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VRBO

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VRBO Reviews Summary

The overall reputation of the company reflects significant dissatisfaction among customers, particularly regarding its customer service and reliability. Many users report frustrating experiences with delayed refunds, poor communication, and unhelpful support staff. Complaints about properties not matching descriptions or being in unacceptable conditions are prevalent, leading to a loss of trust. While a few customers express occasional satisfaction with specific transactions, the overwhelming sentiment leans towards a lack of accountability and professionalism. This has resulted in a growing number of users opting for alternative platforms, indicating a critical need for improvement in service quality and responsiveness.

This summary is generated by AI, based on text from customer reviews

service
468
value
420
shipping
118
returns
217
quality
362

We monitor reviews for authenticity

Ohio
1 review
1 helpful vote
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9 Wisteria Lane, Sea Pines, Hilton Head, SC
This is a beautiful home. We rented it for the last 6 years in February. Pretty clean, stocked most years and the fenced in yard was always a plus. We managed to fix a few things every year so we didn't have to bother the homeowner, but no big deal. We cleaned the house before we left better than we found it. After letting the homeowner know that we wanted to rent for February 2023 - our 7th year, we were informed that the price was going up……yep, it went up alright…. By 100%…from $3,900 to over $8,000 with car pass, departure cleaning and all taxes. We were informed that the market rate for the neighborhood has increased dramatically and there were no other homes that offers all the features of this home. However, I did find a better priced rental for the month of February 2023 in Sea Pines with the same amenities…. So, obviously its all about the money. They can ask more, and they will get it. And to top things off, we were accused of bringing two dogs, and only telling them we had one. They saw two dogs on their newly installed outside cameras. I have the text that I sent to Carla in October 2021 and it specifically states the fact that we will have two dogs, unless our old 14 year old passes on before the trip. Disappointed and shocked at the price increase and accusation. Looking forward to our new journey in a much larger home….

Date of experience: March 29, 2022
Utah
1 review
0 helpful votes
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I found a great stay, placed reservations, and the host quickly informed me that the room was not available. The host refunded his full charge but Vrbo will not refund $266.18 for a room I was not able to rent. After being on hold for over a half-hour Vrbo said that I would receive a refund but only received the refund from the host not the service charge and the useless insurance.

Date of experience: March 24, 2022
GB
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Worse customer service received
Still waiting for the email to go to the rental holiday home company to allow them to process refund. Made me go back and forth like a yo yo. When clear they were in the wrong. Working in partnership with hotel.com. And wonder vacation homes

Date of experience: March 21, 2022
Connecticut
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Emma R.
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Booked a stay a day before after my air bnb got cancelled due to an unexpected flood so I decided to try Vrbo since you cannot book last minute stay if under 25 the place confirmed by reservation. The night before I received all the check in information. The morning of the host last minute cancelled. I called customer service as it said they would help me book a new place. They provided no assistance in booking a place, did not help accelerate my refund (told me it will take 15 days). Now I cannot book a hotel due to they have my money, and I was already traveling to my location so I have no idea what I will due besides hope no one uses them and has to face same experience.

Date of experience: March 18, 2022
Massachusetts
1 review
0 helpful votes
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This is not a serious company. They don't care about the customers. We made a reservation a month ahead and had to pay the total amount (non-refundable). After we did that, the host was responding our messages. We start to call VRBO about that, and they told us to wait until the day of our trip, and if anything went wrong they would take care of it, and be responsible to pay any difference in price due to last minute reservation. They canceled our reservation one day before our trip. Vrbo rebooking team sent a list of other options promising to reimburse the difference, It is a month now and when we call the customer service keeps saying that they have no answer bcs it is with "the higher department ", but they can't contact them. We will have to start a legal action against them. IT IS ALL A LIE! DON'T FALL FOR IT!

Date of experience: March 18, 2022
Mexico
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Vrbo withholds the Hosts funds until a day after checkin and if the transaction didn't go thru then it takes 5 to 7 business days, something they conveniently leave out. When the host attempts to get a hold of the company via phone they get no offer of help or assistance or explanation. The only way to contact is via a support chat on the website which can be ended at any point. No alternative solutions so your better off not using this website. Just pay cash when you get to where your going.

