VRBOReviews 1,999

VRBO's new policy of not giving owners any information on potential renters prevents us from making decisions about our homes. I have never rented our home to anyone without talking with them on the phone and just feeling out the conversation. Our vacation home is very precious to us to be able to talk with potential renters on the phone to make a decision that could potentially put us at risk of losing thousands of dollars. It is also a bad decision for the renters who used to be able to ask any questions they liked when I called them before giving them the okay to book. I would never even rent a home without talking to the owners or property manager. Needless to say I will not be renewing with VRBO and will be finding another option. VRBO WAKE UP AND SEE ALL THE COMPLAINTS!. I WOULD GIVE YOU A ZERO IF I COULD!

I have had a VRBO listing now since 2013 and back then - before Expedia - all was going well - we took payments from guests directly for their reservation and we handled everything in our own system. I used to do the Platinum subscription but now everyone is the same subscription price and I use Online Booking - so guests can choose to book through VRBO - or they used to be able to choose. Now there is no choice!

Slowly but surely VRBO has crept into posing as the property owner - from the annoying Hospitality App which I don't need to use because I communicate with my guests on my own and give them all information they will need. I do NOT need an app. I tried to turn it off but then VRBO would send pester messages to guest against my wishes for them to use the app - and if I had not filled in the info it looked bad on me. So I was FORCED to fill in the basic information in the stupid Hospitality App and the poor guest is assaulted by tons of messages from VRBO.

Now, this week, they screwed up a payment for a reservation and it is being worked on - God only knows how long it will take them to fix their glitch. I have a property coming up for renewal shortly. I am pretty sure I will NOT be paying for another subscription and I am not even sure if I will do Pay Per Booking. I might just let it expire and put my focus into other advertising platforms.

VRBO has become bad for travelers as well as owners. STAY AWAY - Use TripAdvisor, FlipKey, Airbnb instead

If 0 stars was an option, I would have chosen that for my rating of VRBO! Their latest policy change to not allow owners to connect with potential renters prior to booking makes them useless to me. I screen my renters to make sure they will be. Responsible guests. I also screen them to make sure that our property is a good vacation fit for the renters' vacation. I want to make sure both the renter and myself, the owner, have a good experience! VRBO with their cookie cutter computer responses and their lack of knowledge of a particular property and vacation venue can not do any of the detailed, in person communication that results in a good experience for all parties. Initially, VRBO was a platform to connect owners with potential renters. It worked well in this role and as an owner I was willing to pay for this service. They are NOT CAPABLE of being property managers! The Tourism Board in our area recently sent a letter urging all owners who rent to contact by phone any potential renters as a precautionary move because of an increase in scams. VRBO's policy change that has VRBO completing handling a booking prior to an owner being allowed to contact the renter precludes this from happening. VRBO does not own and has no financial investment in MY property! They are overstepping their role when they try to be property managers. THIS CURRENT POLICY CHANGE WILL LEAD TO MORE PROBLEMS FOR BOTH OWNERS AND RENTERS!

VRBO's new policy of not giving owners any information on potential renters prevents us from making decisions about our homes. Our vacation home is worth over half a million dollars, I need to be able to talk with potential renters on the phone to make a decision that could potentially put us at risk of losing thousands of dollars. It is also a bad decision for the renters who used to be able to ask any questions they liked when I called them before giving them the okay to book. Needless to say I will not be renewing with VRBO and will be finding another option.

That is over\, after Google have a monopol in search, push own products over their search engine in compare to others, European commission has charge google over 2 billions, to remove that algoritam, now we have in Travel industry monopol by Expedia, owner of VRBO, Homeaway and other 20+ top sites, where you can not avoid them as they are always with Tripadvisor and their sister companies always in top for main keywords.

We must do something at least over European Union and make lawsuit against all of them.

It can not be right that who pays more, is at google first. Monopol is in our life. Including cookies that are in basis SPYING us and offer to us their products taht we should buy.

Lawsuit must be as it is illegal. Small business and middle businesses have no chance to rent properties if they go on alone.

There is not legal that there is some 2 companies with some 100 sister companies to rule of multi billion business of accommodation rentals. It must stop.

I have had properties on VRBO for 5 years. I sold 2 and purchased another which I added to the site in May. My first guest paid on 6/2. VRBO/Yapstone tried to deposit payment in a non-existent account. I have had the same bank info for 5 years. They forced me to fill out a change document even though there was no change. They are still holding MY money. I have called most everyday and they tell me to be calm and just wait a few more days. I am trying to run a business!

