VRBO

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https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/homeaway.com#1345

https://www.vrbo.com/*******

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/*******

I currently have a cottage listed on vrbo.com... I am so frustrated with vrbo.com... I would remove my cottage listing from vrbo.com if there was another competitive website because they do not deserve my business... They have at times removed all of my booking on my calendar after I had filled up for the season and posted all bookings... They said they did this because I hadn't accessed my calendar often enough... But again I was already full and had posted my bookings for the season when suddenly I was getting inquiries for weeks that were already booked... That is when I discovered vrbo had removed all my bookings on my calendar... Also, I like to keep my listing simple by indicating all the amenities in my written description... However vrbo wants me to use their formats that have come out after I posted my listing on their we site... I choose not to use them, and now they have punished my by moving my listing further down the lost, even though I pay for a specific spot and was originally promised a specific spot on the listing based on seniority and number of pictures I pay to display... I have tried to conform to their ever changing requirements to move up the list, and currently my pricing is posted all wrong because they insist I post a daily rate, and rates for different seasons, and average daily rates for the different seasons and so on and it ends up so confusing that it is not accurate... but if I don't do this then they will move my further down the listing... my listing is now a mess... I can't believe they can and are causing me so much grief! The price I pay for this listing is a gouging price... I believe vrbo is greedy... I am very angry with vrbo... I hope an honest fare competitor comes along and puts vrbo out of business... This would be well deserved... To bad vrbo treats their good paying clients this way... I can't say enough bad things about them!

Great if you don't have issues with the home owner. I paid over $1500 deposit for a 7 week stay and when I went to pay the remaining $1600 plus, I was told the payment would not go through due to a problem on the end of the homeowner! After multiple attempts to resolve this, and hours on the phone with VBRO, & calling the homeowner they tell me they will look into it. They made two attempts to email the homeowner and the homeowner says he contacts them and they say my credit card is declined. I called my bank and they said there is no way the credit card was declined. They tell me they will turn it over to their IT department and can't tell me when the problem will be resolved and if not resolved by tomorrow I am out over $1,580.00 and the homeowner has the right to keep the money and rent the space! I called the homeowner and he has not called me back. VBRO had no problem taking my extra $200 to be assured I would not be scammed and now they tell me that I can't get my $1580 deposit back unless the homeowner releases it? WHAT? DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH VBRO or HOME AWAY! I have used them MANY times and no problems. BUT when you do encounter a problems you get NO support! BEWARE!

Price of the property on VRBO website US$65/day. Price of the property when booking with the owner US$156/day. Isn't it a scam?

Arrived at house. Got out of car with luggage and could not go up the steps due to thousands of bees swarming around steps, near door, in trees and bushes surrounding house and around eaves of house. Owner came out of house with child in her arms swatting the bees away and told us to come in. I am allergic to bee stings and my wife does not enjoy walking through bees. They were everywhere. Owner asked us to make sure we did not let the bees into the house as they would make nests inside the house and come out every year. Knowing this, she should have not listed the property during this bee season. The best part is she lied and told VRBO we didn't even get out of the car! The house is beautiful and situated in close proximity to the golf courses we booked and in a very nice neighborhood. Why would we leave at 5PM to find another place to stay? There may have been bees in the house already when we arrived which would have been buzzing around inside the house. Does anyone want to spend time while on vacation trying to kill huge carpenter bees in their accommodations? How about quickly running in and out of the door quickly and hoping you're not attacked by bees? Sound like a fun vacation? VRBO says we should have called them and they would have found another place to stay. I guess after travelling all day, hungry and tired, we should have waited in our car for them to call us back after they found a place. Would we have to drive around to different places to check them all out? That's what Michael told me on the phone (who is polite and respectful on the phone). How about the 45 minutes it took for someone in the complaint department just to answer the phone? I had to call three times before I got to the right dept. VRBO does not help the renter get a refund.

