VRBOReviews 2,001

I booked an apartment with Vrbo this Christmas. I have paid and had all the confirmations and guarantees one month before the trip. And just one day before our arrival the owner said that didn't receive any booking. I'm trying to resolve this issue and just spending time with a different agents that are just lying. This website is a SCAM DON'T NEVER USE THIS SITE.

VRBO customer service is the WORST I have ever experienced. DON'T EVER book through them. I made a reservation in December 2021. Reached property at 10 pm. Could not get in because the owner never provided us the access code to the property. Called owner and VRBO several times but no response from either. No help from VRBO. Finally gave up to get a hotel room at midnight and paid twice as much. Then called VRBO for a refund. They said they really can't do anything and I'd have to work directly with the owner, to get a refund. Fortunately for me, the owner refunded their portion of the amount. I then expected VRBO to automatically refund their portion of the amount. After waiting for three weeks, I had to chase them down to get back their portion of the amount. I called them several times. The whole experience has been frustrating. They kept me waiting, then got disconnected twice! I'm not sure if you can get disconnected twice with two different agents or if they are just hanging up? The customer service reps cannot address any issue they just take notes and say that they will pass on the message to another department. It's just a pain and I don't know if I'm gonna ever get my money back from them. Don't ever book through VRBO. They are a scam.

Respectfully requested a refund after being diagnosed with covid. Vrbo does not work with individuals with hardships. Would never recommend Vrbo. Will definitely not look to vrbo for future reservations.

Rented a "sugar shack" in Guadulipita, NM in October 2021. Through VRBO. Paid $284 for two nights. My husband and I arrived at a one room cabin. Bathroom was in corner with shower curtain around toilet for privacy. Under normal circumstance we could have dealt but owner left town for weekend and forgot to put propane in heater. We did not realize this until middle of night when we began to freeze. Next mornings the pipes were frozen in toilet or sinks. I packed up as soon it was light and we left. I notified owner who blamed us for not notifying her. I have tried in vain to get a refund. According to VRBO, after someone has arrived, there is no option for a refund. Watch out for problems because you will get no help for VRBO.

I had to cancel a reservation because the information on the site was wrong, it said the distance to the place was less than a mile, false information. I tried to contact more than one agent, no help from them, I tried to contact the host, no luck. I think if the site has misleading information, we should be able to get a refund no matter what their policy is. I'll put more reviews about Vrbo to let people know about this site.

Booked and paid for a holiday back in June only to have it cancelled by the host on 21/12/2021.

I accept the cancellation in not the fault of VRBO, however, despite their booking promise stating my service fee will automatically be refunded in 5 days- I have received none 10 days later.

The host has returned their part but VRBO cling on to theirs- they are impossible to contact by phone and have no online system of contact.

Although the fee is not a great deal of money £51.60, it is not theirs to keep.

I have other breaks booked with VRBO- I will take these but never book again

I had to cancel a reservation and got a 50% refund as I cancelled within the 50% refund window. However, I did not get a refund on the $110 in taxes that were charged to me. According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, if the cancellation fee is 50% or less of the daily reservation rate, then I'm entitled to a full refund on the taxes. The host called VRBO 3 times to request the refund on the taxes since VRBO remits taxes. I called VRBO 3 times to get the refund and got completely different answers every time. Eventually, one rep said they created a ticket to initiate the refund. After several weeks, I still did not get a refund on the taxes. I had to call into VRBO several times again, each time getting different answers. I'm still waiting to hear back from somebody regarding the status of my refund. Very frustrating.

VRBO is just a listing site. They don't provide any guarantees or any real customer service. You're better off using airbnb, hotels.com or any company that actually provides some type of service to their customers.

It looks this is mostly irresponsible company - they pick up irresponsible clients and have no ("0") responsibility for their unruly behaviorAlex Starosud <*******@gmail.com>
Fri, Dec 24,4:52 PM (3 days ago)
To Vrbo

Hi, Emmanuel:

This looks like total irresponsibility of the host
". We have seen that the owner has cancelled your reservation 30 days before your check in..."

Not 30 days but 3 weeks (21 days) before...

This is the second time the host canceled my booking... How do you deal with this?

This is a very bad business... Do they have any responsibility for such abrupt cancellation?
I guess in the agreement with your company - they should be punished in some way...
Black listed, for example
What should I do? I bought (non refundable airfare) and I see no alternative for this location
Who will refund me $2.5K?
My apologies but I am really thinking about legal action not for the (unruly) host but your company, who deals with such irresponsible host

We are a retired couple from Canada. We are snowbirds and this news (cancellation.) was devastating for us
Double devastating- today we celebrating 50 years of our marriage
Terrible business!
If you need some hellish experience - go ahead! Good luck!
Cheers!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I rented a home for a month. The host never provided check in details. I called vrbo who mentioned this was the second fraudulent offense by the host. On the day of my rental, as you have to pass check in time, I still had no details for getting in. Vrbo offered me three nights in a 2-star hotel, offered to refund my 2k+ and refused to rebook. Now, new job, no place to stay, and the house is STILL listed on vrbo. Hearing, "I'm so sorry for your frustration " is b. S. customer service. Beware vrbo.

