VRBOReviews 2,001

As a host on VRBO I find it's a pretty terrible experience. I see lots of fraud, lots of bad actors, and I had my beautiful home trashed a couple of times. And VRBO customer service is simply terrible. The tech is terrible. I actually don't have anything good to say about the company.

I recently stayed at a VRBO property in Gary, Indiana (Miller Beach Blue Door By The Shore #3) from July 17–20, and I can confidently say it was one of the worst travel experiences of my life—not only because of the condition of the property, but because of the way both the host and VRBO corporate handled the situation. From the start, the property was not as advertised. There was visible damage to the floors, damage to one of the bedroom doors, and worst of all, severe basement flooding that occurred during our stay. Despite paying as a guest, I was expected to clean up this flooding myself—using towels, as advised by the owner, Christina Lee. No mop. No squeegee. Just towels. When I reached out to Ms. Lee, she casually mentioned that this was a known issue and told me she probably couldn't get a plumber out since it was a Saturday, but maybe someone could come by Sunday or Monday. That was useless to me, as we were leaving early Sunday morning. Initially, Ms. Lee offered two free nights on a future visit, but I informed her I had no intention of returning. Eventually, we agreed on a 25% refund for one night, which I still felt was insufficient given the circumstances—but I accepted it just to be done with the situation. However, after I provided my Cash App info (since I don't use Zelle), the refund never came. Ms. Lee stopped responding to my messages altogether. That's when I turned to VRBO corporate, hoping the company would stand behind its customers. I spoke with a representative named Malay on August 6, who opened case #*******. He listened and told me to give it 24 hours. No one followed up. The next day, I called back and spoke with a rep named Kevin, who then transferred me to a supervisor named Manisha. Rather than acknowledging the inconvenience I had been through, Manisha repeatedly questioned why I hadn't contacted the owner about the cosmetic damages (like the floors and doors)—as though I should've expected them to be fixed mid-stay. I explained I had photo and video documentation, but her tone remained dismissive. After a full hour on the phone, I asked if there was anything VRBO could do to make this right, given the poor service, lack of support, and total disregard for the customer experience. Her response: "No, there isn't."
Then she hung up on me. That was the final straw. I have never felt more disregarded, disrespected, or taken advantage of by a property owner or a company. Between the false advertising, the unsafe and unsanitary conditions, the unwillingness to act, and the dismissive and unprofessional response from VRBO's own representatives, I can say without hesitation:
I will never use VRBO again. Travelers, beware—this company will leave you hanging when you need them the most.

I've contacted VRBO several times I was a host and this was my first rental with them and they haven't paid me they sent me an email that said that they were paying me but it could take 5 to 7 days so I waited nothing and then I contacted them a week later and they said well we're having technical difficulties now this is February 1st and I still haven't been paid and they're still having technical difficulties in paying money to host that was already paid to them by our guests? This leads me to believe that possibly this company is in trouble and if I were you I would get away from them asap

First and last time useing VRBO. Tried to reserve a place, however, I was charged 328.00 and recieved no conformation or reservation. Talked to the propery owner and they said they didnt recieve a conformation nor did they recive payment. Been fighting VRBO for over a week, and cant get my money back. If you are traveling and need a place, stay away from this co. Complete SCAM

They hold your money for over a month! I've called several times and they just hang up! This place is nothing but thieving scammers! The customer service reps are foreign. Customer service is not in place to help you and they are extremely rude. Trying to get your rental money is a full time job! They promise callbacks and never call. If they don't like what you're saying they just hang up. They just want your money!

As usual we always stay at Brett Robinson for the Shrimp Festival. This year we had to book through VRBO. The initial price of unit was around 2100 for 4 days. By the time I saw what my credit card was charged was 2965. This was outrageous. I have never before paid a price this outstanding for a condo or would. The communication with the host was kind of touch and go. Granted I thought she communicated that the room was ready and gave us the code to the room and gate. I was wrong. When we got into the room there were flies both dead and alive. Literally there were flyswatters in the pantry. Makes sense. Also, in the kitchen was an excessive number of gnats. We thought maybe there was food in the disposal etc. Once we went to the store, I purchased bug killer and gnat catcher. Notified the VRBO rep. Who stated she was not aware of this and will let housekeeping know when they clean next time. Also wanted pictures. Next, we wanted to be able to use our phones. Meaning we needed the Wi-Fi code. Usually there is a paper with the code on it etc. So, I called the 1-800 number for Brett Robinson who was so helpful and got us the Wi-Fi code. Being from the south we are huge football fans and were going to watch the games while getting ready. We needed an access code. Texted the Lacie again and she was not aware of an access code. I explained to her the TV is asking for a code for us to be able to access ROKU etc. By this time, I was done. We had no dishwashing soap, dishwasher detergent, wash cloths, or scrubber. Thankfully this isn't my first rodeo so I always bring extras. Lastly, our friends were in Unit 310, same building. Come to find out their condo was $1700. I
Am hoping somehow the owner of the property sees any of the complaints mentioned and realize that VRBO is a travesty. Any comments on a course of action would greatly be appreciated. I do have pictures, but I am unable to upload them.

Rachel

Prior to Expedia purchasing VRBO.com, it was an excellent place for vacation home owners and travelers to exchange. Expedia has ruined this company! I have removed all 3 of my homes from the VRBO platform, as the company is now run buy uneducated, barely understandable idiots. There is no escalation process, no accountability, no reason to trust your home to these incompetent children!

