Mike G.

I've advertised my home on VRBO and Home Away for the last dozen years. Despite rising costs, it generated business and drove potential customers to the home which is exactly what I wanted. It was a company with a clear but narrow niche and performed well; bringing owners and potential renters together and letting them do business. They did such a good job that they became one of two or three dominant players in the market place and, since December of last year, they have become part of the corporate conglomerate Expedia. Like so many corporate behemoths (think Google, Microsoft) they are seeking to redefine that market to suit themselves. Their new business model doesn't work for owners (who are losing control of the process despite owning the product on which the business depends) or customers (who will be paying more as a result of the introduction of a service fee for a non-existent additional service and suffering the kind of Kafkaesque call centre experience that is the hallmark of corporate "customer service"). The explanatory video offered by the CEO is almost parodic; the feigned concern, the assurance that this is all in the interests of the owners and customers, the justification for income gouging as presenting answers to questions that no-one is actually asking. I hope the proposed class action is successful and that other entrepreneurs recognise the opportunity to provide competition but fear that, along with a couple of other players, they will dominate and define the market because of their business muscle - at least in the short term.