VRBO
Reviews and Complaints

Unhappy with vrbo owner service. They don't seem to care about owner and frequently change "rules" and make it difficult for us. VRBO is also charging too much in fees and keep changing rules for owners to make bookkeeping hard to see what is taken out and not itemized in a way to simplify for owners ! Now I don't even get paid until AFTER guests check in and are there a few days---which is unacceptable! I will be looking for another rental service and not renewing with vrbo/homeaway.

In July our son was in a very severe accident. We contacted the cabin owners (Benwares) to ask for a refund 2 DAYS after the 30 day cancellation date.
Our son was in ICCU for 15 days, Critical care for 5 days and then regular hospitalization for 3 weeks.

I sent a picture of him in a medically induced coma to the Benwares and offered to forward medical evidence (photo attached). At first, Cathy was very concerned. She said she would re-list the property and was certain it would rent. (Our 5 days would be the ONLY 5 days available for the remainder of summer - their place is so popular.)

The week prior to when we were supposed to go, we looked online and saw that the cabin was booked! We have a screenshot of the listing showing it was rented for our week. (attached, taken Aug. 7 showing our dates - Aug 10-16 were filled.)

Several weeks after, when we didn't hear anything, I sent the Benwares an email. They said that they tried to rent the cabin but was unable to. Therefore, we were entitled to 1/2 of the rental and the entire cleaning deposit..
The remainder of the money, $911.75, we would not get back because the cabin didn't rent. They did offer us a credit towards next year.

We feel that the Benwares DID NOT ever remove our listing and that's why no one rented, it appeared online as though it was rented.

Because of the severity of our families crisis (my son still cannot move his left arm or left ankle due to nerve damage) and the fact that we were told the property would be RELISTED and it wasn't, that we should be entitled to a full refund.
We've gone back and forth through the years renting through Vrbo in several places. There are plenty of sites to rent from and we have never experienced a problem - granted, we never has an emergency such as this. I find it hard to believe that successful owners of vacation rentals cannot use their better judgement in an unusual situation such as this. That money is desperately needed too. When a child has through the roof medical bills, school loans and credit card debt and is hospitalized and unable to work for several months, the bills don't stop... Interest keeps accruing, life moves on. I certainly expected an organization that rents to families would be concerned about the families using the site.

We want to receive the remainder of our deposit back. Holding onto that deposit for next year will not help us if our son is still unable to hike, swim, boat, etc next year. We may not be able to afford a nice vacation with the medical bills we are currently paying and if we can, without a full refund, we will never book with Vrbo or any of their affiliates.

Avoid VRBO like a plague. They took our $1766.61 for a week in Nags Head. I thought I had purchased the traveler insurance; but lo and behold we had mistakenly purchased a "Damage Protection" policy. Hurricane Dorian rolled through the Outer Banks this week. I was assured by the owner that we could get in as soon as they cleared the area for re-entry for tourists and that the condo was fine. The next communication said there was problems with the property and that the HOA had decided to not leave any renters in this week. While the Owner did offer me a week in January or February; we were meeting our family for our annual Nags Head vacation. Also, we're really not interested in going to the beach in the dead of the winter when very little is open and it is cold, gray and windy. So just for kicks, I went on the VRBO site today and there are last minute rentals listed this week for Pier View. What a sham. Customer Service at VRBO is arrogant and condescending. The landlord and company pocketed all our money and we have no recourse. I highly recommend you avoid this company; but if you do work with them - buy the insurance policy. Even then, good luck!

