Gail S.

I do not know where to begin. I used VRBO 2 times for an apartment in Manhattan, no problem. Then my cousin used VRBO, very strange. All seemed fine until she got to the apartment, the owner was there waiting for his cash only transaction. He let her and her sister in the apartment, gave them the key, grabbed his suitcase out of the bedroom and said see you in four days. It was his home.
I used VRBO again this past August. We rented an apartment in Queens for the US Open. Scanned through the listings 6 month prior to event, found a great place, read the reviews and sent in a deposit. The owner wanted 2 deposits, then final payment. No problem 100% guarentee refund if cancelled in 30 days.
Sent deposit and then 3 months later sent another deposit. Then tried to contact the owner for apartment key and directions, no answer, phone voicemail full, emails bouncing back. Looked on VRBO's website, apartment no longer listed. Contacted VRBO and they told me the listing had been deleted by the owner and basically it was not their problem. They are only an advertising company, even though VRBO has a fraud and security department, which by the way do NOTHING! If I had taken out insurance when booking I should contact the insurance company otherwise I needed to contact my credit card company to recop my losses. So now I am out $700, which by the way was deposit from 5 us and still needed a place to stay. Thank goodness for CITIbank! It took 2 months to get my money back and still needed to find a place for us for the week, but CITIbank worked with me and were great! I do not know what I would have done if I would have used paypal like that moron wanted me to! I will never use VRBO again!