The overall reputation of the company reflects significant dissatisfaction among customers, particularly regarding its customer service and reliability. Many users report frustrating experiences with delayed refunds, poor communication, and unhelpful support staff. Complaints about properties not matching descriptions or being in unacceptable conditions are prevalent, leading to a loss of trust. While a few customers express occasional satisfaction with specific transactions, the overwhelming sentiment leans towards a lack of accountability and professionalism. This has resulted in a growing number of users opting for alternative platforms, indicating a critical need for improvement in service quality and responsiveness.
This summary is generated by AI, based on text from customer reviews
I paid the deposit as instructed, and stated no where on the papers that were emailed to me that they would charge (VRBO-Home Away) a additional $84.00 until it showed up on my Credit Card.
WILL NEVER GO THROUGH THIS SITE AGAIN.
I've rented our two vacation homes ourselves for more than a decade. One is on Bald Head Island. An island with no bridge - only ferry. Last year they changed the search engine so if a vacationer puts in bald head island they get ten pages of homes on the mainland before they get to our listing on the island. I guess they think the ferry service is good enough. VRBO is a greedy terrible customer service business that has increased their cost to owners to list while substantially decreasing service and now charge vacationers too. They took my money and ran - don't let them take your's. If these guys owned CarFax they would be charging buyers a percentage of the sale price to look at the reports. Greedy!
Numbers don't lie. VRBO you should listen to what customers are saying. The demise of your business is forthcoming if you continue doing what you are doing to both the owners and the renters. Anticipate a lot of owners will leave your "service" and a lot of renters will be looking on other sites. The latest ratings for VRBO - tell the story.
Rating Distribution
5 stars... 38
4 stars... 21
3 stars... 13
2 stars... 39
1 star... 438
VRBO used to be our go to site for vacation rentals and we have had three or four great stays and I have just booked another in Florida. However, while perusing properties in the Carolinas, I noticed that many had fees added (service fees of up to $89) and that with taxes, cleaning and sometimes other miscellaneous charges the price would be much more than originally stated. Also "average" nightly price would be many times that once you put your dates in. Not all property owners were guilty of a laundry list of fees and variable rates but many were.
I read elsewhere that VRBO was sold to Expedia and has changed their business model. Significantly, VRBO (includes Homeaway) etc has to compete with Airbnb which charges property owners less and passes costs to the consumer/renter.
VRBO needs to go back to its roots.
1. VRBO fees are just horrendous- I've listed my house on VRBO and AIRBnB and it's 10% vs. 3% so for the same time period my house was rented VRBO charged my 300$ vs AirBnb's 95$.
Same for the Travelers/guests- AIRBnb charges 3 x less!
2. VRBO's calculations that I get as the owner are so convoluted and confusing and nothing adds up, that I am sure it is done on purpose to confuse owners, as you would have to call VRBO every time to have it explained to you.
I'm sure they want the fees to appear very 'professional' with many fancy words that actually mean nothing, it's a way to justify outrageous charges!
3. LACK OF SECURITY FOR OWNERS- the number FAKE requests and scam requests I get from the VRBO website (mainly from UK) is around 60-70% of all requests!
VRBO can implement a very simple procedure to verify the guests but they will not- I actually asked them about it as you have to waste time investigating the guests yourself all the time, and VRBO replied " We just want your business(money), we are not here to protect you, you have to do that yourself'!
I actually have this in writing when they emailed me back!
(AirBnb has a very simple method- phone # verification by the system, and a VISIBLE to owner guest's profile with a picture and any previous reviews, and a short bio. Works like a charm)
***I HAVE NEVER gotten even 1 fake request from AirBnb, but about 25 from VRBO in this past year! ****
I have a couple of guests booked from VRBO for this year (80 % of guests are coming from AirBnb anyway) so after that i will be cancelling my account with them. I hope their abhorrent business practices will be their demise.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND AIRBNB, actually customer friendly, inexpensive, great service, great website, just a fantastic experience!
Sylvie,
Canada
I can't even put everything that happened into a nutshell review. The thing that made me most angry was that they kept my $300 for nearly a month after the owner released the refund. Also, terrible customer service... spoke to a man named Joey, unsure if that's really his name as he had a thick accent I could barely understand, and he gave me a disconnected phone number to reach out to for looking into my refund. I'm going to stick with airbnb from here on out since they have great policies and customer service.
We need to stand together, and not renew our listings.
I will not be renewing my VRBO listing...
We have 3 bed and breakfast in Greece. We pay many advertisements every year. This is the first time, that I pay for a hole year, and the advertisement get not live. Although I have sent an email that everything was ready. Also, I did not get an invoice. After a year, they charged me again for the same advertisement! The one that is not live. I try to call them but nobody answers. I sent many emails and finally a lady calls me to tell me that they will refund the resent payment. Perfect! What about last years payment?