I continue to read all the reviews about fees and costs by this company and you are all... 100% right in your statements. Since VRBO was purchased by Expedia their service fees have increased expeditiously. And you are all correct that before the merger, VRBO allowed owners to operate independently of them and allow guests to communicate directly with the owners. Well, we all know that ship has sailed. All I wanted from them was to bring me traffic... Nothing more. Now they are not only in your business, they are now running your business. We call that tortious interference in law. But here is one of the most greiges acts to date. In the USA, states want to be sure they get their fair share of the sales and transient or tourism taxes they can. Hotels and motels pay it and now they want to be sure vacation owners are paying it as well. I got it. Not a problem as this process was there for owners/manager to input what taxes to collect in the rate section on this platform. Not so any more. So now, VRBO/HomeAway is being forced to collect and remit state taxes which are now in the quotes for future guests after September 1, 2019. By the way. They just released this new SOP to owners on August 29th, just 2 days before enacting this new procedure. And that would be great as well, but they screwed this SOP as well. But where they completely failed and dropped the ball on this process was the failure to calculate local and county tourism taxes. That's right. If you are in one of those states that require VRBO/HomeAway to collect and remit state sales and tourism taxes and you have county taxes also to pay, they are not collecting this in their quote. So guess who is now responsible for the additional county/local taxes. You are as the owner of the property. Now you're going to love this one... During my 4th call to CS at VRBO/HomeAway the solution offered was to simple tell the booking guest (after they have paid of course) that their will be an additional monies due for the local/county taxes that were not included in their quote. Are you serious? These guests just paid $$$ to you for the travelers service fee that is as worthless as... well you get it. Then I need to call my new booking guests and say... "By the way, you still owe me $$$ for taxes not disclosed by this platform"... They are going to have a cow. I won't blame them a bit. What did VRBO/HomeAway think when they rolled this process out. Could they have at least just included an additional line for "other taxes" that have to be paid in their quote to booking guests. Absolutely NO says the CS rep. We only collect state sales and tourism taxes. That is your problem to collect now. I of course updated my description for all my properties and explained the situation so that the cow droppings were in their face rather then in mine.

In my opinion, this is by definition "tortious interference" by a company suppressing owners ability to manage their own business and hindering their cash flow. They have now stepped over that peruviol line in the sand and folks need to stand up against them. This is just not right from anyone's perspective. That's why most of my guests are all repeats and book directly with me and not through this platform. I always tell my past guests who express an interest to return to contact me directly to avoid costs and fees from VRBO/HomeAway.

I am LIVID! The psycho dentist who rented me an UNHEATED, dark basement, with coin operated washer and dryer for $2.50 a load, and wanted $1100 a month from me, just said she's keeping my $900 deposit, and the $900 of Jen. ( My now roommate, who I agreed to let stay with me for two weeks-because the land lady told her that her apartment was not ready). Neither of us did a walkthrough ( she arrived half a week before I did) We cleaned like crazy, and you could eat off the floor, yet she states that she " will require hours of cleaning" ( at an undisclosed rate). This woman also owns multiple residences and apartment buildings in Miles City, MT. OR nurse I'm working with can't control their heat ( land lady does) in their apartments. ( Mine had no dedicated heat). She honestly comes in unannounced using her key regularly. She texts or showed up minutes after a question posed between my roommate and I with a response to our exact question ... bugged ? DO NOT RENT FROM Dr. Robin Hogan in Miles City, MT! She rents through Furnished Finder ( cowboy cottage ( basement ), cowboy condo etc ...Todd Steadman, who owns the Ace Hardware here, and the Prairieview and Riverview apartments ( now renting there) he's amazing, and so are the apartment units .

The property only had AC in the bedrooms. The beds were stiff as boards with only a sheet. The 2nd bedroom didn't have fitted sheets on the twin beds. There were little bugs crawling on the bathroom sink. There were no fruit trees. There were no wash clothes. There was no washing machine or a fireplace. It wasn't wheelchair accessible in the bathroom. All of these things were advertised on VRBO. We left after the first night and they refused to refund us our money for the other 6 nights.
Sherry Recchio
[protected]@gmail.com

VRBO just announced that they will impose, unilaterally and without consultation, dramatically different payment terms to homeowners. They will now keep the payments from the renters until after they check in. This is millions of dollars that renters advance for the rentals that VRBO/Homeway intents to keep, for months and even over a year, free. What is even more egregious abuse is that they offer to ‘advance' the homeowner their own money by charging the owner, for his own money, a 3% a year interest!

Their explanation over the phone is even more aggravating: they claim they hired a ‘payment service' (Yapstone) that imposed these new payment schedule on the homeowners without Expedia/VRBO/HomeAway knowledge, that they are ‘just as surprised' and they plan to develop their own payment system (the same they already have and used for years) in ‘the coming months', adding insult to aggravation.

