VRBO
reviews and complaints

I want to warn everyone out there about VRBO. I had a terrible experience with them recently when I booked a vacation rental through their site. The rental was located at Bonita Beach and Tennis Club in Bonita Springs, Florida, and was listed by a company called myfloridarealestate.com. I found the listing on hotels.com and booked the rental through VRBO. Little did I know that this would be the worst vacation rental experience I have ever had.

First of all, the rental was under construction, which was not disclosed until after I had already booked it. The construction noise was unbearable, with drilling, pounding, and hammering going on from 6AM to 6PM every day. It was so loud that I couldn't even hear the property manager when I called to complain. The property managers, Jessica and Tucker Lecaroz, were completely unhelpful and refused to refund my money or change the dates of my stay, even though I was completely flexible.

To make matters worse, the rental itself was in terrible condition. The bed was uncomfortable and from the 60s, the kitchen was falling apart with a rusty, dripping old refrigerator, and there were no dish towels or sponges provided. The towels in the bathroom were stained, and there was hair, toothpaste, and makeup on the sink as if no one had cleaned before my arrival. The blinds were broken and didn't shut, so there was no privacy, and the construction workers could see inside. The thin blanket on the bed was threadbare and stained, and there were extra pillows but no linens. The dishwasher smelled of sewage while it was being run because it was ancient. The rental property was dated, poorly maintained, and they expected guests to take out their own trash, even though there was a $130 cleaning fee, and there was no recycling.

The treatment I received from the property managers was abusive, cruel, and inhumane. They were completely unwilling to compromise with me or VRBO, and they even spread lies about the rental online, claiming it was a peaceful vacation rental. I felt like I was staying in the Gulag in Siberia, Russia. The building literally looked and felt like it would collapse at any minute, and the other tenants and restaurant staff at the cafe were completely aghast that anyone would rent out a unit under those conditions. They said it was absolutely unconscionable behavior on the part of these property managers. There was fighting and shouting in the hallway at night, and loud pounding on the floor from the unit above at 10PM while I was trying to quietly watch a movie.

In conclusion, I would not recommend using VRBO for your vacation stays. They allow scammers like myfloridarealestate.com to advertise properties on their site, and they do not take responsibility for the terrible conditions of the rentals they list. The property managers at Bonita Beach and Tennis Club were malicious thieves who stole my money, tortured me with construction noise, and openly spread lies about the rental. Do not trust them to provide a pleasant stay.

Yo VRBO,

I gotta say, I'm pretty disappointed with your service. It's like you're trying to nickel and dime us just like those airlines do. I mean, seriously, charging for extra photos? And limiting us to only one unit per listing? That's just not cool.

I've been a customer of yours for a while now, and I've got a few things to say:

1. Your value is poor. Other websites offer more photos and charge less for them. $508 for 12 photos? That's ridiculous.

2. Your basic cost is too high, and your additional photo costs are even higher.

3. As an owner of a 7 unit complex, I can't justify paying your high rates for just one listing. And now that you're enforcing a one unit per listing policy, I can't offer my customers the full service they deserve.

4. Your excuse that customers want to know exactly what they're getting is just that - an excuse. It's not a good enough reason to force us to pay more and list each room separately.

5. Renters want choices. They want to know about all the rooms available, not just one. They want to know the size of the beds, the size of the condos, and the price differences. They want to be able to upgrade or downgrade based on their budget.

6. Renters may have different needs. They may want a one bedroom if it's cheaper, or a two bedroom if it's available. They may even want a three bedroom.

7. Renters want things to be easy. They don't want to have to visit multiple listings for the same property. That's just a waste of time.

8. Renters want all the information in one place, with as few clicks as possible. Especially if they're using a mobile device.

9. Limiting me to one unit per listing limits the renter's choices and my rental potential.

10. This is a disservice to both the renter and me. It's just a way for you to make more money.

11. You're making it harder for renters to find what they want, and you're making it harder for me to advertise my property.

12. Most websites allow for more photos. Why can't you?

13. My property has themed condos. By displaying pictures of all the condos on a website, my renters can choose the theme for their vacation. They can choose the type of beds, the price range, and even multiple units. But on VRBO, they'll never know they have those choices.

Look, I know I have a choice to advertise or not. But you're making it impossible for smaller businesses like mine to compete. I hate VRBO, and I can't wait until I don't need you anymore.

Pass this on to your executives. They need to know how their customers feel.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Solomon
AffordableBeachCondos.com

VRBO/Homeaway is a popular vacation rental platform that many people use to book their next holiday. However, there is a major issue with their third-party credit card payment system that is causing many hosts to lose money on chargebacks. The payment system is called HolidayRentPayments, which is part of Yapstone. This system is causing many problems for hosts, and it is important to understand why.

Firstly, VRBO/Homeaway uses a third-party payment platform for clearing cards with this company. This is a forced marriage, and they claim they cannot get out of the contract. However, this cannot be true considering so many complaints in the net. Surely there must be a clause for terminating commercial relationships where there is bad service, which will almost certainly result in VRBO/Homeaway losing business to Tripadvisor and AirBnB. Plus, VRBO/Homeaway is owned by Expedia, and it is beggars belief that VRBO/Homeaway does not use Expedia's credit card clearing system, which must be second to none in this field! Therefore, VRBO/Homeaway must bear the guilt for using HolidayRentPayments for clearing cards, but more importantly, what HolidayRentPayments provides as a service, which is misleading and under false pretenses.

