VRBOReviews 2,001

Used VRBO to book a cabin through the weekend. When booking our cabin and submitting our card info and pressing submit it told us our cabin was no longer available for the dates we selected. We assumed somebody beat us to the check out. So we got back on and instantly got another cabin. Apparently, the first cabin did also go through and now we had a double booking. After explaining our situation twice to VRBO and the owner we were not offered a refund. It was a glitch on VRBO and we are now out over $700 for a place we never stayed at. Be cautious of these unsecured websites. I'd recommend booking through AIR B N B.

Property owner cancelled our reservation while we were en route, the day of check in for "mechanical issues" (A/C not working and duct work all over). We didn't know because we were driving and didn't check inbox in VRBO. We got into the cabin (we were given instructions and codes in an email 2 days prior to our stay) and linens were dirty and in a ball on all beds, towels in a ball on bathroom floor, couch cushions on floor and everything in disarray. Thats when I was going to message owner and saw the cancellation with the mechanical issues and they said ducts were disconnected and hanging down. There was no duct work visible.
It was just uncleaned as if cleaners never came but guests obviously checked out that day. Cabin was cool too. We called VRBO after contacting owner and they gave me a number to their "same day booking department" to help us find another rental. We were refunded the money from that cabin, but unfortunately they couldn't put us in anything because VRBO needed my bank statements proving what I paid and proving what was refunded at 8:30 at night. I was appalled since they are the ones who charge and have the records. I had my iphone that I had to snap shot everything and send it to them. However, since it would be 3-5 business days for the refund to take place, they cannot do anything until that comes through and when it does come through then upon rebooking we have to pay the difference. So basically they would just reuse my card that was refunded regardless of the amount. So it was at my expense. We ended up going through Airbnb and spending 1700 more (because almost everything was booked up) after having to stay at the Hampton with the cost of 2 rooms for the initial night because of the size of our party. I personally think this was double booked and we booked early on in January for June so we got a decent price. There was nothing wrong with the air conditioning. It was waiting for a cleaning service for new arrivals.

Unbelievable. Last time ever using this company.

Booked an apartment in Galveston. Clicking on directions on Vrbo takes you to the town council. Spent another hour trying to find the apartment because 2 different street numbers in the confirmation mail. Tried to call the owner via Vrbo but the number goes to the wrong owner. Finally found the correct building but it had 4 units and no information on which unit I was assigned so got a few other guests upset. 1 of the guests explained they booked through another service and got good directions with a unit number. Unit was not cleaned so gave up and booked into a hotel. Sent the owner a message via Vrbo but they did not receive it. Finally got hold of the owner by replying to a follow up mail from the owner. Owner made contact immediately and refunded no problem. Vrbo fee is not refunded and just not possible to reach Vrbo.

We booked a condo in gulf shores Alabama in December 2021 for June 2022. Very nice LUXURY CONDO 3 bedroom, 2 bath thru VRBO. Two weeks before our departure date our entire purchase was refunded with note the condo had been sold! We scrambled & luckily found another condo for same extravagant price only two bedroom & so much lower in quality. I am done with VRBO

Vacasa reached out to me late on the day before my reservation check-in to inform me that the reservation was cancelled. At the time I was in transit to my vacation and was not able to respond until the next day, the day of my planned check-in!

The reservation for "Sandy Point Sanctuary" (near Bellingham WA) was over a month old and paid in full.

Vacasa offered me opportunities to use a substitute property or reschedule my vacation. The nearest substitute property was over 60 mi from my plans and I had to be satisfied with a refund that was provided five days after they cancelled my vacation.

Vacasa apologized for the inconvenience but that was the extent of their compensation.

I believe Vacasa (host) and Vrbo (handled the reservation) failed huge here and caused my vacation to be severely disrupted. From what I could determine it appeared that the owner of the vacation property had previously blocked out the time I reserved and the error was not discovered until local staff went to the property to verify it was clean and found the owner using it. I accept that nobody is perfect but they Vacasa and Vrbo had my reservation for well over a month and my money for weeks and the best they could do was apologize for error.