We delisted our property and although they ceased to perform by the terms of the contract we subscribed to, they insist they will not refund the unused portion of the yearly subscription price we paid for. Amazing how much they feel they can abuse those of us that made VRBO/Homeaway possible in the first place!

This property is NOT as pictured! Rented this "cabin" largly because of the outdoor spaces that were available for use. The entire property appears run down, not well maintained, trashy/junky. We walked down to what was supposed to be a lush green courtyard and found mostly dirt and a giant pile of dog poop that had been there for awhile. The water feature was mostly dried up with its pump running and sucking air. The inside of the cabin appeared clean and reasonably appointed. We had invited some friends to visit as I thought from website pictures that it would be a charming, fun place to entertain but instead I was embarrased.
I feel quite foolish and ripped off that I spent $334 dollars. We could have stayed in a very nice hotel for that amount of money.
Because Vrbo does take a portion of the money for representing this property I will not be using your services in the future.

Susan Starr Morrison
[protected]@gmail.com

On 7/5 we rented a house from Vrbo. When initiating the search, we specifically asked for "entire house" availability/ access. This particular house we rented "described" the best options for us, as we were 8 people—including children aged 13 & under.
Shortly after we arrived, we realized the home's description was grossly exaggerated and misleading. While the outdoor area was as described (i.e. pool, basketball half-court), the rest of the space allocated for Vrbo use was 100% misrepresented. We had about 40O square feet of indoor use—solely consisting of a sleeping area. One of the 3 bathrooms described was an outdoor pool shower. In order to access this particular "bathroom" we'd have to go outdoors—in pouring rain, if such was the circumstance—to use it. One of the bedrooms was inside a closet, with a rod still hanging atop an air mattress, with zero ventilation and only a floor fan at the foot of the air mattress. This obviously presented many safety hazards for the children that would have had to sleep there. We had zero indoor dining area, zero indoor kitchen or refrigerator, zero indoor common areas. These options were on a third level, completely outdoors and only accessible through various outdoor staircases. There was no handicap accessibility for this property. Not only was this experience inhumane; it was discriminatory. None of the discrepancies we encountered, once having arrived at this property, were ever depicted on the original description for this property at the time we rented it.
On Vrbo the property described rentor would be "in & out". What this actually meant was that the rentors are living on the top half of the house, which, according to our search & results of Vrbo's description of "entire house", we were supposed to have full access to. These owners have full and complete access to the area set aside for renters at any time. There is no lock from the guest's side on the limited bottom floor allocated for Vrbo use, There is nothing preventing these complete strangers from coming into this "rented" area—at any time. This is a safety hazard being that children were going to be sleeping there. The largest bedroom didn't even have a door. None of this is explained on the property description.
Twenty minutes after we arrived at this property, we realized it was inhabitable for us and completely misrepresented on Vrbo. The renter agreed on site to a full refund and asked us to "initiate the process". This renter has been 100% unresponsive. We have contacted Vrbo numerous times. Vrbo has basically dumped us and refused to intervene and help us acquire the refund we rightfully deserve. It cannot be possible that there is nothing protecting a rentee from cases such as these. Regardless of the "60 day cancelation time" requirement, there must be a caveat that also protects a rentee when, as in our case, the renter has been so unequivocally unresponsive.
Keeping our money is nothing short of theft, by the rentor and by Vrbo. Vrbo does not offer any protection to the rentee clients. Vrbo is fully responsible for the safety of all its renters--specifically when children and/ or handicap persons are involved. This property was completely misrepresented and we fully expect to be compensated accordingly for this disaster. Whatever Vrbo needs to restructure and/ or revise as a company, as far as the free-will and self-governance of rentors, is the full responsibility of Vrbo as a business that advertises these properties and allows this practice to take place at will.
We will not accept anything less than a full and complete refund for having been duped by Vrbo and these rentors, whom have purposely misrepresent their property and stolen our money.
We expect your immediate attention. This is a very serious matter. This is a matter of principal and we expect Vrbo to do the right thing for a renter. Our vacation was completely ruined in 20 minutes thanks to all the discrepancies on the description of this property. Our children were crying the entire way back to another city. This cost us additional money in last minute accommodations.
We have had various email exchanges with Vrbo without a resolution. We have been left on hold for over 45 minutes; then subsequently disconnected. The costumer service tactics of Vrbo are shameful. We have tried to contact the property owner, whom is completely unresponsive.
To add further insult to injury, this rentor has gone as far as to give us a low rating--even though we were there for 20 minutes and departed this property on very cordial terms. All for the simple fact that we have been trying to obtain our refund and he has been completely unresponsive. This should serve as further proof of the type of rentor/ property owner we are dealing with here. We have attached the only pictures we were allowed to take, as we were being followed by the rentor's wife the entire time we were there.
The property in question is: Carr 2 m 93.7, Camuy, PR 00627. The rentor's name is: Jay Roberson. Reservation I.D.: HA-DQWQ2C, Property I.D.: 1289764

