Vrbo Reviews 270

Atrocious customer service. There was an error on the email address that was put in at the time of booking. Very easy to address to got onto live chat.

This resulted in VRBO calling me several times at 0300 to update on the query, then live chat with 4 different agents, the most recent of which called Mica L who was the least helpful person I could have had the pleasure to interact with. They just did not grasp my very basic request to update the booking email address.

I am left frustrated, disappointed and not knowing if I have a booking. Will be going to AMEX ti raise a section 75 request for a refund and never using VRBO again.

As a VRBO host in Australia of several properties, I am appalled at how little help they offer if ANYTHING goes wrong. Over the years I have had several unresolved issues. They just get lost in the system. Most recently, I have had issues with the local council wanting to disallow short term rental in my properties. VRBO (Stayz) have just washed their hands of the issue. No advice, no contingency plan, nothing. There isn't even someone I can talk to. Typically, they just don't want to know about anything that has gone wrong.

No host protection at all. If your guest come and damage your property or lie to you about bringing a pet or number of people he comes with there is no way for the platform to step in and compesate you for damages. They do not have an insurance in place such as Host Guarantee that Airbnb offers and pay the compensation from their own pocket

They have lost my deposit of £1497.20 and they can not find any evidence that I have booked a holiday. Because my husband died and paid with his card that is no longer open to me to find evidence. After months of phone calls and Emails nothing has happened. When you ring staff say they have referred it so they can not talk to me?????

**DO NOT BELIEVE THE PROPERTY REVIEWS ON VRBO**

We reported our issues (listed below) to the host in a polite but honest manner, he did nothing to rectify the issues and so we vacated two days later and made alternative arrangements (which cost us dearly).
The host was extremely rude, unprofessional, intimating and eventually resorted to blackmail.

Vrbo are in receipt of all of the conversations and photos supporting my claim, yet they have allowed this person to continue marketing on their platform and have not assisted me with the refund (I have the promise of refund in writing but 7 months later I'm still waiting to receive it).

We reserved a villa in Aug 2023 based on its great reviews. Upon check in the place was FILTHY! The bathroom had tiles missing (with sharp edges) and the taps only had a hot water feed and were positioned at child height (extremely dangerous for young children and we were travelling with a young child, declared at the time of booking).
A very old and dangerous gas heater was plugged in to a socket in lounge (again unsafe for young children). The gas hob had no igniter, you had to use a lighter.

The dirt was beyond: Bird excrement all over the outside cushions and table. Years of built up grime on every surface (mainly the hundreds of rank artificial plants and ceramic decor). The floors & internal windows were filthy.
The cleaning solution was a year out of date and stank.
Every lamp shade was dirty and broken.
I could go on. The place was tired, worn and dirty. They had left magazines on the coffee table, even these were YEARS out of date and were sticky with dirt.
The BBQ had fat and grime (we had to clean it before using it).

The host later admitted, in writing that the property had not been cleaned prior to our arrival!

We allowed two days for the issues to be sorted, they weren't so informed the host that we were vacating. I actually left the house cleaner than we found it (as I was not prepared for my family to live in filth for any amount of time).
The host' behavior was awful, he was rude and the whole thing was extremely upsetting and is STILL DRAGGING ON months later!

We were in Australia, I tried for 7 hours to get through to Vrbo. Every number i called they said they couldn't locate my booking, by reference, address surname, anything?!?! I ended up messaging Vrbo on FB and finally got a UK number to call. It cost me a fortune in phone calls. At their request I spent more time out of my holiday submitting the photos and emails, but when I retuned to the UK i had to start the claim again from scratch.

During this time the host emailed me to say he had an independent report commissioned and that it had actually highlighted more problems than I had reported (i dread to think) and as a result he offered a full refund of £1400. I am sadly still waiting for it.
I have provided Vrbo with everything and they have done nothing to assist. They simply said they "CANNOT FORCE A HOST TO GIVE A REFUND".

I proved that the landlord was trying to blackmail me into not leaving a review, they said "if you want your money back, do not leave a review".

Reviews on Vrbo simply cannot be trusted. I have submitted my review of the property on Vrbo and a pop up said something along these lines:
"Thank you, it can take up to 2 weeks to publish your review. IF successful the host will be given the chance to review you as a guest".
I feel Vrbo filter and manipulate reviews in their favor and offer zero support to the customer when things go wrong.

Essentially they left us stranded 11,000 miles away with a young child and we are now thousands of pounds out of pocket as a result.

We are regular worldwide travelers, I will NEVER book thorough Vrbo again and I share my experience in the hope to spare another family the same ordeal.

Unless you want your holiday ruined AVOID - AVOID - AVOID!!

