Vacasa is a fraudulent, predatory company that thrives on deception, hidden fees, unresponsive hosts, and stealing money from customers. If you value your time, money, or sanity, DO NOT BOOK WITH VACASA.

1. Bait-and-Switch Booking Scam
I booked a property through Expedia, expecting a legitimate transaction. Instead, without my knowledge, I was dumped onto VRBO and ultimately Vacasa—something I was NEVER informed of. Had I known, I would have NEVER booked.

On top of that, the price I was shown at booking did not match what I was actually charged. Additional fees from VRBO and Vacasa magically appeared on my credit card—fees I never authorized.

2. The Host Was COMPLETELY Unresponsive
I messaged the host multiple times to confirm my stay—ZERO response. Imagine traveling to another country and having no way to verify that your rental even exists.

Vacasa does NOTHING to ensure that hosts communicate. They allow ghost hosts to take your money, ignore you, and leave you stranded.

3. Vacasa's Customer "Service" is a Joke
Couldn't reach anyone by phone.
Calls were never returned.
Got bounced between Expedia, VRBO, and Vacasa—no one took responsibility.
Finally got an answer, only to be told I could cancel—but lose 50% of my money.
They trapped me in a non-refundable nightmare and used their own lack of responsiveness to run out the clock. A perfect scam.

4. Shady Refund Policies – THEY KEEP YOUR MONEY NO MATTER WHAT
Once I realized I had been scammed, I tried to cancel immediately. But Vacasa deliberately ignored me long enough to say, "Sorry, you're past the cancellation window!"

Even after forcing a cancellation, they refused to refund more than 50%, meaning they got paid for providing me absolutely nothing.

5. AVOID VACASA AT ALL COSTS
Vacasa is not a legitimate vacation rental service—it's a full-blown scam operation. They:
🚩 Trap customers in deceptive bookings
🚩 Overcharge beyond what was originally shown
🚩 Let hosts disappear without accountability
🚩 Refuse to provide real customer support
🚩 Steal money through their sham refund policies

If you see a property managed by Vacasa—RUN. If you've already booked, CANCEL NOW before it's too late. Vacasa does not care about customers, and they will absolutely screw you over.

🚨 I am filing complaints with consumer protection agencies and warning as many people as possible. VACASA NEEDS TO BE SHUT DOWN. 🚨

Had spent over an hour reviewing and selecting an affordable property to rent, on Expedia, which flowed to VRBO, which was a Vacasa property. Made the booking, paid in full, quickly received confirmation from Expedia, followed by confirmation from VRBO, followed by email from Vacasa requesting ID verification with threat that booking would be cancelled if ID not verified in 12 hours, followed in MINUTES with an email from Vacasa stating reservation confirmed! But, I went ahead to verify ID, uploaded scans of drivers license their system said was unclear. Took picture of IDs to upload, received green check marks, submitted and within seconds receieved response that ID could not be verified therefore our reservation was cancelled.:-O I called the phone number provided. Michelle could not and would not offer any valid help. If ID "system" said failed that's end of story. She said I would have to rebook. (Which means the ID would likely fail again?) So I check both Expedia and VRBO, both showed I had a confirmed booking (so I couldn't rebook even if I wanted to). Did online chat with VRBO agent, she could not help but she offered to set up a 3-way call with VRBO, Vacasa and me, meanwhile she recommended at least THREE times that I should really find another property. I called Vacasa one more time. Spoke with Joseph. No help. They don't care that their system would not verify a valid ID. The agent could not do anything about it. Would not do anything. So now my solution is when you search for a place to stay, no matter the platform (Expedia, Orbitz, Airbnb, VRBO) if the host/owner is Vacasa - DO NOT BOOK! As mentioned in other posts - their "host fee" is exorbitant, more than cost of two nights stay in most properties I viewed. Their properties show up early in a sort of low to high because of daily rate, but when you get to the full cost, sheesh!. So now I must spend even more time searching because I will ALWAYS have to look to see if a property has Vasaca involved. Anyone want to join me in requesting a filter for "No Vasaca"?