We rented a condo from Celeste Baily through VRBO. Celeste Baily. Bless her heart she is trying to make some coin and must be unaware what has happened to her property. Upon our arrival we were unable to gain entry, as the lockbox (according to the housekeeper) jams all the time. When we finally gained entry it was clear that the cleaning crew had not visited. There were remnants of food and stickiness on the table, thick dust on the curtains, wooden floor and the upstairs bathroom is caked in gunk around the tub and tiles. The master bedroom mattress pad through to the mattress had urine and blood on it. A crunchy sticky substance had dried on the carpet just next to the bed. We can only assume it was a certain body fluid from the appearance and how it felt when I stepped in it in my stocking feet. Miss Baily was out of town in Belize. Repeated texting between her, the housekeeper and her friends and neighbors went on into the night and next day. To her credit she offered us the opportunity to leave the premises and go to the $400 a night Marina down the street. As we had been driving all day and due at a funeral the next, in pj's and suffering the hell of chronic illness we packed our exhausted bodies onto the couch and the second bed. We cleaned up the best we could, grit our teeth and sucked it up. I documented all of the broken, scarred dirty gross goings on for Ms Bailey and texted them to her. Our priority was a gathering of loved ones, friends and family to lay a young woman to rest, not apartment hopping in the pursuit of comfort. We were told by Miss Bailey's friends that a mattress cover and mattress would be arranged for the following day. It was so gracious of them to interrupt their relaxing glasses of wine to pop over. Unfortunately the following day upon speaking with JoAnne the housekeeper we discovered that a new mattress pad to hid the blood and urine was what was in fact being offered. We departed o dark thirty to begin the journey home to mourn and decompress. After mulling it over I called Vrbo for guidance. Much to my dismay I realized I had handled this poorly and should have contacted Vrbo immediately. I wish Ms Bailey well and hope she is able to return her property to the glory it must have had back in the day. This has never happened to me when traveling and utilizing Vrbo. I think this was an isolated incident. Time to move on, lesson learned. UPDATED 7/11/19 My deposit has yet to be refunded. emails to Ms Bailey and calls to VRBO have resulted in "check is in the mail" type of response.
Date of arrival - June 28, 2019 Checkout June 30th.

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VRBO

vrbo.com
[protected]@vrbo.com
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I signed up. Didn't like it and tried to delete my account. You get treated terribly. They tell you that you need to wait 6 months after a stay to delete.
No where in their Terms and Conditions do they state this policy. The customer service person says that they can change any terms of their policy anytime they like. Apparently they think that they can do this "on the fly" with no documentation of their supposedly new policies.

I will never use Vrbo again.

On December 28, 2018 I received a confirmation, reservation ID RES-70375, Property ID 1163066. I was charged a service fee by VRBO and paid directly to VRBO $443.00 for this rental. Since I paid for a rental in Newport, Or. that I didn't get, and could not be delivered, I am requesting a refund of that amount. The condo that we ended up with was thru Meredith Properties in a different town, Lincoln City.

