Rating: 2 stars
Unfortunately, from version 2.4.3 onwards, this plugin has failed to sync with Google Calendar and, when attempting to sync, WordPress generates an error message. I noticed that the plugin had failed to offer an update in the WordPress plugins menu since 2.4.1. Now, with version 2.4.7, an update is again offered within WordPress plugins menu but, of course, I get the sync error…
I have therefore manually downloaded and installed version 2.4.2 which is the latest version that still seems to work OK.
I liked the diagonal ‘half day’ marking of the changeover day between bookings and I have not found another (free) booking calendar plugin that offers this nicety as standard. But, in the light of the recent problems outlined above, I am actively searching for another booking calendar plugin to use if this siuation is not rectified.
Error message received in email:
WordPress version 6.6.2
Active theme: Twenty Twenty-Four (version 1.2)
Current plugin: VR Calendar Free Dual (version 2.4.7)
PHP version 8.1.29
Error Details
An error of type E_ERROR was caused in line 258 of the file /home/dbeeedeb/rhyddbarn.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/vr-calendar-sync/Includes/Classes/Entity/VRCalendarEntity.class.php. Error message: Uncaught Error: Cannot use object of type VRCICS_ICal\Event as array in /home/dbeeedeb/rhyddbarn.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/vr-calendar-sync/Includes/Classes/Entity/VRCalendarEntity.class.php:258
]]>Rating: 5 stars
I use VR Calendar to view the Airbnb bookings and my private reservations. The feature is working properly and the one hour update setting allows to see the new bookings within one hour.
Also VR Calendar works with my WP version 6.2.1 even though it is “not tested”.
]]>Rating: 1 star
The setup is not intuitive and basic things like the information page are broken in minor but annoying ways.
I finally got it working, and it usually syncs with other calendars now, although not always.
The ‘Seasonal Pricing’ feature, which allows you to override the base price for set periods, is something my client particularly needed. It took a long time to set up (I had six special prices, which had to be set up manually on all eight calendars), and it simply didn’t work – in fact it blocked customers from buying in that period.
The (paid for) customer support from VR Cal was very annoying, after going through the process of setting them up as an Admin user, they were worse than useless, and just sent weird messages repeating the error messages (which I had sent them).
We’re still using it, but only because my client agreed to waive the seasonal pricing.
]]>Rating: 1 star
we bought 2 pro licenses, have constant sync issues, takes days to get support, clients were fed up with their sites not working properly and we went with another product, still fighting to get a refund. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY.
(as reference we have purchased over 80 different types of plugins in last 6 months for a multitude of projects, when we say it doesnt work.. it REALLY doesnt work…)
Update: still no response from support, 3 weeks and counting. nightmare product and support, doesnt sync, still doesnt sync, no response from developer. product is junk.
Planning to report them to paypal and wordpress
]]>Rating: 1 star
– I have a pro -licence
– support answer takes days or there is no answer
– lame support, don’t solve the problem
– support ask for login data over email and send these mails to wrong user
I got a support email with all login data for an other domain > no reaction
after reporting this to the support
– WPML compatibillity is not applicable. You can not translate status mails like: booking recieved, approved, canceld etc., because they are capsulated in each room-object > duplicate a Room-object into different languages is futile fatal
– tutorial not updated, old Version, not language instructions
– using Loco-Translate distructed the whole booking-system > when tested, wrong email masseages are send “thank you for your payment” after sending a booking request = killing bug
– translation with PoEdit do not work propper, can not use other lamnguages after translation
– database is trashed, can not make a clean clear of VRC data, entries in wp-option not clean titled
– editing email form and other design with CSS is enoying, many inline css definitions
>> sorry, its a mess!
Rating: 5 stars
Works nicely and the support it fantastic.
]]>Rating: 2 stars
My customer has bought the plugin and we maintain it. It isn’t clean code, many codes are duplicate and have many bugs with the enterprise version
]]>Rating: 1 star
I’ve been a VR Cal user for over a year and have never got the sync function to work with VRBO and Airbnb. I finally got angry and contacted the customer service (no phone–only email). I have received 17 emails from their customer service rep over piddly crap “did you try “sync” on the plug-in”. I have not received any help. The customer service is awful based on my experience if it even exist. I worked with an hour with VRPO tech and they said the problem is VR Cal not transferring the data.
If anybody has had success getting the “sync” function to work properly, please respond. My expectations are that when I populate my calendar on my website, the calendar on VRBO and Airbnb would automatically populate. Are my expectations correct? This seems so simple. VR CAl says their program follows iCal protocol (same as VRBO and Airbnb) but it doesn’t seem to work
Pardon my venting
Rating: 2 stars
Update after more usage.
I originally gave this plugin four stars and titled the review “Potential to be great, but has some rough edges.”
