YapStone Credit Card Processing 2023: Reviews & Complaints
Company Overview
Founded in 1999, YapStone is a global merchant account provider offering cloud-based web and mobile payment processing. Formerly known as “Paymerica,” Yapstone primarily offers payment processing solutions for property managers. Most notably, the company is a payment processing partner of growing vacation rental platforms like Homeaway and VRBO. There is some evidence that the company is an ISO of Chase Paymentech. YapStone offers multiple variations on its RentPayment processing platform, including VacationRentPayment, HolidayRentPayment, StorageRentPayment, InnPayment, DuesPayment, and ParishPay. In 2019, YapStone partnered with Priority Technology Holdings (Priority), a leading provider of merchant-acquiring and commercial payment solutions. 2022 saw a further partnership with Sezzle to add buy-now, pay-later options to the company’s offerings.
YapStone was purchased in 2023 by Velo Payments.
Article Summary
Before we dive in, here’s a short summary of what we’ll cover:
- YapStone’s various payment processing services.
- The company has received an extremely large number of complaints, though many of them are from those making payments to it, not from merchants. The merchant complaints we’ve found often mention fund-holds or fraudulent charges.
- There is little public information about the YapStone contract.
Related Articles
YapStone Payment Processing
YapStone processes payments for travel and retail businesses specifically, processing all major credit cards, e-wallets, ACH, check-scanning, and cash by phone, mobile app, or text. They also offer loyalty programs, e-commerce solutions, processing of over 140 currencies, real-time payout, anti-fraud tools like step-up authentication and AVS and CVV checks, PCI and PSD2 certification, money transmitter licenses in required states and territories, payment reporting and analytics, and fully automated verification of individuals and businesses, including KYC, AML sanctions screening, and identity verification. They also offer customer support by phone or email in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch.
International Payment Solutions
With YapStone’s international payment solutions, businesses can expand their reach by accepting payments from customers around the globe. The company offers currency conversion services and supports a wide array of currencies, helping businesses tap into new markets and cater to a diverse customer base. This global approach enables businesses to grow and reach new heights.
Payment Facilitator Model
As a payment facilitator, YapStone offers unique benefits compared to other payment processors. This includes greater control and flexibility over payment processing, advanced technology, security underwriting, and fraud and compliance controls.
High Approval Rates
The company claims to have a 95% approval rate for transactions. They use cutting-edge technology and a rigorous underwriting process to ensure quick and secure transaction processing.
Data Security
YapStone is Level 1 PCI-DSS compliant, meeting and exceeding the highest standards for data security set by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).
Platform Uptime and Chargeback Handling
The company emphasizes a 99.9% platform uptime and has a team dedicated to handling chargebacks, claiming an 80% win rate in disputed chargebacks.
Customizable Payment Solutions
YapStone offers customizable payment solutions tailored to the specific needs of each vacation rental business. This includes options for recurring billing, installment payments, and integration with most vacation rental platforms.
Fraud Prevention
The company has a robust fraud prevention system that includes compliance checks and post-auth monitoring to protect sensitive payment data.
Location & Ownership
YapStone is located at 1990 N. California Boulevard, 8th Floor, Walnut Creek, CA 94596, and is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank NA in Walnut Creek, California. Tom Villante and Matt Golis are co-founders of YapStone.
Table of Contents
- Costs & Contract: Appears to offer variable contract terms and pricing with…
- Complaints & Service: Complaints number more than 200 on…
- BBB Rating: Has an “A-” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received…
- Sales & Marketing: Does not appear to hire independent sales representatives and has not…
YapStone Customer Reviews
Here's What Their Clients Say
| Item | Result |
|---|---|
| Total Online Complaints | 200+ |
| Live Customer Support | Yes |
| Most Common Complaint | Fund-Holds |
| Recent Lawsuits | Yes |
Rising Complaint Total
As of this update, we are able to locate more than 200 negative YapStone reviews, some of which describe the company as a ripoff. This number has skyrocketed over recent years. Clients primarily report slow payouts, failed payments, withheld funds, and poor support from YapStone with regard to renter disputes. When this review was first posted, most of the available complaints were from renters regarding YapStone’s RentPayment service. These complainants express confusion over the company’s policies, as well as irritation with having to pay fees in order to use their credit card. If you have a YapStone review to make, please do so in the comment section below.
Employee Complaints
Additionally, we located more than one YapStone complaint by current and former YapStone employees who describe a taxing work schedule and low workplace morale. However, these complaints have tapered off in recent months. The majority of Yapstone’s complaints have come from renters on VRBO and HomeAway who have had very negative experiences with YapStone’s risk team and customer support.
Yapstone Lawsuits and Fines
In April 2019, a lawsuit was filed against YapStone by Todd Feldman in regards to an alleged breach of contract. The case is ongoing and yet to reach a resolution.
In January of 2017, YapStone settled a class-action lawsuit stemming from a data breach affecting the company. Personally identifiable information of its customers, including social security numbers, names, addresses, dates of birth, and passport numbers were exposed. The company settled the suit for $4.9 million.
In 2021, it appears that YapStone was sued by its partner, Priority Technology Holdings Inc., but at this time it is unclear what the suit concerns.
A further class-action suit was finalized against YapStone in 2022 by its former employees over missing payments.
YapStone has also been fined repeatedly for privacy and consumer protection violations.
Yapstone Customer Support Options
YapStone also offers a customer support form on its website and some customer service email addresses, but it no longer lists a phone number. The company’s sustained increase in complaints has lowered its score to a “D” and denied it a spot among the top-rated payment processors for great customer service.
YapStone Online Ratings
Here's How They Rate Online
| Item | Result |
|---|---|
| BBB Reports | 26 |
Note: We have adjusted this company’s BBB rating according to our own standards. To better understand why we adjust BBB ratings, please see our Rating Criteria.
Over 15 Complaints
YapStone Inc. is not an accredited business with the Better Business Bureau. As of this review, the company’s profile appears to have been combined with that of Vacation Rent Payment. As of this review, the company holds an “A-” rating with the BBB and has had 18 complaints filed against it in the last 36 months, considerably less than the 86 complaints at the time of a previous update. Of the 18 complaints, only 2 were resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant.
What Merchants Say
RentPayment has also received 8 negative informal reviews to its BBB profile. The most recent review describes poor service:
If I could do a **** star I would. This company is ridiculous. Their agents are untrained. Their system archaic. Cannot resolve issues with them because you cant get in touch with anyone. Lodging a BBB complaint. Do NOT use them with VRBO.
Excellent customer service is crucial to provide clients with to address issues that inevitably arise, making it an important consideration before executing a contract.
A “D” Performance
Given the company’s rapidly increasing complaint total and poor resolution ratio, we have adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “D.”
YapStone Fees, Rates & Costs
A Closer Look at The Contract
| Item | Result | >
|---|---|
| Cancellation Penalties | Unclear |
| Monthly & Annual Fees | Unclear |
| Processing Rates | Variable Per Transaction |
| Equipment Leasing | Unclear |
One-Year Contract
As of this update, the standard YapStone contract terms are unclear. We have located one sample YapStone contract (from the company’s homeowner’s association-oriented subsidiary, DuesPayment). This contract is a one-year term that automatically renews for a one-year term and may be canceled at any time with 30 days’ notice. The YapStone fee schedule reflects different fees for each supported payment channel. Online and automatic payments for credit and debit are charged $9.95. Phone Payments are charged $14.95. ACH/eCheck payments are assessed the same online and phone fees but only $2.00 for automated payments.
