VRBOReviews 2,004

We spent a week in Grand Turk at West Road Reef House in Cockburn Town, Grand Turk. It was completely misrepresented! Obviously, we based our decision on the photos and description on VRBO. The photos were from the prior owner and the living area no longer looks that way. The furniture is old, very uncomfortable and definitely drab looking! The description says it is "meticulously maintained"... a HUGE lie! It was listed as a 3BR/2BA, which is also not true. It was a 2BR with a loft that had 2 kid sized beds. We were 3 senior ladies traveling together and we expected that we would each have our own bedroom! Stay away from VRBO and West Road Reef House!

I'm tired of hearing from VRBO owners that this is a tough time for them as well, therefore they have license to take what is not theirs. What kind of world do we now live in when it's justified to take money from someone when you did not provide a service or product? My airline canceled my flight, and my conference was canceled, due to Covid19. Beyond my control. I cannot even get to the VRBO property if I wanted to. So... I would like a refund. If I don't provide any service to my clients, I don't (and CAN'T) charge them.
Most VRBO hosts make their monthly mortgage with a 4-7 day stay/booking. So, I have ZERO compassion, when the host tells me "I have a mortgage to pay, so I won't refund you". I don't care; that's BS. I have a mortgage, which I easily deferred (a simple email) until this Covid19 pandemic is over. I also applied for the Emergency Relief Fund, due to lost income. These hosts just want easy and free money; just be less-awful people, and apply for the Emergency Fund, like good people across Canada have done. I also have no work, and hence no paycheque. So, don't give me your sob stories, owners. Covid19 does not justify theft. Airbnb did the right thing, and refunded upon request. VRBO will be no more after this, I suspect.
Imagine if I told my clients (that I had to cancel), "I'm taking the money from your scheduled treatment because I have a mortgage to pay. Sorry you didn't get your treatment, but I need the money, too". I'd get shut down, and lose my license.
Step up, VRBO. Mandate your property owners to refund 100%. People will not forget this. And owners/hosts, stuff it. I'll be staying at a hotel next year. And not booked through Expedia, either (Expedia and VRBO are mostly one-in-the same, BTW).
Karma can be a nasty thing, folks.

Finding it incredibly difficult to accept the fact that my family is now out over $3,000 that we saved up for over a year towards our family beach vacation in the Outer Banks. The owner of this property, John Carter (owner of Smile Away in Corolla, NC) refuses to refund us even a portion of what we paid when were given no other option other than to cancel our reservation due to the circumstances at hand with COVID-19 (by the way, our reservation wasn't until July so we are cancelling 3 months in advance!)

With multiple family members, including myself, my father and grandmother being out of work due to mass lay-offs at this time (we all live in NJ and NYC areas) there is no doubt that we will be struggling to overcome this financial setback for years to come, and we realize that this is sadly this is the situation for thousands of others who VRBO turned their backs to. Shame on you John and shame on you VRBO, your days as a company are surely extremely limited. Seems they were a terrible company even before this crisis.

Booked our get away thru VRBO in Madeira Beach Florida. The owner puts on a good face in the add but is anything but when contacted. When we first reached out regarding our reservation he responded with there's no reservation under that name, when provided with the rental information proof he responded contact VRBO not his problem. Even changed the add for the property, His new add states they are "open" for business during the pandemic. Of course they are but nothing else is. Just want to steal your money! Avoid property #*******

Because of the virus, she asked for a refund. They want to book her for the next year. But want give her a date and want return her phone call.
I would never use this company!

This is a whole new low. After using VRBO for at least 5 years, VRBO allowed a company to (1) rent homes (not an Owner); and (2) CHANGED its payment policy for some them (only for companies?; not for owners?) and paid the company the entire payment I'd made to VRBO before the cancellation date. I cancelled before the deadline and VRBO HANGED UP ON ME when I called to get my refund. Low and behold, the "rental" company fraudulently posted homes and took my payment and WENT BANKRUPT! The company is called "NOTL" in Canada and obviously VRBO did not due ANY due diligence to protect its customers. I have my credit card company on the case now, but DO NOT USE VRBO. Contact another site (houses are often on more than one) or work with a vacation rental realtor.

VRBO offers no protection if the renter does not represent the property correctly. They will allow them to place pictures that are not the actual house you will be renting. In my case we rented Property
#******* in Weeki Wachee, FL for 13 nights. When we arrived the house was not what the pictures showed of the exterior. You could tell the house had been flooded previously and smelled of mold and mildew. Roaches greeted us as we entered the house and walked along the spongy leaning floor and upon entering the bathroom the tub was covered in mold. Initially, the owner stated she would refund our stay, but after we departed she changed her mind and stated she would only refund what VRBO required to her refund. After speaking with Robert the supervisor at VRBO, it was clear that VRBO does not have the best interest of the renter/customer as its priority. They stated they have no protection mechanism in place to provide a refund and that only the owner can make a refund.

