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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

Georgia
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Frances C.
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Discouraging
January 10, 2022

Every December 27th -January 1 I take my family on vacation. This year I took them to Dolphin Island. I was not familiar with the area so my daughter and me decided to go through Vrbo! The first thing I noticed was their add said " book with confidence " bad mistake to say the least. Our condo which was beautiful at first site ended up being a nightmare. The 1st bedroom with bath was the bed skirt was torn. Roaches the toilet would not flush! Tv would not work in this room at all. Living room the tile on the fireplace was broken! In the down stairs master bedroom there was missing pieces off the king size bed broken off etc. the door in the master bathroom was broken were you felt you were going to fall through the floor. Also in the shower area! Mold in shower. I could not believe the whole place was a mess. Called rental company several times with NO answer to any of the problems! Can not believe Vrbo had its name attached to this without checking without checking property out. Will NOT trust y'all again.

Date of experience: January 8, 2022
Florida
1 review
0 helpful votes
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I had to cancel a booking that i had fully paid for due to Covid 19 and the owner would not refund me any money. The owner rebooked the property and did not loose any money and she told me that Vrbo will take a fee from her even though she got paid twice which means VRBO profited from my cancellation. I have sent emails but no response from VRBO.
I will never use VRBO again as they will not help you if something goes wrong.

Date of experience: January 8, 2022
South Carolina
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Nasty motel
January 7, 2022

I booked a motel stay on VRBO for a myrtle beach motel. Blue Palmetto/Court Capri. This was absolutely the nastiest room I have ever seen. I could not stay there, I was scared to death! This was a flop house trash hole. When I contacted VRBO they did NOTHING to help me! They would not give my money back, 2700. 00. All they said to me was "I'm sorry". I have used vrbo quiet a few times in the past. I will NEVER use them again! They don't care what the property looks like. Just want your money. No cares about the customer just take their money and run. Never again VRBO

Date of experience: January 7, 2022
South Africa
1 review
0 helpful votes
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I booked an apartment with Vrbo this Christmas. I have paid and had all the confirmations and guarantees one month before the trip. And just one day before our arrival the owner said that didn't receive any booking. I'm trying to resolve this issue and just spending time with a different agents that are just lying. This website is a SCAM DON'T NEVER USE THIS SITE.

Date of experience: January 5, 2022
Rhode Island
1 review
0 helpful votes
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VRBO is a scam
January 3, 2022

VRBO customer service is the WORST I have ever experienced. DON'T EVER book through them. I made a reservation in December 2021. Reached property at 10 pm. Could not get in because the owner never provided us the access code to the property. Called owner and VRBO several times but no response from either. No help from VRBO. Finally gave up to get a hotel room at midnight and paid twice as much. Then called VRBO for a refund. They said they really can't do anything and I'd have to work directly with the owner, to get a refund. Fortunately for me, the owner refunded their portion of the amount. I then expected VRBO to automatically refund their portion of the amount. After waiting for three weeks, I had to chase them down to get back their portion of the amount. I called them several times. The whole experience has been frustrating. They kept me waiting, then got disconnected twice! I'm not sure if you can get disconnected twice with two different agents or if they are just hanging up? The customer service reps cannot address any issue they just take notes and say that they will pass on the message to another department. It's just a pain and I don't know if I'm gonna ever get my money back from them. Don't ever book through VRBO. They are a scam.

Date of experience: January 3, 2022
Texas
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Respectfully requested a refund after being diagnosed with covid. Vrbo does not work with individuals with hardships. Would never recommend Vrbo. Will definitely not look to vrbo for future reservations.

Date of experience: January 2, 2022
Nevada
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Just horrible!
January 2, 2022

VRBO have just the most horrible customer service I ever had to deal with…
We did rent a property infested with cockroach and spiders.
We had to leave the property and ask the owner and VRBO to cancel the booking and to get a full refund.
Since we spend hours on the phone with an horrible hotline that seems based in India.
That's a shame and I'll definitely never work with VRBO any more.