EDIT: 08/02/24 - I posted a review on Vrbo 17/01/24. 3 weeks later on 1/02/24, they confirmed the review had gone live. Its now 8/02/24, they just emailed me to say they had removed my review claiming that it doesn't meet their guidelines??!! DO NOT BELIEVE VRBO REVIEWS they only allow the positive ones

If I could have given VBRO -5 I would.
I booked an apartment in Rome months ago, and like so many others who have booked holiday rental accommodation through VBRO have found the owner cancelled the booking even though paid the full amount upfront.
The period I booked for was a popular date and expensive so that’s why I booked early.flights have been booked for 4 of us. Now I am finding trying to book alternative accommodation twice as expensive as when I booked and it seems the VBRO guarantee and customer service is less than worthless,
This was the first time I booked through this company and I will never use them again.
I will be sticking with Airbnb and Booking.com

VBRO …..Horrific, disappointing, unreliable .

DONT USE THIS COMPANT

I have booked through VRBO several times, mainly because they had the best website. I had no problems with the first few bookings, so I hadn’t found out how they deal with any issues arising.
This year I have discovered that they cannot run the other side of their business: providing security for host/traveller transactions. I have had problems with payments and have had to chase hosts for access to the booked property. The last straw was a booking for just after Christmas. The host did not provide access information so, the day before we were due to check in, I had to contact VRBO. The person on the chat line contacted the host, who then told me that he needed to cancel our booking. He has sent a partial refund, with no explanation. I have tried chasing VRBO for a full refund, including the fees that I have been charged, but I can’t get any help there either.
In the past I have had a problem with one booking through Tripadvisor, and one through booking.com. In each case the platform acted swiftly to resolve the issue. VRBO just take the fees, and then provide no services to travellers.

First time using VRBO I planned my holidays for new years in TULUM, Mexico. I wrote the host to doublecheck if the room was actually available since I was hesitant being the first time using this platform. The host replied saying yes, it is available and welcome. So I booked the room. When I was meant to be arriving I had no checking info from the host, send him messages but no replies from him I contacted the help centre from VRBO and they gave me his number, I would call several times but no reply, I add the number to my whatsapp and it belong to a woman not to Jose Aguilar the host. I called the help centre of VRBO and I would be on hold for hours, Had to find a hotel because I was on the street literally, when VRBO finally picked up my call and I told my story they promised to book me in another hotel, meanwhile I started looking for VRBO reviews and saw many people having exactly the same issue that happened to me, so while in tears I asked the lady on the phone with me - am I going to receive an email saying you couldn`t find a room for us like I am reading from others reviews online? and she didn`t reply just said to wait for an email, and voila I received exactly that same email others were receiving, that they couldn`t find me a room and asking me to book a room only on their platforms because otherwise they would not be able to refund me? obviously I didn`t, so I had to stay in whatever we find available on the streets of Tulum Centre. It ruin the start of my new plans. Massive scam of platform, the host and everyone I spoke in the help centre and also on my calls.
VRBO 122552424

First time I used VRBO. Wish I had read the reviews before booking an apartment in central London for New Years eve. On the day the rental was to start still had not received the checkin info. Agent gave up trying to call the Rostand gave me his number. Finally got a hold of the host only to be informed that the apartment had not been available for rental for the last 2 years. After 3 hours on the phone with 3 different agents Vrbo offered to book us into a hotel for 2 of the 4 nights that we had booked with them - what an insult hotel rooms were being advertised for less than half the price that we had already paid VRBO for the original rental.
The only good action by Vrbo was that they refunded our money within a week
Still never again.

Terrible company, seems like they are heavily on the host side. Really is beggers belief, that anyone except VRBO can see I have been put in the wrong condo (no sea view, different left to right building rooms, internet not working, safe locked in the open position) the condo just is not up to standard. But VRBO do not interact for a resolve.

As a villa owner i stopped using Vrbo years ago (the best decision I’ve made)!

They don’t allow any contact with the guests, you can’t help them with details over the phone, guests and owners need to know the other is genuine and not scammers,

I’m now with simply owners that allow you and the guests speak,

I’ve used Vrbo several times over recent years. No problems. This time, I had booked a cottage for over Christmas and needed to cancel it within the cancellation period. I was promised a refund (by credit card) within 5-7 days.

Nothing.

I then proceeded to embark on a campaign of trying to get my money back by going on the chat line, emailing, virtually every day, sometimes more than once a day.
I kept being told “the engineers” were trying to sort it……?!?!

Finally, I got my refund back, but it took the best part of a month, a huge amount of stress, a huge amount of time, a huge amount of hassle.

NEVER AGAIN SHALL I USE THIS COMPANY - THEY HAVE PROVED TO BE SIMPLY AWFUL!!

We booked an apartment via VRBO to escape the rain in Holland. All was confirmed and paid for. After a 10hr drive with our 2-year-old daughter, no one was there to pick us up or guide us to the apartment. After half an hour trying to find a phone number of VRBO, we decided to ring the doorbell of the rented apartment. The owner responded and told us he had cancelled the reservation. There we were, tired of the trip with no place to sleep with a 2-year-old completely exhausted and in need of a bed.

