VRBOReviews 2,001

I booked a trip to Washington DC for March, which was canceled due to COVID. The owner of the property, SobeNY hasn't only refused to refund me but are now not answering any type of communications. Every one of the multiple conversations I've had with VRBO they only send emails to the owner saying that he should pay me, but Sobe doesn't seem to give a dam!

It's August and the best I got so far were apologies for the inconvenience from the VRBO reps! Inconvenience?! This is plain dishonesty! These people VRBO and SobeNY are taking advantage of the situation to rip off their customers. Be smart, stay away from VRBO. If we don't do business with them they'll crash and burn! We work hard for our money to give it away to thieves!

I have used this resource in the past and had reaonable luck from them. Granted there was nothing out of the ordinary when I did so one would expect that it goes well. Book something, pay for it, travel and enjoy yada yada yada...

Enter 2020 where we had booked another condo in Maui and placed the deposit etc. AS time approached it was obvious that Hawaii gov was not going to remove the 14 day quaratine so we opted to cancel and would just rebook at a later date once things were back to norm. NOT SO FAST...

1st off the pathetic condo owner tells us we should have bought travel insurance so she is keeping our deposit because "she just cant make ends meet when people cancel". So then we call vrbo and ask about a refund. Not a word from these clowns so another $500 deposit wasted.

DO NOT USE This crappy service - book online direct or better yet if you go to Maui use the Ali' resorts; they are a much better service than this garbage. No response gets you the rating you earned...

Booked a trip to Hawaii for April and of course, the pandemic prevented us from going. The owner of the property not only refuses to give us any form of refund, we cannot book at a later date. We are out $2,000.

I have spent MONTHS (March to August) going back and forth with VRBO customer service. I emailed all the executives and actually got a response! I thought maybe we would get something... I was wrong.

VRBO is structured poorly. The owner of each property has all the power here, so VRBO cant (refuses to) intervene with any complaints. I saw a review stating there was a refund issued- that was by the nice owner, not VRBO. Customer service sent the owner messages, asking him to refund us and it never happened. Then, just within the past week, VRBO deleted the owner from their site as a punishment... I'm glad no one else will get screwed by this guy (his name is Ray White and i have seen a lot of bad reviews about him... awesome), but now I have no way to even attempt to communicate with this guy and get our money back.

VRBO customer service was awful to deal with over the phone. Try their messaging system first and then try email. I wasted HOURS of waiting on hold for a manager who doesn't exist. They suggested I call my credit card company to file a claim, we did and then VRBO declined the refund (according to the credit card company). They make you run in circles for no reason. We did get our $149 booking fee back... yay. So, use VRBO at your own risk. They have no intention in assisting you with their property owners or helping to resolve an issue.

This is a $2,000 mistake that I hope you can learn from. Cross posting this everywhere as its the only recourse we have.

Some friends and I stayed at a cabin we rented through VRBO in Welches, OR. And let me tell you, we have been cheated. We originally were going to be 8 visitors, but lost one due to some family matters, yet we are being accused of throwing a party and having more than 8 people stay with us. They also are accusing us of bleaching towels, when we did not even use bleach at all. The home owner and VRBO customer service are forcing us to pay for new towels even though we had nothing to do with it. Customer service is horrible, doesn't even attempt to mediate the situation, instead sides only with the home owner. Worst rental service ever.

Apparently Home Away was bought by VRBO? Not sure, but they are the same company now. This company is a SCAM! Worst experience I have ever had when renting a property. DO NOT BOOK FROM THIS WEBSITE! They do not take responsibility for what owners of the properties are offering through their website. They will come up with every excuse not to refund you your money even though you can prove that the property listed on their ad is not the one you are arriving to. Complete scam on behalf of this company. The address for the property is 6839 Lendell dr, San Antonio TX, *******. Property ID# *******. The Employee that cleans the property is called EVELYN. Again, do not book from this website! We paid over $2600 for 3 nights for this, and we haven't received a dollar back.

Horrible customer service VRBO
I chatted on line to start with and the representative who couldn't even spell or complete a sentence which made it difficult to try and resolve my issue of a damage deposit refund, when reading what they were saying was jiberish.
I would ask a question and get circular responses and they kept wasting my time by asking me if I was still there, not even giving me time to respond, and then just disconnected the chat!
Next I called customer care and they were still unable to assist me.
My wallet was stolen and the card they refunded the damage deposit to is no longer valid. It took a couple weeks for them refund the deposit. No problem, but since I paid for this reservation with 2 cards months in advance I do not know which cards I used and they cannot tell me which card they refunded it to or what happens if it bounces back. I asked if it just keeps bouncing back eternally forever and the representative said yes! REALLY? That's even an answer! They told me to call my card company. Okay which one because due to covid wait time can be 2 hours for each of the 10 cards I have.
They couldn't tell me which card it was sent to and don't have a department, supposedly, that can see that either. Complete waste of time. If life throws you a curve ball and you need any type of professional service related help from customer care. Don't waste your time.
It's unfortunate the owner of the beautiful little house we stayed in used VRBO because we would love to stay there again but if their is one hiccup in your reservation and you have to deal with customer service it's not worth it.

