Vrbo Reviews 

This review was originally for bookabach however I have been receiving emails from Vrbo. I canceled my booking with Karapiro tui cottage in New Zealand and was promised a refund by the host. When I didn't see the refund I messaged her 29 May. She told me the amount was refunded 19 May. She told me to check with bookabach/vrbo. I messaged her back 12 June that I was trying to navigate to talk to a real person and asked her to check her payments. She has not replied to me. She has ghosted me. I finally talked to Norland at vrbo and was told that I needed to speak with a higher team. They couldn't ring me directly and he placed me on hold to contact them. He couldn't connect me and tried again the following night. I was on hold for over an hour and still didn't speak to someone. When the call was disconnected he emailed me that further updates would be via email. He wasted my time. He first said that I needed to speak to someone higher then changed his story. Norlamd didn't acknowledge that I had Checked my bank account. I have bank stamped verifications that show no refund so I know the host has been untruthful. Simple process of a bank transfer from her new Zealand account to my new Zealand account - not a simple process apparently. Not a fan of Karapiro tui cottage or bookabach/vrbo. Couldn't leave a review for Karapiro Tui Cottage on her site.

The worse experience ever. I felt I had to fight VRBO to get my money back. See my review below which they also took down bc I quoted an additional rec fee that the host did not mention when we booked. Absolutely will not book with them ever again!!!

Here is my review: Unfortunately, our stay did not meet basic cleanliness standards. We arrived in Bethany around 1:00 and checked to see if the room was ready. The owner and their dog were there so we did not go in and went to the pool instead. Upon arrival at checkin time 3:00, the property appeared not to have been properly cleaned before our stay. In the bathroom, there was urine around the toilet seat, feces on the seat, and mildew in the shower. The refrigerator had not been wiped out, and the furniture and floors were visibly dirty. I sent pictures and videos to VRBO and was willing to share with the host.
Due to the condition of the property, we were uncomfortable staying there and ultimately had to find alternative accommodations. While the host eventually refunded our money, there was no apology or acknowledgment of the inconvenience caused.
I also want to make future guests aware of an additional cost that was not obvious to me when booking: recreation badges are required to use the pools and park facilities. For a family of four, the cost is approximately $236.
I hope the cleanliness issues are addressed and that the property receives a thorough professional cleaning before future guests arrive.

A terrible experience with this company, after I sent pictures of the hotel room it was without sheets, the bed with long hairs everywhere. At the end they say we won't give you any money back

We booked a VRBO apartment in Paris several months in advance. The listing stated that the property was not wheelchair accessible, the pictures showed an appartment like on a first floor (rez de chaussée) even if i watched through the windows, but it did not clearly disclose that the apartment was located on the 4th floor with no elevator.

My husband has cerebral palsy. He is able to walk independently and does not use a wheelchair. He can generally manage stairs, especially going up, but going down multiple flights of stairs is significantly more difficult and can present safety concerns. For that reason, knowing that an apartment is located on the 4th floor with no elevator is essential information for us.

We only discovered the 4-floor walk-up through the access video sent shortly before arrival.

As soon as we learned this, we contacted both the property management agency and VRBO and requested either a relocation or a refund. The agency never responded. VRBO refused any assistance, arguing that the "not wheelchair accessible" notice was sufficient, despite the fact that the listing did not clearly state that the apartment was on the 4th floor without an elevator.

Because the apartment was not realistically usable for us, we had to book and pay for alternative accommodation in Paris.

What disappointed us most was not only the lack of transparency regarding the property's accessibility, but also the complete lack of response from the agency and VRBO's unwillingness to address the specific issue we raised.