Their website speaks highly of their services, where in fact their fraud detection is near to score "0". There is an industry standard for credit card clearance online called 3dSecure (Verified by Visa, MasterCard Secure Code - you can google this and find out. Worldpay has a section under "Liability Shift" for credit card merchants). However, HolidayRentPayments has not enrolled for this, for reasons only known to them. So as a result, anybody who uses the system to pay can put the booker's name and use a different payer's card, and the system will authorize it because in the current credit card system they use, the database system cannot check names but can check credit card number, expiry date, and CVV number on the signature strip. So if the card is valid - it will clear. That is it!

As a result, your guest will come, stay and leave, and the payer can challenge the charge, and you will lose because the payer was not there. All you got is a name next to the payment which matches the person who stayed. The payer, in fact, never stayed! The names are different, and you would have no chance. If they had enrolled for the 3dSecure, then a secret passcode would have been used in the process of payment so, even if the names are different, the payer could not challenge due to the reason only the payer would know the passcode to enter. (so it is deemed as "credit card holder participated in the transaction").

Until such time, HolidayRentPayments enrolls for this procedure, unfortunately, many property owners and property managers stand to lose any chargeback for the card being used by relatives, friends, even partnerships as partnerships can end, and the payer (sour grapes) will refuse to pay for the charge simply because their name never appeared in the reservation.

The whole business exposes the system to fraudulent use. There are many people who will challenge the charges and finding to their surprise that they have won. All because of, call it negligence, call it ignorance, call it HolidayRentPayments' disrespect to their partner VRBO/Homeaway, HolidayRentPayments' decision not to use the 3dSecure system.

The last word for the VRBO/Homeaway rep may see this message and hope to get put a nice word in for their company that all is well. Please do not try. The orders come from way above, and the position you hold does not make you privy to all the information. I have gathered the info above after many consultations with many advertisers and some who are friends in VRBO/Homeaway system. And no, I am not an attorney, just seeing some of my friends affected by the problems with HolidayRentPayments and believe the only leverage here is the hosts to threaten to leave VRBO/Homeaway purely based on unreliability of fraud detection of HolidayRentPayments and partly service on top of it (half the staff do not know what they are talking about because they have half information fed to them from higher management).

It is your money, and at the end of the day, it is up to you to hold on to it. Take care.

We got 6 vacation rentals in San Diego, and 3 of them are in a fancy building. We put them up on VRBO and Homeaway, and most of our bookings come from these sites. We take almost all of our payments through credit cards via the website's credit card processing company, YapStone. Even though it costs a lot to accept credit cards through the website, we thought it was worth it for the convenience and protection we thought we had. But we found out that we have almost no protection, so we won't be taking credit cards through the website anymore.

We had a guest who booked one of our units, agreed to the rental agreement, accepted the 60-day cancellation policy, and made the payment through VRBO and Yapit. We also had other inquiries to rent this property for that timeframe. The first day the guest sent us a text message saying how much they liked the property and how it was better than the photos and description. But the next day, they started complaining about things like the shower system, which is a standard diverter that is in all of our properties and most homes, the garbage disposal not working, and how to use a remote control that has led photos that are programmed to push one button. We sent a maintenance person, who could find nothing wrong, and offered to stop by personally.

A week later, the guest texted us saying that his wife was feeling a vibration in the building, and they had to return home to Delaware, so they expected a return of the money for the time they wouldn't be using the condo. We texted them back, saying that if they wanted to leave, that was their choice, but we wouldn't be returning the money for two reasons: 1. We would be breaking a city ordinance as well as an HOA Regulation of 30-day minimum rental periods if we rented the property for only a week, 2. We had a date and time stamped acceptance of the agreement, and they were well aware of the cancellation policy.

We spoke with the guest in person the following day, and he told us that his wife had a breakdown, which was evident by her behavior earlier in the week, and he had to spend the night in the emergency room because she was convinced that the building was shaking from a vibration. We have personally stayed in this unit, we have many 5-star reviews of all 3 units in the same building, current guests that were staying in the other two units who had extended their stay, a recent sale in the building as high as $1.6 Million, and no one has ever complained about a "vibration" of any kind.

A week after the guest returned to Delaware, he filed a dispute with Visa for "property not as described," and they put a hold on our funds. We followed the process and submitted substantial documentation: the rental agreement, the acceptance of the rental agreement and cancellation policy, correspondence through VRBO, description of the property, all the reviews of the property as well as reviews of the other two properties in the same building (which are all 5 stars and very detailed reviews), text messages from the guest stating how the property was "better than described," VRBO's Policies, and proof of the fact that VRBO had offered trip interruption insurance which they declined.

We were told it would be 45 days before a decision would be made, and most likely it would be made in our favor. Today, we received an email from YapStone stating that the case was going to pre-arbitration and potentially full arbitration. They also requested additional information (after we have provided everything possible) and for us to sign a Docusign Agreement which makes us liable for $500 and any costs or fees to arbitrate if the case is not decided in our favor.

We immediately called YapStone Customer Service, and we were told that they see these cases every day and rarely are they decided in the Owner's Favor, so most likely we would be out the chargeback, the $500 fee, and additional costs. We also spoke with a VRBO Rep, who was very nice, but he said they see these things happen all the time and there is nothing they can do to assist.

