Evolve Vacation Rental

This is the worst rental management…
This is the worst rental management company ever! Run for the hills. I have had major issues with EVOLVE :( when there is an issue they will leave voicemail and no extension number to get a hold of the person who has contacted you. So you have to sit on hold and explain the issue with someone who has no idea what is going on.
1. I did not get one booking for 10 months and my house is great location and newly renovated.
2. I had to fight for my referral sign on fee of $250 for over a year. And the person who referred me never received her pay out.
3.The cleaning lady is the point of contact? How can you trust a cleaning lady to take care of all issues? Issues arise and the cleaning lady calls me. So whats the point?
4. They would not allow photos of the beach or village walking distance from my house. Only the house?
5. They work on alga rhythem's that fluctuated so much I lost 2K on a weeks rental at the height of my beach rental season. They had no excuse other than the alga rhythem 's told them to do it?
6. They say that they offer 3 professional photo shoots. When I requested another photo shoot, they emailed me and asked me to take photos and document the changes on my home that were different than last shoot.
7. they have zero social media or marketing for your home
8. They blocked my entire calendar because a tax law changed in my state which required an occupancy certificate. They never emailed or called giving me the heads up this was happening or that I had to provide this or they could not rent my home... they simply just blocked whole calendar.
9. Someone by the name of SAM in upper management hung up on me when he didnt have the answers to my questions. Crazy!

This is such bad customer service! RUN!

The "onboarding" process was a breeze. Hey, yeah - let's get you going! Get signed up! Dynamic pricing! Dynamic! Woohoo! Dynamic pricing.

Once I get signed up - the warning signs start to show. To begin with, it took extra time to get listed on things after the photo shoot. It took a full week/weekend for them to "edit the photos" and "setup the listing." We finally get the notice on Monday that the photos are ready and pending our review, the listing will be ready.

When they "press the button", my listing goes live... except it didn't. I got different answers about why it didn't appear. This isn't the end of the world but it took about another 24 hours before we appeared on the sites even though I was told it was practically "instant". Again, I'm not sure if it's miscommunication or misunderstanding but depending on who I spoke with - I got different answers.

Now comes the nail in the coffin, Evolve has such a HUGE upcharge on AirBNB that it is impossible to be competitive. I'm effectively pricing myself about 20-30% higher than our competition and for what? I see none of the money because it is for insurance or "3rd party booking fees." Again, depending on who I spoke to - I received a separate answer.

The straw that breaks the camel's back to me is just the lack of control and the speed in which everything has to be done. The description of the property sounds so generic it sounds like a chat bot wrote it. Nothing is taken as seriously. If you have an investment property and you have a bottom line - TIME IS MONEY. Evolve reminds me of going to the DMV. There is always more steps, another person to talk to, etc. It's SLOW.

So I did end up cancelling and here I am, and I have to until a "Senior Specialist" or something gets back to me. Guess what? They don't work weekends. So hey, I get to wait one or two days after to HOPE they get back to me. And guess what else? I can't list my OWN property because I signed up for Evolve - which they're still getting $250 from me, either way, for an early cancellation fee. This company has NO concept of the fundamental concept of Time = Money.

I signed into Evolve to help and manage a short rental property, during the on boarding the communication where great quick and professional during this time many promises are done:
Here are the most popular:
10% Revenue fee for management
There is no contract and you can leave Evolve if not happy at any time.
If you not happy after 6 months you can leave and they will return all fees taken from you.
They have associates/contractors to work in your place should you need them (cleaning, gardening, hvc, pluming, electricians etc…) NOT TRUE except cleaning person they did refer us to one.
They will market your property on 9 additional channels besides Evolve at no cost to you.
They will get you the best prices per night do to the pricing algorithm.
You can block any days you want for personal use.
NOT TRUE…
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM EVOLVE.
10 % fee from revenue (including cleaning fees)
If you want to take your property away from Evolve before 90 days you get fined / penalized $250 or more.
They will list on their site your property at lowest price possible (50-75% lower compared to others around your area) as to get bookings.
They will also charge your guest a stiff charge for damage protection (revenue not shared with you)
They market your property on Air BnB, Vrbo, and Booking at much higher prices (50-75%) while paying you the lower price listed on their site.
If your place needs service (air conditioner not working properly) you're on your own to find a service company (not fun if you are at a distance).
I had to cancel a reservation 9 months away and Evolve charged $250 penalty fee (9 months away….stiff)
I voiced my disagreement to customer service, they could do not a damn thing, customer service is just some one that takes messages for you, with no solution to your inquires.
You want to changes to your property customer service takes your request and submit it to a different department and it takes several days to be done and even longer at other channels.
Evolve is not the best option to manage my property.

