Vrbo Reviews

We rented a home in California for May 1st through VRBO. The wedding has been postponed due to Covid-19. Homeowner agreed to give us a full refund on March 31st. We received the deposit and service fee back on April 6th but we are still owed $4840. I have emailed and called over 12 times. VRBO stated there was a computer error on April 6th which prevented us from getting the refund. Then on April 8th they sent a letter to the homeowner stating he had to contact the third party company, Yapstone, who does the payment collections. Unknown to me that our payments were going to another company. Yapstone won’t take incoming calls. The homeowner has requested 2-3 times to VRBO to issue the full refund.

I was browsing the VRBO travelers website on February, 8, 2020. Next day February 9 I made Res. ** for December 23-Jan2. On February 13, I noticed my account a charge of $2,431.00 for February 8 Res. ** from VRBO. It was odd for I didn't remember making a reservation. I was just browsing. I called VRBO. An Agent wasn't able to find the listing under that account, I called a few times – no avail. April 24 an agent finally was able to locate the mgr. and cell#. The agent also said that sometimes a traveler get charge even for just browsing, I called that # and left a message but never did return my call although I was bombarded with emails from mgr.

This is very important for you to read if you use VRBO for rentals. Back on April 23, 2020 I paid for a rental that was booked for June 2020. It is a 60th birthday celebration for my wife. I was sent an email later that day from VRBO telling me that this listing was a scam. Thats right, a booking made on their website was a scam. I also received an email telling me that my card was credited and it would take up to 7 days to show up. Well it's 13 days later and no credit. Called my card company to dispute charges. Takes up to 60 days thru them. Have spoken to Safety and Security Team for VRBO with no help. This is so very frustrating. Please take the time to vet the rental if you are going to book they VRBO. My Wife's 60th Birthday celebration is being held hostage by VRBO. My VRBO case number is **.

I have read all of the frustrated reviews... and as a property owner I totally understand how a traveler feels, we also list our home on Airbnb and about 90% of our travelers are from Airbnb not VRBO. I do not agree with withholding a travelers money during this virus, but I am sure some property owners were ill prepared for this and are desperate. We have elected to refund all paid rentals through at least May, if the travel advisories lift we will look at it case by case. But from an owners perspective I have guest trying to cancel into September???

After countless emails, the property manager refuses to refund my money. I cancelled within time although he changed to cancellation date. Luckily I printed the original contract with the cancellation date, saying 100% full refund. I’ve been told the protection insurance (which I purchased) won’t refund anyone due to COVID19, you must have an illness and a doctor’s note. I’ve been looking on social media, I see there are many people that haven’t received their money. This isn’t fair, they get to keep our money and still get the federal interest free loan. I’m not giving up on this.

I booked a vacation home in Jan 2020 in Key West owned by Vacasa through VRBO. Once the corona pandemic occurred and travel was not an option, I cancelled and they initially tried to offer a credit which was not acceptable as I was still in the window to receive at LEAST a 50% refund. I work for the second best hospital in the US and our CEO was advising no travel as early as March, so I complied. In a note, Vacasa stated they did not want to issue refunds as they felt the Corona virus would be resolved by 04/3/ 2020. I was incredulous and asked for some documentation to this “fact” which of course they could not send.

As a result of the virus I was given a full refund by the homeowner and VRBO. The rental fee was returned in full but VRBO still has failed to refund the service fee and the remainder of the taxes I am due. I have contacted them repeatedly and have been told it takes time. This is week number six.

Made reservations and paid deposit for vacation from May 26-28/20 at Property ID 787513. Cancelled the reservation via e-mail to the property owner on March 22/20 due to covid. Property owner informed me I would need to contact VRBO for the refund, which I did. Spoke to vrbo on April 8 & 9 asking when I could expect to see my refund applied to my credit card, I was told they were very busy with cancellations, but I would be refunded. Called again on April 15/20, was given a case #** and told it would be 3-4 weeks, but assured me of the refund. April 22/20 and 23rd, which was accounting for the 4 week wait period and was told this time that the 3-4 weeks was business days. I have now passed that period also and still no refund. This is so very frustrating and I don’t know what my next step should be.

We rented a house in Austin for my son's college graduation through Home Away/VRBO. Due to Shelter In Place guidelines here in Illinois we are unable to travel to Austin. The property owner - CARRIE ** - has refused to work with me for either a credit or partial refund. VRBO "encourages" their property owners to give credit for a future stay, give 100% refund or at least a partial. I reached out to VRBO and they said they would send her an email to "encourage" her to follow their Covid 19 emergency guidelines. Ten minutes later she cancelled my reservation and has kept my deposit of over $3,000. Shame on CARRIE ** and shame on VRBO for not enforcing their policies. AIR BNB has stepped up to do the right thing - I will be using them instead from now on. Never again VRBO/Home Away!!!

VRBO does not make their rental owners refund money. So basically if you rent a property and the renter cancels for no reason, they do not have to give you the money back!!! Maybe I should list my home, good way to get mortgages paid! Beware!!!!

I have been renting properties through VRBO for over 20 years, and have always been satisfied. It seems like they have gone downhill since they were bought by Homeaway. They have raised their prices, charge more fees, and now scammers are listing fake properties. If you get scammed by one of these fraudulent listings, VRBO will NOT release the name of the person who scammed you. They make you go through an attorney. It’s time for me to find another vacation rental site.

I booked a trip thru VRBO for May 2020 when the COVID-19 virus struck. After almost 50 days of both the property owner and VRBO pointing the finger at each other I have yet to receive a full refund. The owner is Blue Ocean Yacht Charters in Key West. They misled me through this entire ordeal. Shameful business tactics and terrible customer service.

I decided to become a host with Vrbo as I had never used them before. I got a reservation and was happy to accept it, as I have no income due to Covid. The moment I approved the reservation $584 was taken from my bank account which is attached to Vrbo for payout. Not only did I not make any money, I lost the last money I had in my account. I now have 59 cents in my account, and have no clue how I will feed myself of my sick child who is terminally ill. Vrbo refuses to help or acknowledge that it is their fault. Please help me.