So, as an owner accepting credit cards through the VRBO and Homeaway processing company, you have virtually no protection. Someone can stay in your property, assert any nonsense reason for not liking the property, and you will have to jump through a lot of hoops and not only be out the lost revenue (we did leave the property vacant for 30 days), but also additional fees that they decide to charge you. Since this happened, we have not been accepting credit cards, and we will not accept credit cards in the future. There is very little protection against fraudulent activity!

I gotta say, I've used VRBO a bunch of times and never had a problem until this last trip. Me and my boyfriend were headed to Mountain City Tennessee for a long weekend and we booked this sweet cabin through the website. It was gonna be perfect, two bedrooms and everything. But then, three weeks later, we get a call from the property manager saying the cabin got sold and we gotta pick a new one. No big deal, we pick another one and everything seems fine.

Fast forward to the day before we leave and we get a text from the property manager with a new address and door code. We didn't think anything of it and just headed there. But when we got there, it was this tiny trailer that was supposed to be a cabin. It was not what we had picked out or paid for. We tried calling the property manager but had no service. We finally found some wifi at a winery and saw that he had sent us to the wrong place. He said the cabin we booked had black mold and he had to send us somewhere else. We were pretty annoyed that he didn't tell us beforehand, but he gave us a new address and we headed there.

The new place was great, but then the water stopped working the next morning. We found out there was a leak and all the water on that street was out. Then, the president of the HOA comes knocking on our door saying there's a lawsuit with the owners and we can't stay there. We explained everything we had been through and she let us stay through the weekend.

But then the AC stopped working and we called the owners to let them know. The property manager got really mad at us for calling the owners and cussed us out. We let it go since we only had one more night to stay.

When we got home, we called customer service and they said we deserved our money back. We wrote a statement and sent it in, but didn't hear anything for a few days. Then, my boyfriend got an email saying the property manager gave us a 1 out of 5 guest rating. Like, what the heck? We didn't even get an apology for everything we went through.

I'm really disappointed in VRBO. I've never had a problem before, but this experience was terrible. And it seems like a lot of other people have had similar issues. I don't think I'll be using this company again.

I recently had an experience with VRBO that left me feeling frustrated and disappointed. I had booked a reservation for a house in Miami back in November 2020 for my birthday in February 2021. Everything was set for us to check in on 2/13/21, but about a week before our check-in date (2/5/21), I received a message from the property owner stating that they were cancelling our reservation due to the pandemic.

I was in a panic because I had 13 people, including myself, flying in to Miami in a week and we were expecting to have a house to stay at. I immediately called VRBO to explain the situation and ask if there was anything they could do to help. I was told that property owners can cancel reservations at any time, but they will need to pay VRBO a penalty for it if it's within a certain number of days of the reservation. Unfortunately, this penalty didn't help me out in this situation at all because I was still without a house.

The VRBO representative I spoke with told me that they could look at other properties and help me get re-booked with another one so we would have somewhere to stay. They gave me a listing to look at in the same price range, but it was completely run down and not nice at all. Of course, the initial price I paid wasn't going to get us anything fancy a week before we were supposed to be there! They said they would escalate this to their re-booking team and have them reach out to assist in finding me another location. They also mentioned that they could possibly help cover the difference if the new property was more expensive.

I expressed concern that I had not yet received my refund from the cancelled property ($4440.65) so I was not able to pay anything until that came through (in at least 3 business days) to which they said it was fine and they would take care of it. The next day (2/6/21), I received an email with a really nice property asking if it was okay as a replacement reservation. I agreed to it and again, brought up the huge price difference since this new property was over $1500 per night compared to my $770 per night before. They reassured me that they would take care of it using financial assistance and make sure we had somewhere to stay come 2/13/21.

I received another email a few hours later stating that I would now need to book the new property through their site as normal, send them my reservation ID number, and they would work on reimbursing me the difference of what my responsibility would be. Once again, I panicked because how am I going to pay for this reservation up front as normal if I have not received my initial refund of $4440.65 nor do I have over $9000 just sitting in the bank to pay for this. I didn't receive an email back so I ended up going through Affirm (a financing partner) so I could get it booked since I was now only 5 days away from my vacation. I figured this would be fine and a fast process so that once I got their reimbursement and my refund, I could pay Affirm off before it started accruing any interest.

On 2/10/21, I had to jump through hoops by sending a copy of my driver's license, sending an agreement email to them with their exact verbiage, and filling out a DocuSign with my account information. They emailed me on 2/11/21 stating that everything was received and now it needed to be reviewed to see if I qualified for the reimbursement. I didn't hear anything again until 2/18/21 (after we were already back from our vacation) when I received an email stating that a reimbursement request was sent to their accounting department and that I could expect my refund by 4/1/21.

At this point, I was frustrated because I was accruing interest on this Affirm loan because this was taking so long to process the reimbursement. I called VRBO's customer service line on 2/19/21 requesting a supervisor and was told that the team I was working with does not take inbound calls. The representative told me she could submit a request to have someone from the team call me though. I requested just any supervisor that could help and after an hour of being on and off hold, she came back and stated there were no supervisors to talk to and that I would need to have one call me from the correct team. I gave in and she submitted the request and said I would get a call within the next 24 hours since they are open 24/7.

