VRBOReviews 2,001

We booked a home in Florida for the week of Christmas 2020. The owner of the property, after receiving half of our funds, unilaterally altered our reservation by two months (moving it forward to October) without our consent, without consulting us, and even raised the agreed-upon price. We sought redress with VRBO, who dragged us along for months--each time siding with us, and promising action against the owner and a full refund every time we spoke on the phone. However, in January 2021 we received our first written correspondence from VRBO. In that correspondence, VRBO grossly mischaracterized the events and sided with the owner. Specifically, they said that because we never showed up for our December rental (the rental which had already been canceled by the owner!) we were not entitled to a refund. What a scam.

VRBO is utterly corrupt and dishonorable, and we strongly urge you NOT to use their service. You will have absolutely no rights, no indemnification, and no protection if you use this service. Prepare to be defrauded.

I was very disappointed in my experiencing with VRBO. We took very good care of the rental that we used, cleaning it more than we needed to and following all of the rules. Despite that, the owner charged us $100 to fix something we didn't break (that didn't cost $100 to fix anyway), and left a poor review for us with no explanation about why. When I reached out to the owner, they did not respond. There was no proof provided to us that we broke the item. I disputed the charge to VRBO, but they took the word of the shady property owner and did not refund the charge. Why would anyone rent through them if they don't do any vetting of property owners and don't provide any recourse for renters who are taken advantage of?

VRBO has refund my money for may cancelled booking. I cancelled well within the timeframe and they still have not issued a refund. This company is a scam and offers no assurance or benefits to the renter.

Owned By Carl and Brenda Hulcher. Misrepresented completely on VRBO, they were unwilling from the beginning to discuss refund. I said, "I will stay then If I can't have a refund." I thought that was the end of it, I would stay the week and move on. I arrived to the little village to find the cabin I had been expecting to be in was in fact occupied by a resident who states she has lived there for months and will be for months to come. I was surprised and embarrassed. The owner then notified me to go to a different cabin. I then mentioned refund again since this was not even what I had secured and he became belligerent. He shouted "if your going to complain or dispute anything just leave now!" I said "I am not saying anything at all negative and I am not speaking to you any more, goodnight.' I went inside and closed the door and he left. I turned the heater on to warm the place as it was freezing cold out and no one had tried to ready this property. I then left for a bit while it warmed up. While I was gone I was messaged by the owner stating I had abandoned the property and was now banned from setting foot there again. They Would not even allow me to return for the groceries I had placed in the refrigerator. I was astonished and immediately began to try to find a way to get ahold of VRBO to get some help. Guess what.? VRBO ain't got no help to give. They are a trash company site that supports trash people robbing decent folks of their hard earned money by fraudulently making bogus rental agreements with no intention of honoring them. On a whim the owner is capable of canceling your reservation and keeping your money without any consequence. I was unable to reach anyone at vrbo that evening and because my money for the week was tied up in this rental I literally had to sleep in my car. That is not ok and yet I can get no help or even a response from Anyone involved in this SCAM. I am Hopeful there are enough people looking to sue and VRBO has enough $$$ to get us at least a burger each or something.

Hi,
I paid for a rental property in Manila as a year end bonus for a business partner one week before the actual stay. My reservation was confirmed but but a few days after booking I was not provided with any property specific information other than the building. I called the support like some 30 hours before check in time and at that time, they confirmed that the property owner had not responded. Vrbo will only act at the check in time, this was after I was put on hold for nearly one hour. I raised this issue as unacceptable and wanted to recourse but after a few calls back and forth, there was still no better response other than wait for the property owner to reply. As we head closer to 4 pm on the day of the check in, there was still no recourse. With a few missed calls and a local number in Manila that was not manned, my guess found alternative without any help from VRBO. I have since written to VRBO asking for a refund and am waiting to hear back from them.

No use VRBO. Hola, mi nombre es Rayrub Torres. Hice una reserva HA-V56LY8 por 3 noches, en Punta Cana, para irme de vacaciones con mi esposo, mi mamá y mis 3 hijos. Luego de un viaje estresante y tuve problemas por la PANDEMIA, llegamos al Condominio pero no nos dejaron entrar, porque el dueño no había enviado el correo electrónico para permitirnos el acceso. Escribimos varias veces al propietario en la plataforma VRBO sin éxito. Un par de horas después y por un medio diferente al que nos proporcionó VRBO, pudimos contactar con el propietario y nos dijo que nunca confirmó esta propiedad. Llamamos a VRBO y les contamos lo que nos estaba pasando y después de una discusión no muy amistosa, nos alojaron en un hotel horrible y nos pidieron 24 horas para resolver el problema. Al día siguiente, sin ser contactados, decidimos llamarlos nosotros mismos, y nos dijeron que para buscar otra propiedad teníamos que volver a pagar y cuando pedimos el reembolso, dijeron que no lo hiciéramos ahora cuando será. ¡¡hecho!