I am absolutely flabbergasted at the lack of service I have received from this company after the terrible experience we had on the night we checked in. The home had not been touched since the previous guests checked out. There were towels, dirty bedsheets, and trash throughout the condo. We arrived at 5:30 with three small children, and it was extremely cold outside while we were forced to wait for the cleaner to clean the entire home. I have never experienced this level of customer service before. We stay at Echota often through another management company, and we've never had problems. I will never stay with Vacasa again and I will never recommend it. It's not okay for a company to ignore customers when they express a concern. I gave them ample opportunity to rectify this situation. No one would call us back that night, even after telling them we spent an hour and a half looking for a chirping smoke detector. I've expressly told them that I wanted to give them the opportunity before I wrote a scathing public review. This burden should not be on the customer. This whole experience has been unbelievable. We had a huge dinner planned for the night we arrived. We were only able to start dinner after 7:30pm because that's when the cleaner was finished cleaning. And she didn't even have a vacuum! We did not have clean towels - she had to leave them in the dryer and they were still damp (The cleaner was very nice and she did her best - this is not a reflection on her at all). We finally got someone on the phone that night and expressed our concerns - he said he'd call us back and never did. We asked to be moved to another condo, but there weren't any available. Then tonight, 1.5 months later, after reaching out to them multiple additional times, they responded with this unbelievably callous response:

"We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience you experienced during your stay with us. Our local team has provided an update regarding your concern. The photographs of the unit were taken before the cleaning staff had a chance to clean it. Due to the weather and high season, housekeeping was delayed, but they eventually cleaned the unit for you. We regret that the smoke detectors were not replaced, but they would have been if it had been necessary. We hope to provide you with a better experience during your next stay with us. Thank you for your understanding.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, we are always here to help."

So apparently Vacasa thinks this type of experience upon arrival and subsequent treatment is acceptable. I disagree.

We drove for five hours to reach our Airbnb, only to find out a couple of hours away that the governor had declared a state of emergency in the area. The declaration highlighted an "extreme risk of bodily harm," advising people to shelter in place due to potential flooding and drowning by the beach as well as thousands without power or ability to travel roadways because of downed power lines and trees. The region also received a hurricane warning, leading to a mandatory evacuation in the nearby Santa Barbara area. Given that our rental was located on the beach amidst these alarming conditions, we had no choice but to turn back to avoid potential injury or even death.

Following this, we spent two days on calls with Vacasa, reaching out in the morning before our reservation and hours before the check-in time. Unfortunately, Vacasa hung up on us twice during these attempts, but they offered a partial refund for canceling. After a five-hour drive back home, we contacted them again and were advised by both Vacasa and Airbnb that we could submit proof of the weather emergency to be eligible for a partial refund and it would still be available if we waited until the next day.

Despite our efforts, neither Vacasa nor Airbnb accepted the numerous screenshots and links we provided as evidence of the conditions at the rental location (refer to attached images for two examples). This experience highlighted the disheartening business practices of both companies, as Vacasa gaslit us and denied offering a partial refund. They tried to say because it was a day later and into our rental period they couldn't offer any return, which lead us to believe they purposefully were trying to make us not get any money back. The most ridiculous part is that multiple times every call we where asked by Vacasa and Airbnb if we where okay being recorded so they know we asked this and were offered money back.

It is deeply troubling that neither Vacasa nor Airbnb acknowledged the governor's declared state of emergency for the area, choosing to disregard their customers safety. During one of our calls, we were astonished to learn that Vacasa hadn't even refunded individuals affected by the fires on Maui earlier this year, further underscoring the apparent lack of empathy within this company.