Gary Thomas

I actually have no anticipation of resolution, my complaint already rejected by the owner, which is the only option VRBO offers. Our experience was in Kihei, HI 12/24/18-1/7/19. We arrived on Christmas Eve to a shabby, ground floor unit with a view of construction staging equipment due to major property renovation - not revealed at booking - and the parking lot a car's length away. Not the beautiful upper floor unit with an unobstructed view of the ocean steps from the property that was offered. VRBO did nothing to stand behind us when the owner refused any kind of compensation. I closed my account, which only means it's "hidden, " not deleted; and advise anyone considering booking through VRBO to reconsider, or at the very least only opt for a property owned by someone with many positive reviews.

I am still in the midst of a VRBO nightmare. I made a reservation for a 100% fully refundable property (as long as it was canceled within 30 days of arrival.) I canceled it the same day, three months prior to arrival. It's now been two and a half months, and I still have not received my refund in full. VRBO is saying that they can't give me the refund in full until they speak to the property owner live. The property owner is saying that she refunded all that they gave her. I've called four times - each call results in over 40 minutes with no resolution. I am at my wit's end. One of the VRBO reps talked to me like I am trash at the bottom of the garbage pile. No apology for the hassle, no offer to help. Just a total fear of standing behind their own policy and a refusal to honor the 100% refund.

I have been well treated by customer service but am unhappy generally with inadaquate disclosure of credit card transaction fee. Intiial communication on 4/20/19 indicated I'd be paid $1308. But the disbursement accounting on 5/28 then springs the debit for credit card tranaction fee of $39.24. VRBO knew this fee would be charged on 4/20 but failed to disclose it. listing 343554 For your 10% fee, the credit card transaction fee should be included since you're often making 3-6 months interest on funds paid you

April 13, 2019 I arrived at condo rental contracted through VRBO. The unit was described as high quality but turned out to be the opposite: dirty, rundown and in disrepair, and I could not stay there. Problems included mold on the shower curtain, pet hair on the couch, cracked and broken floor tiles, deeply stained carpet etc. When I complained to VRBO I was told that VRBO could do nothing but note the complaint, and encourage the owner to address the issue. Meanwhile the unit owner denied there was a problem and made no effort to address my concerns. VRBO/Homeaway has no policy in place to deal with cases where an owner gets the renter's money but doesn't provide the service promised. That is a real failing of VRBO's model: it takes fees from owners and renters but is not responsible for the ensuring a good rental result. In terms of the condo I rented, other potential renters might face a similar problem should they rent the unit described. The VRBO Property ID# for the unit is 374799 and the address is 4705 Wild Iris Dr Apt 201 Myrtle Beach SC 29577-8725

I offered to rent unit #1452756 / unit_2011339 in pinetop arizona, for the memorial day weekend. This unit is either owned or managed by terri meyer and jamie larson.

I used the normal vrbo web site to book my vacation, and when I started the cc process to pay for this booking, they insisted I pay an additional $ 99.00 above the agreed nightly rate to cover damages. I agreed to this.

Then when I sent it for their approval, they came back 1 hour later and stated, sorry your request is denied, because we forgot to raise our on - line rates for the holiday season.

This was unacepptable and ludicruios.
I have since found a better place, and less expensive, and will never book with them ever again.
Gary l. Stevens

Dear Sir/Madam,

VRBO Property ID : 909560 Property Name : Studio 19

Subject : Payment Issue for Booking of Guest Name Julie Burdon Booking no: HA-M5SHJW Sat, 15 Dec - Wed, 19 Dec, 2018·4 nights 2 adults Total: $207.00

Reservation Details
Quote 4 nights $168.00
Service Fee - $24.00 Including VAT of 20% Subtotal $192.00 Refundable damage deposit $15.00 Total payment $207.00 Total Fees ($34.92)
Payable to us $172.08

With reference to the above the Total Booking is for $ 207.00. .

We have just received $ 73.08 in in Our Bank account. There is a short Payment for $ 99.00, this Balance payment of $99.00 still not received.

We request you to look into the matter immediately and Arrange for the payment of $ 99.00 into our bank account .

Please do the needful at the earliest

Thanking you

Regards

Rajesh Rawal

I left a negative review about this property. We even left 1 day earlier because of horrible night sleep due to bad and noisy beds, bad and cheap supplies and lack of real and truthful information. The review was delited same day. I am deleting the app and newer will rent from this site again because I can't trust the reviews. I think, the owner can pay for reviews to be delited . Disgusting.