Made a reservation, paid the deposit for our daughter's college graduation week. Due to coronavirus graduation was canceled. Called and asked to have our reservation moved to August. Lady said "o.k. no problem ". Next week we were notified via email the property management had canceled the reservation and were keeping our deposit. Do not waste your time with these vultures.

Paid for a service that we could not use. In February,CoVid19 did not exist when we planned our trip. We tried to cancel 1 month prior in March. Normally when you pay for a service/product, the service and product supplier and provider (VRBO/homeowner) works with their customers to insure satisfaction and commitment of what they are selling to their consumers. We did not simply choose not to use the service/product, the entire nation was given direction regarding loved ones with compromised immune system, which was applicable to our child. But it wasn’t enough to have a valid critical issue that a child’s life was on the line. Days later after providing a cancellation request, the area we were visiting was completely shut down as well. No beaches, restaurants, stores etc. While people around the globe chose to work with customers during this time, VRBO/Homeowner chose not to. This was not a typical cancellation.

I just tried VRBO for a change after using airbnb. Well, I had to cancel my reservation for a stay in September, unrelated to COVID-19, and cannot get my refund. I cancelled well within the cancellation guidelines and they admit I am due a full refund. But they say it will be weeks before they will credit my card. Weeks? It has already been 10 days and I am out over $800 while they lollygag around, holding our money and making interest from it. Meanwhile, I am out the money and will now have to pay interest on my credit card for the delay. And of course, they will not reimburse me for it. If you might need to cancel, go to another site and company.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, I have to cancel my VRBO vacation, not only are we still on a stay at home order, but the friends I was traveling with are also on a stay at home order, with one being a DoD employee and they are under travel restrictions. Georgia ** will not even consider a refund, not even a partial refund due to this crisis and because she is selling her property this summer, I'm unable to to move the vacation. Called VRBO to help and they said since they have tried to get a hold of the owner and she is not responding, I'm out of luck because I signed a no refund policy. The COVID-19 wasn't a crisis when I reserved my vacation. So, I will never book another vacation through VRBO and I hope Georgia and her cottage business suffer because of this posting. She is a horrible person!!! Please do not do business with her in Asheville, North Carolina.

Hire customer service personnel that can speak understandable ENGLISH!!!! The rental property was disgusting and completely misrepresented in photos. VRBO will do nothing to help but give Mgt. phone #.

VRBO was great until it starting making changes that favored itself first, the renter a distant second, and never the property owners. We raised our rental price for our beach house by 9% compared to last summer's rentals. VRBO's jacked up the service fee they charge by more than 50%. We contacted their customer service department to ask why the service fee had been increased so radically. They refused to answer. They repeatedly said they have the right to raise the service fee, so they did. VRBO's policies reflect their greedy nature and inability to understand that owners are struggling to rent their properties, particularly with the pandemic. This is not the time to get even more greedy with their service fee charges. VRBO doesn't even realize the impact they have on the very people they need most, homeowners who rent their properties! VRBO doesn't exist without property owners and they are losing them by the minute.

Absolutely disgusted that homeowner in Norfolk Broads did not give any refund even though VRBO asked homeowners to give 100% or 50% refund. Still waiting for VRBO to refund their fees. I asked Homeowner if he could move our holiday to later in the year or even to the same time in April next year. No he wasn’t prepared to do this but as a gesture of goodwill he would give 50% of any future booking. I wanted the money I had already paid refunding or transferred to a future booking.

Like many others due to travel restrictions by COVID travel plans and vacations have had to be cancelled and outside our control. Under these circumstances the property owner we were renting our summer vacation property from was amazing to work with and allowed us the opportunity to move our reservation to a later date. When our dates weren't available he refunded our property deposit without hestitation. Once the owner initiated the refund back in early April I received an email from VRBO w/ confirmation informing me that it would take up to two weeks for the refund to post to my account. After two weeks I haven't seen the refund credited to my bank account so I called them. Now VRBO states it can take upwards of 4 weeks or more to get my deposit back.

I find it very interesting that there’s a surge of people trying to salvage VRBO tirade of well deserved bad reviews in the last month. Wasn’t enough that I got 0 refund for rental but it was the manner of how it was handled. It was almost criminal. Also, even though I’ve paid for the rental, In full, I was not allowed to post a review because we didn’t physically stay there. The review encompasses the property, the owner, the email traffic, etc ... to me seems fraudulent and an attempt to do damage control... They lost a customer of about 12years.

I have waited over 4 weeks for an authorized refund of my VRBO service fee. The homeowner refunded our money within two weeks of cancellation. Our cancellation was made within the cancellation time frame for a 100% refund at the very beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. VRBO asked all customers to wait up to 4 weeks for their refunds. It is beyond that timeframe and when you contact them, you get routed out of the country to people who leave you on hold for an hour or more and then provide no assistance. VRBO should be going out of their way during this pandemic to take care of people expediently. People are out of work and need their money. If I could have given them zero stars, I would have. If this continues, maybe these stories should end up on the evening news. It seems to be the only way to get anything resolved these days.

I would never use this site to book a rental because of the bad experience I had during the Covid-19 event. I booked a house rental in Nevis and when they closed their border I could not access the house that I had rented. The owner only gave us back 50% of our money- keeping $3600USD citing VRBO guidance. I would never trust this site due to this type of behavior. They should be ashamed of themselves for this type of guidance- Keeping people's money when you can not even access the island to get to the house is so greedy and unconscionable. Please be aware!!!!!

VRBO was great until it starting making changes that favored itself first, the renter a distant second, and never the property owners. VRBO's policies reflect their greedy nature and inability to understand that owners need to pay their bills in order to even offer these properties for rent. By changing their fee structure from "pay when property is rented" to "pay a few days after the renter checks in" they completely disrupted cash flow for owners. When you also add in fees for owners at every turn, you realize that VRBO doesn't even realize the impact they have on the very people they need most. VRBO doesn't exist without property owners and they are losing them by the minute.