It is extremely, extremely rare that I write a poor review. I don't like the idea of negatively impacting someone's lively-hood. But this company is so horrible that I cannot get over it and I feel that people need to be warned. We started using HomeAway to advertise our beach cottage about 13 years ago. They were a delight. Then slowly things began to change, and when they were purchased by Expedia it turned into a nightmare. They are so shady. Like dealing with the mafia. Bullies, scammers, monopolizers. They force you to do things their way and they force you to pay them a fee for each and every one of these things, which they control. As an owner you MUST use online booking, but you must pay an additional fee if you want your money disbursed promptly. As an owner you must pay an annual fee, which is costly, but then you must pay all of these additional fees for each transaction on top of that annual fee. Not to mention the fees they are charging the renters on the same transaction. They block out phone numbers and email addresses within all correspondence between owners and renters because they want to control everything. They don't want anyone communicating directly, outside of their control. They will hold thousands of dollars of your money, whether you are an owner or a renter, and they will give you no reasonable explanation why and you will spend a lot of time on the phone with them. If you pay them as a renter, and then cancel, good luck receiving your funds. If you are an owner and your renter has paid them, good luck getting your funds. I am sure that many people have positive experiences. All experiences cannot be bad or they would not stay in business. However, as an owner I have had countless horrible experiences. So shady. The only way I can describe it. They are gross. Wish I could give them a zero.

I HAVE HAD NO SUCCESS IN BOOKING A RESERVATION WITH MY GIFT CARD FROM BEDANDBREAKFAST.COM I never found a site that listed on their webpage that would actually accept the gift card!
And now, the company will no longer accept any gift cards towards any properties, and, after they put you through the wringer to submit your card for refund, the only way to get a refund is to provide all my confidential bank information. I have been bounced around from BandB.com, Expedia.com and no, Home Away, Inc.

Naturally, I'd be crazy to give such a dubious outfit such info. I finally called HomeAway as I have an email from BandB stating unequivocally that my certificate (gift card) has been approved for refund, Home Away finds " nothing in their system." They now want me to call Expedia (for the 3rd time), but neither party knows the other and can't help.

I'm so disgusted and feel helpless. I am currently put on hold again (for now about 15 minutes!) in some black hole that the last person I spoke to forwarded me to. THis is all a scam as they simply bounce you around until you are utterly disgusted. I feel terrible for my friends who gave me this 'gift'.

I

I am posting this review because VRBO will not post it. I am hopeful that this review will help others avoid renting this condo. VRBO # #******* - "Luxurious Ocean Front Condo" Panama City Beach FL at Tropic Winds Condo #1409.

My VRBO review:

I took my mother to Panama City Beach for the week of March 22 2014. I rented this place based on reviews and photos. When we arrived the place was very dirty and smelled of body odor. From pubic hair on the master bed pillows, to filthy carpet and living room upholstery, to dirty hand towels and mold growing in tub and on shower liner. It was not at all what I paid for and not at all what I expected. If I could post photos I would.

I stayed an hour and told Susie I was renting another unit which I did. So not only did I lose the money for the stay in this filthy place (she did not refund it and placed it right back on the rental market for the same week) but I had to pay for another place as well. I think it is terrible to misrepresent as she did. The photos are so old that they do not even represent this place as it really is. The master bedroom photo shows it all made up nicely and when we get there not only did the master have a body odor smell, there was a thin blue bedspread and two dirty pillow cased pillows and that was it. Nothing nice like in the photo. So save your money and go elsewhere. This place is a dump. Nasty. I did not even want to touch anything in it.

BTW I am an owner of another beach condo and would never subject anyone to a place in this condition. I keep mine immaculate and that is what I was expecting. Too bad there are people out there who take advantage of the situation as this is a trust situation. I trusted her word and should not have. I just hope this review can not be deleted by the owner as it is unfair for her to collect money for false advertising. Kim from Texas

I'd give a1 if I could. First time to use vrbo, also last time. Rolled up to our rental. Dumpy, unkept neighborhood on a busy thoroughfare. 2 flights of filthy dirty broken concrete steps up to house. Key didn't work so we went through the knee high grass to the peeling paint side porch complete with a dirty empty dog crate. Storm door was locked so we walked around back to junk filled deck and our key worked. Deck
Complete with junk and a glass front filthy, stuck on food grill. Entered a room piled high with junk and 3 doors. I said out loud which door do we go to? The door on the right opened and a man said your room door is on the side. I told him the storm door was locked. He later wrote in his response to our review that we didn't push the storm door button hard enough. Maybe because the storm door was 40 years old! No chair, no tv, (as pictured on his property's profile) stale smelling, bathroom from the 50's, not particularly clean, no smoke detector, bed practically on the floor, comforter dirty and pillows thrown haphazardly to the head of the bed. A hook and eye was the lock on the door that opened from the bathroom into the rest of the house. Not exactly secure. We left the property within10 minutes. Texted the property owner telling him we were not staying, that it was not acceptable to us. I offered no other information or criticism. Contacted vrbo and sent the screenshots and 2 pictures I took. Their response you contact the property owner for a refund related to his policy. I did. I got a scathing, rude and threatening response. Sent that to vrbo and got no response. It's only $109. But it cost vrbo my business and all my friends business forever. Vrbo and property owner #******* your customer service and trashy property stink!