I also replied to the email chain with the estimated dates and requested a supervisor call me ASAP because I was not happy with the timeline. It is now 2/22/21 and I have not received any call from a supervisor (nor anyone for that matter). I did, however, receive an email back stating that their team only communicates through email so a call was not going to happen. The email also stated that they understand I am anxious to receive my refund but this is a manual process and takes longer to do. ANXIOUS?! I'm not anxious, I am angry that I'm awaiting a refund for this much money while I accrue interest charges that they aren't going to pay for. And I'm also angry that when I am requesting a supervisor to call me, I'm getting the run around and no phone call.

It's extremely frustrating that I am having to pay all this extra money towards fees/interest for something that wasn't my fault because they just allow their hosts to cancel reservations the week prior. I just want my refund already so I can be done with this company! I will never book through VRBO again nor refer any friends or family to book through them. I have never dealt with such awful customer service!

I recently rented Property #514422 through VRBO from Nov 15th 2017 until Jan 1st 2018. The total cost of my stay was $7833 USD plus a refundable security deposit of $500. However, my experience with this property was far from pleasant.

Firstly, the title of the property on the VRBO site is "Nice Condo! Completely Remodeled, Stylish, Quiet And Downtown With A Boat Dock!". However, this couldn't be further from the truth. The condo is not quiet at all, the boat dock is in bad shape, and the furniture is old and smelly. The airport is only 300 m away from the condo, and the jet noise was unbearable. The noise occurred at all hours of the day and even in early morning and at night time. I was shocked that the owner didn't clearly state this in the property description. If you have a pacemaker or heart condition, I strongly advise you to avoid this condo. The jet noise made my chest vibrate, and it was so loud that we couldn't even talk during the landing or taking off of the planes, which occurred several times a day. Don't be fooled by the statements given by the owner, such as "it is only a small municipal airport" or "the planes only fly between 8 am and 8 pm". I realized that rich people can fly any damn time they want!

In conclusion, I strongly advise you to avoid property #514422 listed on VRBO. It is noisy, smelly, and the boat dock is not in good shape.

Now, let's talk about the owner, Melissa Heyer. She tried to scam me out of my $500 security deposit by sending an e-mail to my private e-mail where she claimed I caused damages to her condo. I asked for pictures of the damages and also told her that I would be back in Naples within a week and wanted to inspect the damages myself. She never sent any photos nor did she allow me to inspect her condo. At the time of our check-out, her agent, Debbie Johnson, was there, working for Broker Associate Downing-Frye Realty, Inc. She just sat there in silence and with a negative vibe while we checked out. If the agent even had a little bit of professionalism in her, she would have done a small check-out inspection with us. Instead, she was in fact spying on us and reporting back to the owner that we banged our suitcases around (i.e. scratched the walls) while we checked out! If you cannot tolerate guests to get in and out with suitcases from your property and by doing so touch the walls of your property with their suitcase, you shouldn't be in the renting business at all! By the way, this owner states the following on VRBO in connection to her property: "Absolutely no scratch pads anywhere, or damages will have to be compensated. This includes buffing the stainless steel refrigerator and/or sinks. Stains to the furniture will have to be compensated. If they can not be removed, costs for recovering or replacement must be charged. Sorry!". But the owner doesn't provide any updated inventory list or check-in/out inspection. This is totally unprofessional and unsecure for you as a renter! She asked me not to give her a review. I did an honest review of my stay in her condo and her as an owner - and she gave me a bad review. The irony!

Also, the owner allowed the new guest to check in immediately after we checked out. And the owner (through the new guest of course) had the nerve to complain about the cleaning! I paid a cleaning fee to the owner and asked two times what this fee was for, without a response. So at check-out (just to be sure!) we did dishes, took off all bed sheets, started a wash, emptied fridge/freezer, took out trash & even cleaned the coffee machine! Of course, the condo was not spotless clean - the cleaning crew had yet to arrive. It seems the owner wanted us to pay for the full scale cleaning and maintenance of her condo by keeping my security deposit. I found out that the new guest was, in fact, a returning friend/guest and by profession a handyman. Well, see now - that is convenient! And the owner even wrote to me on my private e-mail that since I used a part of my Fulbright scholarship to pay for her condo rent - I should not care about the $500 security deposit. She, in fact, wrote "You didn't even pay for deposit yourself!". The nerve of some people! Also, she wrote that I should "enjoy my father!". I know why - In an earlier e-mail communication around 1 month before my stay, I informed her that perhaps my parents won't be able to join me in the condo since he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. This owner is simply spiteful.

The owner did refund me the deposit after some time, but together with this refund, I received very offensive language directed towards me and my family to my private email form the owner. All of my family was very offended by her and strongly question her ability to conduct professional business on VRBO.

In conclusion, avoid this owner. She is unable to conduct professional rental business.

I contacted VRBO and put in two formal complaints about the property and asked them to contact the owner and force the owner to remove the word quiet in the title describing the property as "quiet". It is not quiet. I was fooled and do not want any more guests to get fooled. There is also another reviewer about property #514422 that states the jet noise as a CON. So my desired outcome, which I clearly communicated (two times now) to VRBO, is that they force the owner to *removethe word quiet in the title and description of her property 514422. So far, no response from VRBO at all.