Let me start with saying I will never book a home on VRBO again, and I will tell everyone I know to avoid booking with them, as well. In December I scheduled a trip for 4/30/20-5/3/20. I spoke with the home owner, signed a contract, and we were all set. Obviously the Corona Virus Pandemic has since come into light and makes it impossible to complete our trip. There are stay at home orders in my home state (IL), as well as, the home owner's state (MI) until mid-may, at the earliest. So, we literally cannot complete our trip as planned per federal order due to a global pandemic..

With the COVID pandemic ongoing, VRBO has requested that their property owners/rental agents abate their cancellation policy and offer full refunds. This is a simple request that is easily ignored. I would have much more confidence if VRBO had backed it up with delisting the property if the request wasn't followed.

We booked and paid for our vacation. Due to Covid-19 we have decided to cancel our trip. WE ARE STILL WITHIN THE CANCELLATION WINDOW for 100% refund. VRBO is now refusing to refund or even offer credit!

I have successfully rented vacation property through VRBO across the country for many years. I have never been disappointed or had a bad experience until now, when I rented a home on Martha's Vineyard in mid-May 2020 managed by an outfit called Vacasa Vacation Rentals. This is a warning to all renters not to deal with this company. In the midst of this pandemic, Vacasa was completely inflexible about giving all but their standard refund, even though the ferry service to Martha's Vineyard continues to recommend that visitors stay away because the small island hospital is not prepared to deal with Covid-19. Restaurants and tourist attractions will likely remain closed into June.

We have travel plans for mid April to Hawaii, I have tried multiple times to get our refund, I even advised them over 30 days before the pandemic was announced since it looked like it was only going to get worse. VRBO does nothing, can't get a hold of anyone, when you try to they just refer back to their 50% refund policy and do nothing. I don't want a credit, I want my money back, I can't afford to put over $3200 on hold for a trip that will no longer happen and I don't want a credit. Doesn't VRBO understand this? Hotels, Airbnb, airlines have all processed 100% refunds.

COVID 19 AND REFUSAL TO REFUND. This was our first time using VRBO and it will be our last. We booked our trip to New Orleans in Oct 2019. We were supposed to fly out on May 20, 2020. This amazing trip was planned for my 40th birthday. Flights paid, vehicle rental and house. When Covid -19 surfaced, we started watching everything very closely and we were up in the air about cancelling. When we were 42 days before our departure date, we knew there was no way that we were going. The borders are closed with no signs of reopening. We contacted the airline who immediately gave us a credit for our flights. We cancelled the car rental without issues.

Booked a reservation for a house in Florida on Apr 2nd for the 1st week in May. Owner took reservation and deposit, then decided a couple of weeks later that the house was no longer available. She canceled the reservation and said the refund would take 5-7 days. I called the Customer Service line and was told the same thing. Now today, 10 days later, I'm told it will be WEEKS more (4-5 weeks) before a refund is issued. This is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE AS THEY CANCELED ON ME, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND, and I still have to travel that 1st week in May. I'm going to dispute the charge via my bank, and let VRBO deal with the extra work around chargebacks and reconciliations on their end. I will never use any of the companies owned by Expedia Group again.

We cancelled our house rental on April 4th for a June 17th arrival and received an email confirmation of our cancellation and refund. VRBO's cancellation policy is 30 days prior the arrival date for a full refund. Today is April 19th and no refund has been credited to our credit card account. In contacting VRBO by phone and speaking with a live agent, they again confirmed they had received our cancellation notice, however did not have the money to pay us. Our deposit had been forwarded to the owner and VRBO was waiting for the funds to become available in order for us to receive our refund. We are currently placing a dispute with our credit card company against VRBO. VRBO has not been forthcoming and is difficult in which to deal. We strongly DO NOT recommend them for any of your vacation rental needs.

Never ever do business with this company. These people are crooks and pure evil at the top. I had renters that VRBO/HomeAway still have not paid me out on. I will be joining a class action siut against them and possibly my own claim as well. 46 calls to them, not resolved. Elusive evil non-public billing department said they would pay 3 dates and failed still today. Avoid at all costs these companies of thieves!

In these times of uncertainty, with covid-19, I would strongly discourage anyone from booking with VRBO. You maybe forced to pay for a vacation home that you cannot visit. It’s like booking and paying for an airline flight, the airport closes, and no refund or credit is offered, No thank you. Never again.

Our trip was canceled due to the covid19 virus. VRBO refuses to help with refund. AirBnB at least helped its customers to get their refunds. When I called vrbo customer service it seemed they did not care or want to help resolve the issue.

VRBO recommends on their site with link to insurance with CSA/GMMI/Generali Global. My husband became seriously ill while on vacation and was in a semi-comma. The insurance company was horrible. We have not been reimbursed yet and it has been almost a year. The company does not answer calls (Sara **) and adds so much insult to pain dealing with a sick husband and traumatization from the entire experience. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. We are reporting them to the California Department of Insurance.

The owner of the property I am supposed to be staying at refuses to return our money or a partial return, Luke ** is also refusing to provide a stay at a further time. I am out 1000 because my flight to Kauai has been cancelled over Covid 19. I will never use VRBO again and would recommend that you never stay at one of his properties. We are all suffering at this time and a little compassion and understanding goes a long way.

I booked a reservation for 12/20/2019 to 4/1/2020 in Florida. I spent over $7000 for this reservation. I booked this reservation on 3/8/2019 and submitted my payment. So I went on my trip and it was nice. So I check out and the owner was happy with my staying there and met with me on checkout. He said everything looked great. I even left items I bought while I was there like a small vacuum cleaner, more dishes and storage containers for the kitchen etc. I even paid someone to come in and super clean the unit. The owner said he would notify VRBO to immediately refund my damage deposit. He did and now... VRBO says they have it in process but cannot tell me when other than it will take weeks.