Yet more nonsense from their non-existent customer services. Their ever-glitchy software changed my minimum stay (I am a host) from 5 nights to 1 night. I was only alerted to this when someone booked 3 nights in the peak of July 2027. VRBO could not give me a coherent answer on their useless chat and I could not get through on the phone. So I cancelled the booking and they are now planning to charge me, etc. Problem is you cannot get through to anyone who will do anything. They treat hosts with contempt. USELESS

Worse service I have ever had in my life! The host was a no show in Rome, VRBO cancelled after 1 hour and left us stranded! No help at all, they even hung up on us! We ended up paying so much more for a hotel stay and I had to fight for 5 weeks upon return to get the difference in price refunded to us ( which was for 4000.00$)! I almost gave up I was so frustrated and angry. I felt so helpless! Please never use VRBO, no «  deal » is worth all this frustration, anger and awful situations. It was our first time using VRBO (and last of course). We have never had a problem with Air BNB so we will stick with this service from now on. Lesson learned. The hard way.

I booked a beach house for 2027. The listing said cancellation before May 2027. I cancelled within 2 hours, even before the host accepted my booking. VRBO refuses to give me a full refund. The host told them to give me a refund. I am out approx $5000! Bad business.
This is the house I rented, then quickly realized it wasn’t going to work and canceled right away. The owner had not even approved yet. I’ve reached out to the owner who agreed to refund my deposit but so far VRBO has not done so. I called them and was told it was their policy not to refund for the week I booked.
Tide N Knots Topsail Island, NC
Dates: Jun 5, 2027 - Jun 12, 2027

We booked a trip, but unfortunately on the way there our vehicle broke down and we were unable to continue.

We had purchased the VRBO Cancellation Insurance.
DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY PURCHASING THIS INSURANCE, THERE ARE SO MANY EXCLUSIONS THEY WILL NEVER REIMBURSE YOU!

Needless to say, they denied my claim!! Buyer beware!!!

Booked a condo at Legends Golf Resort Myrtle Beach SC and noticed it had a doorbell cam so I disabled it because they did not disclose it. Had a local resident friend walk over with her dog for a visit. Next day I got a notice to vacate in 1 hour or they were calling the police for a rules violation. VRBO refused to refund my money and would not let me leave a review. Waiting on cc company to resolve my dispute. Sounds illegal to me.

Ive read these reviews and really dont understand why they are so bad .ive recently had a holiday cancelled via the people letting the property which left us in a complete panic with the holiday due in 8 weeks and.The rental was a big house accommodating 3 families so it wasnt cheap ..from the moment the holiday was cancelled Vrbo have been amazing they got in touch personally via telephone reassuring they would do everything possible to aid us getting a similar holiday for the same price or more expensive ..they immediately responded to any query i had and supported me through the whole process of rebooking another holiday home and to top if off, as we fell into the Vrbocare protection they had in place we were able to rebook a much more expensive property and they covered the difference in price..I just sent all the details off and within 48 hours the difference of what was paid for the original holiday and what was paid for the new holiday was refunded into my account ..absolutely no messing , no issues , such a smooth process..and 100% excellent customer service given throughout the whole process ...issues happen and Vrbo cannot be held accountable if the people leasing the property pull out so to receive the service we did puts confidence into this company for any future bookings, and i hope this review gives confidence to others should they be apprehensive to use the site

VRBO Owner app not very intuitive. Also, you don't get your 1st pay out UNTIL THIRTY DAYS AFTER your first guest which is ridiculous. No where on the app tells you this, it says 7-10 business days so very misleading. Do better VRBO.