In summary, do not rent Property #514422 or other properties listed by this owner, Melissa Heyer. Avoid VRBO, but if you do decide to rent via VRBO, keep all communication with the owner strictly on the site. This also includes all types of rental agreements that need to be signed due to Condominium Associations that the property is part of. All this documentation needs to be kept strictly on the rental site for transparency. And do not give the owner your private email.

Shoup Place Paradise Review July 14 - July 21, 2019

The house on Shoup Place had the potential to be a great vacation experience for our family, but unfortunately, we were unable to fully embrace it due to the many areas of untidiness. Until the Shoup Place raises its standards, does some "wear and tear" house maintenance on a scheduled basis, and improves their customer service, I do not recommend anyone staying there.

We've rented AirBnBs, timeshares, and home-away properties in the past. So, when we arrived, we did a walkthrough of the property to notate any visible damages as we have paid a fee to cover any damages that occurred during our stay. Shirley, the property manager, was very callous when these areas were brought to her attention. Our family traveled from many parts of the east coast for this family vacation. Her responses in quotes were not what we expected. The bullets noted for "cleaning" should have been taken care of prior to our arrival. A $600 cleaning fee was included in the cost of rental.

1. The majority of the walls have scrape marks and are dirty. "These are normal wear and tear."
2. The wood at the top of the steps has a chip. "Normal wear and tear."
3. There are spider webs on the wooden beams at the top of the stairwell. "Someone will come by to clean."
4. There was a wet towel hanging in the master bedroom. "Someone will come by to clean."
5. Bath towels were left on the beds but no washcloths. "We do not provide washcloths, only bath towels."
6. The oven/broiler was dirty. "Someone will come by to clean."
7. Window seals are dirty like they haven't been cleaned in ages. "Someone will come by to clean."
8. Smoke detector broken on the 1st floor. "This will be fixed after checkout."
9. Kitchen cabinets in/out not clean. "Someone will come by to clean."
10. Second floor - Piece of wood broken off the baseboard in the sitting seat below Marilyn Monroe. "Normal wear and tear."
11. Second-floor air vent on the ceiling is filthy. "Someone will come by to clean."

Everything goes downhill from there. The day we checked-in, the room temperatures were very low in both the main and guest house, to the point of being very uncomfortable. I made several phone calls to Shirley after the time they requested not to call, but we deemed it an emergency. I did not get a response until the next day. Shirley complained about waking up to 7 missed calls. I eventually found the main house thermostat that night and regulated the temperature to a comfortable level. I was unable to regulate the guest house. We later found out, the following day, that the cleaning crew had locked up the remotes that control the guest house air conditioner units in their storage area. My family had to endure an uncomfortable first night stay in the guest house.

One of the bedrooms in the guest house was not cleaned properly because there were pieces of food items (cookies, crackers, or chips) that remained on the floor that attracted ants. I contacted Shirley, who said that an exterminator was on a monthly schedule, but they would have someone come out sooner. We did not see anyone come out to address the problem during our stay.

Kitchen cabinets were dirty with noticeable finger smudges, and the food shelves had residual food particles. The oven also had leftover food particles. Shirley did dispatch a cleaning lady, and she cleaned the oven and kitchen cabinets. She stated she doesn't normally clean these areas. The cleaning lady assured us that the linen on the beds were changed, and towels were clean. To be on the safe side, we sprayed everything down with Lysol!

Shirley did supply bath towels for each bedroom but not washcloths. We were told that washcloths were not provided. My family had to go out and purchase washcloths for a total of 18 people.

The owner thought that I was asking too much (to make our stay acceptable and comfortable) "You should understand that this is a private property not a hotel. So therefore, there will be situations like the normal wear and tear of homes, and you will also not have all the exact amenities that a hotel would have." All this time not once did Shirley speak to us directly nor personally come to the residence to address our complaints. There was supposedly someone on the premises that could have spoken to us directly during our stay, but we never saw that person. Shirley did call after I sent the following: "Good evening, I appreciate your response. Speaking strictly from a customer service perspective, it really doesn't matter if this were a hotel or not. Accountability and empathy go a long way. I appreciate sending your representatives on your and the owner's behalf. However, like yourself, things that may not appear to be important to you may be to your customer. As a paying customer, I would think that any concern I present addressed with sincerity. Let me be clear, our primary concern was potential liability for possible damages and the cost of cleaning. I would think you'd want to know how well your crew(s) represent you and the owner. The young lady was nice but and let us know your expectations as well as what she is and is not responsible for. She also agreed with many of our concerns. If I can suggest, 3rd party communication is overrated. Empathy." I then reported that the patio area had not been cleaned from the previous occupant's usage. It looked like there had been a party, and remnants of busted balloon pieces were scattered throughout the patio area. We did not feel that we should have to sit out on the patio area with all the clutter made by the previous tenant. That did not get cleaned up until Friday, 2 days before we were scheduled to check-out. Suffice to say, we barely used the patio. I spoke to the "gardener" who did a wonderful job power washing the patio. He (Israel) said he never power washed the patio before and wished the owner (Jonathan) would schedule more often it to get the markings out of the cement. His normal duties were just to sweep the patio area. We also made Shirley aware that the jacuzzi was unfit to use because it needed cleaning. There were crab apples in the jacuzzi. It was cleaned on Monday (we waited the allotted time before using it), but too much chlorine was used, and the jacuzzi was unfit to be used. Another perk that we were unable to enjoy.

