Holiday home rental giant Owners Direct is facing a backlash from property owners after its decision to impose a booking fee for customers.
The company, which is part of the Expedia Group, is now charging a 4% to 8% ‘service fee’ to customers who book accommodation through the site, but is still charging property owners the same annual fee to advertise.
Owners Direct, part of HomeAway, claims the extra money generated will be used to invest in brand marketing, build customer confidence and improve technology.
It claims the fee comes with a ‘Book with Confidence Guarantee’, but owners say customers who pay by credit card are protected anyway.
They have accused the company of simply being greedy and say the move will put off customers.
Many have voiced their anger on review site Trustpilot, arguing that when they renewed their annual subscription they were not informed of the changes, nor consulted about them.
Some say they have already seen a sharp drop in enquiries since the fee was introduced this month, while others are worried that guests will believe the fee is being added on by owners themselves.
One said the service fee was ‘a disgrace and is destroying the Owners Direct brand overnight’.
Another accused Owners Direct of dictating to its advertisers and called for an online petition.
A Facebook page has been set up calling for people to reject the fee.
"This is outright greed, brought about by HomeAway who have now sold out to Expedia.com," the page says. "This is called double dipping."
Property owner Paul Stephenson said: "I’ve owned a holiday home in France for many years and was very happy with the service from Owners Direct, but recent changes have caused confusion and dismay amongst owners and have led to guests paying more than they need to."
Stephenson was so concerned, he has become a partner in smaller holiday home rental site gites.co.uk, which focusses purely on France and has pledged never to impose a booking fee.
A spokeswoman for Owners Direct said research with travellers showed they are ‘more than happy’ to pay a service fee ‘if this helps to make our market place their preferred online accommodation booking partner’.
She claimed the fee is the lowest in the market and is mainly used to ‘protect customers even more against all potential risks’ of fraud.
"We are very happy that we are able to increase our services significantly by charging the lowest service fee in the market," she said.
