VRBOReviews 1,999

We used to use VRBO, and then later VRBO/HomeAway to list our second home on the vacation rental market. That was a few years ago, and even back then they were getting a bit intrusive. Now, we are looking to rent our new second home, and there is no way we will EVER use HomeAway or VRBO. They have managed to damage the whole concept of renting one's second home. Really? Holding onto payments/deposits, charging travelers hidden exorbitant booking fees, all for what? Just being a go-between for property owners and nice families who want to travel without hotels.

The only way for this to change is to stop using them. Stop paying them. It will hurt us for a little while (or not hurt us at all, according to many of these posts), but let's support FlipKey, HomeEscape.com, Airbnb, and anything, ANYTHING, other than Expedia/HomeAway/VRBO. If we keep supporting their business model, they will win. They will stamp out the joy of renting a private home. And keep in mind Expedia bought HomeAway/VRBO for 3.9 BILLION. That is to be earned from all of us. Sickening.

Looked at my listing today and it said 'not currently bookable'. When I spoke with CS, he was very rude and basically said that they were not making money off my listing and when I purchase a subscription, they'll relist me. Last year, I had a subscription and got a little over 40 days. This year, doing pay/booking and have 80 days booked for the year. These people are unbelievable. Luckily, I do not depend solely on them to get my listing booked. I know these 80 days will be easily booked through other sites so needless to say, I will not be getting a new subscription. It's too bad that they are so greedy and don't appreciate the customers that create their business. I hope no one allows themselves to be bullied into paying for this horrible service.

My husband and I had never stayed in a bed & breakfast inn before, so for our 41st wedding anniversary we decided to make an overnight trip to Lancaster County, PA. For our first-time experience staying at a bed & breakfast, we were delighted with how wonderful the Boxwood Inn Bed & Breakfast turned out to be. The setting is an immaculately-kept large home that was built in 1768, before the U.S. was even a country. Surrounded by trees and a large yard, one would hardly know they were on the edge of town with traffic whizzing by. Even though we were only there to sleep and eat breakfast, we commented that it would be a wonderful place to just camp out while sitting in the rocking chairs on the front porch, reclining on a sofa on the large enclosed back porch, or sitting outside at a table on the stone patio. Idyllic would be a good word to describe it. Our host, Greg, was most gracious and accommodating with a servant's heart. He cooked a hearty and tasty breakfast, and upon our request, sat down with us to chat while we ate. Upon learning of a very recent sorrowful event in his life, we were in awe of what a selfless man Greg truly is and how he is one who looks to the interests of others even before his own. I can not say enough good things about our brief stay at the Boxwood Inn Bed & Breakfast. I would most enthusiastically recommend it to anyone.
Karen McCurdy

VRBO/HomeAway and its many subsidiaries and associates provide an advertising forum for renters of holiday apartments and the like. The problem arises when there is a dispute either with VRBO/HomeAway itself or with an owner or renter. You can expect ZERO cooperation. HomeAway will cite its Terms & Conditions to insulate itself from claims for fraud, injury -- even the murder of a renter or owner. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad if all VRBO/HomeAway did was collect an annual fee of $400-$1000 or so. But now they get 6-8%, maybe more, of the rent "in exchange for security". But there is no security. HomeAway is not outpaced, and its competitors provide better (though not iron-clad) guarantees. We were just in court against HomeAway and, as expected, we lost: they flooded the judge with names of affiliate companies, alleging that maybe one of the others was liable, or maybe not. A rotten company to do business with: stay away.

Hello,

Long time VRBO homeowner here - property #*******.

I've spent a little over 2.5 hours discussing with your "resolution team" the fact that for 7 years my Silver Mill Keystone condo was listed under Silver Mill's address along with all the other properties located at 140 Ida Belle Drive. Today, however, it is no longer listed there with the other 17 2-bedroom units who have also been listed there for the past 7 years.

Something drastic has changed causing my property -- and only my property -- to not be seen right along with all other units in Silver Mill.

VRBO support have suggested that there's no way to include my unit at it's stated and physical address (like the other 17 Silver Mill units with whom I compete). One agent hung up on me when I asked if remedying this issue required an act of Congress or legal action.

I find this treatment and explanation troubling to say the least.