VRBO has taken it upon themselves to control my property! We have used VRBO for many years to advertise our property and have become very dissatisfied with them this year. Not only have they more than doubled their rates to advertise with them, they are now charging ridiculous fees to the traveler and have hidden their email addresses and phone numbers until they have booked. There is no way to screen or communicate with the renter ahead of time! THEY send out the emails stating the property is available and that they are preapproved and THEN THEY send out a payment request before the renter has even agreed to take the property. If the renter has not paid within ONE day, they send them another correspondence telling them they are now 1 day late on payment! Then when I tried to put my email address and phone number in the email to the potential renter, VRBO blocked both. This is all done in an attempt to secure their fees. I don't remember hiring VRBO as my property manager! We won't be renewing next year.

At one time, VRBO was one of the best online travel site for vacation homes, both for owners and travelers. Since their purchase by Expedia a few years ago, they have now become one of the worst online travel sites for both the owners and for travelers due to their added cost factors. They have now decided that they want easier bookings without any communication between the traveler and the owner. And they are now requiring travelers to pay a "travelers service fee" which only benefits VRBO's pocket. They have the worst customer service now and they offer nothing but smoke and mirrors in their advertising tactics claiming they want to be the number one online travel site for travelers. If you find a place on VRBO or their parent company, HomeAway, find it somewhere else. It will be cheaper and easier for travelers. I promise. They are not worth it.

Since being taken over by EXGREDIA (Expedia) in 2016. It has all gone downhill. Hopefully all travelers will learn the truth behind the new "traveler service fee" that Exgredia started tacking on to all rentals... up to 15%! And what service do they provide you ask... well NONE! Zip, nada.

VRBO/Homeaway service reps in Uganda or Panama aren't going to be there when the A/C goes out or you as a traveler get locked out... the OWNER is. So why pay them extra for nothing? They sell it to travelers are this is for their protection. Ha ha. They don't do anything to protect owners or travelers. The $ is because it wasn't enough to just charge owners to list their properties and charge owners for processing payments. They got greedy and wanted to start digging into the travelers pockets.

VRBO/HA now hide owner and traveler phone / email information. Who is this helping? Just Exgredia... so travelers can't get any info. As to whether there's another alternate way to book the property that Doesn't charge additional bogus fees.

If you're reading this... do yourself a favor and book through the owners direct website, their Facebook page or Homeescape or ECBYO (if looking for an Emerald Coast property)... Those venues will save you the traveler service fee! Lets show these bullies we're not going to lay down and take them being greedy!

I have been with them for 6 years. Had always been frustrating to say the least, contacting them for help, very long phone waits etc. But THIS NEW POLICY TAKES THE CAKE! I had always phoned or emailed prospective tenants and they also booked directing through me.
No problem! Now, VRBO actually DELETE the phone numbers and email addresses on the emails which can only go through their site! IS IT NOT ILLEGAL TO TAMPER WITH EMAILS? AND ALL BOOKINGS HAVE TO BE DONE THROUGH THEM, SO THEY CAN CHARGE EXTRA FEES TO THE TENANT.
THEY TELL ME; anything from 5% - 12%! On what do they base the charges, and the rate amount? They say its "based on an algorithm" What?
So the tenant has to actually book, pay them etc etc. before they let you have their phone or email numbers? THIS IS CRAZY. And from what I am reading here, that can go horribly wrong as well, especially if something has to be canceled etc. There are many questions, back and forwards, not only for the owner but to protect the tenant who needs to know certain information... now everything has to go through THEIR SITE and its obviously monitored through them, who are checking everything they say, and DELETING pertinent information. Now it all takes longer, by the time these emails go back and forth through them, and we could be losing potential business!
I have spoken to their "resolution dept", Joel, who had his spiel down pat, and I got nowhere with him! That is the new "law" for VRBO, and I got nowhere with him!
I asked for the email and/or phone # of their President/CEO... they are not allowed to give either out. Surprise, surprise! I could write to him via snail mail!
Is there a legal mind out there reading this? Is it illegal to tamper with an email?
Also, if you have any ideas as to finding an alternative source so that I (and many others, I presume)could find tenants for their property, it would be good to know that. If VRBO start to lose their clients, perhaps they will re-think this.

As I stated in my first review I purchased my condo in March. Since March 22,2017 I have been on the telephone with customer service or tech support (no support) over 100 times. I booked a rental through VBRO before they started hiding information, I accepted and so did the guest. VBRO charged the guest not once but twice their fee. Then they turned around and canceled the reservation. I call supposely the HEAD TECH man, he guaranteed me he could fix it - 2 hours later it was canceled again. I booked all of the year out until the first 3 weeks in Dec. Less than 10 came through VBRO, most of them were word of mouth, friends, family, and people seeing the pictures and description on Facebook.
I have a wonderful couple from Indiana - Jan through March. I meet them in the elevator at the complex, they saw the unit and immediately rented it.
VBRO was supposed to be an advertising site, that sent the inquiries to the owners or property managers. Homeaway, Expedia and some others have take over VBRO - now they want automatic online booking, and payments through a site of theirs. They are hiding emails and telephone numbers of both guest and owners. I only rent to someone that I am able to talk to in person or on the phone.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY ON VBRO
Deborah