VRBOReviews 1,999

After a terrible experience with VRBO, Homeaway and a host of other websites owned by Expedia, which has become an industry consolidated, I decided to exercise the great American prerogative and try the competition. I decided to try TripAdvisor where I had an equally bad experience and guess what, all these entities are controlled by Barry Diller so I wasn't going to the competition after all. There are only two companies (a duopoly) which now dominate the vacation home rental business. One is Expedia and the other is Airbnb. Of two bad choices Airbnb is the better choice. Since the vacation home rental websites like Expedia are now able to price gouge a vacation home owners rental Co-op would probably be the best solution to what is now a very uncompetitive online marketplace. Managing a Co-op can still be a very lucrative career for an entrepreneur looking for a great niche.

Terrible first time experience, and will never used VRBO again.

We cancelled 2 months prior to our stay, since their policy stated we would get a full refund within that time. The property managers had asked for a $526 deposit when we booked, and there was NO option to book through VRBO- and the property managers had asked us to Paypal us the deposit.
Upon cancelling, property managers refused to return our deposit, and VRBO had told us it's our fault for paying outside of VRBO, even though there was no option to pay within the site. The property listing is still up on VRBO, and the rental managers had no repercussions.
It's a completely irresponsible business with no care or safety for the customer. I'm sure Airbnb would have handled this completely differently. Won't be using VRBO ever again.

We rented the Traveler's Retreat in Tualatin Oregon and had to cancel less than 30 days from arriving since my husband went into the hospital. We stayed at this place last year so the owners knew us. We understand the cancellation policy was strict but the owners were able to rebook so they received double money. We contacted the owner to see if we could get a partial refund or at least some credit and they did not respond. VRBO has a policy that we can not write a review about this on their site since we never officially stayed there this year even though we have stayed there in the past. I think prospective renters should know that the owners of this property were greedy to take our $700 4 months before the check-in date & also charge someone new who stayed there.

I have been a VRBO host for almost a year and not been impressed. Lost payments, no customer service, website slow, the list goes on and on. I have also had mediocre experiences with Airbnb as a host but good ones as a traveler. So this time I decided to try using VRBO as a guest to see what they are like. It was horrible. The place we rented was called Rural Ridge Cottage near Charlottesville VA. When we got there the place was covered in mouse poop and we saw two mice scurry when we walked through the door. Then we noticed the stinkbugs, then the ants and we decide to contact the owners. Their response was it doesn't get used during the week so it's normal to have 'visitors' when you first arrive, but 'they'll go away' Well the place was so disgusting that we couldn't stay there. So far VRBO has been no help and we are out $1000 for the labor day weekend. I am cancelling my listing with VRBO and will never use them again. Airbnb has problems and some hosts have garbage properties but at least they are there to help, unlike VRBO

Im a seasoned vacation rental host and a vacation traveler reading through a significantly high number of recently submitted negative reviews about vrbo.com and I would like to know why there isn't already a huge class-action lawsuit being brought on by all the unhappy and ripped off property owners and managers of properties advertising on this site, as well as the travelers and guests that pay unreasonably high hidden booking and service fees, with all control in the hands of vrbo.com, and very little to no control by the actual property owners? Seriously! Maybe a class-action lawsuit win by owners and travelers, where the deep pockets lose and put some of our money back where it should have gone or stayed in the first place, will stop the madness and we can all get back to hosting and vacationing!

Expedia has purchased Home Away, VRBO and other sites to create a monopoly and force owners and renters alike high fees. Owners pay an annual fee and do not have the option to secure an email or speak to their renter. You will only get their information after you agree, within 24 hours, on the renter and the renter pays an upfront fee which will range from 16 to 8 percent based on the total rental price. The first payment made to the owner carries a 3% fee to process the payment even though it was stated that all monies can be paid via check to the owner with no fee assessment. Don't bother calling customer service as it's non existent and if you do get a person they will tell you that you do not have to re-sign up as there are some that will leave but that there are more who will sign up! So owners snd renters beware!

