VRBOReviews 2,001

I reserved a condo on 28 Sep 2020 for the weekend of 10 -11 Oct 2020 through VRBO, Mariners Landing on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia property ID *******, property manager - Mary Lou McDonald. When I made the reservation, I included comments to the property manager that this reservation was for a surprise weekend get-a-way for my wife's birthday. My reservation request was accepted and acknowledged by VRBO and the property manager and my credit card was charged. The day before our trip, 9 Oct 2020, I received emails from VRBO and the property manager that my reservation had been cancelled. No explanation for the cancellation was given. We were unable to secure a comparable accommodation and thus my wife's birthday weekend was ruined. No explanation and no compensation from the property manager or VRBO. This is the first and last time I will ever use VRBO. Beware, do not reserve a unit from Mary Lou McDonald, particularly property #*******.

I have advertised many years with this site (first Owners Direct, then HomeAway). I have a perfect record and am a Premier Partner. But I loathe this company for its ever worsening high-handed manner. They have just unilaterally and without consultation drastically reduced my headline and shifted its position, putting me at a disadvantage against my competitors, who remain unaltered. The reason? The property was once linked to another. I cancelled this some time ago, but it is still down as 'linked' in their system. They say they cannot alter this and I just have to lump it. My protests go unheeded. I feel like I am working for THEM and just don't count for anything.
I have detected that travellers are also fed up with their rip-off charges and are starting to use other sites, most notably Simply Owners, who are still human beings.
VRBO's share of my bookings has plummeted and I look forward to washing my hands of them as soon as possible.

I booked a place in Las Vegas this year in June 2020 and I accidentally booked twice, so I messaged the owner if i would get a refund if I canceled it and he said yes. So then after I canceled it, I called over 15-20 times for them to reslove this situation and it is STILL NOT RESOLVED after 4 months! Still no email. No call back! Nothing! Everytime I called for a update all I get is the same answer! To call back and they will update me about the refund but still NOTHING! Also asked to speak to a manager and was told, none is around or they are "busy". WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!

VRBO is a scam. Stick with AirBnb.
We paid over $1000 for our booking. My biggest problem is that there is no customer support for travelers. Every extension within the traveler support line went to a recording about COVID. Finally I called the homeowners support line, where I was able to speak to an agent, and she internally transferred me to the travelers support line (which was dead). When I called back into the homeowner's support line explaining this problem, their solution was to try the traveler's support line another day. Which btw I did and I STILL was NEVER able to get a customer support agent for travelers.

My problem in a nutshell, Our booking was in Napa when the Glass Fires were blazing with Hazardous Air Quality reported at the rental location. Even if there is a natural disaster, VRBO will not help you. They wont even force the homeowner to reschedule it. Luckily the home owner at least gave us a credit to use a different weekend.

My next issue was the home owner forcing us to sign rental documents that differed to what the home was listed as on the VRBO app. For instance the VRBO app said 4 person occupancy for the listing, but the rental document said 2 adults and 1-2 children. IF we were in violation of this it would be a $400 fine. I called VRBO again to explain this gross discrepancy between the owner's rental agreement and the app, but again I was told that there was nothing they can do. THIS IS A SCAM.

After booking a family trip in April 2020 in Tennessee through VRBO, we were highly dissatisfied with their customer service. When we realized that nothing was going to be open due to covid, it was best to not go since there would be nothing to do. We booked cabin id# ******* and was told that vrbo would refund 50% but when we called back, we were told that wasn't even true. Long story short, over 1k was washed down the drain and our family was crushed. I will never recommend booking through vrbo and obviously will never book through them again!

They don't refund you regardless of situations and do not care about guests that rent their properties. I had an extremely racist host that verbally attacked, discriminated and threatened to call the police to kick me out after I did NOTHING. I recorded the whole conversation and while VRBO keeps saying they do not tolerate discrimination, they did nothing to this guy, kept letting him rent out his properties and didn't refund me even though I left the property immediately after because I didn't feel safe. Fast forward 1 month, VRBO has now stopped replying to me even though there hasn't been any resolution.

