Trevor S.

This was a wonderful company that helped both travelers and homeowners get together.
It stood for Vacation Rentals By Owners - too bad that's changing. I've both rented homes off this site and now list my owner vacation property on it for the last several years. We pay for a listing, not to have VRBO/HomeAway run our own business for us. Slowly they have been changing and forcing homeowners to accept their credit processing if you want a good location, so I signed up. Then they give you only 24hrs to approve a guest or the "system" cancels them for you. Some people need a bit more time to decide and we have to do background checks on new guests to be sure everything is legit. VRBO has no liability if your home gets trashed or your TV walks out the door. Just the same, I once again complied without complaining so my listing isn't penalized. Now, with only a 25 day notice, they are beginning to charge our guests a 9% service fee for the privilege of using the site. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! This feels like the last straw. We pay a yearly advertising fee so that there were to be no other charges. This is one of the worst examples of "bait and switch" I've seen in a long time. I was told "it won't cost you a thing, it's your guests who pay the fee" - guess again. Our repeat customers are wondering why we've added another large fee to their price, their regular weekly rates have jumped $175 with no added benefit to them or us. In my opinion, this fee is at best highly unethical when you purchase and fully pay for your listing a year in advance and then the rules change, at worst it may be illegal. I've seen a number of customers suggesting a class action lawsuit against VRBO/HomeAway recently purchased by Expedia. This is no longer the great company I used to do business with. Along with many other former loyal customers, I'm currently checking on other options to rent my home and to search for accommodations. It's so sad to see a once wonderful company that had a simple workable idea getting ruined by corporate greed and irresponsible business decisions. If anyone would like to suggest other alternatives - we are ALL listening!

VRBO/HomeAway was a great place for regular home owners to contact and rent out their properties to other like minded individuals and travelers. I paid up in advance several hundred dollars to list my property without extra fees added. Suddenly, without more than a 25 day notice an added 9% service fee is added to my customers total bill for the privilege of using the site to find a vacation home to rent. Our long time customers will be given the same treatment. VRBO has done nothing to earn this money from them. It's the conscientious home owners who provide clean and affordable private vacation home accommodations that made this company. HomeAway - now purchased by Expedia - needs to realize that these same owners can also bring the company down. Many of us homeowners who loved using this site are now looking for new alternatives. Why did you have to get greedy? You already are making good money on our listing fees and almost forcing us to accept your credit card processing to be seen on the site. This last 9% fee is the straw that broke the camels back. As soon as I can find a site like VRBO used to be, I along with many others will be switching. In the mean time I HAVE ADDED A NOTE TO MY VRBO/HOMEAWAY LISTING SUGGESTING POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS DEAL WITH ME PERSONALLY TO AVOID THE EXORBITANT FEES, I ENCOURAGE OTHER OWNERS DO THE SAME. MAYBE THIS WILL GIVE VRBO A WAKE UP CALL. Also, this is not a hotel site, we are renting our personal vacation homes. Some of the new booking regulations are practically forcing us to accept guests without the time to do a background check. We owners have everything to lose if we rent to irresponsible guests. VRBO can collect all these new fees with no value added to anyone but themselves and take on virtually no liability for themselves. VRBO was a great company and idea, I'm so sad it's breaking down...