Rather than correct this location flaw in their system, they would prefer -- indeed fight to sustain -- my listing in "Dillon, CO" which is 10 miles away from the physical address listed.

I'm baffled by their support team's resistance to correct the information and search results. When a company becomes so rigid that they reject basic facts and logic, it's probably time to move on.

I've asked three times for a call from someone at VRBO who has a deep understanding of their search system and who can explain precisely why they have no desire to list my property where it is physically located, a seemingly defenseless argument. No managers are apparently interested in this unwinnable argument.

This flaw in search (which has arisen only recently) is killing our reservations; our repeat customers have contacted us by phone indicating they thought we had removed our property from the rental program. That's how bad our specific findability issue is.

Any have any recommendations for a better service.

Bill & Sheryl French
Silver Mill 8210, https://www.vrbo.com/*******

The folks at VRBO are as dumb as dirt. Despite being told that I had closed the credit card which I used to pay my refundable security deposit, they refunded the money to a closed account. Their response? Speak to your bank. What bank -- the flipping account is closed?!? They've made their stupid "rules" (they're very big on repeating themselves) my problem. I will NEVER use them again -- they don't have two thoughts to rub together and they're as customer unfriendly as it gets.

After booking a great accommodation with VRBO, we then booked another place which was totally unsatisfactory for my 23 yr old son and myself (mother) whilst visiting Vancouver. We were expected to share a small room (after the house had been advertised as a five bedroomed and also share space with owners young children. Needless to stay we did not stay there and informed VRBO immediately. They have been totally unhelpful in returning our money despite having a 'book with confidence guarantee', each time we have made contact they have given us the run around, passing us onto different people each call. This has been a very upsetting end to a terrific holiday in Canada

I hate vrbo, if you are a landlord don't advertise here please, I wasted lots of money, their rules are awful and screw us over. Hate vrbo, hate it!
They have this crap review system that allows costumer to give bad reviews and costumers use this against landlord to get crap for free and vrbo doenst care, they just want your money, go to a different website, don't advertise here, I willl not renew my add I wish I could know how bad they are before wasting lots of money and just getting dishonest costumers that wants free stay if not they will give me a bad review because vrbo allow them to act like a idiots. I HATE VRBO SO BAD, I WANT THIS COMPANY TO GO OUT OF BUSINESS, LANDLORD PLEASE BE AWARE DON'T ADVERTISE HERE.

I've been a loyal customer of VRBO for nearly 17 years. I can tell you that before its buyout by HomeAway and subsequently Expedia, this was an exceptional company. However, it is no longer the same company. What was formerly an annual fee of less than $100 is now over $1000. And what am I paying for? A page filled with ads from other vendors, marketing of an absolutely useless and very expensive "Vacation Protection" that covers "accidental damage", 3+% credit card transaction fees, heavy pressure for instant booking in which the property owner has little opportunity to weed out potentially bad guests, and now and outrageous 9+% "service fee" imposed on the traveler! What does that get the traveler? According to VRBO, a "Book with Confidence Guarantee", a misleading title that implies the traveler receives a benefit. In reality it just lines the pockets of Expedia shareholders in addition to paying for search engine placement, ensuring their virtual monopoly on the market.

What does the service fee provide me? Lengthy inquiries to my expensive ad that ultimately result in the following types of responses from potential guests:

"Thank you for your prompt reply, Eric. However upon further consideration with my husband we've realized the service fee is over 10% of the cost of the visit and we don't want to pay that. We could use that money towards an extra night elsewhere, which is probably not your fault but just our perspective of things. Thank you anyway, I will have to figure something else out. Sorry for any inconvenience."

So I am the one who takes the financial risk in purchasing a vacation home, putting many years of effort, money and physical labor into it so it can be the best it can be, and struggle to price it competitively in the market, and Expedia makes the profit off my work. Multiplied by hundreds of thousands of similar property owners, Expedia is making billions off of this service fee.

Do yourself a favor and advertise or search for a vacation home on sites such as homeescape dot com that do not charge travelers or owners fees.

