VRBOReviews 2,004

VRBO is the worst site ever. They don't let hosts review guests so since there's no qualifying who's staying at your house, our first guest was a woman who traded sex for the fare with her taxi cab driver as she had no money. They also accidentally booked her in for a longer period of time than she paid for. They synced my calendar with the wrong property, so they had space blocked out on my one listing instead of the correct listing. We have a bedroom suite and they won't let you list the pricing separately so every quote they send out for a booking is incorrect. I edited the quote they sent tonight and they figured their commission wrong. I called to question it and the rep said it was a "rarity in the algorithim" that computed it incorrectly and couldn't be fixed. They can't figure 10% incorrectly? When I talked to a supervisor and told him that was the most ridiculous thing I ever heard he said the rep must of pulled that answer out of her pocket (more likely out of her you know what!) And of course, it's in their favor. Their mobile site is worthless, it won't let you access anything other than your calendar and your inbox. They cancelled a request because they said I didn't respond, the email chain shows I responded with 4 hours. When you pull up the dashboard, it shows you the listing number, not the property name, because I have 3 properties listed, I never know which is which. And, they keep your money for 30 days on the first booking. Airbnb is the only way to go!

I've been listed with both VRBO & Airbnb for about 8 months. After getting a $2400 booking and only receiving $2000 after booking and bank transfer fees, I decided to pay for their 1-yr membership. That was 3 months ago, and I've gotten not a single booking since. I made the colossal mistake of listing a client's property at the end of July. Just found out that the first booking was made with a stolen credit card. I do not check ID or anything as I assume the entity taking the booking has done their due diligence. I stated that to VRBO/Homeaway. I just checked my account and they have gone in without my permission and withdrawn the funds and has put me in overdraft. They funny thing is - they've charged me yet another fee for doing so. STAY FAR AWAY from this company. I feel like I have no recourse. That they can go into my account and just take the funds - it's astounding.

I have been with VRBO for over 15 years. They were originally Expedia, then VRBO went separate. They were a great start up for listing vacation properties. Then they merged with Homeaway, and had two separate sites which listed virtually the same thing. I went with both of them for several years, and never, not one time did I book a Homeastray booking! Sure I had inquiries, but not even one from Homeaway materialized. I still got plenty inquiries and bookings from vrbo. In my area they had upgrades which were for extra listings and also to be in the front pages of all listing that were in the described area. The first year, I was in the top five! Not bad, and always on the first page. I decided to try another year, and did not bat an eye to pay almost 1300 bucks for the bang. The first few weeks were OK, and then I noticed the inquiries dried up. I looked on the site and saw I was no where near the front page and now was on the second page towards the bottom. I contacted VRBO and the person on the phone told me it was because my computer knows who I am and my listing is not essential in my searches. I have plenty of computers, tablets, iphones, and laptops. None of them showed me my site on the first page. I knew right away that I was given the run around, and right now I will most likely never list with VRBO as they forgot their loyal customers and now only strive to flood the area with listing that are not even in the immediate area where they belong. I also experienced several fake inquiries from Homeaway, and even replied to one of the fake inquiries letting them know I that it was a fake inquiry, and offered them a huge discount if indeed they were serious. They said they were for real, but even with the massive discount, no booking! Now I know for sure Homeastray is not bonified on the inquiries, and VRBO is NOT the way to list your vacation rental. Try Airbnb.com for more listings, even though you do not see your money until 24 hours after the guests arrival, at least they get listing for you and it hardly cost anything!

Hi,
My husband and I stayed at Ruby Red in Greater Groves neighborhood, Davenport, Florida from 8/21/15 - 8/26/15. The house was beautiful, spacious and well maintained.

It has been 6 weeks since our visit and we haven't received our security deposit back yet. I have attempted to contact the property manager twice in the past 3 weeks (via phone and email) but haven't received any response from them. I am still awaiting our security deposit.

I use two booking sites for my condo and here is the difference: VRBO customers are difficult. I'm not sure how VRBO does their marketing, but almost every single potential customer has done one of two things: they've asked me a lot of questions about aspects of my place that are listed on the site already (they're too lazy to read the entire listing) or they've tried to negotiate the price down. Often they will do both. I am frequently asked to charge a weekly (and lower) rate for stays of 3 to 4 days.

I am a hard-working home-owner who keeps a very high standard on the rental condo I have listed with VRBO. I've had to deal with potential customers like those described above and then with people who make sarcastic comments when they see I charge more in the high season (to offset the low season so I can pay my mortgage).

I think VRBO must be the place where customers feel they can get a bargain. It's too bad because that has led to some troll-like behaviour. I am sticking with the other booking company. I don't need the headaches of VRBO customers.

I use both airbnb and VRBO. I had a guest who only paid for half of their stay. I was never notified. I never received an email from VRBO the entire 30 days she had to pay the remainder of the rent. And, neither did the guest. When I called VRBO, they basically told me it's my responsibility to get the money. I informed them that this is never an issue on airbnb. I am always assured payment. I was told that this was not what VRBO is paid for. I also mentioned that it took up to a week to receive payment. I told them that I was already on the fence. Again, I was told there was nothing they could do. I am now hiding my listing. Just an FYI, my average rating was a 4.8. And, I am booked almost 100%. As far as I am concerned, I will not put my money toward a company with such lousy service! I will be hiding my listing until my service expires at this point. Beware!

