VRBO

I have been on VRBO for over 5 years and own 2 vacation properties. I HATE VRBO and the way they do business. Every year, they figure out a way to scam us out of more money -- by making you pay to add 3 more pictures (and they list by the # of pictures you have) or make you pay for a "premium" listing, the next year you have to pay more when they allow 4 more pictures (They started at 6 and now they're up to 16). Just waiting to see how they squeeze more $ out of us -- already costs us $799 a year for each site. Just recently they made 2 more changes that negatively impact us. I can see they are trying to be a monopoly and slowly buying up other rental companies. You used to be able to reply directly to a potential guest -- now you have to go through their website. And they limit how many words you can use in your reply. Also, if you have a calendar on other websites, and most people do, you cannot edit it from any other website, they make you go on the VRBO website and log in to edit your calendar. The calendar used to be independent and all of your websites hooked up to it --- then VRBO bought out the calendar company. And if you ever have a problem with a guest -- and the guest complains to VRBO, they automatically take the side of the guest. I had a man want a refund because he came for deep sea fishing and the waves were too rough so he only got to go out once -- and he demanded a full refund. VRBO forced me to refund the man -- I was livid. It wasn't my fault he didn't catch any fish and i don't control the weather. They threatened to throw me off the site -- I could not believe it. I am so fed up with VRBO and am probably going to stop advertising on them once FlipKey gets bigger. For now, I'm stuck.

Lame site, keeps crashing with "aw...snap!". Tried different browsers, yada, yada. Their website sucks.

Property owner cancelled our reservation while we were en route, the day of check in for "mechanical issues" (A/C not working and duct work all over). We didn't know because we were driving and didn't check inbox in VRBO. We got into the cabin (we were given instructions and codes in an email 2 days prior to our stay) and linens were dirty and in a ball on all beds, towels in a ball on bathroom floor, couch cushions on floor and everything in disarray. Thats when I was going to message owner and saw the cancellation with the mechanical issues and they said ducts were disconnected and hanging down. There was no duct work visible.
It was just uncleaned as if cleaners never came but guests obviously checked out that day. Cabin was cool too. We called VRBO after contacting owner and they gave me a number to their "same day booking department" to help us find another rental. We were refunded the money from that cabin, but unfortunately they couldn't put us in anything because VRBO needed my bank statements proving what I paid and proving what was refunded at 8:30 at night. I was appalled since they are the ones who charge and have the records. I had my iphone that I had to snap shot everything and send it to them. However, since it would be 3-5 business days for the refund to take place, they cannot do anything until that comes through and when it does come through then upon rebooking we have to pay the difference. So basically they would just reuse my card that was refunded regardless of the amount. So it was at my expense. We ended up going through Airbnb and spending 1700 more (because almost everything was booked up) after having to stay at the Hampton with the cost of 2 rooms for the initial night because of the size of our party. I personally think this was double booked and we booked early on in January for June so we got a decent price. There was nothing wrong with the air conditioning. It was waiting for a cleaning service for new arrivals.

Unbelievable. Last time ever using this company.

I would like to offer feedback on our experience with HomeAway and why we feel we cannot trust it and will not book through it again or recommend it to other travelers.
Other travel sites allow an easy and honest means for reviewing a stay. HomeAway does not. It is not an easy process to find out how to review a property and if the owner is responsible for and does not supply the review link, it is impossible. This was our experience. No review link was supplied in our correspondence. The property was not as advertised. It is in need of cleaning and maintenance that could not have been rectified during our stay given the low standards, and we would have liked to have given our honest comments regarding this property to alert other travelers. Even if post communication with the owners could have resulted in compensation, it wouldn't have improved our stay. The standards and cleanliness of this property are clearly very low (I have photos) and travelers should be alerted.
Our impression of HomeAway is that it seriously lacks attention to the protection and comfort of travelers.
HomeAway Response:
We appreciate you taking the time and effort to let us know about this situation.

We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and ideas with us. Many of the improvements to our products, policies, and processes are made in response to customer suggestions such as yours.

