AvailReviews of avail.com

Reply from AvailAug 22, 2022

Hi Keira, I do want to offer our sincerest apologies that you ran into this issue with your listing. That being said, there area number of ways this could have happened, as we do take certain precautions and steps in order to keep prospective renters and other landlords safe on our site. If a listing was flagged as potentially fraudulent, this may have either originated directly via Avail (system flags can occur), or it may have happened for a number of reasons from one of the sites we syndicate your listing to — i.e.a prospective renter possibly reported the listing if they replied to the ad and got a response back that seemed off/requested a deposit, etc. Again, our sincerest apologies that this occurred — really not the ideal experience but this is all in an effort to keep people safe during their search for a new home.

Reply from AvailAug 22, 2022

Hi Jack, I wanted to be sure to get a response up to this so not to leave it unaddressed. When a payment fails we do get assessed a fee which is why it gets passed on to the renter — so, if a withdrawal fails we get charged a fee from our bank due to the failed payment, so our NSF fee is to cover that fee incurred from our bank. Should you still have any additional questions regarding specific account details, or payments processing please feel free to contact our support team — hours are 9am - 5pm, 7 days a week and our phone number is 312-292-9347. Happy to be a resource for you as best as we can!

Reply from AvailAug 22, 2022

Hi Julie! Thank you so much for the kind hearted and honest review of Avail. Believe me when I say this goes a long way with the rest of the team, and also helps us to through ways we can add even more value. We really appreciate feedback like this and I will be sure to share your kind words with the rest of the team!

Reply from AvailAug 22, 2022

Hi James, on behalf of the team, I wanted to be sure to offer my sincerest apologies for any troubles you ran into with using Avail — certainly not the kind of experience we aim to provide. That being said, I do want get a response up to this so not to leave it unaddressed. We are up front about the cost/fee to using a Credit Card to pay rent; and while we don't often advise it, we know that some renters like to have it as an option for points with their card provider. Still, a 3.5% Credit Card transaction fee is fairly standard. I also wanted to directly address your point about banking details; Avail uses Plaid and Stripe to handle all credit card details, and all of that information is highly encrypted. Plaid uses their global network and local expertise, so our customers can see their financial data and make payments directly from the app, but please know that this is a one-time user authentication process where users authenticate directly with their bank via secure Open Banking integrations, eliminating card and direct debit chargebacks (and we do not store these details). This then provides our customers with the ability to schedule one-off or recurring payments into accounts (like bank transfers, standing orders, and variable recurring payments), as well as one-off or recurring payments out of accounts (like withdrawals). Please keep in mind that Stripe is also PCI Compliant which is the most stringent level of certification available in the payments industry. I’d also like to include a friendly reminder that Avail will never provide full credit card numbers within a user’s account. The only thing that surfaces are the last 4 digits of that credit card or debit card number. Keeping this in mind, it would not be possible for someone to hack into an Avail account and get access to all credit card information. We take any instances of fraud very seriously and should you still have any additional questions regarding specific account details, or concerns, please feel free to contact our support team — hours are 9am - 5pm, 7 days a week and our phone number is 312-292-9347. Lastly, I can understand the concern given constant news reports of hackers, phishing, and cyber-attacks. It’s still a good idea to be careful, especially with personal information. Please let me assure you that Avail is committed to keeping your data safe. Any time your tenant or you are concerned about a site’s security, there is an easy way to tell if the site is employing security software. In the location bar, you will find a padlock indicating the site is secure. Clicking the padlock will show you more information about the site.