Hello fellow travelers!
I'm leaving this honest review for all of you whom enjoy making the most sound decisions about where you along with your family/friends will be staying during your much anticipated vacation!
We booked a home via Vacasa for our yearly Mission Beach venture. Accordingly, everyone was full of anticipation/excitement! This is our yearly trip where siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, mom and our AMAZING 98yr old grandma (yes, you read that right 98) go to enrich and recharge! Grams just loves to rent a bike and ride it up and down the boardwalk! She's amazing! Anyhow, moving on.
About 10 days before our trip grams had fell ill. We ended up in the hospital shortly after to find that she had a severe case of cellulitis and was facing some heart trouble from the infection. While at the hospital our son asked for the link to the vacation home. When he pulled it up he noticed that the last family to stay there had wrote a review a few days prior stating that the home was full of MOLD! We immediately called Vacasa and that's where they began to earn their 1 star rating
My wife was placed on several holds throughout the following days. Hours were spent just waiting on the phone only to be transferred again. And guess what? THE PHONE # LISTED FOR THE MISSION BEACH OFFICE REROUTES YOU TO THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER! You will NEVER speak to anyone in that office if there's a problem because customer service will tell you that they'll forward the message but nobody ever gets back and to add some salt to it all, THEY TELL YOU IT'S COMPANY POLICY THAT THEY CAN'T FOR ANY REASON GIVE YOU A DIRECT NUMBER! Exceptionally convenient for them.
We were told several times throughout a 3 week period that they were "so sorry" and this would be resolved. We wouldn't hear back from anyone and would have to start over again and again. Then we were told the insurance would cover the refund. So we went through them only to find out that the insurance they offer ONLY COVERS HOUSE DAMAGE! Then we were told on several occasions if we would've told them about the mold they would've fixed it. But we did, several times. We even went to the extent to serve a certified letter from Gram"s doctor stating she couldn't expose herself to mold because of her condition and they still backed out of that promise of a refund.
I have all the texts and emails that we used for communication during this awful and shameful transaction with Vacasa. If anyone has any doubt I'm being dishonest please let me know and I'll post them.
My recommendation is to steer clear of Vacasa! Their Dishonest practices earned them over $6,100.00...
It's highway robbery. We did everything we were asked and was told several times we'd be refunded. Unfortunately for us that wasn't at all what happened.
Oh and a side note. After the initial report of the mold to them. They must have cut a deal with the family that wrote it because the review was no longer available...