The company also appears to collect its processing fees from homeowners, renters, and travelers—in other words, the people making the payments—rather than business owners. This is an uncommon pricing model for the industry, and it’s possible that a separate agreement outlines other fees charged to clients. We encourage business owners to check out our list of the providers of the best merchant services.
Fund-Holding Complaints
Most of the available YapStone complaints focus on its fraud prevention policies and its customer service rather than its pricing. The YapStone complaints related to the company’s risk assessment team are split into two categories: complaints about withheld funds, and complaints about fraudulent payments making their way through YapStone’s systems. In the case of fund-holds, it isn’t uncommon for rental companies (YapStone’s primary client demographic) to experience delayed payouts or rolling reserves due to the card-not-present nature of their transactions. However, there is an alarming number of YapStone reviews that mention fraudulent payments being made through YapStone’s rent payment services. While YapStone itself cannot prevent card theft, there are certain steps that any payment processor can take to minimize the likelihood of chargebacks.
Difficulty Contesting Chargebacks
Some YapStone clients have alleged that the company does not retain any advanced information about transactions after they have gone through, which makes it difficult for the business to contest a chargeback weeks after the fact. Without access to YapStone’s internal risk assessment tools, it’s hard to know what the company could be doing to help businesses on this front. However, it’s worth reporting that complainants consistently cite this as a major issue.
Unpopular Policies
YapStone’s actual pricing does not appear to be a major point of contention for most businesses, but the company does have a number of policies in place that are generating a lot of complaints. If you have any knowledge of the standard YapStone merchant agreement (including any possible termination fees or PCI Compliance fees), please leave that information in the comment section of this review.
Chargebacks are enough of an issue for YapStone customers that they dedicate an entire portion of their website to questions about them
YapStone Employee Reviews & Sales Tacitcs
Should You Work For Them?
| Item | Result |
|---|---|
| Uses Independent Resellers | No |
| Telemarketing | Yes |
| Misleading Marketing | No |
| Discloses All Important Terms | No |
Inside Sales Team
YapStone appears to market its products through a combination of strategic partnerships, telemarketing, and inside sales agents. At this time, YapStone does not appear to employ independent sales agents. We are also unable to locate any negative YapStone reviews that mention the company’s sales team at this time, although we did find one YapStone complaint alleging deceptive rate representation by the company when it went by the name Paymerica. This compares favorably to our list of best credit card processors.
RentPayment Complaints
RentPayment’s website does not appear to engage in any deceptive advertising tactics, but we have located some RentPayment complaints from customers expressing confusion about fee structures and how to schedule payments through the service, which occasionally led to overcharges. Many of these complainants do not appear to be business owners, so it is unlikely that clients are experiencing similar difficulties understanding their agreements.
No Direct Marketing
In general, most users seem to encounter YapStone for the first time as the backend processor for their VRBO or HomeAway accounts. This means that YapStone doesn’t directly market to these users, so there’s little to evaluate in terms of its sales approach. The available descriptions of YapStone’s direct sales process are mixed in tone, but the sales department’s overall impact on the client experience appears to be limited. If you suspect that Yapstone’s sales team has added undisclosed fees to your account, we recommend seeking a third-party statement audit.
Our YapStone Review Summary
Our Final Thoughts
YapStone rates as a worse-than-average credit card processing provider according to our system. We do not currently have a great deal of specific information about the company’s contract terms, but YapStone and its Vacation Rent Payment platform are receiving a growing number of public complaints online. Many of these complaints have been filed by processing clients rather than renters, although both groups are well-represented. Business owners are advised to carefully examine all contract terms presented to them and to compare YapStone’s pricing to the cheapest merchant accounts.
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Your Comments & Reviews
How Did YapStone Treat You?207 Responses
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Keith Young
Yapstone service has declined drastically in the last year. It is practically impossible to win a chargeback dispute. The only notice you receive is a “this is our third attempt to contact” email w/ a notice of a ruling in the cardholder’s favor. Attempts to contact customer service via telephone is an exercise in futility. You are placed on hold until you agree to leave a number for a call back that never comes. Emails take days to get responses. Even then, they don’t resolve the problem, or they direct you to contact customer service via telephone.
Recently, we received a notice stating “due to chargebacks” our funds would be held for 2 weeks. Attempts to resolve this has resulted in endless “please provide more documents” emails from them and no resolution. Our company processes more than $700k in reservations each year.
In the past month we have noticed that deposits, which were once posted to our bank the same day, have taken up to a week to post. This is a serious warning flag! The lost revenue from chargebacks, the 2 week hold of funds, and the increasingly sluggish deposit payments have raised concerns regarding Yapstone’s solvency.
I would strongly recommend not using Yapstone as a processing house.
Hugh Jass
Was checking banking statements and noticed this company in the mix. Now I never heard of this company before nor have I ever used them. So tell me why I’m having reoccurring charges come up??? Why am I being charged for something I never approved?? Am I getting reimbursed for my funds?
Toni LeGras
We have used Yapstone for many years – it used to be a great company.
Now however, Not so much.
Recently they sent us a notice that we have to provide 2 years of financials, balance sheets, P&L reports and client Statements as part of a “standard” review process as part of their Risk Assessment process. They directed us to send all this financial information to a general “unsecured” customer service email. (Note: this is first time, after the initial qualification process that we received a request like this)
All this data they are asking for is an unwarranted invasion of privacy and a violation of my customer’s trust account. We have literally had only 2 chargebacks in the history of our business, started in 2003 and have had no fraud activity whatsoever.
Vacation rentals in our area were the most stable reliable lodging businesses in California, as opposed to Hotels, Cruises, etc.
There is no valid rational for demanding all these financial documents. Can you imagine that after you initially qualify for a mortgage – your lender can require you to re-qualify for the loan at will, and if you don’t they will call your loan due? This would only happen in the Mortgage industry if you were late on payments or did something to break the agreement. These guys are making it standard practice to have their customers re-qualify for services, at their discretion.
They informed me that if I do not submit all this financial data, they will withhold payments for all new reservations. They did offer the option – if we do not want to give them our financial data, we can elect to have them hold our funds for 30 days . . . are they kidding? our property owners would go insane and our accounting department would quit.
They also, have eliminated phone support so you cannot speak to anyone. I have been requesting to speak with a representative for a week now, and no response. If you call their published customer service phone line, it just says “phone service is no longer available”.
Yet in their emails they refer to us as their “partners” – HA HA!!! cheesy.
We are hoping to locate a more ethical and logical CC processing company. So if anyone has suggestions, please post!