I later reported that the main house refrigerator ice maker was not working. Shirley responded that it was previously working, and she would have it taken care of since it was still under warranty. My son later found that the ice was getting jammed when being used, and he cleared the clog.

The main house has 2 bedrooms downstairs, 3 bedrooms upstairs, and a couch that can sleep two. The upstairs has one large screen Smart TV in the master bedroom and one large screen Smart TV in the "landing" area that contains the couch. Downstairs main house has 2 bedrooms and a common area with a large screen Smart TV. The guest house, on the other hand, which is a converted 2 or 3 car garage with unfinished cement flooring, has 3 bedrooms with Smart TVs and a common sitting area with a large Smart TV. I'd prefer extra TVs in all the main house bedrooms as well. If you're expecting stable WiFi, be warned, WiFi often loses connection while you watch TV.

We took numerous pictures that confirm our complaints. If Shirley would have shown some empathy and spoken to us directly, I am sure that this review would have reflected a higher rating.

I recently had a really bad experience with Airbnb due to a lack of cleanliness, so I decided to give Vrbo a try for the first time. I found a new listing with one 5-star review, so I figured it would be okay to try it out. However, my experience with Vrbo was far from satisfactory.

When I arrived at the property, I noticed that the location felt unsafe for a woman traveling alone, especially at night. Despite this, I didn't want to create any conflict and decided to stay. I also noticed that the owner had mentioned a cleaning and repair crew, but I only saw one person there, which seemed odd.

Upon checking in, I felt uncomfortable that the owner was still on the property, as I had specifically requested privacy due to quarantining before visiting my grandparents. The property itself was not well-maintained, with dead leaves and overgrown grass in the driveway and entryway. Inside, I noticed a piece of cilantro on the kitchen sink and brown spots on one of the toilets.

Despite these issues, I didn't want to create conflict and decided to clean the space myself. However, things took a turn for the worse when I tried to turn up the heater and the owner went completely crazy. She started sending me nonstop screenshots of the temperature and texting me condescending messages about energy conservation. She even threatened to cancel my reservation and not issue a refund if I couldn't keep the temperature under 70 degrees.

Feeling threatened and uncomfortable, I called Vrbo multiple times throughout the night, but they were unable to help me. I eventually decided to leave the property and requested a refund for the nights I didn't stay and the cleaning fee, but Vrbo refused to issue a refund.

Overall, my experience with Vrbo was terrible. The property was not well-maintained, and the owner was disrespectful, controlling, and threatening. Vrbo's customer service was also terrible, and they refused to issue a refund despite the situation being completely unfair and unethical. I would not recommend using Vrbo and have already warned my friends and family about my experience.

2 to be able to occupy the rental. This is unacceptable and has caused us a great deal of stress and frustration. We have been trying to resolve this issue with VRBO for weeks now, but it seems like every time we make progress, we hit another roadblock.

One of the biggest issues we have encountered is the lack of communication and organization within VRBO. We have been given multiple case numbers and have had to repeat our story to numerous representatives, none of whom seem to have access to all the information. This has resulted in a lot of confusion and wasted time.

Furthermore, we have been given conflicting information about the charges and refunds. We were told that the charges were a mistake and that we would be refunded, but then we were told that the charges were legitimate and that we would not be refunded. It is frustrating to not know what is going on and to feel like we are being given the runaround.

Despite all of this, we have had a few positive interactions with VRBO representatives, such as Macy, who have been helpful and responsive. However, these interactions have been few and far between.

Overall, our experience with VRBO has been extremely frustrating and has caused us a lot of stress. We hope that this issue can be resolved soon and that VRBO can improve their communication and organization in the future.

I booked a Vrbo for 2/19 -2/23

My husband had to have emergency colon surgery on 1/31 so I had to cancel our Vrbo

Understand I am past the “normal” cancellation policy parameters since I’m only 2/ 1/2 weeks out from stay

In the case of emergency medical there should be some refund of a portion of the booking

My host has not replied to my inquiry of a refund

My email: [protected]@gmail.com

Booked studio in Siesta Key from 2/19-2/23

Host: Daniel Jones

Property 9703800

Please reply how I can proceed to get a refund. I can supply medical information from hospital/doctor

I booked a vacation rental through vrbo.com for 7 nights. When check in time came the host said the listing has been deactivated and will not cancel the reservation so a refund will not be distributed. I am now stranded. The rebooking team has not responded and all representatives have not been helpful after more than 5 hours of call time. No supervisor is available and most calls are ended by the representative, they simply hang up on me.

I booked a VRBO property and paid in full. When I arrived in Baja Mexico after a very long day of travel I was unable to access the property. The entry code provided did not work. Multiple phone calls and contact to the host provuded through VRBO went unanswered. A neighbor to the property who had previously stayed in this VRBO property was able to contact the owner through a different phone number than the one on the VRBO app (which I had left several unanswered messages with) So the owner and I then communicated through What's App. She apologized but thsts it. VRBO refused to offer any assistance to me as a stranded single traveler in a foreign country. Unbelievably bad service!