On the other hand, the review link is sent to the email address of the person who booked the property. As such, kindly advised to have the review sent. Also, a complaint can also be filed about this case, it will also be best if the person who booked the property can reach out to us or the owner regarding the complaint so the incident will be referenced to the correct reservation and property owners.

These people have literally stolen $300 from us. We rented a condo through their service, paid in full. We went on our vacation, returned home... and waited for our deposit to be returned. The owner returned our deposit expeditiously to a credit card on file with HOMEAWAY/VRBO that was no longer valid. It happens. So, we called Homeaway and were simply told it would be returned when they received the rejected payment back from the bank.
So, we waited... and waited...
We called our bank - the issuer of the cancelled card - and were told by them our $300 deposit was RETURNED to HOMEAWAY/VRBO's payment processing company. So, we call "India" again. Of course, they have no record of our calls and no clue where our money has gone. I have a letter from the condo owner stating the deposit was debited from her HOMEAWAY/VRBO account. I have a letter verifying CHASE bank rejected the payment (because the credit card was no longer active) over a month ago, and SENT IT BACK to HOMEAWAY/VRBO. I have spoken to about 10 different foreign reps who have done nothing but pass the buck, give me erroneous info. And waste my time! The bottom line is this: You have $300 of my money. YOUR payment processing department lost our refund! THEY have my cash... and since it is impossible to speak with anyone at your company that has a clue, I will be leaving this review everywhere online, contacting the BBB and filing a complaint in small claims court. Your reps refuse to connect me with someone who can 1) speak English and 2) help me instead of passing the buck! These companies sure as hell take it quick enough... but when they are in the wrong, they drag their heels and could care less about making it right for their customers! I have used this service for years - never again! I suppose this is an example of how "great" we are making America... for industry... but to hell with the customer. There is no oversight so they can literally steal from people and the consumer is left with no other recourse but to waste more time and money dragging them into small claims court! Thanks for nothing

Although I like what VRBO does for my rentals bottom line it is unfortunate they are allowing Brokers to advertise and lie about the location. My rental is located on Anna Maria island which includes 3 towns in it. Bradenton Beach, Holmes beach and the small town of Anna Maria. The most desirable is the town of Anna Maria. So the brokers lie and say thier rental is located in the town of Anna Maria instead of Bradenton Beach or Holmes beach because they know it is more desirable. Unfortunately they have overloaded the Anna Maria page with these false listings.
It is a shame that VRBO has allowed these broker to lie to the public with the false assumption that they are dealing with the owner but it is more disapointing that they are allowed to mislead us into thinking the property is located somewhere it is NOT.
If VRBO is so greedy that they need the money so bad and then don't care what is posted this site will disolve in time because the public will be fed up with being lied to and the honest owners that have followed the rules of proper location
Will be lost in the shuffle.
VRBO check your listings 50% of them listed for the town of Anna Maria are false

My husband and I decided to take a quick get-a-way to Moses Lake for a few days before school started. We took our 3 teenagers and said they all could bring a friend. We purchased lake floaties, junk food, brought bikes and were looking forward to doing nothing at all but lay on the dock play in the water and enjoy a few days of relaxing. The owner of the property texted me the access code to get into the home the morning of check in. My husband and I were traveling separately. I had an appointment in Moses Lake and he was coming later that evening with our 3 teenagers and their friends. When we got to the property their was already a family present. Apparently the property had been double booked. The property owners manager kept saying this isn't our fault. I was surprised because it most certainly wasn't my fault. I had communicated with the owner earlier in the day via text and received the access code to the property as well as good wishes for a fabulous vacation. The property owner did refund 100% of the fees, but continued to promise us she was finding another property for us... Many text messages and waiting. We wasted a good portion of our vacation sitting in a miserable hotel room waiting for a response from the property owner. She eventually texted me what an inconvenience this was for her... Meanwhile we had to buy coolers to put all of our perishable food in and incurred so many additional costs. The sad part about it was she felt I was harassing her when I was inquiring what she was going to do to rectify the situation. Obviously this property owner is not a seasoned business owner and does not understand the meaning of customer service. I am on a mission to make sure anyone who is considering this property proceed with caution. In the event the property owner double books the property you could be stuck in a 2 star hotel with empty promises of finding you a property wasting your vacation time... PROCEED WITH CAUTION...

