VRBOReviews 2,004

VRBO is terrible for owners. Rising prices and forcing owners to use services we don't want or need will also translate to dissatisfied renters. They are currently the big fish in the pond, but disruptive technology will soon knock down their door. I am looking for alternative sites, as are many other owners. I am starting with VacationHomeRentals.com. VRBO Sucks!

Review of property rental as VRBO selects only the positive reviews
Rehoboth Beach VRBO *******, North Shore Seaglass rental property
This home was advertised as 6 bedrooms, it's not... it is 5 bedrooms with a converted walk in closet which the owner considered a bedroom. The home has not been well maintained. Many things were broken when we arrived - Outside shower, refrigerator, outdoor cushions in very poor condtion ripped/ torn/ stained. Pool table with cigarette burns and ripped felt. Back porch with upturned wooden boards - dangerous. Owner, Joan W was very rude and difficult to deal with. We still have not received our $1400 deposit back. I plan on taking her to small claims court.

I have had two properties listed with VRBO for over 12 years. What with mergers and policy changes it now requires me to visit my listing 12 times a year to update the calendar that is not maditory to use. Also and guest who waited two years to post a review of one our properties believing some black marks in the the Knotty Pine varnish were mold by the shower. Nope Knotty pine turns black when exposed to any water spray. Never the less I contacted them and they would not remove it. However, their policy has not changed. A review must be posted within 12 months of a guests stay. That one was two years. When I asked why the policy change requiring 12 months the response was, "We found that postings after 12 months were malicious complaints Dah. So why when I bring this one to their attention wouldn't they want to correct or bring it in compliance with their new updated policy? I have heard they are desperate for negative complaints to counter the owner embellished anonymous postings. When I started they were the only game in town. Not true anymore. If at my renewal times that review is still posted I will not renew with them. I check my location Birch Bay Vacation rentals and 5 sites came up before VRBO on a goggle search..

The ruthless owner asks for a damage deposit, doesn't return it in a timely manner and then back charges you for using PayPal which was one of his options to pay. No where does he state that you will be charged. You can imagine my shock when I FINALLY got my damage deposit back, minus PayPal charges that PayPall charged him. I asked for proof of his disclosure, but of course none has been forthcoming and I don't expect it. He has not been cooperative and does not care about customer service or good public relations. While I know that this says VRBO, but HomeAway and VRBO are one in the same. I want to get the word out to everyone who might be thinking of renting from this gentleman, not to do it.

I am an owner of 2 vacation homes that i have had listed on vrbo for years. They have become "big brother'" in collecting your info and email correspondence. They no longer let the owner or inquirer see each others email. Consequently i recommend that the owner and or inquirer call each other to get your respective email address and communicate directly
My inquirers also tell me that they get unsolicited follow up emails from vrbo. Vrbo has been successful thanks to all the home owners that paid to list their homes but their success has gone from a tool to connect 2 interested parties to wanting to OWN us.
We need new vacation rental sites to eliminate Vrbo's dominance... i can't wait for other sites to take their market share. Please use other sites!

Space was very clean and well-organized but VERY small. Headroom was lacking... a real problem for males standing at toilet. Also, we could occasionally smell propane when bedroom window over bed was open. It was difficult to have true privacy, due to owners" home right next door, close to deck. Driving past Mystery Spot attraction, on same road, can be challenging. Considering owner rents out much larger ( with full kitchen and table), bottom space for $125, Love Shack was not worth $110.

Tried to rent #******* in Waikiki and was pushed to pay money via email to hold the suite and when I asked (Bill Leeds) a phoney name, to give info to legitimize his suite and himself he quickly said it had been rented and that was it. The calendar never filled up for those dates.
He said he was living in Portland and representing a Japanese lady who couldn't speak English yet she apparently had been sending me emails asking for money?
This suite is a scam!

I am a owner of property in Florida listed on vrbo.com. They have become controlling of your listing and communications. They now "hide" email addesses of the potential renters so you are FORCED to communicate through their "dashboard". I have recently found out that the these potential renters are not receiving my responding emails. Spoke to some idiot at vrbo and told me I would hear from someone in 1-3 days... really? You are keeping me from renting my unit and you can't speak to me? I received an email a day later saying that that there was no problem with the emails and it probably was going into the spam box which was a total lie. OWNERS BEWARE! If I can find a better site I will change in a New York Minute.

We used VRBO as vacation renters for a few years prior to setting up our own VRBO. It's been almost a month since we listed and have had a good experience with booking clients and they have all be great people! We hope the experience continues this way. I was between giving them 3 or 4 stars and that was because of their software/website. It could be easier to use and it takes a few HOURS to update your changes so that is weird in this age of instant changes elsewhere on the web. Also, not easy to find a way to get your questions answered. If they could just fix those things, they would be a 4-5 star operation (so far) in my book!

"The site is getting overrun by scammers" - this was the response we received from a VRBO " customer service" reprsentative in response to our complaint over
Our firm was being besieged by callers seeking to rent VRBO scam listings that posted our private client line.

After talking to VRBO they supposedly removed the scam listings but he calls started up again and one party even accused us of being in in the scam.

We called again and asked to speak with the legal department - attorney to attorney professional courtey - apparently is not part of their skill set - we were told they could only be contacted through a generic email address!

And after 72 hours no response! Consistent with their interminable hold times on the phone.

Our heart goes out to the scam victims, and so while VRBO brags about 1 million listings our question - how many are scams?

