VRBOReviews 2,004

As a homeowner, I gave them one star. As a renter I would give them five stars but their site is bogged down since they are forcing us to go through their site and cannot go directly through email anymore. The block email addresses.
However for renting places it is a very useful site, even though you cannot email the owners directly, which I prefer We have found a lot of rentals using vrbo.
And because it is a paid site for the homeowners, who must pay A high fee to put in an ad, you do not find many scams on this site as opposed to free sites such as craigslist.
I have used this site for rentals many times and found nice places to stay.

VRBO and HomeAway is the absolute worst site for homeowners. They beat you into submission by threatening to move your ad down in the searches and force you to use all of the horrible services they offer. On top of that, their web site is downright childish. As soon as another company can come on board and get the eyeballs, I will dump VRBO in an instant.

As a renter, I have had nothing but great experiences when I rent directly from homeowners. The issues arise when you rent through a rental management company who is posing as a homeowner. The rental management companies typically provide much less in the level of service.

I have had two properties on VRBO for years. I agree with other owner reviews that they customer service has gone from "marginal to bad to atrocious"! Owners pay a quite a bit to use VRBO as an advertising site for rental properties. In my opinion, all I have ever needed it for it to advertise for the property and maintain a calendar so renters know when it is available. Slowly over time, they have imposed more than you can imagine on owners. Not only has the price tripled (if not more depending on the level of ad you pay for), but they continue to try to force you to use their site for multiple other things besides just ads. They force you to reply through their site, do online booking, accept credit cards, etc. If you choose not to do these things (because you prefer a customer experience with your guests and want to know who you're renting to among other reasons), they "ding" you by pushing you down farther in the results in a search. I don't want to use their features for a number of reasons but the owner is punished if they don't regardless of amount paid for ad. And additionally, the email requests being routed through their site are delayed getting to you email and they ding you if you are over 24 hours responding. I'm just really so fed up with this company who is an advertising company telling me how to run my rental business! I wish their was some recourse.

You pay the price for a 4 star hotel room and get a house instead. Owner was very helpful.

Has a vacation rental listed on VRBO, FlipKey, AND one on his personal website. After booking last minute, guests arrived to find the house filthy, dirty, musty and such horrible conditions, they could not stay. This owner is located in Florida and tries to run an illegal vacation rental business in Hawaii. Don't pay him with PayPal. PayPal won't refund your money either as they do not get involved in real estate. So beware... don't use PayPal or rent from this owner - Malaekahana Beachfront Estate: 1.5 Acres w Hot Tub

I have been using this site for many years and have never felt that the vacation i am planning would encounter any difficulties till now. Like said by others the guarantee really offers no real coverage. My main concerns now is that when you plan on renting a place it could be changed even at the last minute by either VRBO or the many management companies that now run the rentals. Conversations with owners directly are nearly impossible. So you are putting out over a thousand dollars that you may not get back and end up in a vacation far from what you had planned on with no recourse. VRBO What happened, you are losing your trust from both renters and homeowners, time to rethink your business practices.

I have had my properties on VRBO for years. Their customer service has gone from marginal to bad to atrocious. They do absolutely nothing for either the property owners or renters. I imagine them sitting in a room rubbing their hands together like Mr. Burns from the Simpson's, diabolically trying to figure out ways to take more money from each us. I have never, ever felt more frustrated dealing with a company. Their incompetence far exceeds that of the post office, DMV or any airline. Shame on anyone that works there.

I have been using VRBO for several years. When I first started the online booking system was simple to use and if I called for customer service I got it.

Over the years though, getting customer service has grown increasing more difficult. Once I got to a person, they were always great but getting to a person was hard! Speed of response time to a potential visitor is critical. You just can't wait around for help, you end up losing the rental. And they keep changing their online booking system and it is not an improvement! More complicated, I wonder if my visitors are receiving the right email.

Recently I asked for help, called their phone number and there was a 50 minute wait time. 50 minutes! So I thought maybe an email would be faster. I sent the email and got an automatic response that somebody would get back to me but after 2 days I sent another email. That was 2 weeks ago and I have had no response. I did call again and was told the 50 minute wait related to a scam that was attacking the website (not very reassuring!). I'm very fed up. I did end up being able to solve the initial problem but I shouldn't have to do that for the amount of money that they are getting from me. I'm going to check out other sites, maybe travel advisor.

Terrible service. Useless website. Will take your visa and charge multiple times then get visa calling you because its "overdrawn". But despite overcharging (X6) they still don't confirm the reservation.

Then they will argue with visa on a 3 way call as to who is at fault.

Then they will hang up on you (twice)

Then they will admit they screwed up and apologize and ask for another credit card to screw up so they can hold the reservation.

Use Airbnb.
Or pay cash to the renter.
Don't use vrbo or bother with their inept staff.

