VRBO

I rented a property thru Vrbo and the property owner canceled right away with no explanation. I called the next day to customer services spoke to Dru who said he tried to contact the property manager with no response he then said someone from claims was going to call me within 24 to 48 hrs. 5 days later NO call. I called back that is when they started the process because Dru did not do his job. Spoke to Darell and he started the claim for the first time. Spoke to a manager name Michael who else could not do anything for me they have no idea when I'm going to get my refund or when the claims department will contact me back. DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT GO THRU WITH THEM. They have horrible customer service.

VRBO ("verbo") obviously spent a lot of money for Feb 2020 Super Bowl commercials. Based on my experience with this app lately, they should've spent more money on functionality if they were hoping to capitalize on big dollar advertising.
I recently booked a VRBO condo in Jackson Hole. I thought the deal was done but soon I saw that my booking was cancelled (with no communication) and the property was re-listed at $800 more per night. My calls to VRBO Customer Service were frustrating and still no communication three days later.
I booked with AirBNB easily- their app and their service is simply better.

I've bought my wife gift cards from Bedandbreakfast.com for Christmas for the last two years. The first time things went great. This last time though we checked in and got all unpacked when the lady at the front desk told us that they would not accept our gift card. I argued that their property was listed on the b&b dot com website and that the b&b dot com logo was on theirs. To me it would go without saying that they would accept the gift card.

Apparently though there are some members of b&b dot com who do not accept b&b dot com gift cards. Upon investigation I found that this is disclosed deep in the terms and conditions of the website however the website is set up so that it's very misleading. As a result we had to leave the property we were at and scramble to find one that would take our gift card. My wife was in tears, I was so furious I was shaking, and we were ready to just turn around and head home. Finally after calling several more properties on the site who would not take the gift cards we found a place that would take the gift card where we could stay for two nights (our vacation is four nights). We spent a whole nother day trying to find a place to stay for the following two nights which we finally did but now we are waiting nervously for our refund from the first property to post to our account. If it does not by 4 pm today, we may have to cut our vacation short.

The rep at b&b dot com was very sympathetic and apologetic but really took no action to help our situation. Our vacation is pretty much ruined because of them.

Bottom line: don't bother with the gift cards. Just put cash aside for your trip and save yourself the headache.

I can't get a 100% refund due to foreigner who owns the property! The representatives that I have spoken to on the phone or live chat have been apologetic but not getting anywhere with the home owner! Airbnb has told their home owners to refund money back to owners and why is this not the same for VRBO? Very disappointed since I have used them many times in the past and have had to cancel before and never having a conflict. I hope VRBO can iron this out or this will greatly affect their company in the future

We stayed in a Fernandina Beach VRBO condominium in early Feb and the cleaning was so poor I wanted to leave. The housekeeping management co. Had "forgotten" we were arriving and the unit was not cleaned between guests. Upon arrival we realized this and phoned. Two people were sent over and quickly changed linens and mopped the unit while we waited. During our stay we noted bath mats were downright filthy with hair and other debris, among other things. Per the instructions inside the condo, we stripped the beds to place sheets in the washer at departure and discovered the mattress protector had excessive stains. This is something the housekeeping staff sees each time they change the linens and just left it. There is no way to let the owner know they are not getting their money's worth from the management company because the renter cannot communicate directly with the owner. All communication is handled by the management company. We have stayed at a number of VRBO's over the years and each time the particular listing is either misrepresented or cleaning is substandard or both. Not to mention the condition of the mattresses, usually worn out. We have had enough of VRBO and want to say buyer beware!

Booked a month ago, host a week ago looking for 600 eu more! Travel agent 23 hrs, no help VRBO.
SCAM

Agree with previous reviewer that bedandbreakfast.com reviews are of questionable reliability. I would not use this site alone but check other travel sites first to make sure things jive. There have been reports on Trip Advisor of properties with glowing reviews on bedandbreakfast.com but not so positive reviews elsewhere, and of course it was the latter that turned out more accurate.

As mentioned by the other reviewer, they don't seem screen positive reviews... a look at a couple of random properties shows several one- or two-liner 4 and 5 star reviews but no reviews with under 4 stars. Hmm... On the other hand, if you rate anything under 3 stars on any aspect, you get an e-mail, "Please supply us proof of stay in the form of your accommodation receipt or documentation of your payment to the property". The fact of the matter is, most people when confronted by the extra requirement -- and potential invasion of privacy that this represents -- would probably back out.

I don't know that I believe that false positive reviews don't happen... see Yelp and their decision to apply filters that apply to both positive AND negative reviews. It does seem suspicious that bedandbreakfast.com filters only negative reviews. Then again, since bedandbreakfast.com has a certain financial stake in selling gift certificates that can be applied to some properties listed on their site, it DOES make sense they would promote positive reviews and discourage negative reviews, though. Again, hmm...

One would think a company that was born and bred specifically for the internet would have become a leader in the industry but instead, VRBO has the most unintuitive site/app with archaic features that make searching for a property about as cumbersome as it can get.