My first clue that Vacasa was not going to be helpful was when I sent messages about availability on a potential VRBO rental, and check-in and check-out times on two other potential VRBO rentals. I assumed that, as in the past, I was communicating directly with the owner/host of the property. I never got a response on the first message, and on the second two, received canned answers that did not answer my questions -- clearly not being read/answered by an actual person. Deciding I didn't want to deal with a company that couldn't be bothered to actually respond to my questions, I found one of the properties listed on AirBnB. I thought that VaCasa was associated with VRBO, but it turns out that some property owners on AirBnB also use Vacasa as a management company. I understand that makes it easier for the property owners/hosts, but they probably don't realize that the convenience actually has so many downsides for guests that it may discourage rentals.
Vacasa styles themselves as the "hosts" of the vacation property, but it would be more accurate to call them a booking agent, as they do not provide anything I would expect from a host.
Biggest complaints:
1. No location directions were provided, only an address which I guess they thought would be sufficient since everyone has GPS, right? Well, my GPS got me there, but the driveway/road to the cabin is not well marked so is easy to miss from the main road, especially arriving in near dark. (And it will always be near dark in the late fall/winter with a 4PM check in time.) Also, once you drive up the long gravel driveway (maybe 100-150 wooded yards) you arrive at a property with three houses on it and another building that appears to be a studio of some sort. It wasn't immediately obvious which one was the AirBnB rental but I eventually figured it out (the angle of sight to the AirBnB from the driveway isn't the same as any of the pictures). But some simple instructions in addition to the address "follow the long driveway, then turn right after the first building you come to (the studio)", and drive to the cabin which is straight ahead and on the right" would have made it easier and less stressful.
2. No door lock instructions were provided, only a 10 digit code broken into 3 groups of numbers (XXX XXX XXXX). However they didn't mention that, in addition to the 10 numbered buttons, there is an additional button that you had to press, not just AFTER you put in the numerical code, but BEFORE you start to put in the numerical code, as well as AFTER. An instruction on the door, above the lock would have been helpful (or in the check-in instructions). Remember, it was nearly dark and there was no light to see by other than my cell phone. It would have been really considerate for someone to have turned on the porch light by 4:00PM so there was light around the door and parking area. I walk with walking sticks and would have really appreciated being able to see where I was walking without having to juggle my cell phone.
3. When I called Vacasa to let them know I was having trouble getting in, it took me multiple tries to be able to reach a live person. I am 72 and was traveling alone. I did not appreciate having to wait in the dark to get some help in getting in. The person who came on the line didn't have a clue about the lock -- all he had was the pass code. I ended up figuring it out myself by trial and error while I waited for him to try to find more information.
3. No instructions inside the cabin about ANYTHING (except not to use detergent pods in the dispenser but to put them in with the clothes themselves). No checkout instructions.
4. No labels on things that should be labeled for guests: Apparently the kitchen has a heated floor, which would have been nice. There was a dial control for something on the inside of the kitchen doorway leading to the bedroom, but it was not labled and I had no idea what it was for. There were two identical timer switches in the bathroom, side by side. One was apparently for the bathroom fan. I was hopeful that the other was for heat, which it may have been. I turned on both of them and eventually got some heat, but didn't really want to have to listen to the fan. I didn't have the time or inclination to play around with them some more and just ended up being annoyed that no one had bothered to consider these things from the guest's point of view. I do not blame the property owner for this -- in my opinion, it is the host's job to make things as easy and pleasant for the guest as they reasonably can. Since VaCasa is calling themselves the "Host", they should be checking these things out. They should try sending someone out there who hasn't been there before to go through the cabin and look at things from a functional point of view -- what does the guest need to know?
5. I already said no check-out instructions, but especially that includes a lack of instructions about trash. There was no obvious receptacle for recycling. Later, after returning to Seattle, I found a link for checkout instructions that mentioned not leaving full trash bags out next to cans that were already full. It also mentioned that recycling is picked up one a week, but not which day or where to leave recycling. I ended up hauling mine back to Seattle with me.
6. The online checkout instructions (which I found after I was back in Seattle) requested that "if I had time" I help out their cleaners by stripping the bed of linens and start a wash and that I wash and put away all dishes. Well, with a 10AM checkout time, I did NOT have time. And I resent that the "hosting" company is asking me to do work for which I have already paid an $81 cleaning fee. Plus, whatever the property owner is paying Vacasa to manage the property.
6. Communication with Vacasa was abysmal. First of all, you don't get an actual person when you call, at least not very quickly. You are first encouraged to press a number to be switched to a text message system, which you are assured is the same team that can handle all the same concerns as their team answering the phones. However, twice when I tried to reach them I was driving and texting would have not only been more difficult, but also more dangerous. However, I didn't get the impression that anyone at VaCasa ever considered that texting might frequently not be a good option. If I declined to accept a transfer to the text message system, I had the option of pressing one number if I had concerns about my safety or the safety of the property and a different number if my concern was not urgent. They didn't seem to consider that someone might have an urgent concern that did not involve their safety (such as "I can't get in. I can't get this lock to work.) I learned that if I wanted to actually speak to a person any time soon, I needed to indicate that I had a safety concern.
7. Even when I reached an actual person, communication was less than stellar. For example, when leaving the cabin on Saturday morning to go to my class, I discovered a tree had fallen across the driveway about 3/4 of the way back to the main road. It was not a large tree -- more of a sapling -- and it hadn't fallen all the way to the ground. Since there was no place to turn around, I would have had to back up all the way to the larger property again and tried to find the property owner. Instead, I opted to try driving forward and seeing if I could push the tree out of my way, which I was fortunate to be able to do without damaging my car. Once I was back on the road, I called Vacasa to let them know about the problem so they could inform the property owner. The person I spoke to seemed stunned that I actually expected he would do something with the communication. He said he would make a note on my reservation and seemed surprised when I told him he needed to call the property owner. I pointed out that I would be returning that evening after dark and needed to be able to get to the cabin. (The tree sprang back to where I found it as soon as my car had pushed it out of the way and passed by.) I told him the tree was the property owner's responsibility, but if they weren't informed, they might not take care of it. I'm not sure why I should need to explain this rather obvious and basic information to the VaCasa representative. He also wanted to me to tell him exactly where the tree was across the driveway. What?! He wanted GPS coordinates, maybe? I told him the best I could say was about 50 yards before you get to the main road, but that was a guess. He also wanted to know if I had taken any pictures. NO! I was on my way to a class and facing being late because of this tree and not knowing at that point if I would be able to get past it. I was definitely not thinking about pictures. I was grateful I had been able to get past the tree, but thought that calling Vacasa to let them know about the problem was really the extent of what I should be expected to do. I told him that I expected to find the driveway clear when I returned after my class later that evening, and that apparently moved him to action, because the tree was not there when I got back. I am not certain of course, that he actually did anything at all about it. Perhaps the property owner themselves encountered the tree and took care of it.
8. Check in/Check out times. Check in time is 4PM. That's on the late side for what I'm used to. I have not previously experienced a check in time later than 3PM. In my first message to Vacasa asking about availability of another property which looked like a better fit for my needs. I was asking if it might be made available for Friday night. Since the calendar for that property showed that the previous guests would be checking out on Friday, and since checkout time is 10 AM, I figured that the 6 hours between 10AM and 4PM should be ample time for them to clean the cabin and make it ready for another guest. We are not talking about a villa here, just a 350 square foot cabin. I never received an answer to that question, and that property owner missed out on a three day stay. It was a little less expensive than the one I ended up at and I would have stayed another day at the lower price.