I was attempting to plan a birthday weekend for my wife, she is turning 60, and I was attempting to rent a home in Inverness Ca. I sent an email to Wildwood in Inverness. I asked that any and all communication take place via text, as this is a surprise. A few days later I received an email stating my request was declined, unfortunately my wife read the message first. I sent an email to Wildwood informing of this breach of secrecy. The response back was completely unprofessional stating that it wasn't my fault you used a shared email. No remorse for the message being not being sent to my phone. No reason for the decline, there was availability on the vrbo site at the time of request, the only reason I can think of is they didn't want a party at their location. Isn't that what a security deposit is for? We were planning on having 8 professional people to have dinner and celebrate this special time. I wouldn't consider renting from listing #******* on vrbo.

We have been using VRBO for over 5 years with great results. They used to be great to work with and helpful when anything would arise. Now they are rude, argumentative, and it takes days or weeks to resolve problems. They also charge renters a "service charge" on top of the credit card processing fee that they receive for no service. We will be switching to airbnb.com and any other listing service we can find - it has to be better than what VRBO has become!

Review #******* Beaches, Boats & Blue Water! Some winter weeks still available: Seas the Moment!

False Advertising

I originally tried to rent this place according to what I thought was the minimum stay of 5 nights according to the VRBO listing. I received an email from the property manager stating the minimum stay for that time was 10 nights. I looked at the VRBO listing again and noticed more notes near the bottom that stated the minimum stay was 7 nights. I revised my request to accommodate the advertised listing and resubmitted the request. I received another email from * reiterating the 10 night minimum and to please call her. I called and another woman answered the phone. She advised the minimum stay was 10 nights. I told her the advertised listing was for 7 nights and that I had rearranged my travel plans to accommodate. She was not interested in doing the right thing. She told me she was not going to do anything to make this right. I would recommend against dealing with dishonest people.

Reviewer location
Sneads Ferry, NC

*
Scott can you call me we do have availability for your dates but have a 10 night minimum.

Warm regards,

*

I called VRBO several times and they basically said, we don't care. I am done with VRBO.

*Personal information redacted by admin.

Northern Lights Bed and Breakfast in Hendersonville/Flat Rock, NC ******* was absolutely a wonderful place to get away and be pampered by the owners. This was our first B&B experience but it will not be our last. The home was beautiful, sparkling clean and the owners treated us like family... and served delicious breakfasts. We are currently trying to get together with friends and go back to enjoy the Fall beauty. $#*! & Dot Hipp

I rented a condo in Mammoth Lakes CA in July of 2016. I started with VRBO. They turned me over to Mammoth Reservation Bureau who handled the reservation workload through my arrival. I was charged $35 reservation processing fee by the Bureau and $37.80 fee by VRBO (Homeaway). All this for a $573.40 3-night condo rental including travel insurance. I figure that's 12.7% in reservation fees. The Bureau worked for their fee, while the VRBO only provided a search engine to find an acceptable rental. The VRBO fee should have been paid by the condo owner and possibly only a few dollars. If I had a problem, the Bureau would have solved it, not the VRBO.

I have rented upwards of ten properties through VRBO over the last several years. Each experience has been positive with our chosen properties and the owners. I have never written a negative review and have always had responsive owners who dealt with any issues that arose during our stay. I recently rented a property in Magnolia, Texas for my brother's 60th birthday. The property was not as it was advertised, especially the outdoor living space. I called the owner upon arrival and expressed my disappointment. He was extremely offended that his property was being criticized and asked if I wanted a refund (in a very hostile manner). I said "of course not", but I wanted you to know that someone could have bothered to blow the leaves off the patio, clean the pool, clean the bbq grill (which was completely rusted out on top of being filthy). To his credit, he came the next morning and cleaned up and we had no further interaction. I left the house on time in tip top shape, cleaner than when I arrived. I did not write a negative review, because I thought the issue had been satisfactorily resolved between myself and the owner. Low and behold, he reviews ME and claims I didn't follow house rules and didn't communicate. I have no earthly idea what rules I didn't follow and it seems to me he posted the negative review because I communicated too much and hurt his feelings. He offered no explanation, just a one star review. I can't respond to this negative review by the owner and he chooses not to acknowledge my requests for an explanation. So, I'm left looking like a bad customer when I did nothing wrong other than express my disappointment in his property (and I'm not a jerky person, I was very calm and polite the entire time I dealt with this man).