No means of saving searches so, you must go in and enter ever filter each time you go in to resume a search; no means of selecting renting an entire house - instead, you will get apartments that are IN an house, and the list of misses goes on.

Coupled with no customer service, whatsoever, we've switched to Airbnb for listing properties and finding rentals.

This is new and not the renters fee. VBRO now charges 10% for nothing. What a rip off. I will not rent with them again!

We won't use VRBO again. We arrived in Maui, were in line to get a rental car, and our VRBO condo was canceled. The only reason given was "the property has been sold." That's it... the owner didn't care one bit about the situation they put us into. I won't bore you with the rest of the story, but we will never use a service like this again. There's a reason hotels and resorts stay in-business decade after decade.

Looking for a property on the app and website was easy. The team that designed the app should be commended as it's really easy to use.

If you're on this site reading these reviews then you're already suspicious. Just trust your gut.

I have been a VRBO user for many years, but something is going on over which VRBO needs to get control or I an others will cease using the website. I booked several attempted reservations in Canada this year, all to be confirmed or waiting confirmations, only to have the owners write back saying the unit was committed to another renter using a different web platform. Then I went to book in February of 2023 three different condos in Nuevo Vallarta, same experience. One of the owners booked me on his own for 2 days out of the 4 I wanted to stay, and the website did not offer me a way to cancel as the owner booked it.

We rented a condo in Bradenton Florida The air conditioning unit was broken the smoke detector beeped all the time and the master bedroom toilet did not flush We got very little sleep I reported it to on site office and Vacasa Customer service the only response I got was from Wendy in the office she told us to open the doors for air flow. Then we were told that the hydro was going to be shut off for most of a day. That was the last straw we were so tired and frustrated we left a day early

We had to cancel our trip due to a Covid quarantine imposed four days before our vacation was to begin. The host refused to cancel our reservation and kept 100% of our payment, including the cleaning fee. In a polite exchange of messages, I repeatedly asked her to cancel our reservation and tried to explain VRBO's recommendation for Covid-related cancelations. After two weeks, mid-conversation, the host abruptly quit replying to me. VRBO apologized for this and refunded our VRBO service fee, but beyond that, VRBO has been unhelpful and frustrating.

I have spent hours on VRBO chats trying to report our negative experience with this host. Apparently, there's no way for a guest to review a VRBO host if the guest has not actually stayed at the property. VRBO may look into this case and may some day remove this listing from their website, but as of today, six weeks after our missed trip, this listing is still advertised on VRBO with zero reviews. Future guests may book with this host, not knowing how poorly she treated us. VRBO should enable guests and hosts to review each other's interactions outside of the actual home stay, if circumstances warrant such a review.

Booked Vrbo / Vacasa Emerald Sykes # 63 Opened door to awful smell, bedroom A/C broken, putting out foul odor, wish we could have turned around and left, opened windows and doors immediately, filthy bathtub, heavily strained couch, the list goes on. Remedy, bought Lysol, fan, bathmat, covered the couch with sheets, lived on the balcony for 3 days, I have all the pictures you want of the stained couch and filthy bathtub etc. The pictures were deceiving, not current conditions, you are there to enjoy, not to be a victim of poor management, buyer beware.!

My family and I went to stay in a cabin for three nights and four days on June 29 2020. We ended up coming home the first night because of a mice issue in one of the bedrooms which is unacceptable! Lost all the money we had paid! My children were terrified to say the least. After seeing that it made all of us feel like the cabin was not clean and they need to get a exterminator.

During this COVID-19 crisis I was one of many who had to cancel my reservation for a rental in the Florida Keys. There was no reasonable return of my full payment, only the damage deposit, and communication with the owner stopped the minute I let them know I needed to cancel. VRBO has sent me emails about how they were incentivizing the owners to be reasonable and asking if I'd been treated that way, but absolutely no response when I told them about my experience.