Horrible experience! I've used VRBO before and hadn't had any problems. I booked a rental and the owner went MIA on check in day. The rental was filthy and half of the amenities were gross and inoperable (pool, hot tub, surround sound, etc)! I was livid! We even paid a $2,500 refundable deposit! I contacted VRBO and they told me I had to take it up with the owner first... hello... she's not responding! We cleaned and sanitized the place ourselves and made the most of it. Checked out on time. Called VRBO again to make a complaint, but were told it's best to wait until we receive our deposit. It took us a whole month after check out to get our deposit back! By this time, the window was closed for us to leave a review. So now, these freakin liar/scammers have 5 stars on a property that isn't worth 2 nickels! I'm disgusted and disappointed and hope no one else has this experience moving forward!

I have been doing business with VRBO for 5 years. As long as things are going good and you do not have a problem with a traveler or a reservation and VRBO is taking all their high fees, everything is fine. The minute you have a problem, you can not talk to anyone or get any assistance. Customer Service is a joke because their is no such thing. They pass your problem to another division "Trust & Security". You are not allowed to speak to them and you will receive emails from about a dozen different names, you will answer them with the facts, new names will send you emails telling you that you need to send information that you already send weeks ago. When you call the only people that you can call, Customer Service, they look and see that your information is on your file but will need to be reviewed by "Trust & Security" that takes 24 to 48 hours. Over a month later still no closer to getting a resolution. BUT if a traveler lies and cancels when they are due to pay you they are refunded their money IMMEDIATELY from my account even though there is proof that they cancelled their reservation days before they were scheduled to check in. Last year it took me ONE YEAR to get paid any of my rental money. I had to get my attorney to send a demand letter in order to get paid.

I spent $2300 to not get check in details and no help from VRBO, my vacation was ruined and stayed at home. I was continually asked to wait for a representative to call me, they never did. I was told I would be provided assistance with an alternative property, I was never offered. I was told my case would be looked after and a refund would be given, I was never given a refund. Horrible service, misinformation, spent over 12hrs on hold waiting for answers I never received, never got a call back, never got an update on my case.

I booked a property in Houston, Tx. Due to covid 19, the city went back on lock down. Interrupting our travel plans. Before we can cancel our reservation, the property manager canceled us. Which, in their agreement would entitle us to a full refund and i should of been given an immediate refund. That wasnt the case. From mid June to present day, mid August now I have been going back and forth with vbro/homeaway from home, trying to obtain my refund. Its a circle dealing with any of them. Vbro tells you their not responsible and to contact the property, the property tells you their not responsibile, its one circle after another. Its frustrating and down right drainful. At this point its the principle, you don't scam people out their money. This company changed their name to escape bad reviews and BBA. They need to be turned in, canceled and sued by the millions of other customers I'm sure they scammed. Deleted their app, canceled any other future reservations i had for other trips and made a promise to never do buisness so 6th them again. Run, run & run away fast from this company. They will have you in the phone for countless hours, transferring you from person to pertain, with false promise of valuing back, then disconnect your calls. This company is an entire circus. Don't waste your time.

We attempted to rent a property advertised on vrbo. The date would be two years from now, and the property was listed at half the current rate for that date range, apparently in exchange for renting early and paying ½ up front so far in advance. We repeatedly got an error message - the website wasn't accepting our reservation! We inquired with the property manager, who said that in response to our inquiry, she had "opened up" those dates, and by the way, she had doubled the price!

I recently booked with Vrbo last week for a one night stay in Atlanta. I booked through the app a while ahead of time and the property manager never reached out to me for information on how to check into the apartment. On the day that I was supposed to check in, I called the property owner all day and no response for me to check in. After that I called vrbo customer service to explain what was going on and they told me unprofessional that it is not our fault and that I need to go and stay at a hotel with my own money. I explain to them the situation that the property owner did not send me any information and they insisted that I use my own money and get a hotel. The customer service agent and the supervisor was very rude to me and they did not want to refund my money.

Please do not book with Vrbo.! Please use Airbnb, this was my second issue having to deal with a matter like this.

I booked a vacation house for a week in July 2020 and then needed to either change my dates or cancel my vacation due to COVID recommendations made by the Governor of Oregon as well as the Mayor of Joseph. Kathleen Evans-Rawls the owner refused to give me a credit for a different date. She then went on to tell me if I canceled my dates and she rebooked them she would give me a refund. She stated this to me twice. I then canceled my dates and she was able to rebook them. Win/win right? Not so much. When I asked for the refund she then stated she had a no refund policy (which was addressed numerous times before I agreed to cancel so she could rebook) and she then refused to refund me my $2500. She went on to say how the Covid virus has impacted them financially, as though that justified her going back on her word and not sending me a refund. On the VRBO website every week of July and August were booked solid. And she doubled her money for the 7 nights I booked! The Covid pandemic does not give her the right to commit theft. I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE RENT ANYTHING FROM KATHLEEN EVANS-RAWLS of The Evans Farm in Joseph Oregon. VRBO did nothing for me other than to tell me to contact the owner. SERIOUSLY? I am out $2500! DO NOT USE VRBO. LET'S PUT THEM OUT OF BUSINESS.

Vrbo declined to post my review because it was negative. Rented a log cabin in Sutton that the owner had filled with so much junk and kept my security deposit because we were not out until 9:10 am (after the check out time was changed to 9 am while we were there! Vrbo did not try to help us one bit and then allowed owner to post a bad review for us! On the owners section (who knew!) of Vrbo. The 'chat' on VRBO is totally for show and disconnects you randomly. Beware of reviews that only put positive reviews up. There is just no way, that at least, on our rental that other renters didn't have UN-favorable reviews. The place was a mess. I don't know if Homeaway is in the same class as VRBO because they are both part of the same parent company.
Jack Truesdale