Had a trip planned during spring break march 19-22 and had to cancel due to COVID-19. They are the only vendor that will not issue us a refund for our trip. We are being told we can use the money to re-book our trip, but that has to be done by April 30. Not going to happen since we are still under stay at home orders. Tried to call several times and was on hold over 90 minutes before hanging up. I don't think they even have anyone to answer phones!!

We have a reservation for a city that has been completely shut down due to the virus and does not want any non-essential visitors. It is not true that VRBO is issuing refunds. It is up to the owner or property manager who in our case refuses a refund. We have one person who has been ill but is still going because they are out the money. Very short sighted thinking by VRBO and this property manager. Basically they are requiring us to go against the recommendation of the government and to potentially become ill or risk others becoming ill. Pretty sad business policies.

Very disappointed with this service. It turns out the site has multiple fraudulent listings and takes days to get your money back. After finding out our booking was a fraud we then began to find others all over the site. VRBO doesn't seem to vet these people listing on their site and the only thing they do for the inconvenience is hold your money for days. Would have been nice to offer a promo code or something since now the idea of our vacation doubled in price. Avoid this site.

The homeowners of the property that we were to stay at submitted a refund to VRBO on 3/25. I have a statement that attests to the refund so I’m not calling into question the homeowners' delay. 21 days have passed and l have not received the refund from VRBO. I get that there is the Pandemic flu but the company is not communicating anything with respect to refunds and their delay in processing them.

VRBO does not pay rental owners until after the guest leaves unless owner pays VRBO extra fees to get paid the rental fee, even though the guest has made their reservation and paid far in advance for the rental. I am a vacation home owner that has had my home listed with VRBO for over 15 years, starting when it was VR by owner. VRBO cut off my access to my bookings with them at the end of 2019 when I refused to sign a contract that gave VRBO/Homeaway 'in and out' privileges to my bank account, even to withdraw from my bank account without explanation, and disallowed me from ever filing suit against them. I was required to accommodate guests at my property before receiving any of the payment that VRBO collected from them, until after the guests left. And with the contract VRBO set before me, I would have signed away any recourse to get the rental fee from VRBO that the guest already paid, should they just not pay me.

This has been the WORST experience I have ever had to deal with. Due to Covid-19 we were forced to cancel our trip, as many people have. Long story short: good luck getting a hold of ANYONE to try to help you. The cancellation policy changed three times in four days. At first it was anyone traveling between X day and X day are given full refunds, then it changed to partial refunds, and finally landed on the owner's decision to give back your money or not.

I have rented from VRBO in the past but never again. I rented a home with a no refund policy as I never expected Covid-19. Despite the local area where I rented rescinding the occupancy permits of any rental property renting for less than a month at a time, the property owner would not give me a full refund. That's ridiculous! So I can't go because it's against local regulation and I am at the mercy of the homeowner? VRBO says they can't help because they are only a website service.

We arrived in North Port Florida on March 10 and had to leave March 18 because of the Virus. The owner was hesitant about giving back our remaining money for March 18 to March 24 but explained there was a pandemic out there and we need to get home to Canada. She then agreed if we would write her a rave review of her place. I did, she didn't. The property ID is **. The grounds were a mess, the laundry is in a shed with tools and the place was not clean. She is originally from Quebec and speaks both English and of course French. Our communication has always been in English until the last email. FRENCH. I don't understand French. So I can only assume she isn't going to refund. SLY OWNER. Stay away.

We received 0 refund from $1300 rental in California. The property owner had a no refund policy—understandable in regular circumstances, not a pandemic. We could not book a future date offered. Did not even refund cleaning fee for an unused property.

If there was a zero star rating that is what I would use. VRBO has demonstrated a complete lack of customer consideration for the travelers during the COVID-19 pandemic. They issued an emergency policy but there is no obligation from the property owners to provide a refund or a credit. Our property owner refuses to offer any compensation and VRBO is washing their hands of any responsibility. We have lost over $10,000 which was 2 years of multiple family members saving for this trip. This was a once in a lifetime family reunion of 15 members from 5 states. VRBO refuses to contact the property owner to discuss this with him. They do not care about the travelers. They want to protect the property owners. Unlike AIRBNB who have provided refunds to all people effected by COVID-19, VRBO has not assisted to refund their customers. AIRBNB has also rented properties for the health care workers at their expense. VRBO has done nothing. VRBO has shown how inconsiderate and uncaring a company can be during a time of crisis.

I was forced to cancel my reservation due to covid19. Despite the fact that my rental entitles me to a full refund if cancelled by 4-12-2020 and the reservation was cancelled on 4-2-2020, I have yet to receive my refund. It is ridiculous that upon booking a reservation you are required to submit your deposit immediately, yet 9 days after cancellation I have not received my refund. Customer service has given 3 different answers on the timeframe to receive my refund. Renter Beware!!!

The terms of the contract entered at time of rental state “5-7 business days” to process refund, which is what Communicated to me at the time of cancelation on 3/23. At the 7 day mark I called again and was told now it would be 10-14 days. I just called again and am being told 3-4 weeks. This is especially frustrating since the property owner admitted my being able to book was a snafu on her end due to county regulations prohibiting rentals from covid-19 and she the initiated the refund within 30min of original booking.

I would never use this company again. Their return policy during the COVID19 pandemic is completely subpar. Oh... You are refunding 50% of the money for people that are completely unable utilize the rental? Gee... Thanks! I booked a rental 2 weeks before the USA went on lockdown. We have a unscrupulous landlord that will not return our rental money despite the fact that we immediately tried to cancel. I look forward to the class action lawsuits that will hopefully bankrupt this awful company. Their users shouldn't have to resort to court systems to get back their money for amenities they will be unable to be used.