We rented a flat in Kopenhagen for the end of May and did this in the first of Febuary.
Long before the problems with Corona started.
As we now are unable to use the flat due to the lock down we tryed to get a refund.
But a big No is what we get.
The house owner refuses and refers to the general policy regarding Corona that VRBO has created.
Also VRBO keeps their cut witch is 25% of in total 870 $
VRBO has still our payment on their account?
Still they refuse to help us in this matter.
Do not use VRBO and especially not the house owner Solveig Eike in Kopenhagen.
Thats what you can call GREED in it´s worst form.

VRBO is full of nothing but excuses and lies. I canceled my reservation due to covid-19 8 days ago and was told by one of their agents the refund would take up to 7 business days. I called on the 5th day and was on hold for 20 minutes because a full refund wasn't issued and was AGAIN told it will take 7 business days so to wait 2 more days and call back if I havnt been refunded. I then had to contact the home owner who VRBO also gave issues on giving me the full refund. Now I'm at day 8 and I call them to find out where my refund is and the lady I talked to said that the first person I talked to should of told me my refund will take up to 30 days because their payment system is having issues. Like seriously?! This company has been nothing but a headache and Airbnb took care of my mom when she canceled her trip through them and they went above and beyond to take care of her. I will NEVER go through VRBO ever again and will happily take my business elsewhere.

Posting a review as a last resort, after numerous attempts to resolve this through emails and phone calls to VRBO. What a waste of time! They even issued a fake "Case Number" to make me think they are doing something about my complaint. See below part of the email I sent to customer support:... our Formal Complaint against VRBO Property #*******, New York City. We were compelled to cancel due to the Covid 19 virus and they offered a credit, however shortly thereafter our business closed due to the virus.

As business owners our future efforts will be in rebuilding our company, and due to the inevitable financial strain ahead we have no plans for travel to New York or anywhere else, any time soon. Upon requesting a refund I received the same brief one-sentence reply from property manager Therese, credit only. When I asked if we should contact VRBO directly. Therese suggested that I am trying to put them out of business, and in regards to contacting VRBO to "go for it".

We paid VRBO Property #******* owner a total of $1551. 63 USD, ($2005. 25 CDN). NOT ONE DIME of our hard-earned money will be refunded by this owner, including a $200.00 CLEANING FEE for a unit that we won't be using. The loss of over $2000. 00 CDN is very significant for our family, and could be used to support our children for the hard times ahead.

We question the ethics of a proprietor withholding every dollar of our payment with no exchange for service.

Buyer Beware... if you are considering booking a rental listed below.

Michel Saumonneau
www.luxury villas world.com
Rental Vacation Homes
Property ID - *******

My family booked this house for a trip to Disney world and had paid in full. When Disney closed their doors due the CV pandemic, I contacted HomeAway regarding my options in cancelling due to these unforeseen conditions. Mr. Saumonneau has a no refund policy, however, due to the circumstances, I was hoping they would relax the policy. Shortly after I contacted HA, they contacted Mr. Saumonneau and told him that I wanted to cancel my reservation... This was not the case at all as I was only inquiring what my options were. I could have cancelled myself if I wanted to. Despite my request for a full refund, my reservation was canceled without my authorization and Mr. Saumonneau would not issue a refund. My advice would be to stay away from this property and any property that does not offer a full refund. HomeAway offers the renters zero protection when people such as these pull such stunts. I personally will steer far away from HomeAway. It is not worth the $1500 of stupid tax that I paid.

FYI... We did purchase the travel insurance, however, it appears that we are only covered if one of the travelers becomes ill with CV. I have tried to contact CSA, however, I have not had any luck.

We tried to cancel an upcoming stay in CA due to California executive order 33-20 which forbids travel in e state due to COVID-19. Homeowner said no refund. We called VRBO three times and they all say no refund. Tough luck. I reminded VRBO that taking a legalistic approach to dealing with customers during a pandemic will hurt them in the long run. I will never again work with VRBO my entire life. I will tell everyone I can about their ridiculous policy of no refund unless homeowner approves even when it is ILLEGAL to travel to the home. Unbelievable corporate greed that favors the homeowners. Time for MR Hurst the VRBO CEO to be a leader and do what is right for his company in the long term. Keep customers happy. Don't be a corporate predator. I'm having my credit card do a chargeback and will right this tooth and nail. The fact there is a government order forbidding my travel in the state where the house is helps me a ton. My credit card will prevail with me on this and agree that services were not provided as agreed upon.