We made reservations through VRBO and paid in full for Wednesday November 22 and Thursday the 23rd. When we were close to arriving at the property we texted, via instructions on property website. We did not hear back after waiting 45 minutes so we contacted VRBO. They provided another number but still did not hear back, so VRBO finally made contact. When we did speak with the property owners we were told they were already booked with a traveler through AirB&B, which had been booked for over a month. They explained they had contacted VRBO to list the property a couple of months ago but never heard back, so they had no idea that VRBO had finally listed the property therefore creating a double booking. The property owner went out of their way to accommodate us for Wednesday evening or we would have had no place to stay. We were instructed by VRBO to call back Thursday (Thanksgiving day!) to see about arrangements for that night. When we called we were told "tough". You were credited a partial credit for the one night. We were supposed to be credited for the taxes, fees and cleaning but have not as of date! There were no places available on VRBO. We found a place available on AirB&B, but the norm is a 2night minimum! We are out a lot more money, duplicate of fees, cleaning fee etc. as a result of which VRBO is responsible.
11-26-23 After over an hour with a dropped called and of course no call back, VRBO now say they will not refund any of the fees (for two nights) since the owner refunded one night (only the daily fee) back to us, per their policy. They have said a supervisor will call back sometime today, but we were told this Thursday and that did not happen. This company need to be closed they are stealing money from the customers. I will contact my bank and dispute and will post warning every place I can find. I have already filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

I try 4 times to rent a property in the state of Maine close to a mountain we were planing to visit and every single time my reservation got canceled because the owner or property manager did fail to accept the reservation, at the beginning i thought that they got busy and didnt get the acceptance on time then i thought maybe somebody else beat me to it and reserved the place before me but no, i did manage to get in touch with the person responsible to accept the reservations and i ask why a unoccupied property does not get my acceptance and i got ghosted no reply, at the end with a different property i got a message saying why do i want to rent the property and more info about my group of persons, i did explain we are a family looking to rent a place for vacations in the mountains for the summer and nothing still ignore i reach out to VRBO costumer service for help and find out why i get rejected because this situation looks very discriminatory and the rep offer to a supervisor call me back, all i got was a email at the next day for a questionnaire of how good my experience was on my case that was closed. Now im doing business with AIRBNB

I booked an apartment from August 28-31 in Montreal through VRBO. When we arrived the "Unforgettable Apartment with an Amazing View" was anything but. Had to use my phone's flashlight to find the apartment because there were no lights in the hallway. Upon entering it smelt strongly of pesticide. It was visibly gross and unkept. $20/day cleaning fee? Duct tape plastered on the thresholds were tripping hazards. The picture of the flowers on the wall, are flowers stuffed into a hole in the wall. Crumbling balcony was scary. Not only because of its condition but there was a space wide enough for a child or animal to plummet 19 floors down. We left within 10 mins. Sent the host pics and explained why I wanted a refund. He was quick to reply before, but not now. I did the VRBO chatbot for help. Colossal waste of time which resulted in it saying it could not help me and to phone customer service. Another colossal waste of time. Told me I had to contact the host which I did to no avail. Customer rep phoned the host. He spoke to the host but the host hung up and the rep couldn't reach him again. So he said I had to phone the host to get my refund. I said you work for VRBO and he hung up on you, where do you think I am going to get. I said that this dishonest/unclean host is representing the company you work for, you have the power to shut him down. Rep said he could do nothing. I asked to speak to a supervisor after 30 mins and the rep said he would phone me in 1 hour. 5 hours later, surprisingly no call. The host messaged me finally and said he would give me $118 for the last 2 nights since he could not rent the first night under such short notice. Must be the new math, because $315÷3 nights=$105/night and 2 reimbursed nights is $210. I told them I would settle for that even though the first night still included a cleaning fee in the price. Checked out this host's listing again and couldn't find them a few hours later? Hope he is gone into hiding for ever, not just until the dust settles. FIRST and LAST experience with VRBO and I am on a mission to make sure noone I know has a FIRST experience!

