VRBOReviews 1,999

Hi,
My husband and I stayed at Ruby Red in Greater Groves neighborhood, Davenport, Florida from 8/21/15 - 8/26/15. The house was beautiful, spacious and well maintained.

It has been 6 weeks since our visit and we haven't received our security deposit back yet. I have attempted to contact the property manager twice in the past 3 weeks (via phone and email) but haven't received any response from them. I am still awaiting our security deposit.

I use two booking sites for my condo and here is the difference: VRBO customers are difficult. I'm not sure how VRBO does their marketing, but almost every single potential customer has done one of two things: they've asked me a lot of questions about aspects of my place that are listed on the site already (they're too lazy to read the entire listing) or they've tried to negotiate the price down. Often they will do both. I am frequently asked to charge a weekly (and lower) rate for stays of 3 to 4 days.

I am a hard-working home-owner who keeps a very high standard on the rental condo I have listed with VRBO. I've had to deal with potential customers like those described above and then with people who make sarcastic comments when they see I charge more in the high season (to offset the low season so I can pay my mortgage).

I think VRBO must be the place where customers feel they can get a bargain. It's too bad because that has led to some troll-like behaviour. I am sticking with the other booking company. I don't need the headaches of VRBO customers.

I use both airbnb and VRBO. I had a guest who only paid for half of their stay. I was never notified. I never received an email from VRBO the entire 30 days she had to pay the remainder of the rent. And, neither did the guest. When I called VRBO, they basically told me it's my responsibility to get the money. I informed them that this is never an issue on airbnb. I am always assured payment. I was told that this was not what VRBO is paid for. I also mentioned that it took up to a week to receive payment. I told them that I was already on the fence. Again, I was told there was nothing they could do. I am now hiding my listing. Just an FYI, my average rating was a 4.8. And, I am booked almost 100%. As far as I am concerned, I will not put my money toward a company with such lousy service! I will be hiding my listing until my service expires at this point. Beware!

I've been reading here reviews of Vrbo that don't support my experience. Aside from a recent disturbing double booking problem with Vrbo wherein it appears Vrbo is concealing their fault, generally I've been very happy with their customer service and website ease of use
Compared to air b and b.

There are navigation buttons on vrbo's website that are more numerous, so you don't have to ask the community, waiting for an email. If you have a problem you can call Vrbo. If you can't change a rate, Vrbo will change it for you, instantly. You can charge different rates for different events on Vrbo. Not so on air B and B.

You can be paid at time of booking at Vrbo, which is fair, whereas at Air B and B, only air B and B gets paid at time of booking. The owners wait until check in.

I think air B and B is good for rooms for rent, from what I hear.

I like the personal touch, getting to know the owners aspect of air B and B.

The rates are outrageous on Vrbo but it has gotten me lots of guests.

As to reviews Vrbo posts bad reviews and no longer accepts even notes that guests write to you, signed, unfortunately.

Anyone can give a review on VRBO/Homeaway anonymously. All one needs is an email address to create an acct. With these sites. Some of the reviews are obvious they are written by owner. Examples to look out for: If someone has made a complaint about cleanliness, lack of kitchen utensils, how unresponsive the owner is, etc. THEN the next reviews will go on and on about how clean it is, what a well stocked kitchen, how helpful the owner is etc. VRBO should only allow reviews from people who have booked and paid via VRBO. Only way to provide integrity to their reviews. That's the way AirBNB does it so they could if they were interested in honest reviews.

I have been a loyal customer of VRBO/HomeAway since 2009. I have been extremely successful booking my property through their site. I treat this as a business not a hobby and have always done the things necessary to keep my listing at number 2-3 in rank (Calendar up to date, quick responses to inquiries, take credit cards, buy the rental insurance, max pictures, etc.)

Now some computer genius is using algorithms to rank properties and I have fallen to number 14 in rank. No big surprise I have not received one single booking after the day they unveiled this great new idea. Not one! Last year I was booked for April - August every single day back to back for five months and now I have not one single booking. They insist that it is nothing to do with their new "Best Match" program. Here is what their web site says, "We are moving away from the current listing quality score and gradually replacing it with best match".

I wrote to their President and reminded him I am actually his customer who pays for his service every year and it is unfathomable to me that he takes control over my ability to keep my property ranking high. No response; not even from a lacky.

Personally, I would highly recommend you use other services to list your property for rent. If things don't change I am going to demand my money back for this year - VRBO no longer works! G

I wrote an honest review about a property #******* in Gulfport, MS(August 28,2015) and it has yet to be published, but it's amazing there was another excellent review posted since we stayed although the owner told us she did not have it rented and it was just last weekend that we stayed.
I wrote pro's and con's. All the reviews for the property were 5 star, but the last one published was May 2015. The house was extremely musty/mold smelling. All the AC units had black mold growing on them and I took pictures. We could not run the units bc of the smell and the master bed was under one of the units and had black pieces that would fall out of the unit when it came on. The owner stated no one would be staying there for a couple weeks and she would take care of it, but that certainly did not help us. If my husband complains it has to be bad! Everything we took smelled horrible and had to be washed even if still clean. When you pay a good amount of money for a vacation rental you expect to be able to review it negatively or positively.