Luckily, we quickly found a hotel nearby, which was a miracle since the whole area seemed fully booked. There was one room left. An expensive one, but with an exhausted toddler, we didn't mind. She had to sleep.

After another hour of searching, I finally found a phone number to contact VRBO. I explained the situation to a support employee and she confirmed that all was paid but not cancelled and something went wrong. The protocol that VRBO uses in this situation is extremely unprofessional. Every self-respecting travel agent would be devastated and do everything to help out the client. VRBO simply told us to look for a new apartment and the extra expenses for the hotel would NOT be covered. It's unbelievable how this company is connected to HomeAway. It seems to be a moneymaking company with no need for the well-being of their clients. We had to wait 3 days to get a refund.

The hotel we were staying in helped us out by making some calls around to find another place to stay in the coming week. They were angels compared to the people in the VRBO company. They also reached out to the director of the local Tourist Office to make sure to keep an eye out on this VRBO company and bookings, because it legally could end up as a fraud.

2 weeks later, I sent a mail to VRBO to discuss all the extra time and money spent. I reminded them twice on the mail. They never replied. It's a fraudulent company. Don't use this company ever.

I booked with Vrbo for a 2 night trip abroad but the host didn't reply to email or the phone in the last week. Vrbo said I had to wait until check in before they would find alternative accommodation, and assured me that they wouldn't leave me without accommodation. I phoned after the check in time and was then informed that the Vrbo "Book with confidence guarantee" has the following policy:

We base lodging coverage on the length of stay of the stranded traveler's booking:
1-night stays: No paid lodging or self-lodging support.
2- and 3-night stays: Vrbo pays up to one night of lodging support.
4-, 5-, and 6-night stays: Vrbo pays up to two nights of lodging support.
7+ night stays: Vrbo pays up to three nights of lodging support.

This policy is not on their website, not in their Ts&Cs, and is only revealed to customers when things go wrong.

So the Vrbo "Book with confidence" will never provide alternative accommodation for the entirety of a booked stay, even if the host cancels.

I complained about this and eventually Vrbo refunded me for the 2nd night but it took 62 emails and around 4 hours of phone calls.

Having a "Book with confidence policy" with a secret clause to not provide accommodation for the duration of a trip is highly misleading and leads to a huge amount of stress. I was at the airport not knowing if I should board the flight, as I would not have anywhere to stay for the duration.

I will not use Vrbo again until this policy is changed publicly.

Absolute scammers. The app wouldn’t accept any of my cards so I called them, and the price seemed to rise every 5 minutes. I eventually declined to book but a price I did NOT agree to was taken out of my account anyway, leaving me without it (at the end of the month) for three days.

As a host on VRBO for several years with all 5 star reviews and no issues, VRBO has now decided to no longer pay me for my rentals in a timely manner. I am now 6 days and 2 days past my check outs and the money that VRBO collected well over a month ago from the guests still has not been disbursed. Two phone calls and a case number issued with a supposed response within 3 business days is unacceptable. BE WARNED hosts, that if you get in this situation with VRBO it is not easily or readily remedied and even harder to find someone who knows what they are talking about, much less fix anything.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY, they cancelled our New Years Eve family get together due to a double booking. We booked and paid for the property in January, but they have only just identified the mistake in October. We have bought train tickets to the accommodation, NYE party tickets in the area, all of which we will NOT get refunds for. I have raised a formal compliant, but I don't feel like anyone I spoke to really cared. Still awaiting a refund for the property. SCAMMERS DONT USE VRBO

Don't use this company, they advertise properties that doesn't exist,they don't comply with what they promised, to issue you a refund. Rented a property on they site, they never give me the full address, just road name, and ever time you call them, all they say is " we apologise, and your case is with our higher department, they're investigating your case, and i have to wait 24 hours, for the refund to be made". And its been already 4 days. SCAMMERS DONT USE VRBO

Completely failed to honour the Book with Confidence Guarantee. Allowed a scammer to take my money and did not refund it even though the Book with Confidence Guarantee exactly fit my situation. Their only explanation was that the scammer used their website to advertise but took the money from an outside source. I will now report them to Citizen's Advice.

The house owner is “Stay with me” which is also a very bad and wicked minded group. No more Vrbo and Stay with me ! The manager emailed me the “requirements” on my responsibilities after we have moved out. Beside keep the kitchen and house clean as usual, we had to well wrap the rubbish bag and put it into the rubbish bin outside the house as well as put all the furnitures including chairs and table back to the original positions just like nobody once stayed in the house at all. The rent is not cheap ! What we paid for ?! We have to work as a professional housekeeper after we paid an expensive rent ! The deposit for GBP200 didn’t returned to us at all without a reason !
Vrbo is a trap ! The Stay with Me is another trap ! They make excuses to forfeit your deposit which is not a small amount. Mind your step everybody. Don’t be trapped !