Over time, I’ve come to feel that it just is not designed well enough. The code is a mess and it’s not updated. I mentioned that the Stripe code was way out of date. I wrote to the developer and said I would contribute a patch, but there’s no git repo and he never responded.
Then I notice that it throws an error on the Google Maps API (not sure why this needs the Google Maps API at all, but it throw a NoApiKeys warning). Looking at the code, the author hardcoded a maps API key. Since quite a while, you need an active billing account to use an API key.
Then I noticed the other day that my dropdown menus are not working on mobile. I disabled all the plugins for the site and everything worked fine. I activated them one by one and guess which one was killing my dropdowns?
Meanwhile, no developer response to these reviews, no code updates in over a year, seems completely unmaintained.
I still give it two stars because if you have very simple needs, the free plugin has some nice features. But in my case, I need to have more than one calendar, which means the “Pro” version (I would call it the “paid” version, but not the “pro” version).
I forked the code and made numerous fixes on my custom version, but I’m tired of wrestling with this plugin and trying to debug the conflicts it causes elsewhere in the site. So for my part, I am getting rid of it.
It’s a shame really. If taken over by an active developer who would iron out the kinks, I would gladly pay an annual subscription of, say, $30 to have something that actually did what this plugin attempts to do.
===================== Original Review Below ==============
I’ve tried a bunch of plugins and think this is the best for my needs, but it lacks some polish.
The good part is that it is easy to use, easy to install, easy to customize. It syncs with AirBnB, VRBO – basically anyone with an iCal feed – both import and export (some plugins are export only, which is useless). Much good to say here.
The parts that are in the free version are quite good. The best free calendar I’ve found (though there is a competitor who recently added two-way sync, but that plugin is $39 for the equivalent of what you get here for free).
On the other hand, there are some not so good things. There are a lot of typos and minor things like this. With the pro version there are things like if you don’t have a “per child” charge, the logic is there to remove the child field from the entry form, but not the child line item from the price quote.
So I ended up writing some patches to handle things like that, which worries me, because increasingly I am ending up with a forked version and that can become hard to maintain.
Also, it is using a very old version of the Stripe javascript. Given that Stripe a credit card processor and this code will be taking payments, it is essential to upgrade to the most recent version of Stripe, which I also did.
I mentioned this to the developer and offered to submit patches, but all I have gotten is silence. Given how rough the code looks, I’m really, really hesitant to turn on the booking part and actually use this plugin to accept payments.
That’s a shame, because really it works better than Woo Commerce for a vacation rental. With a bit more polish, this would be a hands down, no question 5-star plugin. Hopefully we’ll see a version 2.1 that will correct some of these concerns.
]]>Rating: 1 star
Needed a calendar plugin that could accept iCal (.ics) feeds from a third party website and display the calendars on my site. Calendar only needs to display current month.
Plugin instead displays a messy overlap of the next 3 years. I’m not going to spend my time chasing support for something that doesn’t work correctly even in the slightest. Definitely not going to spend the money for a pro version.
Rating: 1 star
I purchased the Pro version of this plugin but it has a bug that I had to solve alone because the assistance despite being scheduled for a year, he replied to some email then it disappeared for over a week. When I told him that I solved the problem, they made fun of me for not answering the last two days because they do not work on the weekend…
—
Ho acquistato la versione Pro di questo plugin ma presenta un bug che ho dovuto risolvere da solo perchè l’assistenza nonostante sia prevista per un anno, mi ha risposto al qualche mail poi è sparita per oltre una settimana. Quando gli ho comunicato che ho risolto il problema, mi hanno preso in giro scusandosi per non aver risposto gli ultimi due giorni perché non lavorano nel weekend…
Rating: 5 stars
Thank you for a great plugin, using AirBNB and homeaway.
]]>Rating: 5 stars
I will probably test the pro version for the paypal integration soon but the free version makes already the job just fine.
Support is very good / prompt as well, two thumbs up!
]]>Rating: 5 stars
Thanks! This plugin is exactly what I was looking for!
Bye-bye the “stupid” Homeaway widget…
One suggestion : I couldn’t find how to translate it in my own (and different langage) and change the first day of the week.
I didn’t find anything about it in the settings… I’ll try do it by WPML…
Rating: 5 stars
A simple way to import an Ical Calendar to show up free/busy on you web site. Set your own colors for backgroud, title background and fonts, free/busy backgroud and fonts.
This perfectly match the need to show availability for your rented house/room on your OWN website. Simply import calendar from any of the main rental website (like Airbnb, VRBO…). A pro version seems to allow booking through a paypal gateway, but I havn’t tested yet.
Rating: 5 stars
The VR Calendar plugin was exactly what I needed for my .ics calendar feeds. Clean and easy to use. Responsive – looks amazing!
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