I'm tired of hearing from VRBO owners that this is a tough time for them as well, therefore they have license to take what is not theirs. What kind of world do we now live in when it's justified to take money from someone when you did not provide a service or product? My airline canceled my flight, and my conference was canceled, due to Covid19. Beyond my control. I cannot even get to the VRBO property if I wanted to. So... I would like a refund. If I don't provide any service to my clients, I don't (and CAN'T) charge them.
Most VRBO hosts make their monthly mortgage with a 4-7 day stay/booking. So, I have ZERO compassion, when the host tells me "I have a mortgage to pay, so I won't refund you". I don't care; that's BS. I have a mortgage, which I easily deferred (a simple email) until this Covid19 pandemic is over. I also applied for the Emergency Relief Fund, due to lost income. These hosts just want easy and free money; just be less-awful people, and apply for the Emergency Fund, like good people across Canada have done. I also have no work, and hence no paycheque. So, don't give me your sob stories, owners. Covid19 does not justify theft. Airbnb did the right thing, and refunded upon request. VRBO will be no more after this, I suspect.
Imagine if I told my clients (that I had to cancel), "I'm taking the money from your scheduled treatment because I have a mortgage to pay. Sorry you didn't get your treatment, but I need the money, too". I'd get shut down, and lose my license.
Step up, VRBO. Mandate your property owners to refund 100%. People will not forget this. And owners/hosts, stuff it. I'll be staying at a hotel next year. And not booked through Expedia, either (Expedia and VRBO are mostly one-in-the same, BTW).
Karma can be a nasty thing, folks.

DO NOT RENT UNIT 1607
Review of Club Wyndham Ocean Walk

The owner of this Unit 1607 at Ocean Walk 300 N. Atlantic Ave, Daytona Beach FL ******* is a straight up crook!
We were suppose to arrive to this location on March 14,2020. However this was the beginning of the Covid 19. The Governor, Ron Desantis, gave a DO NOT TRAVEL order starting that weekend. Therefore, I contacted the owner and informed her that we would not be coming due to the Governors ORDER. She refused to refund our money or even offer a different night stay. She in March wouldn't return my phone calls about this situation.
I spoke to Cindy again on July 2,2020 regarding the refund and she refuses to give us a refund, or a different night stay. She was VERY RUDE and kept cackling (laughing) at me. She told me that I should have gone ahead and traveled like all the other people who didn't follow the Governors order, very unconcerned about my families health.
She is the MOST UNPROFESSIONAL PERSON I have ever spoke to and really SHOULD NOT be in this type of business.

I have a vacation rental in South Lake Tahoe. Used vrbo 8 yrs ago for about 10 yrs. This company has become a joke. We have listing that are located over 1.5 hrs away in upper Truckee past Reno that are listed ahead of ours. We have more reviews(all 5 star), more inquiries, for the same price. They don't get that when you search for South Lake Tahoe you're not interested in a 1.5hr drive vs 5 min. This happens all the time We have had nothing but misinformation from their reps as to why this happens. The only person that ever responds from production is Robert. One of the reps said he is actually the only one in production at the company and that they are trying to hire more people. Is this a joke? Now I just got a inquiry for a 5 night stay next yr at rates that aren't correct. I call VRBO and they said even though they changed how the site is setup they didn't alter the rates that some authorized user had to have done it. When I explained to her that I am the only one who handles this property and it was not me, I would know, she says just go in now a change it. I said the entire yr is now changed, different rates all over the place. Now Christmas week is cheaper than the first week in May. Nobody has that. VRBO HAS KNOW CLUE WHAT THEY ARE DOING> THEY LIE RIGHT TO YOU. OWNERS FIND ANOTHER PLACE TO ADVERTISE YOUR PROPERTY. AS SOON AS I DO I WILL BE LEAVING> VERY< VERY< BAD INVESTMENT AND HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. VERY SURPRISED NO CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT HAS NOT BEEN STARTED