Date of experience: January 2, 2022
New Mexico
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Don't do it
January 2, 2022

Rented a "sugar shack" in Guadulipita, NM in October 2021. Through VRBO. Paid $284 for two nights. My husband and I arrived at a one room cabin. Bathroom was in corner with shower curtain around toilet for privacy. Under normal circumstance we could have dealt but owner left town for weekend and forgot to put propane in heater. We did not realize this until middle of night when we began to freeze. Next mornings the pipes were frozen in toilet or sinks. I packed up as soon it was light and we left. I notified owner who blamed us for not notifying her. I have tried in vain to get a refund. According to VRBO, after someone has arrived, there is no option for a refund. Watch out for problems because you will get no help for VRBO.

Date of experience: January 2, 2022
Arizona
1 review
0 helpful votes
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I had to cancel a reservation because the information on the site was wrong, it said the distance to the place was less than a mile, false information. I tried to contact more than one agent, no help from them, I tried to contact the host, no luck. I think if the site has misleading information, we should be able to get a refund no matter what their policy is. I'll put more reviews about Vrbo to let people know about this site.

Date of experience: January 1, 2022
Texas
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Horrible experience
December 31, 2021

VRBO put us in a completely different property than what we booked on line. And offered no way to make it right. Customer service was completely horrible. The only good part of the whole experience was the home owner. They were very accommodating.

Date of experience: December 31, 2021
GB
2 reviews
7 helpful votes
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No sign of guaranteed refund
December 31, 2021

Booked and paid for a holiday back in June only to have it cancelled by the host on 21/12/2021.

I accept the cancellation in not the fault of VRBO, however, despite their booking promise stating my service fee will automatically be refunded in 5 days- I have received none 10 days later.

The host has returned their part but VRBO cling on to theirs- they are impossible to contact by phone and have no online system of contact.

Although the fee is not a great deal of money £51.60, it is not theirs to keep.

I have other breaks booked with VRBO- I will take these but never book again

Date of experience: December 31, 2021
New Jersey
1 review
0 helpful votes
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I had to cancel a reservation and got a 50% refund as I cancelled within the 50% refund window. However, I did not get a refund on the $110 in taxes that were charged to me. According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, if the cancellation fee is 50% or less of the daily reservation rate, then I'm entitled to a full refund on the taxes. The host called VRBO 3 times to request the refund on the taxes since VRBO remits taxes. I called VRBO 3 times to get the refund and got completely different answers every time. Eventually, one rep said they created a ticket to initiate the refund. After several weeks, I still did not get a refund on the taxes. I had to call into VRBO several times again, each time getting different answers. I'm still waiting to hear back from somebody regarding the status of my refund. Very frustrating.

VRBO is just a listing site. They don't provide any guarantees or any real customer service. You're better off using airbnb, hotels.com or any company that actually provides some type of service to their customers.

Date of experience: December 28, 2021
Canada
1 review
0 helpful votes
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It looks this is mostly irresponsible company - they pick up irresponsible clients and have no ("0") responsibility for their unruly behaviorAlex Starosud <*******@gmail.com>
Fri, Dec 24,4:52 PM (3 days ago)
To Vrbo

Hi, Emmanuel:

This looks like total irresponsibility of the host
". We have seen that the owner has cancelled your reservation 30 days before your check in..."

Not 30 days but 3 weeks (21 days) before...

This is the second time the host canceled my booking... How do you deal with this?

This is a very bad business... Do they have any responsibility for such abrupt cancellation?
I guess in the agreement with your company - they should be punished in some way...
Black listed, for example
What should I do? I bought (non refundable airfare) and I see no alternative for this location
Who will refund me $2.5K?
My apologies but I am really thinking about legal action not for the (unruly) host but your company, who deals with such irresponsible host

We are a retired couple from Canada. We are snowbirds and this news (cancellation.) was devastating for us
Double devastating- today we celebrating 50 years of our marriage
Terrible business!
If you need some hellish experience - go ahead! Good luck!
Cheers!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Date of experience: December 27, 2021
California
2 reviews
2 helpful votes
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Vrbo does not care
December 26, 2021

I rented a home for a month. The host never provided check in details. I called vrbo who mentioned this was the second fraudulent offense by the host. On the day of my rental, as you have to pass check in time, I still had no details for getting in. Vrbo offered me three nights in a 2-star hotel, offered to refund my 2k+ and refused to rebook. Now, new job, no place to stay, and the house is STILL listed on vrbo. Hearing, "I'm so sorry for your frustration " is b. S. customer service. Beware vrbo.