I have been trying to get my refund for a cancelled trip since March 19 2020. VRBO policy is 5-7 days for a refund. I know the home owner has sent the refund. I have been told it would be in my account on March 30. Then I was told it would be in my account in 3 weeks. Today, April 9 2020, I am told to wait until next week and if not completed to call back. The refund amount is over $2000. I understand COVID 19 has caused delays but this is excessive. I have called 5 times and told there is no supervisor to speak with. On April 3 2020 I was told that a supervisor would call me but that has not occurred. I was again told on April 9 2020 that there was no supervisor available and that one would call ASAP. No time frame could be provided. VRBO is keeping my money and profiting from it. I will not be using VRBO again. They cannot be trusted.

We did finally get our full deposit back (including all fees and taxes) in the form of a credit on our card. It took about 3 weeks. We do appreciate, in this time of travel turmoil, that we were able to get our refund.

I made a reservation through VRBO online months ago. Due to the pandemic, I had to cancel them. I received a confirmation from them they were going to issue me a refund on March 19, 2020. Today is April 8 and still no refund. I called them and waited for 3 hours on the phone, and also waited over 2 hours online chat to be told there is nothing they can do and I should call my bank and dispute the charges. Highly illegal activity.

I can’t believe VRBO is not following AirBnBs lead and refunding renters their money. Our flights are cancelled. Vigilantes are blocking tourists from entering Sayulita. However we cannot get a refund for our rental next week. VRBO is suggesting we contact the homeowner who will not give a full refund. VRBO, you should be ashamed.

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 haven't been refunded. I then had to contact the home owner who VRBO also gave issues on giving me the full refund.

We rented a cottage in Beaufort, SC. We cancelled due to COVID 19 about a month ago. The owner gave us a full refund. VRBO did not do its part and refund the money. They are Shysters!!! Stay away!!! Terrible people! Booking status Cancelled. Property ID 748401. Reservation ID **. Guests 2 adults. Total $481.68.

We rented a condo in PR for June with a 60 day cancellation policy. Since the curfew and quarantines in PR right now and not sure when they would lift we asked the owner to shorten their 60 day to a 30 day cancellation for the full %100 and the answer was a flat out no. They would give us a future credit but because this is a family vacation not sure when we all would be able to do it within the next year. So we did cancel before the 60 days and should be getting a full refund (according to them within a few weeks). I went on Airbnb today and the condo is up for rent with a 14 day %100 refund policy. I don't understand why the owner could not extend that same cancellation policy to us even though we originally reserved it thru VRBO. The owners and VRBO need to reconsider their policies during a time like this.

We have used VRBO many times, and generally speaking, we have been satisfied with our experiences with the properties where we have stayed. Back in February, we booked two houses in Utah for early June. These houses had a 100% refund policy for cancellations up until May. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we cancelled these reservations on March 31. VRBO shows the cancellations and indicates that the refunds are in process, but for some reason, they indicate that refunds can take 3-4 weeks. This makes no sense unless they are holding the refunds for financial reasons. AirBNB refunded money to our credit cards in one day. I tried to contact VRBO via chat, but their chat line is apparently using an artificial intelligence program to provide responses. VRBO should be able to do better than this.

Buyer Beware... If you are considering booking a rental with this property owner. Michel ** 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. The property owners have a no refund policy, however, due to the circumstances, I was hoping they would relax the policy. Shortly after I contacted HA, they contacted the property owners and told them 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.

I could not fly to my VRBO in Mexico last month. Contacted home owner directly and was told she would authorize FULL REFUND due to unusual situation. Was emailed refund was on its way. (Yay). Then emailed to say 131 bucks was being refunded, from 1200. Called in. Told owner said YES to refund. Money was on its way. Then 131 offered again. Called in. Can’t get through. Virtual chat tells me refund is not happening. Waiting for real human about an hr. Cut off twice. Finally get a human on chat maybe? Says they will contact owner (already been done) and I’m still not refunded. This company has no clue. Homeowner told me she saw ZERO dollars of this, I have been out of pocket now for months and NO refund even offered. Wow. Total crooks. Horrible customer service and horrible policy. Hope you don’t make it through the Covid times, you obviously don’t deserve it.

Reserved accommodations for the Boston Marathon. There was a double booking so they cancelled us without warning. No help at all. Then we rebooked; due to COVID-19 all travel plans were cancelled and they were supposed to refund 1/2 of our original booking plus the booking fees. More than 20 WORKING days later they have not despite 5 phone calls. They simply will not. Have now instigated a dispute through our credit card company. We travel a lot; will never use Home Away or VRBO again.

Another Client Screwed over Covid-19. WE have also been screwed by VRBO on our reservations to go to Sedona, AZ April 26, 27, 28, 2020. By order of the state we are unable to travel due to the Covid 19 lock down/Stay at home. We are currently under lock down until 05-03-2020. I called and spoke with the owner’s representative and was told point blank that there was no refund, no credit, no adjustment, simply you're screwed. I feel cheated and knocked down because I don’t have a job any longer and VRBO and their property owners, don’t care. We are not allowed to travel, and you don’t give a damn. Obviously, I will never book with VRBO again and will book through Airbnb which is working with the cancelled reservations. After talking to the representatives, I choose not to cancel my reservations as it won’t benefit me in any way. Owner's representatives who told me screw you: Kyla **, Sedona.org, 435-571-0024, Reservations: 888-265-3009.

I am Canadian and the border is closed so I could not travel in March to Savannah. VRBO and owner refused any compensation beyond travel fee and damage/ housekeeping cost. Nor did owner allow me to book alternative date next year. I have phoned emailed and tried to compromise. Nothing!

My family has used VRBO several times over the last ten years and never had any issues. I even recommended them to others. However, that is no longer the case. They are only great when everything goes according to plan. We placed a deposit on a property in Florida for a family vacation in May. When our home state made it mandatory that all residents Stay Home, all our vacation plans came to a screeching halt. My daughter could no longer graduate from college in May, and my husband is unemployed. I immediately contacted the owner and was told that I was SIX days late for the cancellation period, so I could not get a refund. SIX DAYS! When I asked for them to consider the COVID-19 circumstances, I was told that everyone is having a hardship. They offered to allow me to either gamble that the WHO would extend the travel advisory through May (so then I could possibly get a refund), or I could pick a different week.