Robert & Linda Moore
We too had an erroneous 1099-K report sent to IRS for rentals we had in Florida in 2018. The amount reported as income greatly exceeded our actual income. Our tax accountant has no way of that Yapstone was wrong except for my report of income for that year. Attempts to reach Yapstone have been futile. It’s as though the company no longer exists. The telephone number they have used in the past reaches a new company at the same address in Yapstone has used in the past. According to this site, the address shown is 2121 N. California Boulevard, Suite 400, Walnut Creek, California, and is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank NA in Walnut Creek, California. Tom Villante and Matt Golis are co-founders while Frank Mastrangelo is listed as the current CEO of YapStone.
HAS ANYONE BEEN ABLE TO REACH YAPSTONE? HAS ANYONE RESOLVED THIS ERRONEOUS 1099-K PROBLEM?
Irene Clarke
Yapstone has issued an erroneous 1099 from 2018. I am being billed from the state tax dept. I have tried to contact every number I can find for Yapstone- none of them work or there is a message saying they will get back to me in one day. I sent them an email- same thing- response in one day. I have not been contacted and I have to deal with the tax department immediately.
Any suggestions?
Leon
Rented a Florida property through VRBO which was cancelled by the property management due to unavailability. REMAX (property management) held my rental payments and damage deposits for 3 months, accumulating credit card interest. Upon cancellation, I was told a full refund would be given. After no refund was posted a month later, I inquired REMAX about the refund. I was told Yapstone controls that, and refunds have been taking months, DUE TO COVID! I paid my credit card balance to avoid further interest charges, but in the meantime, Yapstone is enjoying the use of my money. Since Yapstone owns VRBO, my only option is to AVOID VRBO IN THE FUTURE!
Trent Johnson
We rented a condo at Orange Beach, AL through VRBO / Turnkey Vacation Rentals. The condo was damaged by a hurricane and they canceled our reservation. TurnKey said I would have my refund in 3-5 business days. I’m on day 6 (business days) and still no refund. Now TurnKey is blaming YapStone.
YW
Vacation Renter here. In this day of instant money transfers, I can’t understand why Yapstone aka VacationRentPayment.com takes 30 days to process refunds ostensibly due to Covid. The vacation rental management company cancelled my rental and agreed to a full refund. That was 8/21/20. Yapstone did not process the refund – system problem – and it was resubmitted on 9/1. Today is 9/10, I have not received my refund and I have been advised by Yapstone to contact them if I haven’t received by the end of the month. Yapstone is earning interest on my money while I get charged interest on my credit card. Delaying payments for 30 days is abusive and unreasonable. What regulator should I file a complaint with?
Michael Martin
Congressmen and senators like to grandstand. I would contact them to go after the big bad money changers take advantage of the poor defenseless consumer.
Chris Hines
0 Stars: Grade F-
Yapstone evidently has decided that they can hold my money hostage through VBRO guests, charging me a total of 6% on over 15,000 dollars over a 6 month period. These people should be sued! DO not do business with them.
Jayme
I purchased a property going on 2 years ago and am still having nothing but issues with Yapstone. After multiple calls to Yapstone (to the point the supervisor knows my name), they tell me my VRBO account payment information can’t be changed from the previous owner to myself. They then hid my VRBO account with my knowledge, costing us thousands of dollars in revenue for the first year.
After following all of their various instructions, which changed with each call. I was forced to use a different email address and open a new account.
I was told my reviews could not be transferred, come to find out, all of my reviews were able to be transferred, even reviews received while I owned to property, but still with the unnecessary disclaimer that these reviews were given under previous ownership, which is not true!
Now, I have been on hold with Yapstone for going on 25 minutes to talk to someone about $1,236 that a customer booked on the old account a year ago as to have overlapping dates with another guest staying on our property (the customer booked on the account Yapstone forced me to close, prior to closing the account), but I have not received the money!
Yapstone is a dishonest company that does not care about their customer service and that’s on a good day for them!
John Lander
Yapstone wants to take $762 from my acocunt, despite placing two tenants in my property and not paying me.
They have also refuse request for a full transaction over the last few months.
How can a company like this exist?
Koko & Billy Hoover
Yapstone and Vrbo are trying very hard to steal my $900. for a cancelled condo who misrepresented the space it had. I cancelled 4 months in advance, the contract said 90 days prior to arrival. They already booked the days I would have stayed, if they actually accommodated 4 guest. So they get the rental fee for that week and my $900.00 as well. Snakes and thieves these people are. They need to be incarcerated for their conduct for out right thieving peoples hard earned cash.
Katherine
I am a small business owner with 4-5 villa rentals. We have been a premier partner with vrbo for over 10 years. We were with Yapstone Payment Processor since 2014 and were very happy until Sept 2019 when they notified us that if we wanted to continue advanced payments they were now charging 6% instead of the previous 3%. As we need Cash Flow to operate our business I opted in. Then to make matters worse, I was on the phone with vrbo customer service and the lady said I see you are with Yapstone. You should switch to HomeAway Payments. I said what do you mean? She said we are asking everyone to join. I said what is the cc fee, she said 3%. I said is there any advance fee or delay? She said no, just the initial 5 -7 business days to verify your bank account. She said because you have been with Yapstone and a long time customer in good standing there will be no issues with getting your funds within 5-7 business days of each reservation. So I had a few instant bookings come in over the weekend and I looked up to see when the funds would be in my account. It showed after the guests arrived. So I called to find out if there was some error and was informed that the lady should of told me 90 days to be approved for advanced payments. So 90 days with no cash flow to operate 4 villa’s that have mortgages and monthly bills like staff, utilities, alarm companies, cable/internet and so much more. This is the time of year we do renovations and now I am stuck not being able to pay the mortgage for 3 months. Then I asked to speak to a supervisor and started a complaint process and was advised there was nothing that could be done even if the girl gave me the wrong info as I said, everything is recorded listen to the recording. Still not possible to switch me back to yapstone or payout the funds that they have for my business to operate.
Eric Braciska
Incredibly horrible experience with this company. They provide absolutely horrendous customer support asking for information that I being the HomeAway property owner cannot supply/have no idea how to provide. When asked how to supply the information the service rep never responded. They clearly represent the renter in this particular case & not the property owner as advertised. I have reported this company to the better business bureau while also filing a complaint in my state of Massachusetts with the Attorney General.
Beverly hoadley
All my properties ended up on one 1099.
Yapstone is horribly unorganized. I needed information on my 1099. It took 6 different numbers to call before we got to right person. we had to explain our problem over and over. I ask for american. There were none. After over a half hour on the phone we got some them to understand. They had no copy of the 1099. We scan emailed it while on phone. Then realizing they put all our properties on one 1099.
Nightmare. I am disappointed in VRBO HA & yapstone which is a joke. The level of vrbo should have a Competant from top to bottom. When you mess with my money, this is more than frustrating.
The whole process is ridiculously incompetent.
catriona Glazebrook
YapStone is a terrible company. It has terrible customer support and it does not release funds it holds that belong to property owners. Yapstone is also referred to as Vacationrentpayments and this is the “company” that VRBO – homeaway u”uses” for processing all property owner funds. VRBO acts like this is a separate company – however – VRBO is the ONLY company that Yapstone processes payments for. Thus VRBO owns Yapstone and probably has this shell company to protect assets and screw over its customers.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
-Phillip
Judy Rikley
We used VRBO to rent our property for 12 years but no long rent because of all the shady things happening included holding “our” money until client arrives. We used to get full payment 45 days prior after a deposit of first nights rent. WE also gave refunds for some cancellations and delt with clients directly… we talked directly on the phone and also checked references. No More!
