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 for a year subscription to list my home. After a months, I had no more inquiries. I thought there was no interest. After 6 months, I had a friend who wanted to rent, so she looked & couldn't find my listing. Because I had no business, VRBO HID MY LISTING. They contend I was supposed to update my calendar every month. My calendar was wide open. I had nothing to update. Their terms & conditions say nothing about HIDING my listing. They did not notify me or anything. I have lost 7 months of my paid subscription! TERRIBLE BUSINESS PRACTICES!
HomeAway/VRBO has given property owners the shaft with this new service fee and then had the gall to label it has helpful. This is just about corporate greed.
VRBO lets the owner cancel on you 3 days before without any penalty or repercussion for the owner. They'll help you look for a new place but at 3 days before--there's nowhere left to stay. I do not recommend using VRBO unless you don't mind your trip being canceled last minute.
I am a host. Without notice, VRBO has suddenly imposed a large fee on guests who engage a property through VRB0
The website constantly has annoying and sometimes major problems. As I write, the Control Panel (the place where you are supposed to communicate with potential guests) is not functioning. So, if you have a person who wants to stay at your vacation home, you will not be able to communicate with them - or even tell them why you can't communicate with them. VRBO masks the contact information of the guest so you cannot communicate directly. Another recent, idiotic change.
It is impossible to reach them by email. You will wait an eternity if you call then, and very possibly only reach someone who can't help. If I could give them a negative 5, I would. This is one of the very worst organizations I have ever dealt with. I am switching to Air B&B as soon as I can find the time.
I had a guest cancel. Want to the site and cancelled. Guest was to have been charged a year out a $212 service fee I told them to dispute. After getting a email confirming cancellation that still have me the money and threatened with shutting my listing down. No corporate phone number to resolve. 5 phone calls later it got fixed. Excessive fees I might add
I am an owner with VRBO and am looking for a new listing site. The new fee being charged to the traveler is outrageous and nothing like the VRBO we once knew and loved. We are hugely disappointed in this change.
This is our 3rd year listing my cottage on VRBO. Since Expedia bought VRBO last year, our entire experience has gone down the tubes. We had 2 successful years with lots of enquiries. I generated a long list of people who wanted to be informed when the next year's calendar opened up. We have had nothing but rave reviews from the people who have stayed and we have really enjoyed dabbling in the hospitality business. This year enquiries have totally dried up... no return on my annual fee to VRBO of $399. The reason for this change has been that my property is now listed at the bottoms of the results for the town where it is located. It was moved from near the top, because, despite the rave reviews and my excellent response time (a few hours) I would not switch to online booking. We make a very small profit after paying the taxes, insurance, utilities and I cannot afford to pay credit card company fees in addition. I have spoken to VRBO customer service several times without success. And now the real reason is revealed for their insistence that travelers book online with the site... they are able to add a fee that the renter pays with the booking. This used to a site that homeowners were happy to use... a win-win proposition for all parties. Now it is a site where homeowners and travelers are squeezed for every cent that can be wrung out of them, with draconian penalties if you don't cooperate (no bookings for you!). The new fees were introduced without warning or explanation, without transparency (the traveler is not told that the fee goes to VRBO), and in violation of the terms of the annual contract.
I have rented from VRBO for many years, at least 3 homes per year. Until now. I have not gone over to Air BB yet since I was thinking that I was safer with VBRO helping out to vet owners, intervene when there is an issue, etc. NOT TRUE. I had reserved a home for a wedding this month back in November through VBRO. I paid the entire amount up front for the home as requested so thought I was good. 2 weeks ago, the owner, after many, many attempts by me to contact them, VBRO, anyone who could help me get the address of the home as I was hosting a Bridal Brunch. I finally found the owner through an Internet search and was told the home was no longer available. I did get the refund, me, not VBRO, and then called VBRO to get help finding another home. I was told I had to file a complaint and they would investigate. I tried to explain to "customer service", NOT, that I needed a comparable home asap. They told me it would be 2 to 3 weeks before they could help. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? No help, no call, no communication at all as of today. I am moving over to Air BB until someone better comes along. I feel better talking to owner direct now. Too bad. VBRO use to be good company.
I too am frustrated with VRBO. As owners, there appears to be nothing we can do except find an online rental service like the former VRBO. Does anyone know of another online vacation rental service that does not price gouge our customers? It could also be a great project for a Programmer that could establish a new site for owners? I had rather take checks than to use their credit card service called Yapstone.