Date of experience: December 26, 2021
Florida
1 review
0 helpful votes
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South Beach
December 24, 2021

This service is a joke! Owner cancelled 2 months before a rental; peak season in this area and explanation was "maintenance" Clearly he wanted to rant at a higher rate. Tried to call VRBO; first time disconnected second time could not understand phone rep; poor connection and he spoke limited English. Stay away if you can!

Date of experience: December 24, 2021
Florida
1 review
0 helpful votes
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On Wednesday (before Su day check in) when address finally dropped I called them to tell them host has not responded, and if you try to get directions there is not a residence there, can we please rebook... direct quote "we can't rebook until 30 mn after check in time" So your sending me to the epicenter of amusement parks the weekend before Christmas with no place to stay... ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE! After numerous calls (over 10 hours of phone time, along woth all of the frustration) I finally got ahold Cody whom opened a fraud case and helped us book a room for Sunday (only) he said someone would call me to rebook the rest of our stay Sunday (check in day) at 430, as then it would be considered a voided contract by the host. Well it only got worse, not only did I not receive a call to rebook Sunday@ 440, I didn't hear from. Them till after checkout time at the hotel that Cody booked us, and what I recieved was an email stating to find a room, and submit the bills and they will determine what they will pay... WTF you have my $$ I am stuck in Orlando with no place to stay and ZERO support from VRBO
Will NEVER USE THEM AGAIN!
They should atleast make sure the photos are the same as the actual property, especially since we as a consumer don't have access to an address until in our case 5 days before our stay and to cancel is a huge fee!
Wish I could add photos but since there is not a house there are no photos

Date of experience: December 24, 2021
California
1 review
0 helpful votes
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I had to cancel a stay in Miami, FL because of a cancelled cruise. The property owners were prompt with my refund; however, VRBO accounting charged my credit card, without my authorization, $601. Then the charge was removed only to be charged again. I had to communicate with the property owners about this charge and was told it was a mistake and would have a credit from VRBO accounting. Enough time past without a refund of the $601. I then filed a dispute of the charge with the credit card company that stopped payment. I was contacted by the property owners to please withdraw the dispute and VRBO accounting would give the refund. Silly me. I withdrew the dispute but VRBO accounting did not provide a refund. If I would have allowed the charge dispute go it's course, I would have my $601. As of now VRBO has my money. I will continue trying to get my money but will be less trusting in the future.

Date of experience: December 23, 2021
Florida
1 review
0 helpful votes
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First the Pigeon Forge Cabin Rental, we rented a beautiful new cabin with many amenities in October. About month before we leave for the trip, they call and let us know that the place has sold. I ask, what protections do we have if we were going to be there in a week. The person just said, it's in our contract. The person said they were just going to move us to a similar cabin. When we arrived i was an old dilapidated cabin with mold in the bathrooms. No where near the amenities we had reserved for. Same price, no apologies or credits. Take it or leave it. The Orlando Pool home we couldn't even reserve without having problems. I asked several questions to the owner, they never responded but it was a very nice luxury home. So I went ahead and reserved it before it was rented, I figured it would get them to respond. 5,10 days later they send a response that they are away... No information of when they are charging up front or when I need to pay. After looking at my account I notice a charge from a very weird company, the name was like an alphabet soup. I was starting to feel like I had been scammed. Finally got a response from the home company letting me know it was cancelled after I told them I was contacting our State's Attorney Generals Office. The person said I was rude, imagine that... I rented a similar home with AirBNB and their commmunication was instant. After many years with Expedia and VRBO, I'm done...

Date of experience: December 20, 2021
Canada
1 review
0 helpful votes
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Nous avons dû annuler un appartement a Porto Rico à cause covid ( omicron). Le proprietaire ne veut pas nous rembouser et vrbo ne nous donne aucune aide. Veulent rien savoir de nous aider à ce que le propriétaire nous rembourse. Mauvais service. De foute de leurs clients

Date of experience: December 19, 2021
California
1 review
1 helpful vote
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This is the last time I would use VRBO to book a vacation trip. They charged me 9% service fee. I was very surprised to see the 9% service fee, I thought it was a mistake, I made several phone calls to VRBO and they said it was the correct amount.

Date of experience: December 18, 2021