ELIZABETH A NELSON
VRBO contracted with Yapstone to process owners payments received from renters, a task I was happily and successfully managing for over 10 years. Now I was not given the option. They contracted with Yapstone to process the payments and I am subsequently charged a processing fee. They have now announced that unless I pay them an additional 3% they will hold payments received for lodging service until after the guest arrives which could be several months or even a year. No doubt they are putting the funds into an interest-bearing – account. I wrote them to inform them that I was not willing to opt in to the 3% program (on top of the processing fee) and that if they held my funds longer than 30 days, I would expect interest. I have not heard from anyone and I believe the practice to be illegal. This would be a federal issue. Thoughts?
Me
In reply to Elizabeth Nelson: I have thought the same thing that it must be illegal for them to hold the owner’s money. It’s probably written into the fine print of the agreement, however. Still, I would love to see a class action lawsuit against this company.
Rick
My experience with home away (yapstone) has been erroneous 3% foreign transaction fee charges for a USA rental with a USA credit card in US dollars. several attempts to have home away rectify end up with home away disconnecting the call.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rental
-Phillip
melanie zanini
Yapstone just decided to hold all of our vacation rental payments until after our renters check in or pay an extra 3% fee to get our own money right away. They make it sound like they are loaning us the money, they are not, it is already paid to them and it belongs to us. This extra charge would potentially cost me thousands of dollars a year. We used to get our money a week after it was collected. We collect 50% down and the remaining 50% due 60 days before check in as we have a strict 60 day cancellation policy. Most of our customers book several months to a year in advance. This seems unethical and illegal to me. How can they hold our money for up to a year? Secondly, if my cancellation policy is sixty days then those rent payments are legally mine 60 days before check in so how can they legally hold those funds for an extra 60-70 days? I think we should start a class action lawsuit. We should begin by gathering a list of everyone on here that is affected by this new policy.
I intend to call our state attorney general tomorrow as well as the federal trade commission, the Internet crime complaint center, and their acquiring bank. I recommend that each of you do the same thing,
David Knox
Hi I have had the same problem. They also changed my contract which said deposits were non-refundable. When asked how/when that happened they were unable to tell me. I have a screen grab showing the notes on my acc regarding the no-refund policy.
I had a cancellation and was asked to repay. I agreed as I was brought up to be human and felt bad for the client as they were travelling with elderly parents despite my previous policy. Yapstone already had cleared funds due to a change in the contract I.e. they wouldnt pay me until arrival. I left my bank acc at £0 and asked what happens to the payment to the client if I could not pay. They said they would pay which made sense due to the cleared funds. That turned out not to be the case and a subsequent operator said there had been a mistake. The phone operators are very well trained and send you round in circles until you give up I.e. do something more important like keep your business afloat with reduced cashflow
Did you proceed with any legal case?
Thanks
Eric Lampinen
Yapstone finds every method available to steal your money legally. Through Homeaway, they charge a processing fee for credit card charges, ok fine, but then after the customer pays you, Yapstone holds your money until your rental customer actually checks into the property while collecting interest on your money. If you want your sale money right away, they charge you another three percent to get it. Yapstone needs to die a painful death. They’re greed will be their downfall.
Me
VRBO has forced all customers to accept the new policy terms by November 1, 2019 or their listing will be hidden. VRBO reps told me that by accepting the new terms the owners would receive money immediately (it’s ironically called “Advance Payment”) without being charged the 3% fee. But after accepting the terms, they now tell us that we have to “invited” to be “eligible” to receive the advance payment. It’s time to take these people to court.
Thomas Weger
What Yapstone together with homeaway is doing is absolutely fraudulent!!!!
Yes they give you the option to select Advance payment for a another fee of 3%. Ridiculous, because the money belongs to the property owner and not YAPSTONE nor does it belong to Homeaway!! But for arguments sake let’s say you agree like I did.
So on 8/23/2019 I opted in. and here comes the fraud…. I receive a booking paid on 8/30/2019 for a guest checking in on 9/1/2019 and departing 9/4/2019. As per their bullshit rules… I am now in the Advance Payment option… which means I get the money 3-7 business days after payment and I am charged the extra 3% for this wonderful option. I received that payment today on 9/10/2019 (The guest is already check out and back home by now).
For this short notice booking if I had not had the Advance Payment option then I would receive the payment 24 hours after check-in and do not pay the extra 3% thus I would have received it on 9/2/2019.
Another issue are chrargeback issues. I have had a client book and cancel 2 days later with me agreeing to a full refund. 7 days later the client still does not have their money back since Yaptsone holds it and holds it. In the meantime the client has called their CC company for chargeback and I have to deal with email correspondence, provide proof that we refunded, etc. etc. and weeks later it is clarified because yapstone had finally refunded it about 14 days later.
If anyone can recomend a better software tool to get rental listings on other sites, please let me know. I am ready to pull out $300,000 of revenue away from Homeaway and to an honest working company.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
Yvette Fournier
The worst company I have ever dealth with.
The did a charge back without check to see if I had refunded the Guest, which I had done. The Guest and I have spent hours on the phone. Aug 20, they agreed t stop the transaction. I have been told for days, my money and the 14 $35 dollars would be returned. It is now 9/11. Nothing but a bunch of BOZOS, telling you what you want to hear.
This post will help: Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Funds
-Phillip
D’Anne Pamplin
We have been dealing with Yspstone thru VRBO. They were taking payments for our vacation rental. In midstream they changed their policies and now keep the money that is owed to us when guest book and will not pay us till after the guests visits. They are using our money to earn interest and causing us, as a small business owner to be in a financial bind! Our cash flow has now become nonexistent !!!! This is a bad business practice! We have expenses such as mortgage payments and with their new practice of keeping our money until after guest check in which is up to a year away cause us a terrible cash flow bind. Something needs to be done about this!!!!!
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
Jim Stofer
Do not do businesses with this company!!!
Through VRBO/HOMEAWAY, not only did they let my data get stolen, now they doubled my fees with no warning.
Pick any other company than this one!!!!
Varley
Yapstone and their partner in crime HomeAway are little more than thieving crooks. For every 1,000.00 € they already skim close to 150.00 € in fees, massively profiting from both our customers and us the homeowners by jacking up people’s holiday costs and taking advantage of customers who are often not aware of just how high these service fees are. Every party involved, renter and homeowner is gouged.
And now to top it off, Yapstone have advised us that they will stop their ‘advance payment’ service. WTF? Advance payment service – what utter twaddle. These thieves are paid by our customers to rent our properties. Some customers book their holidays a year in advance and often many months ahead of the holiday season. And in order for us the homeowners to receive the money Yapstone have been paid, they are now demanding yet another eye popping fee – 3% to pay us the money they owe us?