10AM check out?! You've got to be kidding me. Doesn't VaCasa stand for VAcation Casa (house)? Who goes on vacation and wants to get up early enough on their last day to pack up, pack things into their vehicle, and clean up before 10 AM? Most hotels have a checkout time of 12noon or 11AM, and most will gladly extend checkout to 1PM when asked. At least, in AirBnBs in the past, I have been able to communicate directly with the owner/host, most of whom have been very helpful and flexible about checkout times, especially when the rental wasn't booked the same day as my departure.
All-in-all, VaCasa checks NONE of the boxes of what I expect from a HOST. Their lapses all point to a lack of appreciation of the guests point of view. (For that matter, I can't imagine the property owners much like getting fewer stars on the reviews for their otherwise lovely vacation rentals because guests have had bad experiences with VaCasa.

If we could give it zero stars, we would. What a nightmare. We rented a house in Bar Harbor, Maine in August of 2023 with another family from Europe, good friends of ours we had not seen in years, after a canceled vacation in 2020. We are long-time Starwood/Bonvoy members and have generally had wonderful experiences. We decided to try renting through Marriott Homes and Villas, and the house we rented was managed by Vacasa. Fairly expensive too, as you'd expect in Bar Harbor in summer. We actually convinced our friends to rent through Marriott rather than Vrbo, touting Marriott's website, which states: "We only work with property management companies offering premium and luxury private home inventory and each home is evaluated – either in person or digitally - before being listed on our site." It further states: "Standards matter and each property listed on Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy is professionally managed by one of our trusted property managers, who provide guests a professionally cleaned home with 24/7 local support team for assistance while staying at the booked home or villa, high-speed Wi-Fi, premium linens and amenities, and family friendly conveniences upon request." Well, it was completely false advertising. The actual house was NOTHING like the photos, and it was definitely NOT evaluated prior to being listed, as it was disgustingly run down, dirty, and obviously had not been cleaned at all, never mind "professionally cleaned." We arrived late at night on our check-in date in August after a long drive with two kids, and the other family had arrived first. They immediately sent us urgent texts telling us that they don't think they could stay there. Before arriving at the rental, I had sent a message to Vacasa asking them to inspect the house to make sure it was in fact cleaned (due to bad experiences with other rentals in the past, not through Vacasa or Marriott). They responded that "every home is professionally cleaned." After talking to our friends on the phone, as we were getting closer to the property, we contacted Vacasa in a bit of panic and had such difficulty getting a hold of someone. When we finally did, they offered to go back to "re-clean," even though the house looked like it had not been cleaned in years. Red stains on the wall. Tape holding the stove door together. Nails on the floor. Mismatched furniture in all the rooms. And as for "premium linens"? What a joke! The worst part was that we had to scramble to find hotel rooms for our two families (with four children in tow) at 10 pm at night during high season, since we refused to stay in that house. We spent all day on the phone the next day to figure out what we were going to do, while moving from one hotel room to another each night. It is now more than 2 months later, and we have not heard from Vacasa and have not been offered a resolution by Marriott. Shame on both of these companies! It was bad enough that we had to shell out extra money for hotel rooms and another rental house, but we lost previous time having to move rooms as well as being on the phone and internet to find a place to stay. We will never get that time back with our dear friends.