Date of experience: March 16, 2022
Florida
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Stranded in FL
March 13, 2022

Twice. Yes, TWICE in one trip, the Vrbo rentals we bought were fake. Our family of 6 was left stranded in Central FL with no where to stay. Vrbo couldn't figure out the issue, issued refunds, and tried to put us in a Roach Motel 6 Now we are left without a place to stay and Vrbo is not taking the steps to help. Asked to speak to management and they keep passing the call around. Unprofessional at best.

Date of experience: March 13, 2022
Illinois
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Mark H.
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One of my best friends just drove all the way to florids to a house rented in october and paid in full when he got to the house they said he couldnt use it they had to give it to someone else so he had to come back to chicago. The people rentimg before him and after him were renting for three months so they must of had more pull to get his week away from him. I wouldnt use this company if they gave me a free rental.

Date of experience: March 10, 2022
Germany
1 review
0 helpful votes
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We rented a condo through Vrbo on the Island of Molokai in Hawaii from the 9 th of February 2022 through to the 27th. On arrival late on the 9 th I tried to gain access to the unit with the Code given by Vrbo only to find out that the address given by Vrbo was false. After contacting Vrbo I was told they didn't know the correct address and would not be able to get it from the owner until the next day. It being late and there being no other available accomodations on the Island I was forced to sleep in my car. Sleeping in my car aggravated a back problem which basically ruined my vacation.
Emails and phone calls to Vrbo were ignored.
During our stay the owner of the unit allowed 3rd party access to an 'inspector' to our unit. After this 'inspection' I noticed 500 $ missing from one of my bags.
To add insult to injury the owner added a fraudulent 200 $ cleaning bill to our credit card. Vrbo is aware of all of this but up now have not showed any interest in resolving any of these problems.

Date of experience: March 8, 2022
Ohio
1 review
0 helpful votes
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No help when there was a problem. Worthless.
March 8, 2022

There was ongoing construction at our condo and we could not stay there. When I contacted VRBO their agent's immediate response was that they would not help, we should contact the owner (which we had already done), and that we could give a bad rating. That's it. We had expected, based on the VRBO website, that they would help find an alternate place for us. They did not. They never responded to emails even though a complaint case # had been assigned. So the fee we paid was for the owner to market their condo, and for VRBO to process the credit card payment. I will never rent through VRBO again.

Date of experience: March 8, 2022
California
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Made a reservation two months in advance. A few weeks before the trip the host messaged me saying that there is a Vrbo pricing mistake and fraudulently try to get me to pay additional $1500. I called VRBO to open up a case so they can talk to the host to resolve the issue. Not only are they unable to help they are unable to give me a refund unless I show up at the door steps and the host won't let me in. Sounds like a horrible precursor policy. Please take your money elsewhere and book through a respectful company.

Date of experience: March 7, 2022
Florida
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Lisandra G.
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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.

Date of experience: March 7, 2022
California
4 reviews
3 helpful votes
Follow Michael G.
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We booked a reservation and decided to cancel within a day. Their customer service said that this property came from another site, which I don't understand since it was on the VRBO site and there was no reference to any other site.

I read the cancellation policy carefully and it did not say that the property was being booked from a different platform and that I would need owner approval for a cancellation I had every right to make according to VRBO. The cancellation policy gave us months to cancel with a 100% refund. That's what the cancellation policy said and that's what should happen.

Instead, I can't cancel unless the owner approves it and I'm still waiting for that approval. Unbelievable. Clearly the cancellation policy that VRBO states on the property page was a lie. It's never been so difficult to cancel. With so many other great platforms, I'm done with VRBO.

Date of experience: March 7, 2022
Utah
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Jamie D.
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We rented a downtown Atlanta unit for a mother/daughter trip and walked into absolute FILTH - mold, bugs, food-covered dishes, extreme dust, etc. There was extreme misrepresentation on the VRBO pictures as well. We arrived at the unit late at night and immediately called VRBO. After four hours with customer service, VRBO told me to get a hotel and could clearly see mold. There were NO hotel options available at midnight; we had no choice but to stay.

The following day we patiently waited for options…ALL-DAY. I called multiple times >> VRBO will not give you any direct contact.
HOURS later, I received an email from VRBO stating they would send me $100 credit to clean the unit. I had been patient with unacceptable and unhealthy conditions; I followed up again, not happy with their resolution to clean the unit myself. Their response, HOURS later:
"We advised you to self lodge while we reviewed your photos, and we would reimburse you for the lodging. We have it noted that you would prefer to stay at the property than to self lodge, and did stay at the property instead of going to a hotel as advised. This is an indication the property is acceptable for use, and a denial of our assistance."
"We were informed that you do not wish to have the property cleaned further. This is a further denial of assistance. We Have offered a $100 concession as a courtesy to assist with obtaining cleaning supplies or to do what ever you deem fit. We will be closing your case as resolved."