How is this even legal? Try to speak to anyone on the phone to find out how they justify their thievery and you get sent round and round in circles and your comments ‘will be noted.’ My arse – they don’t give a shit. Yet another corporate thief just doing what it does to pad its bottom line at the expense of those it fleeces on a daily basis, withholding funds for months, investing in the market and paying out money it owes to clients many months later. Their obvious disdain for the customer is clear for all to see in the letter they sent us advising of their new ‘policy’ change.
They even have the nerve to write ‘We sincerely apologize for this short notice and appreciate the impact on your cashflow.’………
Like hell they do. On one hand Yapstone acknowledges how cash flow is so vital to our relatively small business, and then on the other hand they screw us anyway. And short notice would be an understatement. There was no notice. This is arbitrary. We have been told. Nothing can be done about it.
Yapstone and their partners in crime HomeAway clearly have forgotten where their income comes from and they obviously don’t give a shit. These corporations are a disgrace. No morality, no empathy, no loyalty just greed, greed and more despicable greed.
Here below is the letter they sent us…………
“We are writing to advise you of a change to your Yapstone Advanced Payments feature. After careful review of competitive payment offerings, we have discontinued Advanced Payments as a free service. Effective today, your payment account is being converted from Advanced Payments service to Check-In service (See, Yapstone Check-In Payments Terms). We sincerely apologize for this short notice and appreciate the impact on your cashflow. We know that this is a valued feature of Yapstone and that it distinguishes us from competitors. So, we have created a quick way for you to resume the Advanced Payments feature.
HomeAway customers who want to resume getting the benefits of advanced payments can do so at a cost of 3% per transaction (in addition to the standard processing fee) for the new service. By opting into the fee-based service below, you agree to the fees and terms. To opt-in, click the button below.”
Troy Resch
I rented our home in Lake Havasu City in July, the guest arrived, we exchanged a few text messages and messages via the VRBO website, asking for things like the wi-fi login, and key box code, etc.
all went well, but about a week after the guest had left, there was a chargeback in “pending status” for $870 in my checking account, I immediately called the bank, and had all transactions with VRBO suspended, until I could get to the bottom of this.
As it turned out, the guest, a young man from California named Thomas Gomez (be aware of renting to him) disputed the charge on him American Express, stating that he did not recognize the charge.
I contacted VRBO, and they assisted me on getting all the documentation together for Yapstone to dispute the chargeback (the aforementioned text messages, as well as messages via the website)
Long story short, Yapstone is not happy that they got stuck holding the bag, and have attempted to debit my account a total of 5 more times, even going as far as threatening me with legal action, I of course suggested that they focus these efforts on the person that actually intentionally committed this fraud (Thomas Gomez was his name) and they would have their money back soon enough.
In the meantime, my listing was suspended, at the height of the season, I guess as punishment for being a victim of fraud.
VRBO representatives seem to be at the mercy of the Yapstone, their 3rd party provider, and basically is telling me there is nothing that can be done…
VRBO is supposed to be an advocate of their client, but this experience has me looking for another website to use, I never expected to be penalized for being a victim of fraud, because it’s easier than going after the actual guilty party.
currently seeking legal advice…
This post will help: How to Fight Chargebacks and Win
-Phillip
ALEX H
Another money grab related to Homeaway and the greedy bastards of crapstone,or vacationrentpayments.com . The worst service any company can have with exorbitant fees and just plain bad practices make this the STAY AWAY FROM company of the year. 6% to process a payment is like dealing with the MOB of vacation rentals. It is no surprise they are related to Homeaway that also has taken hidden fees to a new level.
This post will help: Eliminate Hidden Fees From Your Monthly Bill
-Phillip
jim Hurst
As a investment property owner on HomeAway/VRBO I knew i was going to be charged a 3% processing fee on payments (thats before they just abruptly doubled that to 6% last week, which is a whole nother issue), they also charge 3% on processing fee on the the COMBINED tax obligation thats remitted directly to the state. I say combined because I have my rental income (and cleaning fee) thats my obligation, but they (HomeAway/VRBO) also have their service fee income which is their obligation, and they charge me 3% on both!! How come I have to pay the processing fee on THEIR tax obligation portion???? this has got to be illegal
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
Steve Graber
We are now being forced as property owners to either pay Yapstone an additional 3% or they are going to relegate us to the check in payment method. Prior to this we were receiving our money 5-7 days “after” the customer paid it, and now it will not be deposited into our bank account until 30 days “after” the renter checks out!! In some cases Yapstone or HomeAway will be keeping our money for over 60 days before paying it to us. I think this is completely wrong and unacceptable!!
Patrick Reilley
I think a class action lawsuit is justified. VRBO and Yapstone is jamibing this down our throats. They could just as easily allow us to use Paypal or accept checks, but they also charge 3% for ACH or echecks. It is bad enough that VRBO fees are gouging both the owner and renter.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
C Murphy
Disgrace of a company, homeaway payments provider, fees started at 1.4% to 2% then increased to 3% a couple of years ago , now they want an extra 3% to release the money to you before the guests check in, no right to withold funds. Couple of years ago we found them withholding £20k of funds because they did have a DD set up to recover a couple of refunds. Putting unnecessary pressure on small businesses and individuals, disgraceful
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Funds
-Phillip
Leslie
Yapstone sent out an “effective immediately” notice raising fees 3 percent to thousands of VRBO owners. There is a class action suite underway. Big fat F to Yapstone leadership!
This post will help: Find and Eliminate Hidden Fees From Your Monthly Bill
-Phillip
Darla C Ryan
I will be happy to become part of this class action suit against YapStone. Please provide information as to how we can help.
Seth Anders
Expedia has integrated its payment processing & fraud platform into VRBO. you should email your VRBO rep and move off Yapstone VRP
Tari Furey
Without any notice, Yapstone abandons VRBO/Homeaway/Expedia with significant changes and disastrous accounting nightmares to follow. I’ve been with VRBO for over 10 years and have seen the changes and it’s NOT getting better. Under Yapstone’s “new” system of charging 6% total for advance payment, I received funds on 08/30 when a traveler paid me 08/28 at 3% (morons) yet all other payments paid 08/23/2019 took a minimum of 5 days at between 3% and 6% charges. Yapstone hasn’t posted 1 payment from 8/22 nor have I received the Direct Deposit Details even on the payment. This is my 2nd time calling inquiring about its status. It’s STILL pending. Why? Because I opted in and confirmed 08/22/2019 @ 1:44 pm. Guest paid 08/22/2019 @ 3:27 pm. Yapstone NOW saying it took 24 hours to upload my opt-in status so I won’t get paid until check in PLUS 1 day. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? I CAN’T GET AWAY FROM THIS MESS FAST ENOUGH!!!!! NOW, when I call I get a company named Rent Payment and no longer Yapstone. SMH!!!!!
Art Pearce
I too am not happy in the recent changes to VRBO/HomeAway payment system. It seems a Win-Win for them either way! 3% if I want my funds in a timely manner (as before) or any interest gained in “holding” said monies until guest arrives. In reading a couple articles, my guess is funding lawsuit payouts and/or improving company moral with raises or the like. Not that employees don’t deserve it!