It is past one month, and refund still not received for cancellation from VRBO.
Airbnb is very quick in processing Refund. I will never use VRBO

We listed our home in February 2016, and less than two weeks after, VRBO began sneaking a "service fee" in to our guests. We have a large home, and for some guests this fee was $499.00--can you imagine paying nearly $500.00 for NO SERVICE--and this was in our opinion a violation of our contract.

Several months ago, a guest tried to extort me, by implying a negative review would be forthcoming if they did not get a refund (approximately $5000). These were horrific guests, who were drunk and disorderly, and had the police called on them by three sets of neighbors. When I received the correspondence saying they were not the "kind of person to leave a negative review but expected a refund", I contacted VRBO in writing and told them a guest was trying to extort me, Customer Service wrote back that I should "call the police" if I felt threatened and that I could write a response to the negative review. Fast forward several weeks, the nasty and full of lies review is posted. I have upcoming guests contacting me to ask what the condition of the property is, and a month-long booking canceled as a result. I wrote a response saying this review is "malicious and untrue" and VRBO will not post my reply, saying it it is "unprofessional" to write that her review is not true. I was told by a supervisor at VRBO Customer Service that merely implying extortion is OK--that guests must directly write, "Refund my money or I will write a negative review"--as if most people clearly advertise they are breaking the law! I think a first year law student knows extortion, either explicit or implied, is illegal. I will be moving our properties over to AirBnB and other sites as soon as our contract is up next year.

Booked a night with Acker Vacation Homes and Suites in Kelowna, BC via BedandBreakfast website. Some of the descriptions of the place are: panoramic room, lake views, and free parking among other lovely things.

- was a small room with a king bed and that's about it. Hardly any room to move on other sides of the bed
- was a lake view but it is from a top a hill over 10 kms away
- parking is free, if you park on the street in front of the house
- supposed to be "bed and breakfast" but there is no breakfast. In fact, your small room is locked from the other side and you have no access to anything or anywhere else in the house.
- zero service on site to help with anything including checking out
- no where on the site tells you the rate is in USD to CDN. The only indication is a note the say $100 CDN deposit is required. With that information and that the location is in Canada one would think that the rate is in Canadian dollars. So I booked the room for $133 (after taxes and fee) for 1 night, and immediately my credit card company notified me a charge of $178 being made. Right away, I contacted Arcker about the situation and wish to cancel. After explaining to the site manager, Mark, he told me no problem but I need to contact BedandBreakfast. But when I called bedandbreakfast I was told that Arcker need to approve the cancellation for it to happen. To make the story short, Archer refused to cancel my reservation and will charge me $178 regardless or me staying the night or not.
(To be fair, the bnb man on the other side was very understanding and tried to be helpful.)

Would not use either BedandBreakfast or Acker services again. Very dishonest.

Booked a place in New York State March 10,2020 for arrival to a property April 8 because I planned to visit family in the area. Mind you the time between book and stay date is less than 30 days and the property is wide open because of the time of year and travel uncertainty. As things changed in travel and virus toll went up on a daily basis I talked to the VRBO property owner about moving my dates or cancelling if things got worse. I even suggested only a 50% refund and a 50% credit for future use in the next year. Totally fair given the circumstances... if I didn't book they would have never had a reservation anyway. I called VRBO and they told me the property owner could give credit to be used in the future and the property owner even agreed in writing that they would do 50% refund and 50% credit. Just 14 days after I initially booked I finally asked to cancel because New York State (well look at the numbers of virus cases) and the Governor started restricting travel. My neighbors in VA had been self quarantining because they all had symptoms but no test available to determine if they had it. I didn't feel well so I certainly didn't think travelling was a good idea. Mind you, it is less than a week after I booked that I started communicating to cancel. The owner just got my money and hadn't been planning on a booking. Now she is looking at a target for keeping someones money. Nice enough person, but you see what people are truly made of in times of crisis. Long story short she refuses to offer a credit and keeps half the rental money telling me I did not cancel in the day window (I booked in less than a 30 day window). I guess it is my fault for not waiting a couple weeks but given the circumstances the owner should have been willing to even give a 100% refund. VRBO should have made the owner give a credit and not refused to do so.