The Vacation House
Vineyard Haven, MA
183 Skiff Avenue
Vineyard Haven, MA *******

Before I give my negative review of this property, and my experience with Vacasa/VRBO/Homeaway I want to say that I have enjoyed many nice trips with my family through these services. AND the primary reason for my review is a negative experience on day-1 w/ Vacasa and the property listed above.

My goals are: (1) To get this property owner to address issues that have been reported on repeatedly (2) to make sure that anyone who stays there knows exactly what to expect, and not to assume that just because previous guests have complained about it for years that the issues have been addressed (3) shed light on the very common practice that vacation property management companies like Vacasa have of charging exorbitant maintenance fees for property management that they are not actually using to manage the property, which is depriving the owner of full viability on the service and depriving the guests of a good customer experience.

FIRST - THE PROPERTY
When we arrived at the property we were excitedly expecting to begin our stay in Martha's Vineyard in the quaint property located at 183 Skiff Avenue. When we opened the door after a long drive we were greeted by plastic wrap on the kitchen faucet. Yikes!
After a long drive, of course one wants to use the "facilities". Well the door knob of the door was missing the screws, but time was crucial, so just get down to business - right.? Well, when trying to exit the bathroom, the door was stuck. I had to call my roommate to help me get out.
The bathroom wasn't that clean. The showerhead was corroded.

The bedpost in the guest room had this sticky yellow substance on the bunk bed (it looks like dry urine, my son assured me that its probably varnish) which was nasty.

Oh, and not to be overlooked, the toilet in the one-bathroom dwelling leaked at the base and flushed all night leaving the floor of the bathroom wet. Nasty, right? (I have many pictures). And there was a smokers' smell, which if you smoke I guess is okay, but we don't.

I'm so sorry if you're the property owner, you are probably a retired person, or someone who expects Vacasa to handle the things you are paying for, but they arent't, and now I'm out of $600 (over $300 of which went to Vasasa for "fees") and you have a compromised listing.

SECOND - Vacasa no es mi casa

We arrived after the check-in time on the first day, around 5:00PM. The next morning (just after 7AM) we immediately started to engage Vacasa through text message, email, phone call, and also through the sister contact information on VRBO. If you have never done this here's the drill:
1 - You contact them
2 - They express their sympathy for your bad experience
3 - They promise that the local property management person is looking into it and that they will contact you when they have more information
4 - You ask for a refund - (their policy states no refunds are provided)
5 - By the time your vacation ends, the "local property management contact" has never been to visit the location (which if you had waited for him to show up, you'd have missed your entire excursion).

I will make a full link to the details of the chat and contacts available upon request.
Long story-short as of the checkout time on day three we had not heard from Vacasa/VRBO/Homeaway regarding any of our issues. I reached out to them again, and the patronizing platitudes started all over again. I just wanted my money back so I could stay somewhere else and save my vacation.

So, if you have had a similar experience, please reach out to me. We need to change the policies of these companies so that if you discover something that is a deal-breaker after you arrive, you have recourse. Let's stand up and make vacation great again! Viva Vaga (Vacation Great Again)!

My family and I had issues with the townhouse we rented for the period of August 27-Sept 9,2023 at 253 South Sea Pines Drive, #1467.

On Friday September 1,2023, I notified the Vacas representative that there were two (2) issues with the unit:
1. We saw a cockroach in the unit this morning. I removed it but is there someone who can come out and spray the unit, when we are not here?
2. I tried to get into the Sea Pines Beach Club but was turned away. I was told that our pass for Sea Pines would get me into all that Sea Pines has to offer. Why can I not get into the club? What else can I not get into?

I received an email from Vacasa stating that my concerns would be looked into. I followed up with emails at 2:53PM and 6:15PM requesting an update.