This post will help: Why Credit Card Processors Hold Funds
-Phillip
Darla C Ryan
As most of us are now aware, YapStone has changed their Advance Payments policy to withhold payments made by guests to the homeowner or Property manager until after a guest checks in unless they want to pay an additional 3% fee to Yapstone. This seems completely ILLEGAL to me as they are simply a 3rd party payment processor as their agreement even states. They are NOT a party to our business whatsoever. Except that now they are trying to make theirselves a party to our business by telling us they will withhold payments to us until the check-in date of the guests. What other 3rd party payment processor is allowed to retain payments to a client for days, weeks, even months before releasing payments to them. No matter what they tell you this is ILLEGAL for them to do as a 3rd party payment processor. Someone needs to start a class action lawsuit against them. They are acting illegally and they are discrimating against a particular class of customers (vacation rental home owners and managers). We are the owners of our vacation rental businesses and we should not be dictated to on when our rental payments will be paid over to us. State licensed property managers are required to have an escrow account and any rental payments are required by law to be deposited to that escrow account within 3 business days of being paid. This new policy by Yapstone is making Property managers become illegal through no fault of their own. Many state require that sales tax is paid when any payments are made on a rental. If the homeowner is not collecting the payment until after the guests checks in, then where is the money for them to pay the sales tax due on the initial down payment? All I can say is ILLEGAL, ILLEGAL, and ILLEGAL. I’m searching for a different credit card processor right away. Any recommendations from anyone out there?
This post will help: Why Credit Card Processors Hold Funds
-Phillip
Anne Marie McMichael
I have been an owner listing with VRBO for years. Last year YapStone took over the payment receipt and disbursment from PayPal and raised the processing from 2.5% to 3%. I accepted it. This month, without any advanced notice, they are requiring another 3% (total 6%) to “advance” the funds to them for MY property….or they will “keep” them until my guest checks in! This is totally unacceptable and fraudulent on their part. I am discussing with VRBO what my options are – this feels like theft from a company that has a monopoly on the current functioning system. I will not accept this and am writing to my congressman immediately to check on the lawful credibility of this company.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
Arthur Worth
YapStone is now withholding Renter’s funds from the VRBO website for an 30 day period until after renter’s arrival. To receive your funds as before they are charging an additional 3% of the transaction fee. The greed of Yapstone and their partner affiliate VRBO is never ending. This needs to end!
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
Anthony Guido
I am disgusted to hear about this companies recent changes as they relate to their partnership with VRBO/ Homeaway. They have immediately stopped instant payments to homeowners when someone rents are house. So they charge me a fee for the transaction (about 12%) then they want to hold onto the money till one day after the guest checks in. I could essentially have thousands of dollars tied up by them for months with no guarantee that I will actually get paid. This is my house not yours, I am so sick of this strong armed treatment.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
Cody
If you want to effect real change, tell every company, non profit, etc. you work with/ pay money to, that you will no longer work with them until they are no longer using Yapstone. There are well over 1 million people from VRBO/Homeaway that just had their business put in jeopardy. I am pretty sure that kind of influence on these companies will get them to find another solution and drop Yapstone. If we all do this, Yapstone will try to save their business by offering to compensate all of us. I have already started this with the non profits I donate to, and am now checking with the vendors I use. I hope you all will do this also
This post will help: How to Report Bad Credit Card Processors
-Phillip
Ted Cowper
Yapstone changed the terms of our agreement without advanced notice, and apologized if it impacted our cash flow. That is the best it can do, so I suspect that is just the tip of the iceberg when doing business with Yapstone and affiliates. Be forwarned!
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
Michael Brown
We have the same issue and I’m researching what could be done about it. Obviously they don’t give a damn about their customers. looking for a way to make them care.
Tami
I found not agree more with you Michael Brown. I contacted Yapstone. They cannot explain themselves. This is not about the customer this is purely about their bottom line. We are now accountable to pay them release funding that belongs to us. How is this even legal?
michele blair
This company is the most unethical company that I have ever dealt with . They keep stocking on fees that are completely unjustified. run the other way if you can and do not sign any contract with them. You will be sorry on many levels
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
Ron
I can not believe no one has started a law suit against these people. I told them yesterday that they were breaking the law and they need to rethink what they are doing.
This post will help: How to Report Bad Credit Card Processors
-Phillip
sharon bierer
An appalling company. Literally not one day’s notice to customers that they would not be paying them their money for upto a year. No interest on funds and no respect for their customers whose living they are holding for ransom. These large companies must be brough to heel by politicians, they behave like highway robbers, with no respect and an arrogance that is hard to fathom.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
John Curtis
So my question is this=how do you go about ridding yourself of Yapstone and request another card processor be placed for your account? And what about the fees that VRBO ar adding onto what they say is now South Carolina mandated collection of lodging taxed. W, e have always collected and processed these taxed previously.
Alan Taylor
Yapstone w/o notice (effective immediately) has changed its policy to immediately transfer the first part of monies received on confirmed reservations to property owners using VRBO in favor of making this payment at guest check-in. This first payment now can be received immediately with a 3% fee or Yapstone has generously and unilaterally (though possibly VRBO-Expedia have agreed and benefit) decided to keep these reservation monies up until the actual stay as what is essentially an interest free loan.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
Lawrence Webb
They just changed their payment policy without any notice. They just announced they will payments until check-in instead of paying the host when the guests pay.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
Kara Lyn
This company is extremely unethical. Complete scam! There was not an easily identifiable option for paying rent through a check. Once I paid with a credit card, I called the company seconds later because i noticed a $85 fee to pay one month’s rent. Extremely unreasonable. The company would not void/cancel the payment or assist in any way. They are a scam.
Sam
They are the worst.
After I have investigate the issues they did not wanted to explain me pre arbitration case , after I have won first instance , they just close the case in 9 days even VISA gives to me 30 days time and my money has gone to the bank of the client who did not come on vacation and cancel vacation by themselves.
Worst of all , people are in support have no clue , they are from Philippines and is not possible to get them chargeback team by the phone and try to be explain what and where I am . To give suggestion and to act for me and not for the fraud client.
This post will help: How to Fight Chargebacks and Win
-Phillip
Linda Tolin
I have a listing on vacation common rental website. I had a renter who wanted several reservations (actually all summer) but they had to book around some other existing reservations. The payment processing goes through Yapstone.They booked appropriately on the vacation website with 4-5 stays. The renter put it on her mother in law’s credit card which was normal for her. The mother in law had some dementia so didn’t recognize the charges. She disputed all charges with the company. After that all fees were reversed back to her card and all the payments were taken out of my account with little notice. So then I have a guest with no fees on hold during a stay! VRBO told me to have the renter put it on a different card (because of the mother’s rejection of that card charges.) The renter had to cancel every booking with my help and rebook all. This second card was also rejected after we were told to do this by the rental company and followed their instructions but it did not work. These renters were seen as “fraudulent” or high risk we were told even after we explained the mistake. We were told by Yapsone they would never charge anything for this renter or her mother in law, ever after numerous confusing phone calls. I was forced to book them outside of the vacation rental web site and had to do all the contracts and payments by hand. Then after 40 days Yapstone reversed all the charges from the mother’s card back into my account paying me after the stays were done and took out significant booking fees with no service provided by them! They did not receive a booking through the vacation website. They did it through me as an owner only. I am trying to get their fees back but have had no success yet and have to figure out how to get what they deposited back to me (much later) without further confusion. I understand that the vacation rental website is going to change to another billing company now which is a great idea. The Yapstone people are also very hard to talk to because they are in another county and they don’t understand complex problems like this. I did not want these people to be charged after the fact (40 or so days later) and that is what Yapstone did. They should have told us to tell the renter they didn’t want their card charged at a later time as a clear plan and they paid in a different way (just in case) but they never explained that to us! I found out after more phone calls I can’t reverse these credits after the fact fees back to the renters card so have to do it a different way. (My bank said that doesn’t work)
Hoping for resolution and service fees back to renter! Phone call totals – about 10 hours or more.