On Wednesday (before Su day check in) when address finally dropped I called them to tell them host has not responded, and if you try to get directions there is not a residence there, can we please rebook... direct quote "we can't rebook until 30 mn after check in time" So your sending me to the epicenter of amusement parks the weekend before Christmas with no place to stay... ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE! After numerous calls (over 10 hours of phone time, along woth all of the frustration) I finally got ahold Cody whom opened a fraud case and helped us book a room for Sunday (only) he said someone would call me to rebook the rest of our stay Sunday (check in day) at 430, as then it would be considered a voided contract by the host. Well it only got worse, not only did I not receive a call to rebook Sunday@ 440, I didn't hear from. Them till after checkout time at the hotel that Cody booked us, and what I recieved was an email stating to find a room, and submit the bills and they will determine what they will pay... WTF you have my $$ I am stuck in Orlando with no place to stay and ZERO support from VRBO
Will NEVER USE THEM AGAIN!
They should atleast make sure the photos are the same as the actual property, especially since we as a consumer don't have access to an address until in our case 5 days before our stay and to cancel is a huge fee!
Wish I could add photos but since there is not a house there are no photos

I had to cancel a stay in Miami, FL because of a cancelled cruise. The property owners were prompt with my refund; however, VRBO accounting charged my credit card, without my authorization, $601. Then the charge was removed only to be charged again. I had to communicate with the property owners about this charge and was told it was a mistake and would have a credit from VRBO accounting. Enough time past without a refund of the $601. I then filed a dispute of the charge with the credit card company that stopped payment. I was contacted by the property owners to please withdraw the dispute and VRBO accounting would give the refund. Silly me. I withdrew the dispute but VRBO accounting did not provide a refund. If I would have allowed the charge dispute go it's course, I would have my $601. As of now VRBO has my money. I will continue trying to get my money but will be less trusting in the future.

First the Pigeon Forge Cabin Rental, we rented a beautiful new cabin with many amenities in October. About month before we leave for the trip, they call and let us know that the place has sold. I ask, what protections do we have if we were going to be there in a week. The person just said, it's in our contract. The person said they were just going to move us to a similar cabin. When we arrived i was an old dilapidated cabin with mold in the bathrooms. No where near the amenities we had reserved for. Same price, no apologies or credits. Take it or leave it. The Orlando Pool home we couldn't even reserve without having problems. I asked several questions to the owner, they never responded but it was a very nice luxury home. So I went ahead and reserved it before it was rented, I figured it would get them to respond. 5,10 days later they send a response that they are away... No information of when they are charging up front or when I need to pay. After looking at my account I notice a charge from a very weird company, the name was like an alphabet soup. I was starting to feel like I had been scammed. Finally got a response from the home company letting me know it was cancelled after I told them I was contacting our State's Attorney Generals Office. The person said I was rude, imagine that... I rented a similar home with AirBNB and their commmunication was instant. After many years with Expedia and VRBO, I'm done...

Nous avons dû annuler un appartement a Porto Rico à cause covid ( omicron). Le proprietaire ne veut pas nous rembouser et vrbo ne nous donne aucune aide. Veulent rien savoir de nous aider à ce que le propriétaire nous rembourse. Mauvais service. De foute de leurs clients

They charged me for the entire amount in advance and they allow owners to cancel at any time without any cause. Therefore, I am now out of an amount of multiple thousands of dollars (as I had booked a month and you must pay for the ENTIRE stay) and they say it will take up to 15 days to refund. Never again. Do not ever work with them.

Horrible experience. I rented 31 days at a VRBO property and paid $4000. Had trouble getting a hold of the property owner 1 month out. VRBO insisted all would be ok. Nope. 1 week out the property owner never sent me the check-in info. I got in touch with VRBO and - very, very long story short - they basically said i have to wait until check-in day to call them back and if the owner doesn't show, they'll help me with alternatives. Well, the owner never showed. Now i'm sitting here waiting for an email (2 hours later) from VRBO with alternative HOTEL options. They wont email me until tomorrow for longer term plans for the remainder 30 days. What a joke.

My family has booked a vacation in Penticton, British Columbia with Dionne De Jagger. The cancellation policy is such that you have to cancel 2 weeks prior to scheduled date. We have even bought insurance in case we needed to cancel. Unfortunately, due to the forest fires in the region - the air was deemed the highest level of warning for unhealthy (at 10) and was unsafe to be outside, especially for my little one. In addition, due to increased number of cases of COVID-19, government officials were recommending for tourists to stay away from the region in case there are evacuations. I tried to inquire about the situation with the owner, who did not respond. Only once it was a week prior to departure and haven't heard back I initiated the cancellation that she answered. VRBO and the owner agreed to refund 75% of the cost to be fair (only 50% was refunded). I was also going to check with the insurance which denied my claim. I must have followed up 7 to 8 times with VRBO and tried to contact the owner for the remainder of the refund. I have not been able to use their services due to forest fires, unhealthy air conditions and increasing COVID cases in the region and yet have lost 50% of the total cost. I am sympathetic to people who live in the region having had to go through this but it wasn't safe health wise in addition to not being appropriate to take up room if people needed to be evacuated from the region. All the promises from VRBO representatives were not followed up on. When I finally got a hold of manager he was not interested and told me to follow up with owner who has been ignoring me.
It was such a poor experience and left very little faith in their process or holding owners accountable. We will NEVER use VRBO in the future.