The lesson learned here is that a renter should engage the on-site staff, owner is best, to determine the reliability of the reservation. DO NOT DEPEND on Vacasa or Vrbo to look out for your best interests. If you do there is a decent chance you will be terribly disappointed.

Paid over $1000/ day for a 5 bedroom place on the beach. It was filthy. Called and they gave me the code for the cleaning supplies. Cleaned the place so we could occupy it. Supposed to get a credit, but no. Nothing showed up and the bank says there was no credit to the account. Probably went to Kathleen's account - big surprise!
In fact they charged us more for bringing the issue up. VRBO sucks as does Kathleen Ford, Adrian Purdy and that filthy happy clam bull$#*! rental

VRBO is the absolute worst company ever! Working in customer service for over 25 years, when the company is wrong (or people you have working for your company) you need to fix the issue. We rented our property originally in May of 2021, due to a death in the family, we were able to reschedule with the owner for April 2022. The owner never sent us an updated contract agreement, but was visible for everyone to see in the chat, since they can access personal chat. 2 weeks prior to the date of arrival we reached out to the owner with no luck, sent emails, chats NOTHING. Called VRBO as to what the next steps would be, stated we had to speak to owner directly, informed them of chats, emails and phone call with no response. They attempted to contact owner and she didn't response to them either. Was told would have to take it up with the property owner, the same person who did not respond to any of my requests nor the request of the company, as VRBO could not return my money. So basically saying they have people on their site that CAN AND WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY AND THERE IS NOTHING THEY WILL DO ABOUT IT. Filed dispute with bank and was told someone from VRBO is responding to the claim. But if the owner didn't respond to me or the company then who is responding to the bank. Especially if VRBO told me I had to deal with the owner directly. I DO NOT SEE HOW THIS COMPANY IS STILL IN BUSINESS. Filing a formal complaint against this company and currently speaking to a friend who works in a law firm. I can only imagine how much money this company has stolen from other individuals.

I booked and prepaid for a stay at a property. The host was unresponsive, so I called VRBO and even they couldn't get in contact with the host. I had to check into a hotel instead. The customer service agent agreed to process a refund, but that turned out to be a lie. I called to follow up, and was told they couldn't check the status of the case number so they assume someone is still working on it. I just want my $600 back because I was never able to stay at the property because the host was not responsive.

Shame on them! Left us stranded
My first time using Vrbo and their customer service is non-existent. I made reservations 4 months out to be sure we had a place to stay because my son was getting married in that area and his future in laws were having a wedding shower 2 blocks away from where we had our reservations. I found a lovely home to rent and the owners mentioned that they have some renovations happening during that time if we mind that and they could give us a better rate (that made no difference to us we were fine with it) being 2 blocks to the venue and we would only be home in the late evenings so we didn't mind. We were not going to be there much, only to sleep anyway. So she rented it to us and we paid her in advance ($800)as that is what Vrbo said we had to do to rent that property. Then 3 months later the property owner who rented it to us cancelled it and gave no real excuse but that they were renovating which we knew already. When I asked Vrbo what I should do and how they can help to make this right as we were left with no place to stay during that special time and to find a place now and make reservations so late would be very hard and cost a lot more last minute as it was summer and rates would be much higher. They said we are sorry but the owner is going to refund your money and we will make sure the property owner will get a verbal warning. I believe that's what they called it. They held onto our money for 3 months to begin with. Basically yet again we are sorry but that's all we can do. I suggest anyone using this company beware. If I stayed at a hotel and they didn't have our room or cancelled it due to an issue they had they would take care of you and make sure they find you another room. If not at their hotel somewhere else, they would even pay for the night they had to cancel your reservation. You are protected and not left alone without a solution or place to stay. My suggestion is to think twice before using Vrbo. I have used Airbnb in the past and they have very good Customer Service but we tried this company because we needed to rent a bigger house for our family in this location. Next time my choice will be with Airbnb or a hotel. Shame on the owner of the house and more important VRBO!