Hoping for resolution! Linda
This post will help: How to Fight Chargebacks and Win
-Phillip
Patrick J Towles
Summary:
On June 1st and June 2nd of 2019 I was unable to make a payment my current apartment’s rental property, El Serrano Apartments (Pomona CA, 91776) due to a technical issue with the website https://www.rentpayment.com/.
(Yapstone Inc, at 2121 N California Blvd #400, Walnut Creek, CA 94596)
(Rentpayment.com is the 3rd party transaction company that is used by the property, El Serrano Apartments, to conduct online transactions)
When I went to make the payment the option to continue was grayed out and could not be clicked on. I was unable to proceed, or pay my rent.
On Monday, June 3rd 2019 I called 866 289 5977, pressed option 2, and spoke with a customer service rep (George, to the best of my recollection). I was told there was indeed a technical error where the continue button on the website was grayed out and I could not submit a payment and that many customers were experiencing this.
However, I was also told there was a work around, and that to fix the issue I simply had to add a 2nd payment account to my account. I at first said I had no other bank accounts and was uncomfortable being forced to start a new one simply to fix the companies error.
The customer service rep insisted this was the only way I would be able to pay my rent. As I was nervous and scared about being late to pay, I agreed add an older savings account that does not have any balance so I could fix the problem. The rep walked me through the entire process of adding the account step by step.
Once added I was able to successfully make the payment with my normal checking account that has been on https://www.rentpayment.com/ since I fist begun renting with El Serano Apts (March of 2018)
I asked the representative, specifically, and numerous times, throughout the phone call, that this new savings account I was adding would never be charged, and would never be made the default account whenever I was processing payments. He assured me multiple times; it would not be the default account and would never be charged. At the end of the call, I reiterated again this account would never be charged, he agreed.
The length of this phone call was 42 minutes
However, when I went to make the payment on July 1st, the rentpayment.com attempted to charge the incorrect savings account that rentpayment.com assured me would not be charged.
This resulted in the following financial losses to me:
$35 (Bank of America Insufficient fund fee)
$35 (El Serrano Apartments, returned transaction fee)
$75 (El Serrano Apartments, late rent fee)
On July 3rd I again called rentpayment.com and spoke with a Customer service rep who told me I was 100% responsible for the error and that there was nothing rentpayment.com was going to do about it. I asked to speak with a supervisor (Name of Brian, I believe.) who told me the same thing and spent over 30 minutes repeating himself that they were not going to help me and that there was no other supervisor. After having to repeatedly yell at him for another supervisor, he hung up on me.
Length of phone call: 1hr.
I called again on July 3rd and asked to speak with the escalations dept, which I was eventually transferred to another manager who said the escalations dept would need to call me back.
Length of phone call: 25 minutes.
Additionally, because of the returned transaction, El Serrano Apartments will now no longer accept online payments from me for the next 3 months, meaning I have to pay 15$ each month to get a cashiers check, totaling an additional $45
This brings the total financial loss of: $185
Additional factors:
I am disabled, I suffered a broken neck and severe nerve damage last year. I am unable to drive, turn my head, or lift my right arm. I am on numerous pain medications.
The pain and suffering inflicted on me by rentpayment.com has been tremendous. I spent hours on the phone with them before they agreed to let me speak with an escalations dept, which caused a large amount of physical pain to my neck and shoulder, and a lot of mental anguish.
Being unable to drive, I had to ask someone for a ride to the bank simply to pay my rent, which also aggravated my injury further.
I also received several phone calls from the property manager themselves stating my rent was late and I had 3 days to pay it before I was evicted, this was both embarrassing and frightening, as I have nowhere else to live.
Additionally, I am being told because of rentpayment.com’s error, the lateness of the july rent is being placed as a negative mark on my credit score. So this error will be following me for several years now.
This was a technical error caused by Rentpayment.com, which they fully admitted (Several times) to having over the phone with me, and via email. Which I still have a transcript of. I was also told by the escalations dept that adding my 2nd account was NOT to proper work around, and that they “Don’t know why an agent would do that.”
I am on a fixed income as a disabled person. I cannot afford even one dollar extra on my budget and was forced to take out a personal loan to cover the cost of their mistake.
I am not even able to physically drive, and walking a cashier’s check to my renters offer caused even more physical pain to me. I will have to do it 2 more times.
They have now offered me half of what was owed because they still feel I am somehow responsible for their technical error.
This has been an awful, painful, debilitating experience that I should not have had suffered through and that rentpayment.com is refusing to make right.
I feel I have been more than fair in asking for the 185$ in fees be restored to me as recompense for their error, despite being put through hours of mental anguish and physical pain as a direct result of their error thus far, but given their refusal I now what to seek further damages in regards to this issue.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Great Customer Service
-Phillip
Gert Leunen
We have a customer who never received back his 300€ caution for a holiday rent. Customer service is very bad, it uses many times standard answers without reading the case or replies. After 1 month a payment reference number (arn) was given that had no meaning for mastercard for tracing. We reopened the case recently. Mastercard and the merchant bank provided written proof that the money was never transfered back.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
Leigh milleur
I have had my b&b’s listed with vrbo for 15 yrs. The payment department Yapstone they are using at this present time are basically a group that lie and cheat owner’s out of their booking monies. Recently i had 2 chargebacks for 2 bookings, there is a No Refund in place and both travelers agreed, I sent Yapstone pages and pages of emails from these travelers and followed up with Yapstone people that they in fact did receive all my correspondence from and to these travelers. Each time i spoke to someone at Yapstone, they told me a different story. I had reps from vrbo talking to them over 3 days and hours of conversation and emails showing all my documents. And Yapstone would NOT forward the documentation to the banks so that i could show these travelers were not entitled to a refund. Yapstone cost me a total of $ 2700. Fortunately i hear from vrbo they will no longer use Yapstone as their processes. They are theives and non speaking English person, and no one can win when dealing with Yapstone. I warn all…
This post will help: How to Fight Chargebacks and Win
-Phillip
Kathleen Colucci
DO NOT CONSIDER THIS COMPANY AS A THIRD PARTY SYSTEM. This company is the absolute worst! I had a chargeback on a VRBO home account with a fully stated cancelation policy that is posted and in black and white. Yapstone reached out to me while out of the country and because they did not hear back in sufficient time they refunded from my bank account $1169.58 to a person that not only canceled at the last minute but when I offered a secondary option he never even gave me the courtesy of a return call. Yapstone did not contact their partner VRBO & client to verify my cancelation policy which would have resolved this matter instantly. Unacceptable. Not to mention they are positioned in either India or the Philippines and not easy to understand and come with loads of attitude!