We booked a place in Homosassa for the end of October. Due to the pending hurricane, we cancelled. Now, I had changed my bank account during the time of deposit for rental and cancellation, so VRBO now says they refunded my money to an account that's no longer active. The bank says they couldn't receive funds on a closed account. After several phone calls, I was dismissed, put on hold, told to call back in 48-72 hours. They have no intention of reimbursing the $282.62. The property owner sent an e-mail acknowledging the refund we did not receive. I guess VRBO is keeping that for themselves. The last person I spoke with was dismissive, kept saying "have a nice day" and hung up. I will never use VRBO again and would strongly suggest you steer clear of this company. I will give a one rating only because I can't give a 0. Poor customer service.

I host 3 properties on Vrbo, I will take them all off this company and only use airbnb, who are far superior, they have a real customer service team and actually care about their hosts and guests, Vrbo do not care about anything but the dollar

Worst customer service ever, and their renter vetting is non-existent. VRBO still has not paid me for a rental of my lake house from TWO MONTHS AGO, and they simply keep passing the buck to the next lackey who does NOTHING. You can only talk with customer service in India, they can't and won't do anything, and no one from US support or billing or chat will ever respond to pay what they owe me. On top of this royal PITA, every month there's another "guest" scammer wanting to rent my place for 3 weeks, but needs to pay with a "company check"--there's no picture, and no history, yet when I notify "support" that its a scammer they do NOTHING. Travellers AND Hosts beware

Although I have cancelled my booking well before my trip (9 months until the trip) I have still not been refunded the 100% as promised. Only refunded the 286.00 service fee, but now still waiting for the other 1500.00. I used to use this service as an owner and they are trying to tell me that the owner needs to refund the money, but I know from experience that they have the funds, not the owner. I will never use this service again.

Vrbo was marginal at best, but now with their lesbian commercials, I'm not interested in supporting them at all. Time to put my money into a positive company.

Rented a house for five nights and paid hundreds of dollars. While the temperature outside was over 100 degrees the inside as we entered was 88 degrees. Thermostat didn't work and we tried to contact the host. He wanted pictures of thermostat which we sent him during waiting for 5 hours for him to send someone to fix the air conditioning. By 8:00pm we contacted VRBO and provided them with the pictures of thermostat and screenshots of our conversation with the host. They just wasted our time till 10:00pm by transferring us from place to place and none of them did anything. We had to shower 3 times all night to keep cool and didn't sleep. In the morning the host was not responding to my request of refunding us so we could rent another property. He insisted on sending someone. From 9:00 am to 5:00pm we were in the mall and different stores to keep cool. The host said it's fixed and we got to the house and still is 82 degrees! My husband is 70 years old with Parkinson's disease and I am 64 with fibromyalgia and arthritis. Both the host and VRBO are not responding to our request of refunding weus. We don't know what to do as we are sitting in our car. Never again we will rent from VRBO or the property at Sundance Canopy in Buckeye, AZ

We were told that our rented space in Edmonton, Alberta had a combination lock on the door but would have its combination changed with each new tenant. However, that was not true and it was double booked. Upon arrival, I opened the door to be confronted by an old man in his underwear standing in the living room We called the owner and he blamed Airbnb, which means he was using both booking agency to rent one space. We had a hard time getting our money back, as the VRBO representative was just as useless as the owner. Suggest that you buy a lock of your own and replace the door knob while you are renting or you too may find yourself having uninvited house guests. This service is nothing but a venue for slum lords. If a no star review was possible, that would be my selection. What I will never again select is this site. If I don't have a place to stay the next time I am in Edmonton, at least I can go to that space. The door combination lock is 9696 for anyone else with a similar issue.

We rented a house. We got in at 5:15pm. The house stunk like years of cigarette smoke covered by cheap air freshners. It was dirty to include poop still on the toilet bowl. We got out of there after about 20 minutes and immediately called VRBO customer service and lodged our complaint. We had to find alternative accommodations. We are still fighting with them for a refund! We will never use their service again.

VRBO is a crooked monopolistic outfit. They recently changed their terms without owner's agreement so that any requested reservation is automatically accepted, and if you cancel the reservation they insist that you pay around 12%. When I explained that I never agreed to these changes, they still insisted on payment and canceled my account which is fine because I will never use them again
In the past they also changed the rte on my rental unit without permission, sent incorrect 1099 tax forms, and would never correct any of it...

VRBO DELIBERATELY LIED to keep our multi-family group renting through them.
Property owner canceled day we were to check in. We contacted VRBO, but there were no comparable properties. VRBO collects heavy penalty from owner, tell us we'll get financial support if we stay with VRBO. We get new reservation through VRBO and provide receipts for reimbursement. The next Escalation Team case review team denies us any reimbursement, claims first group can't make that offer. So VRBO imposes, collects and keeps the fines, but we as renters get NO HELP AT ALL. And we're the ones scrambling for alternatives. We have to pay upfront the 2nd time to reserve while trying to get refund from owner on 1st reservation. All the inconvenience falls on renter, while VRBO collects fees.

VRBO is a real scam booking platform. They have a one star rating on every rating or review platform only because it's not possible to give zero stars!
Avoid them at all costs.
They host many non-existent accommodation places... you get there and it's just not there or abandoned.
They don't respond to email enquiries and if you try to call them you will find the line disconnected or switched off.
Even if the accomm IS there, it's often filthy or completely different to the description.
They don't remove or pause offending accommodation providers even after shocking reviews.
Go to someone else. Don't be part of the VRBO scam like me!

We went to Italy and rented an apartment through Vrbo. Vrbo advertises that you always have the rental property all to yourself. The message is just you and your people. Well our rental was not private. Anything but private Wedged between 2 other apartments and the owners all living on site. In the same house very noisy no privacy. And Vrbo customer service were very very rude to me and did NOTHING to help. Worst rental experience ever STAY AWAY FROM VRBO