Absolutely awful. It was the first time I used this, and the last. So I book a weekend stay and an hour later my plans crumble. So I immediately cancel the trip. This trip was over 300$. I ask the host if it's ok to get a refund, the trip was about three weeks away, and I had booked it a couple hours ago. She said that it wasn't a problem, and that she's ok to refund me, but I had to get customer service involved cuz she couldn't do it on her end. I called VRBO support, and they said they would look into it, call the host and get confirmation from her, but every time they tried to call her it wouldn't go through. And they would simply say "oh well she didn't pick up, I can't do anything, your not getting your refund". I had to ask them to try and email her, and they said they would and call me back in a couple days. Low and behold couple days past, and nothing from them. I ask the host through the chat if she has received a call or email from them and she says no. So I call again and I get stuck in the same loop. This happened for 3 MONTHS! I lost it on them and asked why they are so stupid, they see the text with the host, why can't they just do it?! All they'd say is that's it's policy. Finally, someone said if I could text the host, and get her to text another confirmation with the dates, exact booking confirmation number, total amount, and my full name. How stupid is that. So I did they're job for her, annoyed this poor host for no reason yet again, and finally, after three months, I got my refund. Let's just say I'm never going to use VRBO again, I'm going to stick to Airbnb and make sure everyone I know that uses this VRBO that they are awful people. On top of everything, I have talked to probably everyone in the call center and I can't understand 99% of them. I am patient with accents and will never get frustrated with it, but I noticed that the customer support people got mad super fast when I had to ask them to repeat themselves and got very rude, which is weird cuz I'm not the one with the accent, you need to be patient if you know you have a hard time with a language. Anyway 100% awful experience, and I will make sure to tell anyone that will listen, not to use VRBO

I booked a space -
When we arrived, it was obvious the space had been misrepresented in many ways on the site. We spoke with the caretaker who told us we needed to call VRBO. We called and then engaged in a series of emails documenting the discrepancies. We received an email that the deposit would be refunded. it was not. When we called and sent them the email - the customer service said there was nothing they could do.

Really poor/non performing booking system. Whoever commissioned the IT system should be sacked!
I'm giving up in disgust and going elsewhere.
Total Timewasters

Avoid , avoid avoid, they advertise cottage’s with hot tubs that don’t exist, we needed this for daughter with MS , we asked to cancel before the weekend away and did not go, they will not issue a refund, we will be taking the matter further

I am extremely frustrated with Vrbo's terrible service. A guest cancelled their reservation just one day before a planned 15-day stay. According to my property's cancellation policy, no refund is due for such a last-minute cancellation. Despite this, Vrbo is withholding the entire rental amount.

If a zero star was available that's exactly what this company deserves. We will NEVER again book through VRBO. The booking process has been a nightmare and I ended up having to rebook directly with the host and they won't refund THEIR service fee of almost $200. They did NOTHING but cause me stress and anxiety! They did not facilitate the payment transaction and I have spent hours getting our stay fixed. None of our family, travel sports teams will ever book through them again. I've sat on hold waiting for someone else to speak with because the incompetent rep kept arguing with me and would not take my concern into consideration what so ever.

I would give Vrbo 0 stars if I could. Just a warning to ANYONE looking to book with Vrbo don’t do it. They have the worst customer service, they lie through their teeth about Vrbo care, they spam call you several times a day just to tell you they have no updates on your case. It has been nothing but a nightmare to deal with them.

Update: I will not call customer service again they don’t do anything except waste your time. I was on hold with them for over 1.5 hours just for them to tell me they weren’t going to help me. This is after they called me to follow up and told me Vrbo care would help me find a new house. When I finally got to talk to Vrbo care the guy on the phone said he wouldn’t be finding me a new place to stay.

Their SITE sucks, I hate to say it, I tried to make a booking yesterday. I fussed with them for over four hours and even tried to call their customer service.

Their answer was, ‘we know we are having computer and server problems, You just need to keep trying’ and then they hung up on me.

Never again

did you see their reply to call customer service, I did call customer service you know what they told me.. yes we know we are having server and Internet problems. You just need to keep trying if you still have problems in 24 or 48 hours call us back and then they hung up on me.

I booked 10 nights in a condo in San Juan, PR. The listing described it as a "5-star VIP luxury condo." It is an outrageous lie. I knew something was wrong when I stepped out of the elevator and saw that the condo doors had metal security bars. When I unlocked the door and turned on the lights, I knew we had been scammed. The photos had been enhanced. I was on the phone with VRBO until 2 AM. They put you on hold for 30 minutes, then drop the call, forcing you to start over. I lost $ 2,950 to the VRBO scam. Never again!