This post will help: How to Fight Chargebacks and Win
-Phillip
Rachel
I asked a yapstone representative several times very specifically about the process for a refund and they gave me bad information which led to many hours and fees on my part. Yapstone will not own their mistake and stands by their written policy despite the mis-information
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Great Customer Service
-Phillip
Robert Scidmore
Wow let me tell you YapStone is a criminal company with no ethics. The purpose of this company is to pay you as slowly as they can…in direct opposition to most gig economy jobs which pay lightning fast. In fact airbnb pays in full the day after the guest checks in, so often the host is paid while the guest is still in their space which is appropriate and perfect. VRBO holds your money with yapstones help and sees how long they can keep it from you. Its just a game and they are crooks and should be regulated out of business. The shisterness of Americans ripping each other off needs to stop. This is pure greed on the part of VRBO and I plan to use more and other sites and phase out my VRBO booking entirely they are just such corrupt greed jerks. This game gets tiring fast when you have to chase them down to get paid. And by the way if you complain to these butt hole surfers your payment comes quicker by days and that happens every time I complain…..so you know they are arbitrarily holding peoples funds. These people are awful and really do suck, even as they made fortunes off other peoples assets!
This post will help: Why Credit Card Processors Hold Funds
-Phillip
carl
The worst worst worst company to deal with. VRBO is the 2nd worst for allowing them onboard!! Anytime you call you will reach a call center in India, lots of background noise, little resolution!!
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Great Customer Service
-Phillip
C.J.Happ
It is May,2019 and I am still waiting for a payment from Yapstone of about $1100.usd they collected from a guest in Sept 2018 and the guest stayed in November 2018. I guess I made too many complaints to Vrbo and Yapstone inquiring where my money is, and they de-listed my property in December. Yapstone is clearly a rip-off and will come up with every excuse and fee they can to avoid paying over the money they owe you. The last scam they pulled on me is that I needed to pay them $495usd for an annual fee, and then they would probably pay me. I did not fall for it. Do NOT use Yapstone, it is frustrating waste of time and you will not see your money based on how they treated me.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
-Phillip
DAVID D Manning
I’m hearing. Impaired on a fixed budget and now I have to deal with employees speaking broken English, who are very difficult to understand!!! Nothing but a headache fees are outrageous. I dont need to send another dime trying to pay the high rent. TOTALLY FRAUD AND SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!
This post will help: Best Merchant Account Providers for Great Customer Service
-Phillip
Roslyn
This company does not have the merchants interests at stake. They exist only to protect the interests of the travellers. I had a recent guest who I issued a refund to. I made a mistake in submitting the correct amount of the refund. When I realized that there was a mistake in the amount to be refunded and contacted them about how the problem could be corrected, I received no assistance from the merchant support staff, and also no assistance from the supervisor. I placed a hold on the amount of the debit that was being withdrawn from my account and was threatened by Yapstone, stating that they would remove my listing from the website, ceasing payment processing and taking action to collect the amount through alternative methods.
This company engages in fraudulent business practices and intimidation of its merchants. They do not engage in fair business practices in resolving issues in favor of their merchants.
Please be warned of this company and try to use another company to represent your merchant account if at all possible.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Great Customer Service
-Phillip
Lindsay Weyand
I rent from Equity Apartments. They just changed to Yapstone as a 3rd party company to process their rent payments. They added $75 for a single time payment service fee, $4.95 for a recurring single rent payment (not always feasible if you live with a roommate), or $35 for a recurring rental payment that isn’t the total rent amount. This is absurdly close to extortion and I’ve already complained to my property manager.
ana ceppi
for months we have been trying to secure payment of fees that are ours.. meaning people paid us and they are holding them.. 3 months.. 10K worth of fees. each time the discussion is different. they need different pieces of paper. not trustworthy. not transparency. No supervisors. No help. its our m oney and we have already provided services. never again
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
-Phillip
Scott
Absolute WOAT! Dealing with Yapstone is the worst thing you’ll encounter in the entire vacation rental industry… HORRIBLE. Find another solution!
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Vacation Rentals
-Phillip
Tonyna
Someone attempted to use my card info at 4:23am 4/1/19, in a location I’ve never heard of!!! I called my card and the rep told me it was this company that was trying to take $120 and change off my card!!! I was at work when this occurred!!!
jodi braswell
This is the most unprofessional company. They do not do there job. I have been talking to them for over a month now. I had a guest stay at my home who left another VRBO hose due to the cleanliness. She contacted AMEX to let them know she had not stayed in this home and wanted to be refunded for that home. Yapstone has tried three times now to take it from my account and now are saying they will deactivate my account if I don’t give them the 1200 they want. The renter left a glowing review and has called them about a dozen times now to tell them they are wrong as well as Amex. I don’t have the money to return since the money was received 60 days ago. Not to mention it’s not there money. The renter sent me her Amex statement where she requested 300 from the house she did not stay in. So why is yapstone trying to take 1200 from me. I have sent them a email from the renter I have sent tons of supporting documentation that this chargeback was not filed. This is a crooked company that does not care about the customers Home Away has. I am now having to hire an attorney. Worst company ever very unprofessional .
This post will help: How to Fight Chargebacks And Win
-Phillip
Bryant
Terrible. Communications need to be better established with the companies you are providing the service for.
They have yet to release funds for bookings/guests that have paid come and gone; pending paperwork.
This is ridiculous I have been doing this for over 5 years and paperwork is stopping payments!!???? People need to be paid!! Terrible experience over and over with you guys.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
-Phillip
Sandra Ashby
Yapstone has refused to release funds owed to us from rentals. My husband had the account in his name and after he died they have refused to release the funds that were paid to them by renters. Legal documents were presented and they have still not released them. I think this company is the worst company and we will not be using Homeaway because of our experience with Yapstone.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
-Phillip
Abraham Falola
Yapstone is absolutely the worst payment system I have had to deal with. There are no words to describe how unethical, inconsiderate and dysfunctional their service is, but there is a number to quantify the value for service (0/10).
VRBO uses this service in Canada for vacation rental payments. First, they attempted to contact me while I was away on vacation and immediately decided to process refunds to all my guests without my permission. The agent told me it was my fault for not responding even when I had provided proof that I was on vacation. She then proceeded to deactivate my account and put holds on all payments that were due to me for stays that I had earned (hosted and received payments – STEALING FROM ME).
I will be pursuing legal action with this company for funds withheld and opportunities lost as they are absolutely mistaking if they believe that they can get away with stealing from their clients.
-Abe
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
– Phillip
Sandra Cohen
Yapstone is witholding $13,000 from me even though my guests have already stayed in my VRBO. They have requested every bit of information from me, including my social security number that I had to send digitally. My guest had NO problems whatsoever, but they still haven’t “approved” my application. I have had guests stay in the past and had zero problems. I honestly don’t even know what to do. My guests payed in April 2018 and I have still not received a penny. It’s not February 2019. It is highly illegal what they’re doing. Beware and DO NOT ever use this service. Use AirBNB instead. I have had no problems with them.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
– Phillip