I have listed my vacation rentals for years on VRBO, but they have totally changed since they were bought by Expedia. In addition to charging me for my listing, they started also charging guests to book through them. When I offered guests alternative booking options, they cancelled all of my listings without notice and left me without any way to communicate with guests. Unbelievably bad customer service as well. When I called to find out why my listing was cancelled, the rep told me to "read my emails", when I asked what could be done about this they said I could "send an email" but he advised they have no obligation to respond. When I asked about a refund for the $2000+ paid to list my properties, they said I wouldn't be getting one. When I asked who I could escalate the matter to - they gave me the EMAIL address for their legal department, but advised they would only respond if I hired an attorney.
My advice to guests looking to use their sites: Homeaway, VRBO among others is to find an alternative. Their rental guarantee is meaningless as is their trip/travel insurance. I have dealt with many guests who have been cheated on both fronts. The rental guarantee is simply a ploy so they can collect their "Service Fee".
I am an owner of a total of 9 vacation rentals and have nothing good to say about VRBO. We used to get all our guests through the site but now that they got bought by Expedia their customer service is awful and all they want is your money. They charge us more than $500USD per listing per year PLUS charge the guests a service fee PLUS charge the owners for the credit card processing. Seriously this is just rude. They even monitor all messages sent between guests and owners. That's just too much. Tip: Look up your vacation rental property on VRBO and then try to contact the owners directly. You safe the service fee and receive way better customer service!
Just booked a rental in Hilton Head as I do every year. Noticed an additional $399 charge on my credit card for bcoking through VRBO. Called the number on my statement to inquire about this charge. Nobody spoke English and the call was disconnected twice. DO NOT use VRBO. This is a scam. Use a reputable rental agency- preferably a local company.
... but their imposition of significant additional fees has priced rental owners out of the market. I am not a rental owner, but a renter... but their business model has screwed both of us.
No accountability from property owners, awful customer service representatives who just try and point the finger back at the traveler. I am out $1000 and will NEVER book with them again. AWFUL
We found a nice property thru VRBO website & booked a reservation that listed an itemized list of the charges.
When we received our credit card bill, there was a mysterious additional charge of $100 that was never presented during the booking process. When I called to question the charge, they told me the charge was for booking thru their website. Never received any notice about it or detail of the charge until i complained. They were rude in addressing my concern & acted like it was too bad for me because i should have known. Watch out for hidden fees - i will never book thru VRBO again!
VRBO/HomeAway/Airbnb web site runs rampant with fraud and scams. The VRBO/HomeAway/Airbnb web site is nothing more than a marketplace for scammers. Property owners pay yearly fees to list properties. That is this web site's bread & butter. There is zero incentive for them to protect and assist renters... and they don't. I've been scammed out of $4000 and VRBO's response was contact your credit card company for a charge back reimbursement. They take no responsibility for fraudulent owners and property managers on their site where they claim to "verify" property owners. In 5 minutes of my own detective work I was able to verify actual property owners on the two rentals I was dealing with through the San Francisco Tax Assessor's Office! What does this tell you? VRBO doesn't take even 5 minutes to verify property owners which leaves renters wide open to scams. I've been going round and round with their Theft & Security Division which should tell you another thing... if they have a Theft & Security Division they know there are tons of scammers on their web site. In any case, the Theft & Security Division have been unhelpful through this process. I am in the process of contacting attorneys and anyone interested in sharing your experiences is free to contact me at *******@outlook.com
Prospective renters: Do yourself a big favor and go through a reputable realtor for your vacation rentals in whatever area you choose to vacation.
VRBO is charging home owners and travelers service fees now and the customer service is constantly getting worse. The representatives have recently given me incorrect information several times and and the wait time for any help at all has gotten absolutely ridiculous. I will be pulling my property out from their management very soon! Poor customer service reps + no training will = $0 For VRBO
VRBO new "best match '" has tanked my rentals. St Pete beach shows over 6000 rentals available/ in reality that equals all rentals as far away from st Pete beach as 50 miles and an hour plus drive / confusing to guest and costing the home owner dollars / if it was a zip code search engine driven like befor it would be more realistic. No one wants to thumb thru thousands of rentals to find themselves booked an hour away from there original destination. Is there a better rental option? Trip advisor is up to 18 percent commission. VRBO used to be the best.
They will now charge $599.00 to homeowners who advertise their property with VRBO. If you do not allow them to manage the money your potential renters pay. They want to control all bookings so they can charge an additional fee to the your renters. I believe its an additional 10%. Beware all renters. Google potential home to find out who owner is and contact them directly. You will pay through the nose using VRBO.