If you have a property you own or manage and would like to derive extra income as a vacation rental, then VRBO should be your first choice. Their customer service is decent, their pricing is fair, the market exposure is good and their interface is good. The best part is that VRBO gives you many choices for important parameters such as cancellation policy, refund policy, booking contract (you can write your own). I could go on and on. Suffice it to say, if it wasn't for VRBO, I would simply sell my properties.

I recently rented a vacation property from VRBO and the owner (Rick Medina), completely falsified the description of the property. I tried to reach out to VRBO for their complimentary "book with confidence guarantee, 24/7 support" but please let me assure everyone, this is a complete scam. There is no customer support. I called their contact phone numbers *******145 and *******805) over 150 times trying to reach anyone at the company but a pre-recorded message comes on the line saying thanks for calling but were not available ( meaning, you are totally screwed). VRBO is the absolute worst company I have ever dealt with, save yourself a nightmare vacation and avoid that company all together. I should have read the reviews before booking with them (ughh).

We booked a condo in Clearwater Florida. We paid 100% per contract. 2 weeks before we were supposed to be going there the homeowner said he would not let us on the property unless we paid another $260. I called Vrbo numerous times to try to get support. How are we supposed to stay at somebody's house that pulls this bait-and-switch. So they lock us out with all of our stuff in there next and then tell us they won't let us end unless we give them more money. Or they claim me to damages we didn't do? It's clear that these homeowners are con artists. Why would Vrbo want to be in bed with them. We booked through a website like them to make sure we're booking with people that we can trust. Not only did Vrbo not help us they refuse to let us talk to a supervisor or anybody else.
How can anyone trust doing business with Vrbo when they let thier homeowners steal from you and break your contact and then won't give you a refund.

I have always had terrible experiences with VRBO and their customer service. The only reason I booked with VRBO again was because it was a complete accident. I was on Expedia's website and ended up getting a VRBO email confirmation it was through them. I also got a notification that I was charged a refundable $5,000 deposit! For a 2-night stay! I booked a two bedroom apartment, not a mansion in Malibu. When I called customer service they said there was nothing they could do and work with the property owner. Then I messaged the property owner and they said they were very sorry VRBO made a mistake and was never supposed to take that money. So I just chatted with customer service asking when I would get my refund and they said 3 weeks! When I said how can I get this escalated - she LEFT the chat. Airbnb has the best customer service and this would never happen with them. BEWARE do not use VRBO.

I had my reservation canceled by the host and the host refuses to give me all my money back. I never used Vrbo before, so I called when I got the email about my cancelation. Now they are saying that is up to her and that I was the one who requested the cancelation, even though I am not. I sent them the email with the cancelation requests as if they would not have access to that. Then, they said yes we see that, but it is still up to the host. And Vrbo has also not made an attempt to refund my fees. They say until she finishes the transition, they can not give me their fees either. In other words, I still have a reservation, but I dont have a reservation. Both at the same time. Yet, I have no place to stay they have taken about $600 dollars just because they feel like it. So far, I have spent 3 hours on the phone and 3 phone calls and lots of non-sense conversation about how my reservation is not canceled but it is canceled at the same time. STAY AWAY FROM VRBO. As much as I dont like Airbb, if your host cancels, you automatically get your refund. No phone calls no hassle, no crazy conversations. They even suggested I take it with my credit card company. You are not paying fees to get protection as a customer when you pay Vrbo, they are just taking money for no reason. If I could I will them 0 starts.

VRBO did not refund a $2000 Damage Deposit when the owner of the property fully authorized all monies be returned to me, the renter. VRBO stood behind their statement that the refund was made to my credit card even though I provided bank statements that indicate otherwise. I am being forced to post a dispute with my credit card because VRBO simply does not acknowledge that the funds were not returned. Unless you have the ability to Loan out $2000 to VRBO for approximately 5 months (hopefully when my successful dispute is concluded), please avoid VRBO to avoid the heartache. It is likely that VRBO was hacked and paid the wrong person my damage refund because how else can you explain the company's insistence that I was refunded when my make confirms that I have not been refunded.

I had to cancel my reservation of 22 people for a property in Puerto Rico due to the pandemic and the island's new Executive Order where people are being fined 5,000 for having large gatherings in rental properties. Neither Vrbo nor the property owner were willing to make an exception for a full refund as it's a situation out of my control. On top of that, they were not willing to change the date of the reservation instead or keep the money I paid as a credit for a future reserv. Very disappointed and in the process of taking legal action.