VRBO is refusing to publish our complaint because we did not reside at the property in question, but they double booked!
In early May 2015, when we first contacted Abbey Lane Cottages through VRBO, we inquired about two accommodations, The Captain's Quarters and Cozy Cottage. After consideration and numerous emails with the manager, we booked the Cozy Cottage. We sent our $300.00 deposit and signed a very detailed contract. We received the formal rental confirmation VRBO ******* on May 27th 2015 for Thursday August 27th to Sunday August 30th.

When we arrived in Picton on August 27th, Abbey Lane's manager told us the Cozy Cottage was not available. Later, he made a passing reference to the fact that we were only renting for 3 nights. He also said he felt entitled to switch us to the Captain's Quarters because of our initial inquiry. When we objected, the manager reacted with disrespect and belligerence. In a underhanded attempt to mollify us, he displayed his handicap and listed his numerous ailments. It was with reluctance that he showed us the Captain's Quarters, and it was clear we were imposing. The situation was extremely uncomfortable, and the Captain's Quarters did not meet with our expectations.

We took the refund of our deposit and went to the local Chamber of Commerce for redress. Their representatives told us Abbey Lane Cottages were no longer members of their organization because too many complaints had been lodged against them. These Chamber representatives were very courteous and kind enough to help us find suitable accommodations on a very busy weekend.

It simply isn't true that you can't post a negative review on VRBO. If it's downright uncivilized with gratuitous profanity or something like that, yes, I'm sure VRBO will and should pull it. I am a homeowner and people have said things on my site that I have the right to refute. It's tough judging something through reviews because it is a fine perspective, not a full one. And we're all very different. And some people just can't be pleased, in this life.

I complained earlier about the 2 step verification system. It no longer seems to exist, or at least I haven't had to deal with it for several weeks now. So they must be listening - partly, because I sent another complaint to them and they gave me a completely irrelevant response... always suggesting I go to FAQ when my question doesn't fit there. For some reason they attach a different photo to correspondence with clients than the one you see when you open the site (i. E. my chosen cover picture or thumbnail)! Very annoying, as the pic is a very specific one - of someone taking Spanish lessons on the patio - which is not my general message to potential guests! I have re-sent my problem to them - let's see if they listen this time!

Submitted a review to Claudia in regards to her listing. I was very truthful and honest stating pros and cons to the home that we rented. She did not like what we had to say and asked if we could reword or remove the content. Just like the other reviewers say here they will not put negative reviews.

Pros:
Location Nice
Bikes a plus

Cons:
Received a boot on our car due to incorrect tags (issure resolved, no ticket, however still a nuisance)
House took way to long to cool down. Even clicked on the heat to see if the unit was acutally working. She didn't like this... thought we left the heat on. She says "of course it would be hot". What are we stupid... NO!
Master Bed has two twins so you sink in the middle. Not comfortable
Carpets need to be Cleaned
Need outdoor clothes line to hang suits and towels etc.
Grill did not work.

No more VRBO for us knowing how the comments are used.

I had a negative experience at a property booked through VRBO and then submitted a negative review. VRBO didn't publish it. They sent me an email saying my review "wasn't relevant to the property." Really? My inference is that they won't publish negative reviews. I'll never again use VRBO to book a vacation property because I strongly suspect I'm not getting unvarnished reviews.

In my particular situation, my wife and I rented a cottage in Comox, BC (Red Roof Cottage) which was represented to have wifi. This was very important for us because I use wifi extensively. When we arrived I noticed that the wifi signal was "poor" as indicated on both my phone and laptop, and I couldn't access wifi on either one. My wife was able to access the signal about half the time on her iPad Air. It turns out that the owners have a router located in their residence located 100+ feet away from the rental cottage. I tried to report this via a review, to no avail. Buyer beware!

I had gone online to look through rentals and logged on through my facebook. Some time ago I had updated my facebook account and switched to a new email address. Apparently this email was never updated through VRBO (why I don't know since the accounts are linked). I found a rental I liked, and rented the home. Afterwards I went back in to pay my deposit. I logged on through facebook and I went to my account and it said to send an email for verification purposes. I had an email sent, checked my email after some time and nothing. Called VRBO to see where the email had gone so that I could log on and pay my deposit. They informed me that my account had my old inactive email. I asked where I could update my contact information and they informed me that you cannot update your account information. So I asked them to update my contact information... they said they cannot do it either. They said I would have to make a new account... so all the homes I had saved for upcoming vacations ect would be gone. I also had no way to pay my account unless I called them and paid over the phone and they could send me a forwarded email to my address.
In this day and age there's a website out there that does not allow you to update your own contact information? It's appalling to me. Now to keep my rental and to save my vacation I had to call them and be on the phone for 20 minutes to pay a deposit and then I have to call again to pay a balance... 40 minutes of my life because they cant get their stuff together... I'm looking elsewhere when searching for rental properties now.