VRBOReviews 2,004

I am an owner with a property listed on VRBO. They 'incorrectly' listed my home (and several others) in their site search criteria under a neighboring upscale community. We were unaware of this issue until a reenter brought it to our attention. This renter relied on VRBO's search criteria thinking they were renting a home in this community. When arriving at our home (located in a different community) they were upset and posted a negative review as 'if' we as owners had falsely listed our home this way.

VRBO has been asked to fix their error (they haven't). They have been asked to remove review against our home for their issue (they haven't). They have been asked to reach out to this renter in regard to their mistake (they haven't).

Their lack of support and/or acceptance of responsibility for their mistake is costing us future bookings. I could not agree more with other owner reviews of VRBO it is a shame to pay for their listing your home when there is little of no customer service provided to owners or guests.

My husband and I rented a bungalow on Ocean Beach the end of July.
The extra fees are ridiculous. Cleaning fees,
Deposits, and more extra fees.
The advertised bungalow was supposed to be on the ocean beach... not!
It was in an alley with trash cans everywhere.
The airport is close so very loud jet noise starts at 7:00 and ends at 11:00 sometimes.
There was absolutely no place to park...
The place itself is clean, but the photos were
Photo shopped...
So, I will never use this agency again...

My friend and I were staying with my dogs in a hotel during some renovations on my home. Due to the small nature of our hotel room we decided to book a one month dog friendly unit from VRBO.

Huge mistake. We used the "instant book" feature and it immediately took a little over $4000 in sales. The reservation was immediately canceled. When I called in to see if we could have the funds released they said refunds take 5-7 days. We informed them that we had used the last of our housing budget to book the property. Their response was "it's in the terms and conditions there are shelters for these situations". Faced with the choice of booking another night at the hotel or purchasing food we decided to sleep in our trucks. Guess we will be in that position for 5-7 days.

Stay away. They are ripping everybody off. They do not support owners. They allow reviews that are completely false. I joined VRBO more than 4 years ago, we have been a paid member and those that found us thru VRBO could book directly to the owners of the property. Then they started a 10% fee to renters to book thru VRBO. Then they instituted a policy that you could only accept payments through them and added 3% transaction fee to Owner. Prior you could accept a check or via PayPal or similar program. If you were a member in good standing you received your monies at booking. They just added another 3% to receive the money prior to arrival. I have a 60 day no refund policy. Once that is reached the payments are no longer VRBO's. It becomes my money. They also instituted a policy that they hold any deposits. If you need to make a claim it will go to an illegitimate arbitration process.
So in all a $500 membership fee to owners per year PLUS 6% additional on every booking for the owner. For the renter they can pay as much as 10%.
List and book on other sites like AirBNB or Tripadvisor.

In addition to the service fee you are charged to rent through VRBO, if there is any dispute regarding the security deposit, there is no renter recourse. If you have rented through management companies, you know they act as a "middle man" in resolving disputes. With VRBO, the owner decides if there is a problem, the owner decides how much it will cost to fix (no receipt or documentation). Finally, in my last VRBO rental, the owner kept coming by the house during the week. It verged on creepy. Go through a management company - you never have to see the owner, you have a small security fee rather than a hefty one the owner can essentially keep at will, and as management companies have many owners to consider - they want to keep renters happy.

I am apparently one of many that has been scammed by their gift cards. I have tried for over a year now... the phone number goes to a message that hangs up on you and the area on their site does not really accept or enter in any gift card certificate and order numbers. I have complained to the better business bureau and would like to see if there is a way we, the scammed can start a class action law suit. Even getting some funding back is better than nothing and this company needs to go out of business.

I booked a property in May for a trip in August with VRBO/HomeAway, even paying for the full visit in advance. The property got double booked and I did not find this out until I got to Phoenix and tried to contact the homeowner to verify the address, an hour and 10 minutes before check in. Let me tell you that their Guarantee is a complete and utter joke. They want me to spend my time holding on the phone for them. They don't just put you in a property that is comparable or better (they put you in a dirty hotel frequented by vagrants) for two days and then they will find you another place. They want you to stay one place for two days, then get moved again. I don't know about anyone else but having to move all of your stuff around every couple of days is just stressful. There is just so much to do with the convention, taking care of my mother and the fact that I myself got sick while there, the stress caused by this "Book with Confidence Guarantee" provided by VRBO/HomeAway is something I will make sure I never do again. And yes, I will be letting everyone I know about this. Please feel free to let everyone you know, about this too!

A owner misrepresented the house I rented. I was bullied by the owner. The owner took my SECURITY DEPOSIT. I paid for cleaning and for damage liability insurance. Owner said I damaged the property I told her to call the Damage liability insurance and file a claim. (I did not damage her property at all) she instead just took my security deposit! I told her if she did not refund my deposit as I had damage insurance I would express my experience of her property. They allowed me to post a review and said it was acceptable then removed it and she was allowed to review me 1 star! I got my money back for 1 night and security deposit. But I am unable to have my review posted but hers is still on my acct! And I cannot rent because of her now! I was treated horribly by VRBO and I left the house in fine shape! 4 towels on floor and bed covering that smelled like toilet bowl cleaner was left next to it. That was no reason to try to take my security deposit and make up false allegations! VBRO SIDED WITH OWNER! I paid for damage insurance! If there was damage she should have proven it! NOPE! Just tried to rip me off! VRBO will not allow me to close and delete my account!