I was told that I did not have access to the Sea Pines Beach Club, even though I presented my question to a member of the staff at Vacasa when I initially inquired about renting the townhouse. Below is an excerpt from the FAQs on the Sea Pines site

Parking at the Sea Pines Beach Club is reserved exclusively for guests of The Sea Pines Resort and Sea Pines property owners between 8am and 3pm from spring through Labor Day.

I asked the member of the Vacasa staff if I will be considered a gu4est of The Sea Pines Resort since I will be renting a unit inside the resort. I was told that I would have full access. I wish that I have inquired about this item in an email so that I would have a written response, rather than the word of a person at Vacasa.

When I inquired again about the bug issue, I was told that Vacasa was having trouble getting in touch with the exterminators since it was a holiday weekend.

When I asked again AFTER the holiday about getting an exterminator, I was told the exact same thing, that Vacasa had issues getting in touch with the exterminator. Therefore, I spent the last 10 days of my vacation with the bugs.

My family made it a habit to enjoy either our dinner or breakfast on the deck off the dining room. Then on September 5,2023, around 5PM, as we were getting ready for dinner, someone with a blower, cleaned the roof and gutters by blowing the debris onto the deck. Then around 6:45PM, the person came onto our deck and blew the needles and debris off the deck.

I spent my money on a second rate townhouse and management company. The Vacasa representative did nothing to assist my family regarding these issues. Your company is a disgrace when it comes to customer service.

I initially booked a house managed by Vacasa through Vrbo, but a month before my stay, I was informed that house was no longer available. Vacasa offered me this house instead. Location was important to me, and this house checked all our boxes, so I agreed to stay here, and the rental agreement shifted from Vrbo to Vacasa. I will never rent from Vacasa again.
Pros: The primary shower is spacious. Kitchen appliances are good quality. The location is great. There's a driveway for parking. Wi-fi and Netflix worked. Washer/dryer.
Cons: The house was not sufficiently clean when we arrived. There was evidence of both pets (we found feces in multiple rooms) and smoking in the house. There was a desperate attempt to mask the smoke smell with air fresheners throughout the house. My first communication with Vacasa about addressing the animal waste was at 5:49pm and cleaners finally arrived at 9:40pm. We found animal hair in various parts of the house including on the kitchen counter and the stove. The oven and the utensil drawer were also filthy.
Blinds/curtains throughout the house had limited functionality. Over half the blinds were missing the attachment that allows you to adjust the position of the blades. Once we closed them on our first night for privacy, many of them never opened again. That, combined with the absence of hooks to pull back heavy drapes made the house dark during the day, not bright and open as online pictures suggest.
The curtain rod in the primary bedroom wasn't fastened to the wall but rather was balanced on top of the trim. It would have fallen if we'd made any adjustment, so it remained closed. There is a light on the utility pole outside the primary bedroom window that blinks throughout the night. I do not mean to suggest that the light blinks occasionally, but rather that it blinks constantly and no other light on the block does that. Fortunately, I always pack a sleep mask.
We were shocked to find that there was no hand soap in any bathroom. We would have happily brought our own, but providing this basic courtesy on our own didn't occur to us since the need wasn't addressed in any amenity notes online or in our confirmation/check in materials. At our insistence, it was provided. I confirmed with a Vacasa rep that the need to provide our own was not communicated to me via confirmation email and was not listed anywhere online in the rental information.
Unlike other short-term rentals I've visited, there were no instructions posted in the house about arming/disarming the security system, house rules, check-out tasks/policies, local restaurants, etc. Also, every time I turned on Netflix, I had to bypass a notice that the payment was overdue.
I chose to stay in the house for logistical reasons despite not feeling that our comfort was a concern to Vacasa. The night before we checked out, I spoke with yet another rep about our experience. She was kind and, after admitting to me that the house wasn't ready to be rented and should probably not have been offered to me in the first place, agreed to give me the partial refund I requested. She felt so bad for our experience that she sent the request to her superiors and asked for an additional $250 to be refunded. After a month, I checked in with her about the progress and she apologized for the delay saying her superiors were working on it. For two months I patiently waited for the refund and, no longer believing Vacasa would honor it, I went to leave a review to warn other renters. However, unbeknownst to me, while I waited, the window for me to submit a review closed. Shame on me.