I attempted to book a Mammoth 2020 Thanksgiving vacation and found a place I liked and booked it. I was emailed back by a company called Natural Retreats confirming my reservation and they charged $468.58 to my card. Less than 8 hours later I got a voice mail from a Hannah Pomerantz of Natural Retreats saying their computer had an error and the unit was not available after all. I have left 4 messages for Ms. Pomerantz asking to release the charge to my card at *******047 and she dies not return my calls. I called VRBO and they told me they could do nothing and my funds would not be reimbursed for 5-7 business days. When I asked for their customer service department I was told my call will not be transferred. I will never rent from VRBO again given these bait and switch tactics. Do not book from this organization ever as they are not remotely trustworthy.

The website was... ok. Not as fluid as Airbnb. We had one listing on VRBO and had purchased the yearly subsciption at $500 We changed our mind and switched to the pay per booking. We were told we would get a full refund as it was under the 14 days. 2 weeks later and no refund. Had multiple chats with support and they are claiming that there is some sort of technical issue with my refund. Every chat has similar language: 'is it ok if I put you on hold for 2 minutes while I check on your case' or 'I would love to help you take care of this today'.
All empty words. This company is some sort of scam. Really disapointing.

Booked a cabin on 3/26/20 for daughters honeymoon on 10/2. Contacted host 9/22, host says cabin no longer for rent. Air bnb knows nothing about this, then tells me I have to contact host and get them to cancel or no refund! Airbnb does nothing. I find a replacement cabin for more money but its the only choice or no honeymoon. I book it but ask Airbnb to compensate and they refuse. They keep texting and asking if they can help but only give apologies and sweet statements but no help. After 4th day they offer a credit on my NEXT booking. NO, I will not book with them again as they did NOTHING. I say put the credit on this booking but "Oh, we are soooo sorry this happened to you but we cant do that." Deeds not words.

I would like to express my utter disbelief with VRBO right now.
I was looking for a rental for a time frame approximately a year away. It is for a big golf tourney.
I found a rental 27 miles from course that was in my price range.
I put in a request for the property along with a trip explanation which was requested. I was honest about why we were coming to that location.
I got denied with NO explanation why.
I thought it was strange but went back on to look at other properties. As I was looking, appropriately 4 hours later, I noticed the rental I was denied was still available but price had went up to 750 PER NIGHT.
All properties had tripled in price.
I was so mad. That is the worst type of greed from the company.
I sent a message but of course they won't respond.
I have used VRBO many times In the past and been fairly pleased but now will NEVER deal with them against.

Had a very pleasant stay at a VRBO property that required a deposit of $350. Left the property in immaculate condition; owner pleased which was reflected in her review of us on VRBO. Called after 2 weeks with no refund and they said they had asked VRBO to release the security deposit. I've called VRBO several times and been given dates when the money would be returned. Never happened. Went directly to owner after 7 weeks and she called VRBO. Get another case id (3rd one) stating that they were on it and I should see funds in a week to 10 days. I put in a dispute with my cc company and they advised yesterday that it was resolved but still don't see a credit for $350. Beware! VRBO is holding onto every dime they can get away with. Will never book through them again.

We booked a house in downtown Memphis for April 2020. Within a week of booking it and paying in full, the listing disappeared. I have used VRBO many times and the listing can always be found again using my initial link. We did not think anything of it at first, but then the owner would not respond to queries via email. When the virus hit, we tried to contact him to see if we could reschedule for next year instead. We were not cancelling, we were just rescheduling. Turned out the property was fradulent and VRBO said it was our responsibility, even though they offer the "Book with confidence" assuring us that they have vetted the properties and owners. They would not stand behind their gurantee. They would not refund us our money because they said we were cancelling and there were no refunds. Everytime we call there is a different person and all they do is open the claim again and again. I understand that the virus is causing losses, but they are not even willing to listen.

We booked a property in California, unfortunately the property that we booked had been evacuated as it was surrounded by fire. We had to cancel the weekend we had planned and wanted a full refund as it was not our fault. The company gave me the run around for 2 days and finally contacted the property owner who approved the refund. They said 5-7 business days. It has now been over 2 weeks and still have not received my refund so I decided to call them on about day 10. They give me the run around AGAIN for about 3 days. They then tell me there is no refund issued and they cannot issue one. So basically I'm out of about $400 and there is apparently absolutely nothing that they can do about it. I will NEVER book with this company again.

We made our reservation online, paid for it in full and quickly received a confirming email that was marked paid. It's just a shame that VRBO never booked our cabin with the owner! Two days before we were to arrive we found out that we don't have a place to stay and that the place was rented to someone else. All we had is a useless reservation confirmation and a credit card bill. The only good thing was that the owner of the property was able to get our money back.