given the history of customer service she has shown us. We had listed our home with weneedavacation.com for 4 years. This year was the first year we ever had property damage from any renter and the first year we ever had a bad review. Joan is not able to professionally handle disputes of this nature and she will not stand behind the homeowner in security deposit dispute situations. To remove our listing is just another example of her unprofessionalism. Joan has never set foot in my rental home, he has never met me, yet she claims to hold her homeowners to high standards. When invited to see the property she refused. She prefers to only communicate through email. Homeowners beware. Once a bad review comes in, Joan will not treat you with any professionalism, she does not see you as a customer, she has no understanding that it is us, all of her homeowners that make her site a possibility. When she removed our site last night at 11:00PM she gave us no warning. Joan's physical address is 35-45 minutes away from our rental property. You would think that she would at least investigate a bad review for a long standing customer, but her "high" standards unfortunately do not apply to herself.
The purpose of the review process is not to arm wrestle homeowners who have had property damage or loss to forfit security deposits under the guise of a bad review. When property damage has occurre and a security deposit is held, you Joan are bullying the homeowner to forfit the only recourse he or she has to cover property loss. Your actions by posting reviews when a security deposit has been held goes against your own written standards. I am shouting out that you do not even hold to your own guidelines!
Your review process is a sham, and thank God I am not the only person who has filed a complaint on your review procedure. To call my tenants and question them is overstepping an advertising agencies privileges! We had wonderful reviews you refused to post, and you harassed those that insisted on giving us 5 stars, editing and shortening their good reviews. You have taken our money to advertise for the year and cost me almost 10,000.00 in lost income. I think your are a horrific business woman. I invited you out to view the property youself and stay to see how good our accommodations are, but you refused!
You need to get back into advertising realeatate because the review process is not your strong point.
As one of the owners of the WeNeedaVacation.com website, I would like to clarify the statements made by this homeowner. The only portion that was not published of this homeowner's response to her guest review were statements she made about our company's guest review policy. Her response to a specific guest review of her property is not an appropriate venue for such comments.
We read all reviews that are submitted by vacationers to be sure their content is appropriate and meets our guidelines. We do not, however, edit the reviews. With regard to this listing, we communicated with both tenants who had submitted negative reviews, and in both cases, we felt that their reviews had merit and should be posted in order to provide future vacationers with feedback regarding this homeowner's business practices.
We work very hard to build credibility, confidence, and trust in our listings and guest reviews, and we hold our homeowners to high standards.