I purchased a condominium on VRBO in Naples FL for a week stay starting March 31. Due to the pandemic I was not allowed to travel. Even though I purchased cancellation insurance through VRBO for 150.00 VRBO not only didn’t allow me a refund but didn’t honor the cancellation insurance. I e mailed them showing my policy and 10 days later they responded sorry no refund. Everyone I know that used AirBnB was refunded. VRBO are not only unscrupulous they are not good people. In a trying time for the world they could have done the right thing instead they lost a customer for life. Delete the app and save yourself money and a headache.

I recently used VRBO/HomeAway (same company) to make a reservation for a penthouse suite in Las Vegas for a special occasion for 7 of my friends. VRBO collected the large sum. When I got to Vegas, the property manager "ghosted" us and we were left with no options. VRBO's "guarantee" was to put 7 of us in a hotel for one night (regular rooms) and then put 7 of us for the second night into 2 rooms. Remember we booked a penthouse, and their guarantee is anything from Motel 6 to whatever is available, not what is comparable to what you booked.

VRBO has been stalling our refund for 2 months. It seems a new reason for delay is because of COVID19. While I am sympathetic to the virus I feel VRBO is using it as a crutch to cover their lack of processing and customer service. It has been owed to us (a full refund) for 2 months!

I recently read a review from a homeowner who states that the coronavirus is outside their control and they too have a mortgage and expenses to cover and therefore the cancellation policy as originally written on VRBO should be honored. Even if it means not refunding money to a renter during a time of crisis. I too own a home that I rent by the month. Like this homeowner I too have been affected by the virus. However every homeowner who rents knows full well that there are things outside our control that can and will affect our ability to rent.

We rented a property in Siesta Key. Due to the Corona Virus we are banned from traveling. We were told by VRBO that the property owners are being “encouraged” to give full credit or half of the actual money back to the renters. However my property owner will not even respond to my calls or messages! She kept 90% of our money as well without offering a credit first. VRBO plays dumb and acts like there is nothing they can do but punish the owner after the fact. What does that mean?! Now that I officially cancelled the owner's number has disappeared from the site and I don’t think I can even rate her. This is truly criminal. I used to use VRBO a lot for vacations but I will take My Business to airBnb as I am reading good things about how they handled Covid19 issues. Here is her info-Debbie-Property ID-1676858 in Siesta Key, Florida.

During the COVID-19 crisis. VRBO decided to side with homeowners while AirBnB decided to side with renters. I had to cancel my booking because I was not legally allowed to travel or congregate but was not offered a refund from my homeowner. Just use AirBnB in the future, they protected their customers while VRBO protected their clients. Simple as that.

After buying cancelation insurance for our 40th anniversary trip to northern California, we canceled in plenty of time (before any shelter in place orders or any other restrictions) before the trip because of underlying physical conditions during the height of COVID19. We submitted all required documents to the cancellation insurance fully expecting a refund of 1048.00. They rejected our claim in their words because we should have "foreseen" that we could not travel during COVID19. How absurd, unjust, cruel, and despicable! No one can fight this, and it is absolutely horrendous treatment. I just wanted to warn people that cancellation insurance does not work, and in this case, it is a shame and a scam.

My story is told in a group I created. It was a huge lesson for my husband and I and I hope nobody has to go through something like that again! We will never use Vrbo again because of what happened to us. I only wish I could do more to stop people from ever renting from this particular host again as well. **

Given the current state of affairs of COVID-19, I'm dumbfounded that VRBO hasn't modified their cancelation policy similar to the likes of AirBnB and countless of other hotel chains. We were told by the VRBO owner that since our initial cancelation policy wasn't within the 60 day timeframe (submitted this March 16th right as all travel restrictions took place) that we would not be receiving a full refund. We were also told that we should have purchased travel insurance! Not a single hint of empathy or awareness which I cannot accept at this point. Making matters worse, not a single response back from VRBO support. My advice - don't use VRBO. Look elsewhere. They'll feel it from their consumer base once this clears up...

We have booked our vacation homes through VRBO for years and have recommended them to many of our friends and family. We booked a vacation home for May 3, 2020 in Florida. We are Canadians, and like many others, are not able to travel outside of our country due to COVID-19. We initially asked the reservation desk for advice on what can be done (credit or refund) since travel is currently banned. Since booking our trip the cancellation policy window closed and the situation has been deemed a pandemic.

It’s now 4/1/20, and Florida is on lockdown and mandating anyone from NY to quarantine. I contacted my host Bjorn ** and they said they’d help me out, and just cancel. Once cancelled, they advised me they will refund no money. I’ve been emailing in an effort to at least get some money back, but the final response is “We don’t offer a refund”. It’s really unbelievable. I guess you see the true nature of people and businesses during a crisis.

Lyon ** (Austin, Tx) continues to NOT follow the COVID-19 Emergency policy of the President of Vrbo. Which clearly states, "We have notified partners to abide by our COVID-19 emergency standards, which set a 50% refund minimum if different stay dates cannot be found, in order to avoid penalties in our marketplace. This is applicable for all canceled stays with a night that falls between March 13 and April 30, 2020, even on trips that are outside the set cancellation policy." I don't think it gets any clearer than that statement, but let's break it down:

Cancellation due to COVID 19: We have spent countless hours being strung along with same useless responses from VRBO/owner. The same promises are made each time we establish contact with VRBO/owner - no resulted action. Fair - what are your monthly expenses (mortgage, insurance, HOA, etc) divide that among the individuals that have booked and refund the rest. I'm sure worldwide pandemic was not considered when the fine print was established. A lot of us have similar situations where the tables are turned and ARE doing the right thing. This is a black eye on your establishment - both VRBO and owner. Do the right thing.