I've been reading here reviews of Vrbo that don't support my experience. Aside from a recent disturbing double booking problem with Vrbo wherein it appears Vrbo is concealing their fault, generally I've been very happy with their customer service and website ease of use
Compared to air b and b.

There are navigation buttons on vrbo's website that are more numerous, so you don't have to ask the community, waiting for an email. If you have a problem you can call Vrbo. If you can't change a rate, Vrbo will change it for you, instantly. You can charge different rates for different events on Vrbo. Not so on air B and B.

You can be paid at time of booking at Vrbo, which is fair, whereas at Air B and B, only air B and B gets paid at time of booking. The owners wait until check in.

I think air B and B is good for rooms for rent, from what I hear.

I like the personal touch, getting to know the owners aspect of air B and B.

The rates are outrageous on Vrbo but it has gotten me lots of guests.

As to reviews Vrbo posts bad reviews and no longer accepts even notes that guests write to you, signed, unfortunately.

Anyone can give a review on VRBO/Homeaway anonymously. All one needs is an email address to create an acct. With these sites. Some of the reviews are obvious they are written by owner. Examples to look out for: If someone has made a complaint about cleanliness, lack of kitchen utensils, how unresponsive the owner is, etc. THEN the next reviews will go on and on about how clean it is, what a well stocked kitchen, how helpful the owner is etc. VRBO should only allow reviews from people who have booked and paid via VRBO. Only way to provide integrity to their reviews. That's the way AirBNB does it so they could if they were interested in honest reviews.

I have been a loyal customer of VRBO/HomeAway since 2009. I have been extremely successful booking my property through their site. I treat this as a business not a hobby and have always done the things necessary to keep my listing at number 2-3 in rank (Calendar up to date, quick responses to inquiries, take credit cards, buy the rental insurance, max pictures, etc.)

Now some computer genius is using algorithms to rank properties and I have fallen to number 14 in rank. No big surprise I have not received one single booking after the day they unveiled this great new idea. Not one! Last year I was booked for April - August every single day back to back for five months and now I have not one single booking. They insist that it is nothing to do with their new "Best Match" program. Here is what their web site says, "We are moving away from the current listing quality score and gradually replacing it with best match".

I wrote to their President and reminded him I am actually his customer who pays for his service every year and it is unfathomable to me that he takes control over my ability to keep my property ranking high. No response; not even from a lacky.

Personally, I would highly recommend you use other services to list your property for rent. If things don't change I am going to demand my money back for this year - VRBO no longer works! G

I wrote an honest review about a property #******* in Gulfport, MS(August 28,2015) and it has yet to be published, but it's amazing there was another excellent review posted since we stayed although the owner told us she did not have it rented and it was just last weekend that we stayed.
I wrote pro's and con's. All the reviews for the property were 5 star, but the last one published was May 2015. The house was extremely musty/mold smelling. All the AC units had black mold growing on them and I took pictures. We could not run the units bc of the smell and the master bed was under one of the units and had black pieces that would fall out of the unit when it came on. The owner stated no one would be staying there for a couple weeks and she would take care of it, but that certainly did not help us. If my husband complains it has to be bad! Everything we took smelled horrible and had to be washed even if still clean. When you pay a good amount of money for a vacation rental you expect to be able to review it negatively or positively.

VRBO is refusing to publish our complaint because we did not reside at the property in question, but they double booked!
In early May 2015, when we first contacted Abbey Lane Cottages through VRBO, we inquired about two accommodations, The Captain's Quarters and Cozy Cottage. After consideration and numerous emails with the manager, we booked the Cozy Cottage. We sent our $300.00 deposit and signed a very detailed contract. We received the formal rental confirmation VRBO ******* on May 27th 2015 for Thursday August 27th to Sunday August 30th.

When we arrived in Picton on August 27th, Abbey Lane's manager told us the Cozy Cottage was not available. Later, he made a passing reference to the fact that we were only renting for 3 nights. He also said he felt entitled to switch us to the Captain's Quarters because of our initial inquiry. When we objected, the manager reacted with disrespect and belligerence. In a underhanded attempt to mollify us, he displayed his handicap and listed his numerous ailments. It was with reluctance that he showed us the Captain's Quarters, and it was clear we were imposing. The situation was extremely uncomfortable, and the Captain's Quarters did not meet with our expectations.

We took the refund of our deposit and went to the local Chamber of Commerce for redress. Their representatives told us Abbey Lane Cottages were no longer members of their organization because too many complaints had been lodged against them. These Chamber representatives were very courteous and kind enough to help us find suitable accommodations on a very busy weekend.

It simply isn't true that you can't post a negative review on VRBO. If it's downright uncivilized with gratuitous profanity or something like that, yes, I'm sure VRBO will and should pull it. I am a homeowner and people have said things on my site that I have the right to refute. It's tough judging something through reviews because it is a fine perspective, not a full one. And we're all very different. And some people just can't be pleased, in this life.