VRBO WILL NOT Print our warning about a miserable experience we had with # 110 280 95 in Del Mar Californai. The owner of the property took our down payment and immediately spent it. We had ninety days to change our mind. We lived in Denver so a local cousin visited the property and found it not at all as it was described: it was noisey, dirty, worn and terribly overpriced. With plenty of time left on the contract we decided to cancel. THE OWNER said he did not have the money to pay us back. After more than five months and with the help of Visa we did get it but it was an awful experience and VRBO WAS OF NO HELP. ONLY SECURE PROPERTY WITH A CREDIT CARD IS OUR WARNING. Kathryn Hight

Stay - AWAY from VRBO. We had a horrible experience over the Christmas holiday with a rental in Mission Bay (San Diego). Owner misrepresented the property on the VRBO website (elevator) which we were told to avoid just days before we arrived, filthy kitchen sink and utensils (why pay the $200 cleaning fee...?) bedding STUNK -- and yellow stained, comforter torn; grill advertised as in great shape (corroded, rusty, broken parts, put out a match-sized flame). Oh, and the 4TV's! One got cable reception. Others either didn't work at all or had no remote.
So we went back to VRBO and HomeAway (yes, we were fooled/tricked into buying their insurance), who said our complaints were not material to the condition of the property? And we had to work it out with the owner. We asked for a partial refund. He refused, so we left negative feedback on the VRBO website - which was pulled because the owner said we threatened negative feedback. What a slimy operator. In our process to "work it out with the owner' (per VRBO's recommendation) we demanded a refund in exchange for NO FEEDBACK. When he declined, we told him we would post appropriate and factual feedback... which we did. If you want the details (owner name and VRBO property number, please email me at ttrestorations at a o l dot com and I will gladly share the experience.

Here is their info: Owners are: Brian Sharples & Carl Shepherd Address: 1011 West Fifth Street, Austin Texas *******, Tele: *******110. You should report them to the better business bureau, bb. Org/central-texas/business-reviews/advertising-directory-and-guide/homeaway-inc-in-austin-tx-*******, You can also report them to Federal trade commission: http://www.ftc.gov/, you can also report them to: Travis county district attorney's office: tele: *******400, they are breaking Anti-trust laws by buying out all the competition and robbing the consumers of choices of other vacation rentals. They are CROOKS in my Opinion, REPORT them!

VRBO removes your email address from all of your and your clients emails (both in your text and in the address spot).
I'd like to communicate directly with my customers without VRBO or anybody else listening in. They are taking the email address of our customers, so they can send direct advertisements
And sales promtions of products (like insurance) to them. As well I suspect for properties that they manage in direct competition with every advertisers on their site. A big conflict of
Interest does not sound like a good business decision for very long.
They never asked for our permission or our customers. They started this about a year
Ago, claiming it was for security reasons, when it is clearly for profit. No one goes to VRBO to contact them, they go to see our properties and contact us, not VRBO. It feels like the NSA spying. They are stealing our contacts in an attempt to force us all to recieve payment through them not directly from our customers.
Any owners who are lawyers? Is any of this legall? They are in Texas where who knows what they can get away with, but this is inter-sate and, in my case, international. Greed is the obvious villian here ever since the crooks bought it. How can we stop them?

HomeAway.com, VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com have completely changed their websites to be combined into one collective pool and they are trying to control how travelers and property owners communicate with each other. It's horrible for travelers and property owners.

They are also desperately trying to convince travelers to use their online booking payment system and telling property owners that 85% of people want to book using their online payment system. The real reason is they will charge the traveler and property owner a fee to book that way.

This new format also makes it harder for travelers and property owners to communicate in a personal way leaving unsatisfied travelers and property owners. I paid my yearly fee and within 1 month and with no notification they changed their site and basically ruined my short term rental business that I've spent 4 years building up with 5 star ratings. When I asked for a refund they refused, which confirmed to me that they are acting unscrupulously.

I tryed contacting the Better Business Bureau and none of the 3 sites can be found. If I was a traveler this would make me question their business practices.

This review is not ment as a rant since I have booked a multiple yearly lease which profits about the same for me. I do feel an obligation to warn travelers and property owners of their business practices as I own another successful company which can be easily found on the Better Business Bureau site and we have an A+ rating after being in business for over 10 years.

My advise if you use them for booking is to bypass the automated system and fees, and contact the property owners directly, or find other sites to book from that are more reputable. Thanks and good luck. -Jim

weneedavacation.com. Great properties, great owners, personal service... I am an owner and do not work for weneedavacation.com. Stay away from VRBO/HomeAway and AirBnb, though, and go instead with this wonderful boutique site which caters only to Cape Cod and the Islands. No "Service fee" for travelers; They let us owners control our own business; we are able to speak to the owner of the site, etc. Personal, safe service, through which travelers and owners build a rapport to ensure a successful transaction for both parties. Encourage more boutique sites in other resort areas. The big guys are Goliaths and are evil, to both owners and travelers.

When traveling to Cape Cod, MA, use WENEEDAVACATION.COM, and stay away from HomeAway, VRBO, and AirBnb.

Most all properties, I inquired about are not "for rent by owner" (VRBO, but are managed by companies. The calendar may show the property to be available, but most of the time, they are "already rented", when you contact the "owner". This seems hard to believe, when you do your research 6 months in advance. You may get an ok. On a property of your choice, but when it comes to finalizing the arrangement, there is a bait and switch. The pictures are great, and the research can be fun, but honestly in 6 years, I actually only finalized two rentals, and we take two longer vacations a year.

Beware, after being told vetting of owners is a part of VRBO policy, I see Mark Dewitt is still able to rent his condo at Kiawah Island through VRBO. He has multiple complaints, and now an arrest for impersonating a police officer in Charleston, SC. He allegedly also offered cash for sex. After we had a dispute on a rental from Dewitt, we contacted VRBO about their representation policy. Several run around emails, I gave up getting an answer. VRBO is only about their money. They will never have the renters back.