We rented a property via VRBO site and paid the rental fees and $250 security deposit. After the rental, the host released the deposit but after 18 days VRBO have not remitted the payment to me. They are holding all payments and refunds irrespective of the type of payment. They will not answer calls or emails about this subject and seem intent on holding payments. It’s not a good sign for business continuity so beware before making any bookings with VRBO.

We had an upcoming rental 2 weeks away in the Destin area, and we were already vacationing in Florida at the time, so we could have easily made it to our destination without much difficulty. We contacted the owner, Shawn Freyaldenhoven, and explained our kids and grandkids were not going to make the trip during this difficult time. Shawn readily offered to give us a full refund, which happened within a day, or so. I was so pleased with his accommodation that I immediately rebooked his place for next year at the same time.

Property ID 491474. Singer Island Rentals, Manager. We have stayed at the Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa for over 10 years and decided to book via VRBO because it was cheaper and we wanted to support small business. When we first canceled, the property manager would not consider giving us any refund. Then VRBO came up with give 1/2 the money back and they will refund their fee. I have not received the refund from VRBO but I did receive the refund from the property manager.

This owner will not refund or credit because of the covid 19. Even though VRBO says they expect them to refund at least 50%. Very rude and unwilling to work with us. Property id is 1794972 in Naples Florida. Is located at Flamingo Golf Course Lily Resort. Beware.

I had two great experiences renting from an owner in prior years. The pictures and descriptions were extremely accurate. I have rented through VRBO/Home Away because they act as an intermediary between the owner and renter. As an experienced world traveler and mother of three who many times travels without my husband I find this safer and more of a business transaction. In addition, there is a renter's guarantee clearly stated on their website. The property listing can not be grossly misrepresented on their website through pictures and descriptions. In addition, the property can’t be unsafe. I paid for two weeks for Sea Dream House in the Bahamas for my children and older parents to relax during spring break. I was horrified upon arrival by the location and condition of the property.

I recently used VRBO to rent two flats in England for an upcoming family vacation. Then the COVID-19 crisis froze everything. I got all my airfare, and prepaid hotel rentals back, no questions asked. One of the VRBO flats agreed to refund 50% of my rent, mostly because I had not yet paid it. The other landlord just stopped communication. VRBO offered to refund their $79 fee, but could or would not do a thing for me in my negotiations with the landlord.

We have a vacation rental scheduled in Rome during the Coronavirus pandemic. AirBNB has offered full refunds but VRBO still stating that they are encouraging hosts to refund but that’s it. No refunds available. So even though you can’t travel to Rome, the host continues to not allow a refund. Short term profits will be the end of VRBO.

I am a property owner. I'm reading recent bad reviews in Consumer Affairs about VRBO.com and would like to present a point of view that I haven't yet seen in the reviews. Property owners set their refund policy and it is clearly indicated on the listing and the booking. These times of COVID-19 are not usual and customary so vrbo.com has REQUESTED owners break their normal refund policy and give refund if the cancellation is past the set refund period. Vrbo.com has also promised to refund the vrbo fees attached to the booking.

According to the VRBO website, they have notified partners to abide by their COVID-19 emergency standards, which set a 50% refund minimum. Our total bill was $4464.08. If I’m doing the math correctly, 50% would be $2,232.04. To be honest, I was hoping given the situation, you would be willing to offer a full refund as most at VRBO and AirBnB are doing this. If you’re not willing to do a full refund, then I hope you are willing to follow VRBO’s suggestion for a 50% refund. If that’s not the case and $1700 is the best you can do, please confirm.

We booked a property (** Prospect Ave) in Clearwater, FL in January 2020, paid final payment, Feb 26, 2020 and March 18 was forced to cancel due to the Family wedding we were attending being canceled By the Sand Pearl Resort due to the Coronavirus. The property manager, Bruce will not respond to any phone calls or emails concerning cancelling the property. VRBO is doing nothing to get our refund issued. I have made a total of 11 attempts by phone and email to plead this cancellation with the property manager, (as well as to reach to VRBO customer service, be placed on hold for 45 minutes only to be told to call the customer service number which was the number had I been on hold for 45 minutes), but he has not made any attempt to reach out to me. DO NOT EVER BOOK WITH VRBO Because if they are not willing to work with us as AIRNBNB has done with their clients and our family members. In this state of emergency why would they work with you when things are business as usual. JUST STAY AWAY FROM VRBO Properties!

VRBO is asking property owners and managers to offer a full credit for the amount we already paid if you are outside of your cancellation window. They are only “asking” NOT helping or requiring owners to refund money! We have asked our property manager to refund our money and she will NOT because she said she doesn’t have to through VRBO. She told me if I would have booked it through Airbnb she would have had to. This group cannot all reschedule another time to go. This is a group of high school seniors and a few chaperones! VRBO told us to “Contact the owner or property manager to discuss cancellation and refund options. Although they are not obligated to provide a refund outside of the cancellation window...“

AWFUL!!!! We booked a house at 4003 Brownstone Ct, Dallas Texas, Drew ** from 3/20 - 3/22. We had to cancel due to the virus.. we did so on 3/16.. he and VRBO will NOT get us a refund!!!! This is a terrible company and a worse human being!!!!

I cant believe some of these HOMEOWNERS are so INSENSITIVE. They think it is ok to KEEP people's money when the government is BANNING going out! and VRBO thinks its A-OK to support their HOMEOWNERS (who will probably double dip with the stimulus). Whats worse - VRBO says "THE HOMEOWNERS HAVE MORTGAGES AND SALARIES TO PAY" - WELL GUESS WHAT? That's a risk you rich people take when buying more than one house for investments - there are people who are now out of work and cant afford their rent, but VRBO thinks it's ok...Unbelievable....

Poor Experience at best; avoid all VRBO affiliated companies. Used VRBO in the past and never had an issue. Due to COVID-19, the owner mentioned that we should not come. She authorized the refund. VRBO continues to keep the money after 9 days (their term, 5-7).