I too was on a pay per booking then switched to the annual fee so that when a renter pays the funds will flow to me within 24-48 hours. I paid the annual fee - but no change - they hold the money till the renter arrives at the property. They won't change it unless they run a credit report on me... I have listed with this firm for over 10 years - though always was paid direct. I will only go back to that. The site sucks and certainly this payment program does.

I was looking for an apartment or villa in curacao. Lots of properties on VRBO.com. Great! But there are lots of hidden fees. That $88 per night place is really $150 per night. But I decide to go ahead. The first place said they would only rent for 7 days. Too bad they didn't put it on their site. The second place came back with a quote for 50% higher than the online quote because we weren't renting for 7 days. The third place came back with a quote $25 USD higher per night with no explanation. Wasted so much time looking through all the possible properties.

I have used VRBO a lot. Usually as a last minute rental and have had success. Most of owners are easy to work with. At times tho the initial price looks good but then they hit you with tons of fees so look out for this. Also sometimes they will bargain with you especially if it's last minute, although sometimes this seems to insult some of the owners but most are fair about it. I have gotten some great last minute deals through VRBO. Just do your homework.

I booked the rental through VRBO because of that seemingly amazing "Book with Confidence Guarantee". I thought VRBO would act just like e-Bay, and have the neutral judgement and control over the deposit. After many phone calls and emails back and forth, the agent in their Trust and Security team told me "the transaction is between you and the owner". VRBO can do nothing other than sending my complaint to the owner, who obviously doesn't care see the fact one more time and then totally ignores it. In summary, do not expect any protection by renting through VRBO.

My husband and I decided to take a quick get-a-way to Moses Lake for a few days before school started. We took our 3 teenagers and said they all could bring a friend. We purchased lake floaties, junk food, brought bikes and were looking forward to doing nothing at all but lay on the dock play in the water and enjoy a few days of relaxing. The owner of the property texted me the access code to get into the home the morning of check in. My husband and I were traveling separately. I had an appointment in Moses Lake and he was coming later that evening with our 3 teenagers and their friends. When we got to the property their was already a family present. Apparently the property had been double booked. The property owners manager kept saying this isn't our fault. I was surprised because it most certainly wasn't my fault. I had communicated with the owner earlier in the day via text and received the access code to the property as well as good wishes for a fabulous vacation. The property owner did refund 100% of the fees, but continued to promise us she was finding another property for us... Many text messages and waiting. We wasted a good portion of our vacation sitting in a miserable hotel room waiting for a response from the property owner. She eventually texted me what an inconvenience this was for her... Meanwhile we had to buy coolers to put all of our perishable food in and incurred so many additional costs. The sad part about it was she felt I was harassing her when I was inquiring what she was going to do to rectify the situation. Obviously this property owner is not a seasoned business owner and does not understand the meaning of customer service. I am on a mission to make sure anyone who is considering this property proceed with caution. In the event the property owner double books the property you could be stuck in a 2 star hotel with empty promises of finding you a property wasting your vacation time... PROCEED WITH CAUTION...

When VRBO first came out, I used it extensively all over the world. You could communicate with owners, ask questions about anything and the owners were responsive. I just booked a VRBO in Austria and had a problem with the check in. I paid 97 Euros for VRBO service fee for this rental and there was no number to call to contact the owner (owner tel number did not work), there was an email only to VRBO. They sent me a canned response back 24 hours later. NO help when you need to check into a place, now you have to find wifi and write an email to VRBO? Stay away - don't ruin your vacation by thinking you have something booked only to have not support. I am very pleased with Air BNB they still have the right business model.

The fees have risen, which I was willing to accept. Now, they have restricted my account because I had to decline too many booking requests that were outside the guidelines of the properties I rent out. The only way to free up my account is to pay $399 to upgrade my account to premium. I had to spend 1 hour on the phone to get this answer.