We are contemplating further action against VRBO due to business disruption - in the meantime consumers should exercise extreme caution and NEVER wire money for a rental especially via Western Union or similar services.

I am a vacation rental property owner, and have listed on VRBO since 2010. Our rentals are of a seasonal nature, typically 4-6 per year. Recently we found VRBO had removed calendar access from our site and put this message up "The property's calendar has not been updated in over 2 months. You can contact the owner for availability or look for properties with confirmed availability"
Our calendar is always up to date, but only updated when we add rentals.
After many calls and emails requesting VRBO to leave the features we have paid them for, alone... there response is that this is "policy" and I am the only customer that seems to have a problem with it.
For sure VRBO does not recognise the lister, who pays the fee, is there customer, and the renter is the lister's.
I would never recomend anyone to list on VRBO, nor will I pay any more fees to an outfit who's policy is to piss off there customer!

I own two vacation rental properties in Maine, and I have used VRBO for a number of years -- But not anymore. It used to work just fine, and the site I paid them for worked easily. Then recently I noticed that no inquiries were coming in and no reservations were being made. So I checked my site, and there was no calendar on my site showing potential renters when the property was available to rent! WTF!

When I tried to edit my site I found that they had changed everything in a way that made it almost impossible to make simple changes. VRBO's customer service tried to make it seem like it was my fault for not going in weekly to "update the calendar". I don't need to update a calendar if there are no new reservations to put in! Duh!

So after years of being rather satisfied, I am now very dissatisfied. VRBO has caused me to lose potential customers, and lose money -- Not exactly what I thought I was paying for.

Their prices have gone up and up over the years. Usually when you pay more, you are supposed to get more. But with VRBO you pay more to get less.

I am switching to another rental website service as soon as possible.

Anybody have any suggestions about a better rental website service?

I am wondering about vacationhomerentals.com.

I am a property manager on vrbo with over 20 paid listings. Vrbo customer service is a complete disaster and a horrible experience every time. Cancelation protect is also a disaster and false sense of security. My guest has been on the phone all day to learn that now the owner has to call and request a refund- I just gave her the money back because if the time and efforts that have been wasted. It would be cheaper just to refund even though CP got paid... Can't wait until another website comes along to remove the monopoly homeaway has. Homeaway... You suck... That is all...

I am posting this review because VRBO will not post it. I am hopeful that this review will help others avoid renting this condo. VRBO # #******* - "Luxurious Ocean Front Condo" Panama City Beach FL at Tropic Winds Condo #1409.

My VRBO review:

I took my mother to Panama City Beach for the week of March 22 2014. I rented this place based on reviews and photos. When we arrived the place was very dirty and smelled of body odor. From pubic hair on the master bed pillows, to filthy carpet and living room upholstery, to dirty hand towels and mold growing in tub and on shower liner. It was not at all what I paid for and not at all what I expected. If I could post photos I would.

I stayed an hour and told Susie I was renting another unit which I did. So not only did I lose the money for the stay in this filthy place (she did not refund it and placed it right back on the rental market for the same week) but I had to pay for another place as well. I think it is terrible to misrepresent as she did. The photos are so old that they do not even represent this place as it really is. The master bedroom photo shows it all made up nicely and when we get there not only did the master have a body odor smell, there was a thin blue bedspread and two dirty pillow cased pillows and that was it. Nothing nice like in the photo. So save your money and go elsewhere. This place is a dump. Nasty. I did not even want to touch anything in it.

BTW I am an owner of another beach condo and would never subject anyone to a place in this condition. I keep mine immaculate and that is what I was expecting. Too bad there are people out there who take advantage of the situation as this is a trust situation. I trusted her word and should not have. I just hope this review can not be deleted by the owner as it is unfair for her to collect money for false advertising. Kim from Texas

We stayed at Surf & Racquet Unit #194 in Kailua Kona Hawaii. Alli with CJ Kimberly Realty was awesome. She was available to take care of any situation. Location is super! Listening to the ocean all night is so soothing. The kitchen is well equipped as well as pool/beach items to use. View from the lanai is breath taking. We watched turtles feeding every afternoon. The pool is super! The resort was very quiet (we had windows open all the time day/night). Very clean. We had problems w/ lights flickering and Alli had repairmen there quickly (and this was on a holiday weekend). This unit is probably 30 years old, but very well maintaned & comfy. Would definitely return to this location. Thanks Alli & Jennifer at CJ Kimberly Realty!

We list 2 properties on VRBO. As any owner knows, listing placement is of great importance. We have two identical units and the listings are basically identical. One has excellent placement (as it should because that is what we pay for), the other (which is up for renewal strangely enough) slipped to the bottom. We can get no advice on what happen or how to fix it except to upgrade ANOTHER $250.00. Excuse me, but I agree, it is a scam the way they are treating the owners. It there was another good spot to list, they absolutely would not have my business!

Rented a place, providing all credit card info. 3 days later, I find out that they rented the place to someone else. The management company that the owners hired (BeachCondosinDestin.com) admitted that they keep rentals listed as available even though the units are not available... with the intent of you booking a similar property that is a LOT more expensive. They provide no information about cancellations, stating on the website that their policy is available when you book. It IS NOT available when you book. You have to book and pay and then it still isn't available. Then when you cancel, they tell you that their policy is not to allow you to cancel. WTF? I had to cancel the charge thru my credit card company. Do not use VRBO. Do not use BeachCondosinDestin.com Complete scams.