Have been VRBO and VacationRentals client with up to 6 listings a piece for 12 years. Initially the service was good: basically an introductions service between potential guests and me. I could speak to the clients before renting to make sure that the property was compatible with their needs and answer any questions they had about policies and money. Now that homeaway has eliminated all competition by buying up all the online vacation rental website except Airbnb and become a monopoly it is just awful. They charge my clients additional fees, do not show my listing in search results even though i pay a fee for just that service, print scary warnings over my listing because i refuse to use their insta-book system which is costly both for me and my client and dies not allow a vetting of my renter. Their rate system is not flexible to my needs and often they have shown a rate that is incorrect online to potential clients. Teh customer service is abysmal. The price goes up up up and the business model is totally different than what it started out to be. Why wont somebody start a reasonable priced website like the way vrbo originally was! I'd sign up in a second. I recommend we all cancel subscriptions and explain why.
VRBO is a business and they do want money. I have two listings and I have been treated fairly.
*******@natureday.com
Answer: There are many problems with listing with VRBO/HomeAway. The 1st is that it is the largest company of it's size. While that may mean that you get more exposure, you also have more competition for getting your listing seen. For example, your listing could be # 300 out of 2,000. Most people don't want to search that far to find what they want because they can usually find something else sooner. In order to get a higher listing, you must pay more. I pay the highest rates they have for my properties in TN # 191351, 189535, & 289723, i. E. over $1,500 each. Listing position is also based on a number of criteria which they mandate. We have no control over some of those criteria. For example, listing position is based on whether or not guests USE VRBO/HomeAway on line booking. Initially,. VRBO/HomeAway required that we OFFER on line booking in order to maximize our listing position, so I offered it. VRBO/HomeAway then changed their criteria & now guests must USE on line booking in order or my listing position drops. I have no control over whether or not they USE VRBO/HomeAway & I don't recommend it for several reasons (more on that if you're interested). Listing positions are also determined by the number & quality of reviews. Again, I have no control over whether or not someone writes a review nor how they rate a property. What may be a 5 Star for someone may only be a 3 Star for someone else, but I'm at their mercy to provide a review & to rate it well. There are many other factors that go into listing position. As I said, I try to maximize what I can & If I'm luck, my property will be listed around 50/200. I get much better response from FlipKey by TripAdvisor. As I mentioned, I pay VRBO/HomeAway over $1,500 for each property. I Pay FlipKey by TripAdvisor about $450/property for #'s 6588094, 2386143, & 3746421 & get much better results. The problem with FlipKey is that it's hard for someone to search for a specific property using the property #.
Answer: VRBO will not help anymore with anything. Homeaway bought them and there is no personal contact with owners anymore until they pay through the site. I don't know about negative reviews. Never see any. If there was a way to avoid VRBO and Someway I would do it; but they have the corner on the VACA rental market now.
Answer: I have the same problem. I don't think they have any.
Answer: Vrbo will NOT get involved in any way. They will not arbitrate on anyone's behalf. They are strictly an advertising website. Carefree travel insurance & all the other stuff is just to make renters feel more comfortable to rent. They hardly ever pay out if there is a real problem. You can sue in small claims court, in the city & state you rented in. The only defense you have is if you paid with a credit card to do a charge back, & even then its hard. You have to have documentation to prove you case. However, vrbo won't contest the chargeback if you can get your credit cad company to work with you. Best to leave a review that warns other renters to stay away. But vrbo approves the reviews before they are posted.
Answer: I have spoken with them so many times yesterday and today with no fix my problem. The number is 1-877-228-3145. I wish you better luck than I have had.
Answer: Absolutely nothing! Every change they make results in their making more money and owners making less. My bookings are down drastically. I would not sign up with VRBO.
Answer: Go with the standard listing if you have already paid. If not save your money and try homeescape.com. Homeaway/VRBO rolled out a new 9% service fee charged to your customers in addition to what you're already paying for. They did this without any warning to their customers. I found out after one of my repeat guests questioned the charge. I'm moving away from them and going with other options.
Answer: A: NEVER, EVER DEAL WITH ANY OWNERS OR PROPERTY MANAGERS THAT YOU HAVENT SPOKEN TO DIRECTLY. NEVER use any form of payment other than credit card. All CC's would refund you the money if you don't get the services. If they don't accept cards or allow payment through Homeaway, FIND ANOTHER PROPERTY OWNER WHO WILL or be prepared to take the chance. READ all reviews, if they don't have any you ARE taking a chance it's a scam or a dump (or a new property but be careful. NEVER make a large deposit EVER! VRBO has turned out to be reliable for us, never used Flipkey and AirBnB wouldn't use it - I want a large property not a room room share
Answer: Try airbnb to rent part of your home
Answer: Same issue for us. The house we rented had glowing reviews and when I tried to post an honest review it still has not been posted.
VRBO provides vacation rental listings by owner in the US and around the world.