There is a glitch with the cancellation button. I’m unable to cancel a booking and the other party is unable to cancel. It’s been 3 days of calling only to hear from several people it’s been escalated. Vrbo is usually a pleasure to deal with. They usually get issues quickly taken care of and it’s a breeze. Im not sure what is going on now but it is not the norm for it to take this long

I have been contacting VRBO for over one year trying to get some issues resolved and have been given case# after case# with no action. Most currently the metrics on my account are incorrectly showing 80% acceptance rate I HAVE NEVER DECLINED A RESERVATION in 5 YEARS, no not responded. This is the note I received from VRBO 7/13/2023

Thursday, July 13, 2023 at 06:45:22 AM PDT, Vrbo Support wrote:

Hello PATRICIA,

I'm sorry for the wait to get to your case regarding your metrics not appearing correctly. I will be submitting a waiver form to try and correct the issue you are experiencing. Thank you so much for your patience thus far. I have approved and submitted this request. Waivers to correct metrics are usually processed near the end of the month and you should see this refected within your account by then.

Once again thank you so much for your patience, and I wish you a wonderful day.

Regards,

Michael

Vrbo.com Support Team

Vrbo help

|~|00X0y000001xNChEAM|~|

LAST WEEK I TALKED TO A GENTLEMAN "not sure of his name" REGARDING THIS PROBLEM. It was a particularly annoying conversation, he barely spoke English, and the background noise was so loud I complained about it at least 3 times during the conversation. When I explained my problem he just kept telling me the Metrics were the Metrics and could not be changed. I kept telling him I had the letter from VRBO promising they would be corrected

Today someone called me from VRBO asking to change my rates, and that was the last straw...

I spoke with Abdul today who was most helpful and sincere, and said I have no NON-ACCEPTANCE or DECLINATIONS, and he would get it resolved. Tis has been going on since 3/2022.

My condo has been offline for 3 WEEKS - right at the end of busy season. I had just renewed my contract in May and have called numerous times. They have no idea why and it has been referred to technical. I now have 3 unsolved cases with NO call back from a supervisor. They are supposed to call back in 24 hours. Then I get an email stating they have attempted to contact me several times. LIES! I am so ticked right now and can't get anyone even in the U.S. to speak with me. The last Support person actually had a rooster crowing right next to them. WTH? I expect this issue resolved today and at least a partial refund on my fee since this was the last of busy season. I am so disgusted with VRBO right now.

August 6, 2023. Property #3504143 in Petoskey Michigan. My wife sent a message with a question to the Host Michael on August 4th. Received no response. We still decided on August 5th to book the property for 4 nights. Sent a request to book, waited 24hrs with no Host response. VRBO then cancelled the booking. Later that day, Aug 6th I sent a message to the Host: (Michael, why not have the courtesy to respond either way within the 24hrs? It doesn’t make for good reviews).

Michael responded, his words exactly as written:

Two things you should know make it three. One a host does not have to respond. Tow you can’t write a review if you don’t have a confirmed booking and the fact that you haven’t stayed and left the listing won’t give you a review to write. And three we’ve already message VRBO to let them know the home was not available at that time frame.

I responded by telling him his attitude is not one of a good host. It only takes 30 seconds to deny a request. The complete email is available upon request. He responded by being more belligerent, aggressive, and resorted to name calling.

Vacation renter beware, would highly recommend avoiding this property. The Host must have anger issues, no people skills and intolerant towards any negative comments. In fact, I suspect the positive reviews on the property may have been submitted by the host.

Booked for July14-22, 2023. Owner Rios asked we notify him when our plane took off & landed. Rios apparently knew there was a problem b/4 we left but didn't tell us. We did as requested & asked for an early checkin. Although our reservation was for 3pm, Rios said it would be ready at 4pm. Then b/c of an "emergency" he was putting us in a "wonderful" place for the 1st night. The place had bugs crawling in the bed. Towels hid two ripped up leather chairs. Stove & fridge looked like a 1960's dorm room. We took pictures & video. Counted 9 live bugs that crawled on us. Washed the bedding so we could sleep. It was a cheap room in need of repair with cheap decor. Rios said he rented “bug” room from Booking.com & tried to make it our problem. Rios took no responsibility for: 1) breaching our rental agreement; 2) not telling us the truth so we could make our own decision about the 1st night; 3) or the fact that he picked it. Rios then lied about the condo being ready at 11am the next day. It was almost 1pm. The condo is pretty. The view and a/c great. The cabinetry cheap. No dishwasher. Beach & pool access limited to 9am.-6p.m. Otherwise locked. Beware riptides. Elevator gets stuck. Parking FAR away & space very small beside a cement wall. 2 days later condo water was off. Couldn’t flush toilet, bathe, wash dishes, drink. We said we were leaving on the 19th. Rios texted us he would immediately refund. Many complaints to Vrbo later Rios has ghosted us with no refund. A "real prince".

July 7 2023 we were supposed to check in to property id number 3162974 at 4pm but around 12 pm we called to get instructions for check in and our host Sara canceled the exact day of check in saying she was out of town and she was going to cancel and send us a refund but no refund has been sent. I reached out to Vrbo who gave me 3 different phone numbers to try and reach Sara by but none of the numbers work they are disconnected. All I want is my money back before taking the next steps of a filing a lawsuit because at this point this is ridiculous.

Property ID

328364

Reservation ID

HA-37XTSG

Case #[protected]

July 1 to 7, 2023 Rental

Owner refused full refund of $1000 charging $125 for driftwood art that fell off the living room wall near the windows. Th art and I quote the owner, "had sentimental value" meaning it had absolutely ZERO value.

At no time did any guest break this piece of driftwood during our stay.