Beware of using VRBO for your vacation stays! These are the types of scammers that they allow to advertise properties on their site:
I recently stayed at Bonita Beach and Tennis CLub in Bonita Springs FL via the rental company doing business under: myfloridarealestate.com (the listing was found on hotels.com and the rental was through VRBO). The treatment I received at this "vacation"rental was abusive, cruel and inhumane. Manuel Noriega was driven out of his home and forced to surrender to the FBI because they played loud, obnoxious music. This "vacation" rental was so loud with the constant drilling, the pounding, the hammering, the destruction that it was worse than what the biggest drug dealer in Panama during the 1980's had to endure. These malicious thieves stole my money, tortured me with construction noise and openly spread lies of a peaceful vacation rental online. They disclosed the fact that it was under construction only after I had booked the rental. They refused a refund or to change the dates even though I said I was completely flexible. They also kept the fact that the property was under construction hidden from the property owner, as stated by VRBO who spoke with him. VRBO and hotels.com were also not aware that there was construction happening at the property and they tried to help me resolve the matter peacefully. The construction began with trucks arriving at 6AM and actual construction right outside my unit went until 6PM each and every day and was so loud that it might as well been right inside the unit. When I attempted to call one of the property managers (Jessica) neither she nor I could hear one another over the phone because the construction was mind-blowingly loud and so she decided to yell at me instead of sending a text message or coming to the property in order to see what the problem was that her valued customer was having in her "vacation" rental. I had explicitly explained to the other property manager, Tucker Lecaroz, that I was renting the unit for a staycation in order to have peace and solitude for my writings. Instead I acquired a severe migraine that lasted throughout the duration of the stay and afterwards. The bed was uncomfortable and from the 60's, all the knobs are filthy from grease in the kitchen that has never been thoroughly cleaned, the blinds were broken and didn't shut so there was no privacy and the construction workers could see inside, there was hair, toothpaste and makeup on the bathroom sink as if noone had cleaned before my arrival, there were no dish towels or sponges in the kitchen, the towels in the bathroom were stained, the thin blanket on the bed was threadbare and stained, there were extra pillows but no linens, the kitchen is falling to pieces with a rusty, dripping old refrigerator, they did not provide bottled water for guests upon arrival and there were no tissues. In addition, the rental property was dated, poorly maintained and they expect guests to take out their own trash (even though there is a $130 cleaning fee) and there is no recycling. The dishwasher smelled of sewage whilst it was being run because it is ancient. I have vacationed and lived in many places around this world and this country and I can easily say that this was the worst treatment that I have ever received, the most dire third world conditions (I feared for my life at this property like I never have never before and I have stayed in third world countries on my anthropological explorations and studies abroad). The building literally looked and felt like it would collapse at any minute and the other tenants and restaurant staff at the cafe were completely aghast that anyone would rent out a unit under those conditions. They said it was absolutely unconscionable behavior on the part of these property managers. There was fighting and shouting in the hallway at night and loud pounding on the floor from the unit above at 10PM while I was trying to quietly watch a movie. And the property managers were completely unwilling to compromise with VRBO or me. I might as well have been staying in the Gulag in Siberia, Russia. And they took down their listing as soon as I complained to Hotels.com because they knew they were being crooked and doing the wrong thing. Do not trust to have a pleasant stay if you rent from these sordid people.

VRBO used to be a wonderful company. They have lost their edge. They have given up on customer service and they have sent their customer service overseas. You will not reach anyone who speaks English. You cannot reach an account manager anymore. They do not Want you to understand their accounting. I have lost thousands by this company.
We must reach out to each other as owners to attack VRBO
I have sold three cabins because of the poor poor management by this woke company. As a retired physician I am in no fear.
I am concerned for those who count on VRBOFor their income.

Three major reasons.

1. Commission and fees are triple Airbnb if you don't buy their annual subscription for $500 USD!

2. As the owner/host you can't read reviews about the traveler posted by previous hosts on their profile. I rely on reviews to decide if the renters are trustworthy and respectful. The renter also gets to review the host and this system keeps people honest and better informed.

3. Two factor authentication is constantly an obstacle and I can't elect to have the verification code sent to my email. Text message only. I travel often outside of the USA and don't always have a cell phone, hence I can't check for inquiries daily because I can't even access my owner dashboard.

The above issues are inconvenient and lack common business sense. I don't know how the platform functions and makes money, because they're not getting it from me anymore

I have used VRBO in the past but will never do so again. I saw a vacation home on its site and should have known better; I booked through VRBO, was taken through the payment process and then received a call from the local rental agency at the vacation site saying they had "not received a payment". I checked and VRBO debited for a $500 service fee, but did not do ANYTHING ELSE! The payments and info will be coming from the local rental agency and VRBO collected a fat fee from me for NOTHING. I feel so stupid and also feel cheated. This is completely unfair for the "service" provided, which is apparently nothing. Never ever again. Lost a repeat customer with this. I cannot share the image from my account, but it is showing the VRBO fee, as well as the payment made directly to the local rental agency. TOTAL RIPOFF!

Having used VRBO before, I was caught off guard by the large service fee quietly added to my total at check-out. VRBO's explanation: It's for my own protection (?) and to help them run their website. In other words, they are charging again for the advertising that the owner already paid for and built into their price. I won't be back to VRBO or HomeAway.

VRBO adds in so many different fees and other charges to the rental that you DON'T know about until the end. I recently rented a house for 10 days in Colorado and the average nightly rate was listed as $240. But when all is said and done it was really $399. What a scam.

I recently wrote an unfavorable review of a property that I had rented. The description listing did not tell me that I needed to bring a lot of firewood to get the place warm or that I wasn't allowed to take a bath because there was a water shortage and we were supposed to bring our own water. The sheets and bed coverings were not washed well if at all and smelled strongly of perfume. I checked out early and let the owner know. He did not apologize or offer any kind of a refund for the days I didn't stay. So I left a review stating all the problems, but I also stated favorable things about the property. As soon as I had posted that review he posted a bad review about me as a traveler. So childish!
Owners look at these when they're deciding to rent to you - so I called Vrbo and explained to them that if they wanted our honest reviews on properties then the landlords shouldn't be able to retaliate right after the fact. They said there was nothing they could do. So basically don't write a bad review of any property or you'll get a bad review in return. You can't trust the reviews people write, knowing this. I will not be using Vrbo again.