I booked a "corner unit with panoramic views". When we checked in it was a tiny little room with a solid wall on one side— yes the corner but no windows, and the "panoramic views" was one small window.
They refused to even acknowledge that the advertisement was deceptive
They also depicted a large room with two sides of the rooms having balconies but obviously - no balcony
The "corner room with panoramic views" was a joke
They refused to move me, they refused to even acknowledge that the advertisement was deceptive
They don't value their customers AT ALL
Trying to deal with these people is impossible
I had to call 5 times and was "transferred to a manager" once I did get through but it was a recording that no one returns calls from
It took great lengths to talk to a manager but she did nothing to resolve my concern
The other agents are nasty and argumentative
Great at taking money — horrible at providing what you paid for!

After multiple issues with AirBNB we tried out VRBO and have not looked back since. Much better overall experience. Better Customer Service too!

VRBO certainly isn't in the business of helping customers who have awful experiences. Many phone calls, many emails, no resolution. VRBO wants me to work with the owner. Unfortunately, the owner won't respond to any calls or emails. VRBO claims I didn't call within 24 hours of arrival, which is a complete lie. I have the call log on my cell phone. I called within 2 hours of arrival. They just don't want to take any responsibility. I will never use VRBO again and will actively steer others away from them.

Save yourself the time and just list on Airbnb. I have been on both for around 2 years and will never list a property or use VRBO for my travels again. Be forewarned if you list a property with VRBO expect to be spammed to death by people who "kindly" want you to book outside of airbnb. Also, support is terrible. Even upon trying to remove the listing I could not find any on line instructions that made sense on how to do so. I then tried to use the chat and the guy was useless and started by asking me why, I told him I wanted to move. He then ask if I had already sold it to someone else yet? I'm thinking, what the heck is this? I want to remove the listing. Why so many freaking questions. Then after tell him just to cancel my account he said let me know when you receive the code. I said would I get that via text or email. He said text. I said that I didn't get it yet and he said then it must have went to my spam box and that he couldn't my account without the code. I said Spam box? I don't have a spam box text, that's email. Then he left the conversation and put up some pre-written message saying I needed to call. This is ridiculous. Finally got the account canceled because it was so difficult to just remove the listing.

Will NEVER rent any property through them again! Wife and I booked a trip to Yellowstone for our 25th Anniversary this year. Our cancellation for refund on our reservation ended on May 5th. With the recent flooding we decided it wasn't worth the 12 hour drive with 3 kids to go and tried to cancel and get a refund and were told it's up to the property manager whom could have given two you know what's about anything other than their money. So needless to say we are out about $1800 now. Seriously the worst customer service experience in my life! If your looking to book a reservation, do it with ANYONE other than VRBO and save yourself a lot of anger and frustration!

It is past one month, and refund still not received for cancellation from VRBO.
Airbnb is very quick in processing Refund. I will never use VRBO

Booked Vrbo / Vacasa Emerald Sykes # 63 Opened door to awful smell, bedroom A/C broken, putting out foul odor, wish we could have turned around and left, opened windows and doors immediately, filthy bathtub, heavily strained couch, the list goes on. Remedy, bought Lysol, fan, bathmat, covered the couch with sheets, lived on the balcony for 3 days, I have all the pictures you want of the stained couch and filthy bathtub etc. The pictures were deceiving, not current conditions, you are there to enjoy, not to be a victim of poor management, buyer beware.!

Unable to add a cohost for our property. It can't all be done by just the single owner. That was my immediate problem but then I found out that customer service was unhelpful. Reached out to customer service. Was directed to a chat bot that first replied in French (which unfortunately not the language I speak). After that we received multiple "automated greeting" and "press anybutton response". What does that even mean? How is that helpful?