I could not make this stuff up!
-VRBO never offered to PAY for a hotel the night we arrived, as stated in their response. We did not relocate due to no hotel availability at midnight in a big city.
- It was not just dirty; there was mold, bugs, and heavy dust; both my kids had runny noses and sneezes from the mold and dust, I suspect.
- You cannot clean mold and take care of bugs with a day clean. $100 cleaning supply credit? No thanks, VRBO.

We then contacted the building manager, thinking we had reached the appropriate people for two days. Nina was a ray of hope; we sent her photos, she said she would reimburse and agreed it was unacceptable. We were able to find one hotel with a king bed and were just happy to get out of there.

Nina refunded her portion a couple of weeks later, but VRBO has not returned the percentage they take. Any stars for this HORRIFIC experience go to Nina; VRBO left us hopeless and stranded. We have used VRBO for YEARS but have never had an issue with accommodations - now I know, NEVER AGAIN VRBO.

+9
Date of experience: March 5, 2022
Alaska
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Homeless in Maui
March 3, 2022

We arrived in Maui at 11 pm excited for our stay in a VRBO condo. I had received an email entitled "Keys for your stay" and assumed we were good to go with the information for entry to the property. Through either the owner's or VRBO's error, there was no document attached. We messaged the owner for an hour to no avail before reaching out to VRBO support. After being placed on hold several times and having our call dropped, we were sent an email telling us to book another property on Expedia or VRBO. By this time it was after midnight and there were no properties available.

We called back and were placed on hold again and then dropped. After this we received an email telling us to "self lodge." What does this even mean? After calling 20 hotels we found a room at the Courtyard for $700 and have been told we will not be receiving a refund.

Unbelievable! This was my first and last time using VRBO!

Date of experience: March 3, 2022
Canada
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Marco F.
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For the shake and safety of you and your families DO NOT under any circumstances book with Vrbo! My wife, children and I were left stranded in a strange city after we booked a property with Vrbo. We paid upfront and in full and the property was unavailable we arrived.

Date of experience: March 2, 2022
Illinois
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Do not trust VRBO!
March 1, 2022

Persevered a rental unit in Kihei, Maui for three days and didn't even stay for one night due to a BUG INFESTATION! I have been going back and forth with customer service for over a week now and I keep getting the same answer. "We are escalating this as a high priority and will contact you within 24 hours via email". The owner is incredibly disrespectful and harassed me by claiming that I was lying. Please ask yourself, why would I lie about bugs when I am in the middle of nowhere! (literally) I am out +$700 with no promise/progress on getting my refund back. Completely unacceptable and baffling that a multi-million dollar company can't refund $700. Aside from that, they did not even try to place us in another unit... Please, at all costs, do not use VRBO and spend your money else where.

+1
Date of experience: March 1, 2022
Florida
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
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BEEN LOCKED OUT MY ACCOUNT FOR TWO DAYS AND NO ONE CAN HELP ME I HAVE BOOKINGS TO CONFIRM AND IT SEEM LIKE EVERY TIME I CALL SOMEBODY THE SAME FCKING $#*! PICK UP THE PHONE AND LIE AND SAYS SOMEONE WILL BE CONTECTING YOU WHAT A LIER TO NOT SOLVE MY PROBLEM NEVER USE THIS WEBSITE IMA STICK TO AIRBNB SO BOOK THREW AIRBNB BECAUSE I DONT LIKE VRBO AT ALL

Date of experience: March 1, 2022
Florida
1 review
5 helpful votes
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The property smells of a urinal. Ants and mosquitoes are crawling all over. The fan cannot be turned on unless someone gets up on a chair to pull a broken switch. Grimy refrigerator. The roof has marks of water damage. I paid $200 per night for this. I was on phone with vrbo customer service team for six hours without any resolution! They think this smell is a "not urgent issue". T stay away from St Petersburg Florida properties in downtown

Date of experience: February 28, 2022
Wisconsin
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Last minute cancellation
February 27, 2022

Our reservation was cancelled 2 days before our flight to Florida. We scrambled and luckily found another place to stay. We got no help from VRBO. They are not a very reputable company and not offering any solutions. Be aware! Before using them

Date of experience: February 27, 2022