Adding fees to guest to pay for customer service and advertising - funny how the Customer Service person couldn't explain why guests would be paying for advertising. VRBO is now just another crappy company owned by a bigger crappy company. So sad.
So now vbro have removed any way of contacting a guest before reservtion other than through their site
VRBO do have their service fee to protect after all, They dont give a toss about us homeowners who have a much larger asset at stake. So now no oportunity to check a persons phone area code. No possibility of speaking to them before reservation... I recently had soemone wanting to have a wedding at my home... no possibilioty of checking and then if you DARE to cancel an unsuitable reservation they have the gall to downgrade your listing. I recently was contacted by VRBO and the person said they were there to help me run my business. I asked her how long she had owned and maaged a vacation rental home and I never heard back,. Personally I am finding booking.com a lot more respectful and easier to deal with. They have a huge worldwide presence and are moving into vacation home listings.
Thanks to North Beach Gardens for a very comfortable visit! Your suite 104 was so very clean and well eqipped. Your staff, from housekeepers, lawn workers, to desk staff were the best, most mannerly and considerate! Darryl Fleming, the desk clerk, went above and beyond to accomodate us> My friend is in a wheelchair, and Darryl did everything possible to make our stay convenient and comfortable. Darryl should be rewarded for his efforts and NBVR should do everything in their power to keep thid young man! Great place!
Homeawy/VRBO's new 4-10% service fee charged to renters will drive consumers to other sites. I am a vacation rental owner who already pays a significant subscription fee and believe the new service fee charged to my prospective customers is outlandish. I would have understood a 1-2% fee, but a whopping 4-10% is plain greedy and bad for business. I have already seen a decline in my inquiry rate. I hope Homeaway/VRBO wakes up quickly and recognizes the folly of their choice. I am now actively analyzing alternative sites for promoting my property fearing a significant loss in business.
This is unbelievable... I am a homeowner who lists my vacation rental on VRBO. Since they rolled out their new service fee every guest that has inquired to rent my home has asked me to give them a discount because they feel this service fee is unacceptable. Why should I have money taken out of my pocket because of VRBO/HOMEAWAYS GREED? I feel VRBO is stealing directly from me and I will not be continuing my business with them once my subscription expires. This is so disappointing and i would hope they'd see how unhappy everyone is and stop this fee ASAP! My inquiries have gone down drastically as well so i will begin posting on their competitors websites.
VRBO started charging guests a dubious booking fee-4-10%. This fee applies only to owners that did as VRBO requested and signed up for on-line payments. Good behavior is punished. Likely, by the end of the year, all listings will have the fee.
Book through vacationhomerentals.com or homeescape.com to avoid the fee. Look at a listing on VRBO and use headline words to try to find the owner's website. Look for listings sites local to a specific area.
VRBO recently started charging a new service fee without notice. This fee is a total ripoff and I will no longer allow any of my renters to actually book through VRBO so the will not be charged the fee. What a rip off. I will not renew my subscription again
Owners and renters are being ripped off on VRBO and Homeaway owned by Expedia
Renter Fees of 4-10% are now being charged to most bookings on these sites. These fees are not going to owners despite them trying to finfd ways to hide the fee and who is getting it.
Owners and renters avoid fees at the new www.homeescape.com
OWNERS-- disable BIN AND HA PAYENTS -- take bookings and payments off line like you used too.
Also remove your listing from auto renew and remove your credit card info so that they can't renew.
I was pleased with. This company up to about 18 months ago. But since then they have taken the contact away from owners, started charging these fees and others despite a large subscription fee. Pure greed on the part of Exoedia
They now double dip in an effort to generate added revenue... Charging home owners who advertise and again to those who rent, charging a service fee. This has had a dramatic effect on my inquiries which are next to nothing and to date I've had one rental when I normally have rented all my prime weeks by now. I've used VRBO for years with success but if things stay like this I will terminate my subscription.
I would also like to add, VRBO/Homeaway are deleting all negative posts in Facebook, on their sites, wherever they can control communication thus masking the issue that's causing a major problem for both property owners and renters/clients.
24 hour customer service charge added onto my rental request as a fee? Yes I want to pay another $200 to talk to some rep in India or Phillipines at 2 in the morning when I can't get into my condo rental. I smell a real estate recession with owners of second homes selling off their vacation rentals because of VRBO/Homeaway greed.
Revolt and call customer service and tell them they are full of it.
They has recently started skimming 10% off the top of every travellers booking-and providing nothing in return. Many people simply can't afford the VRBO tax and can no longer go on vacation. Sleazy company's avoid them like the plague.
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.