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In August of this year I booked a 6 night stay at a property in Matapalo, Costa Rica with Vacasa. I received an email to say I had been successful.
I subsequently received an email saying that I needed to verify my identity. This conflicted with the email saying that I had been successful with my booking.
I called Vacasa to verify my ID. After a 15 minute wait they answered. They asked for the same information they already had - my phone number and email address. They put me on hold then came back and asked for the same information. I suggested that they were struggling because I was not a US resident, I am a Costa Rica resident. I suggested they use my Costa Rica identity. They put me on hold again, then after another 20 minutes the line went dead.
I went to bed and set off the next morning to Matapalo with my 3 guests. Whilst en route, one of my guests whose name and contact details I had entered into the Vacasa system, received an email saying the booking was cancelled. I received nothing.
Whilst en route we had to stop and spend a few hours finding a new property and booking that. Thankfully we were successful.
On my return I sent a complaint to Vacasa. Their complaint system is run by a chat bot. It's objective is not to resolve complaints but just to wear people down with pointless apologies that mean nothing. This is awful corporate behaviour.
Claimed loss: 1900 USD for the emotional cost of realising we had nowhere to stay
Desired outcome: An apology, proven non discrimination against nonUS residents/nonUS citizens, compensation to cover the trauma/worry. Implentation of a genuine complaint system as opposed to the chatbot system that is defective by design.
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Send a formal written complaint to Vacasa’s corporate office via email, clearly outlining the sequence of events, the booking cancellation, and the poor customer service you experienced. Mention the confusion around identity verification and the last-minute cancellation that forced you to find alternative accommodations. Request a full explanation and compensation for the inconvenience caused. If they fail to respond or provide a satisfactory resolution, consider escalating by posting reviews on public platforms and filing a complaint with consumer protection agencies. Keep all documentation and emails for future reference.