Customer spent 14 mins in house and declined to stay. No cancel fee or even cleaning fee

In my opinion, one of the most difficult parts of taking care of short term/vacation rental properties is dealing with the trend of guests trying to scam owners out of getting free stays or refunds by making up stories about pretend break-ins or bringing in " bug infestations" or photo shopping house pictures to make it look like the house is in much worse shape than the great shape that it's really in or a whole myriad of horror stories that you hear about.

I could write a novel about the beautiful blessing that Evolve has been in helping us with our short term rental houses. Since this is just a review, I'm trying to make it short and sweet. Evolve has been the most amazing example of how to be a benevolent host. They are patient and kind with both the owners and the guests.

When my house got vandalized last week, by a guest claiming to be a pastor (?), I was pretty shaken up, and I felt like screaming at the guest (I didn't… Evolve has modeled for me how to be kind/professional with all customers) but Evolve just masterfully handled the situation by being empathetic and supportive to me and at the same time some how empathetic to the guest who I perceived to be completely insane?. It really was a sight to behold! That this management company could be so kind in such difficult situations! They are like a soft blanket buffer between the owner and guest that makes it much easier to let go of toxic emotions! Big shout out to Eric at Evolve for walking me through undoing the crazymaking situation! He talked me though what to possibly expect when I went back into the house for the first time, he assured me that they would do everything they could on their end to support us and our listing and he helped me calmly send in the info that the evolve insurance needed to reimburse us for damages, extra cleaning, etc. It was a big relief to have them there! They are clearly experienced in deftly handling difficult situations with flair! Thanks again, Eric!

I also very much appreciate that they've kept our homes just about fully booked with mostly great guests! We own 12 rental houses and the short term rentals that Evolve has been helping us with have been grossing at least two to four times what they were grossing as long term rentals. We are gradually turning more of the long term rentals into short term.

I could go on and on about how their app keeps our financial accounting nicely organized/up to date, and how there is always a live person there to help with any kind of owner support. This is a wonderful company! 10/10 I highly recommend!

I recently had an unfortunate experience with Evolve, and I feel compelled to share my disappointment. Initially, I was enticed by their promises and the fantastic services they claimed to offer. However, my encounter with them turned out to be a major letdown. Here's why:

Firstly, Evolves sales rep was extremely persuasive in selling me their services. They painted a picture of professionalism, efficiency, and exceptional results. They made grandiose claims about their ability to deliver exactly what I needed, assuring me that my expectations would be not just met, but exceeded. It was hard not to get excited about the possibilities they presented.

However, as soon as I made the commitment and signed up for their services, things took a turn for the worse. Communication became sporadic and unresponsive. I would have to go through the general line to be able to communicate with an operator that would then pass a message a long to someone on the team. A few days later I would receive an email from the team member. Upon requesting a call I was told to call the main line again. It was incredibly frustrating to reach out to them for updates or clarification on the process, only to be met with radio silence or delayed responses that lacked any substantial information. It seemed like once they had secured my payment, their interest in providing quality customer service vanished.

Even more disappointing was their failure to deliver on any of the promises made during the sales pitch. The results were far from what was advertised, and it felt like I had wasted both my time and money. The quality of the service was lackluster, and it was clear that they had not put in the effort or expertise they had initially claimed. This experience left me feeling cheated and regretful for putting my trust in Evolve.

To add insult to injury, when I attempted to end the contract they decided to charge me a $250 fee for ending before giving them 90 days of attempting to rent our home out.

In conclusion, my encounter with Evolve was a frustrating and disheartening experience. They sold me on their services with great enthusiasm, only to fall short on every promise made. From the lack of communication to the poor quality of their work and the absence of any genuine effort to rectify the situation, I cannot recommend this company to anyone seeking reliable and trustworthy services. Save yourself the disappointment and explore other options that prioritize customer satisfaction and live up to their commitments.