By now we have all caught onto HomeAway/VRBO/Expedia's schemes. This has been in the works for years as any of us know who have been forced to do things with the sites due to "customers wanting it". It never mattered what "us" as homeowners wanted. I was even told once that as a homeowner I was not a customer (shocking), but now I get it. We have choices and I have spent time looking at them. I have 5 rentals with HomeAway/VRBO for now. I have put one rental on Trip/Advisor...$400 for the year and they don't charge you extra for their other sites. They don't charge the customers any fees when you have an annual subscription and you bill your customers directly (site has good functionality). I am testing another property on AirBNB (site not as good, but workable)where I have chosen no annual fee and they charge me 3% fee on booked reservations and they also charge the renter. In the end we have all been disrespected by HomeAway/VRBO and even if changing I lose some functionality and may even end up having the new companies charge the fee to my customers... I feel good knowing I have enough self respect to leave a company that clearly does not value us as home owners. The fact that they don't communicate to us until a month after they put the fee in place and still make the fee look confusing proves that out. Another item they forget to mention in the communication yesterday is that only about 55% of the properties on HomeAway/VRBO are having the fees charged to customers. The other 45% have not signed up for online booking/online payments, thus no customer fees are being charged. Remove the online booking/online payment function (if you can) while you decide what is best for you.

We reserved and paid full price for a rental property in Florida on 15 November. WE did not realize that VRBO was taking 100% of the money, we thought it would be a deposit!
The property owner canceled our reservation on 17 Jan by text and we got our official cancellation notice via email on 22 Jan. The property owner stated he would refund the moneys within 5 - 7 business days.

We filed a complaint with VRBO on 17 Jan and they said they would help us find another place to stay. Remember, the property manager said he would refund our monies within 5 - 7 business days.

Neither happened and by 2 Feb we booked another location. Take in mind we were told VRBO would help us fine another room. They did not respond to any emails they were very sorry this happened and were very concerned on the telephone but that was the extent of VRBO's assistance.

I will say, we did get 1 email from them about re booking about 1 week before our vacation started on the 15th. We responded within a few hours of getting their email about "helping us find a accommodation's" but that was it.

When we called back after our vacation, they stated we would have to fine a complaint (even though I had a complain number and emails from 22 Jan) and they were very sorry and rest asserted they were working on resolving this.

We called the payment processing company and they could not process a refund. They stated the payment has to be canceled/refunded by either VRBO or the property manager!

We believe that VRBO is taking their time because the payment has been processed not to them, but to the property owner. They would then have to get they money back from him! We talked to our credit card company and they said there is a time limit on disputing payments and it seems like VRBO is stalling! We could be wrong, it could be a misunderstanding however we have followed every step VRBO ask us to and we still have not received payment - after 35 days! We will let the credit card company process this and get the money from VRBO!

Hate to write a bad review but please be careful using VRBO! They are real heavy on promises and real slim on the follow through.

I booked a VRBO property in Clearwater, FL (702 Prospect Ave) in January, paid the final payment in February to attend a family wedding March 28 2020 at the Sand Pearl Resort. March 16,2020 the GOV and CDC came out with new social gathering guidelines. March 18,2020 the Sand Pearl Resort cancelled the wedding. I attempted to contact the property manager and VRBO with no avail. I tried the property manager 11 times including phone calls and emails and he has not responded. I was on hold for 171 minutes total over 3 phones calls with VRBO customer service for them to answer and tell me to call customer service and give me the number I had just sat on hold on for 45+ minutes and once they even hung up on me. Our family members that booked through AIRBNB got their money back due to COVID 19 with no questions asked or hassle. I can't get anyone to respond to me from VRBO or property management. We are out $879.25 and my message to everyone is stay away from VRBO. If you must book a 3rd party property do it with someone else, AIRBNB perhaps. If VRBO won't work with you during a pandemic crisis they certainly won't work with you with it is business as usual. STAY AWAY FROM BOOKING VRBO!