All guest left the home on July 5, 2023 except for myself and my wife who left at 9:30 to 9:45 AM on July 7. We walked the entire interior and not a single item was broken and we certainly did not leave a piece of driftwood sculpture on the floor in the main living room area where we needed to exit the main door to our car.

The damage would have had to occurred after we left the home. Windows were left open in the living room area.

We want a full refund and this is non-negotiable.

Daniel Finnerty

[protected]@yahoo.com

I am a newer host. It has been nearly a month since I’ve been hosting. I have out a considerable amount of time and effort into preparing the home for this. I have taken time off work and had to make several travel arrangements to be away as this is our main home. VRBO customer service is horrid. The site is just as bad. The app does as it wants and is constantly crashing. Saving nothing. So it seems. I have books thousands of dollars and have yet to see one thin dime. I have hosted several families and pro golfers and others. VRBO keeps all the money. They must keep it in escrow and make money off their customers. They take their fee no matter what. Yet the host seems to be last. I have yet to receive one dime in payment. I am considering getting a lawyer as the cleaning fees and prep and time on the phone with them has reached its limit. I wait for hours and now over a month to get any resolution. It’s just another Expedia money pit trap. They are seemingly crooked and makes millions a day off the backs of home owners and investors.

I have several vacation rentals that get deposited into different accounts. I have one house linked to an account and they keep saying the W9 is filled out wrong. I have done this over and over. This has been going on for over a year. Every time I call they say the issue will be fixed within 72 hours. One year and $5,600. that they owe me. I have spoken with several agents and the legal department. They promise to call me back. I have never received one call back. They are holding my money and this is illegal and fraudulent. I need some assistance.

Don't ever book a VRBO or anything that says Homeaway! They are a nightmare to deal with if you have any issues. The owners, David and Nancy Leonetti, were terrible to us and claimed that we threatened them, so we never got a reimbursement. They even took down our honest review from the VRBO site because it said "This Is Not A Bad Review, Just An Honest Review" below.

My family and I spent six months researching this property in Costa Rica before our trip. However, when we arrived, we found that much of the property description was not as advertised and left out important details. The most important detail that was not mentioned is the fact that the property is entirely surrounded by barbed wire fencing. The next most important thing is that the third bedroom is entirely separated from the other two bedrooms in the house. This is only hinted at in the description, and not clearly described as there is no mention of a separated room. We were surprised to find that a family member would have to stay completely isolated from the rest of the family. This needs to be mentioned so that possible guests can make the most informed decision about where to have their family stay. The kitchen utensils were dirty, and there was mildew on the spatula.

Once we arrived, we found that the kitchen is described as having "shutters" that open and close, but in fact, this is not true. These "shutters" are at least 35-45 pound doors that have to be opened and hooked onto the ceiling. When Felipe showed us how to do it, he jumped on a crate to get them hooked on the ceiling. A normal person would not be able to easily do this as it took myself (6'2") and my brother (6'4") to open them as my mom was unable to. What is not shown in the pictures is that the kitchen table and chairs are actually cable tied to a lock and key, and the large metal doors lock you out instantly. This all signaled a very unsafe and sketchy environment and created an uncomfortable feeling about me and my family staying here.

What is also not mentioned in the description that would be very helpful for guests to know is that there is a high risk for 5-10 pound coconuts falling from 50 feet above on the property that could cause injury. We were warned about these falling coconuts numerous times by the property manager. We were also warned that if we left the property, we would need to lock and bolt everything up so nothing would get stolen. Another important item not in the description is that there were swarms of gnats all around the property and beaches that were constantly all over you. Not to mention all of the mosquitoes around the house that ate us alive while we were only there for 2 1/2 hours before leaving. The property is described as "private," but actually is everything but as it has houses directly next to the property with no "landscape on either side" that provides a "barrier," but just barbed wire fencing.

Upon leaving, the only thing we did was shower, and the beds were never turned down. We requested to pay for one night and be reimbursed for the other two due to what we felt were unsafe conditions. I cashed in over 100,000 points to stay at the Marriott Resort on top of losing over $1000 on a place we were hoping to feel safe and enjoy.

I gotta say, I wouldn't recommend using VRBO. There are plenty of other options out there that are probably better. My group of 10, which included some essential workers like nurses, teachers, and firefighters, wanted to take a weekend off and booked a property through VRBO in early December. The owner of the property assured us in writing that if we couldn't stay due to government restrictions, we would be given a credit to rebook for a future date.

Well, when the lockdown hit and we couldn't stay at the property, we tried to reschedule for a different weekend like the owner had promised. But he went back on his word and said we couldn't reschedule or get a refund. He even threatened to charge us for damages to the property even though we never even stayed there!

I tried to get help from VRBO, but their customer service was terrible. They kept hanging up on me or disconnecting from the chat. And when I finally got through, they just kept saying they couldn't change the cancellation policy. I wasn't even arguing about that - I just wanted them to help me with the owner who was going back on his word.

After the weekend we were supposed to stay at the property, I got an email from VRBO asking me to leave a review. So I did, and I warned others about my negative experience with the owner and with VRBO's customer service. But then VRBO rejected my review because "I didn't stay at the property." Well, duh, I couldn't legally stay there because of the lockdown!

Long story short, I wouldn't use VRBO again. If they let one owner get away with taking money from travelers and not helping them out, I bet it's a common thing.