Beware of VRBO. They will not refund your money or even help you get a refund if you have to cancel. We booked a stay at a home in Del Ray Beach (Property No. 7283978ha) the week of 3/31/20. Sadly we had to cancel because we cannot leave Illinois due to “Shelter In Place” plus beaches and restaurants are closed so no food and nowhere to go would be terrible. I cannot even begin to express my total disappointment with VRBO.

I rented a vacation condo in Belleair Beach Florida and paid for it in full last June. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic I had to cancel it mid-March this year. I am Canadian and border crossings for recreation are not allowed under either country's policy. VRBO amended their cancellation policy to refund the taxes and service charge portion of the costs but is refusing to return the 31 nights worth of lodging and a cleaning fee. They say this is up to the property owner, not them. All they will do is urge the owner to step up.

On the surface, VRBO appears to be a place that a traveller would go to find a rental property to stay for their vacation purposes. They do not have the travelers' best interest in mind. They are essentially only the middle-man who takes no responsibility for reservations made through their platform. Despite a global pandemic and VRBO's plead from their president "in the spirit of good hospitality, we strongly encourage you to offer a full refund during this COVID-19 virus," the property management company who handles the property, chose not to abide by VRBOs policy and had chosen not to refund my accommodation. (The President has mandated a non-essential travel ban, the local mayor of the community we were going to visit has issued a shelter in place on the city, and all non-essential businesses in the city have shut-down).

I recently used VRBO to book a rental home in March 2020 and after the pandemic of COVD 19, I had to cancel my reservation. I had an absolute nightmare of an experience with VRBO and Southern Belle (don't book with them ever!). While AirBnb was graciously offering refunds on behalf of property owners, VRBO was only 'encouraging' homeowners to offer a refund. And if homeowners do not, VRBO did absolutely nothing about it. I happen to book a home under a smaller corporation named Southern Belle, whose properties were listed in VRBO. They were horrible- honestly when the entire country was being kind and understanding regarding cancellations because of COVD 19, Southern Belle was only interested in making money, it was ridiculous.

I was not able to travel to London and the Owner would not refund any part of my money. He said, if I come later, he would give me a discount? Not free stay; a "discount ". Will never book VRBO again.

Poor response to Corona Virus shelter in place/subsequent refund. Vrbo has left decision about refund policy in the hands of individual property owners, resulting in vacation renters being penalized thru no fault of their own (Calif. Governor shelter in place proclamation). This is weak, unfair property manager guidance by Vrbo. This international pandemic situation is not the time for poor leadership affecting innocent renters.

**Warning DO NOT BOOK WITH VRBO**. I am writing this post to expose the pure SCAM that is VRBO during a nationwide pandemic. My family and I booked a vacation rental in Siesta Key, Florida for our spring break vacation in April. We paid a large amount of money, being $3,500, as she has 5 children & we needed a large rental. The rental is also on the beach. The beaches have since been shut down as the state of Florida continues to be one of the epicenters for the Coronavirus outbreak. The owner is refusing to refund our money and IS NOT being accommodating to change our dates when VRBO “suggested” to give renters a year to change.

I generally have had good experiences with VRBO over the years, but everyone should be aware that they wash their hands of any assistance if you rent property through them using a third party manager. I literally cannot get to my Paris rental because of cancelled flights, and the local property manager will not refund any of the almost $4000 accommodations or give me a credit. VRBO will not step in to help at all - very disappointing.

Do not book HomeAway/VRBO.

This corona pandemic has been declared a national emergency and is quickly becoming a national disaster. IL is where we live and has declared a shelter at home until 4/7. Florida is where we had a condo booked for over 18 days, has declared a state of emergency. I am 13 weeks pregnant now and I can’t risk getting stuck in FL with hospitals overrun with elderly sick patients. My doctor does not want me traveling and I have a doctors note I can send.

My particular owner in Destin, FL (who I will not publicly shame) intentionally misled me in an email saying "The condo has a private beach and it is open as well as the pool. I'm told that restaurants are serving at half capacity." Then he forwarded me an email from the property, timestamped the day prior, saying that the private beach and pool are closed. There's been no offer or attempt to find another date to reschedule. All of this is just dishonest. USA Today reported that "VRBO plans to ban rental owners who dismiss the severity of coronavirus threat to travelers."

Due to Covid-19 we were forced to cancel beach house. We canceled the same day of booking and were guaranteed a 100% refund from owner due to Beach, Harbor and Bay closure at rental location. VRBO/Home Away wants to keep our $2,060.50 and Only Refund Deposit of $400. Complete Scam and Fraud by this horrible Company!!

Tried to cancel our trip to New Orleans on March 16. Was told by the owner she doesn't have the money to give back. This is not right or ethical due to Covid 19. I will never return to VRBO or 3900 Esplande Ave you may have screwed over the people who did the right thing.

I've had such a run-around trying to get a refund from a reservation I had to cancel because of coronavirus travel restrictions. While VRBO states that their policy is to encourage property owners to provide at least a 50% refund, the owners of the property I rented from have said that they will not abide by that policy. They have chosen not to provide any refund. These are times when it is important to be consistent and communicate a clear message. I understand VRBO's message to be focused on providing cover for property owners, rather than supporting the clients who visit their properties. I plan not to use their services again, and will gladly turn to their competitors who have implemented far more client-friendly policies at this time.

Updated on 03/29/2020: This property owner for listing #1677188 located in Charleston, SC felt no remorse about keeping my $2,100 after a trip scheduled for April 16-19, 2020 had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Although VRBO "strongly encourages" their property owners to make at least partial refunds in the event future dates cannot be accommodated (which they could not due to out of state trip that wouldn't be rescheduled), she felt no obligation to return a dime of my money. VRBO returned my booking fee of $221. We were ONE day past the 50% refund policy that is their standard policy. We held out simply because we desperately wanted this trip to come to fruition but COVID-19 had other plans. She has had my money since August 2019. What a shameful property owner and company (VRBO) backing her.

I book a beautiful place in Florida, the host was very responsive and easy to work with during our booking process. The event we were going to was canceled but my husband and son were still planning to go to Florida. However, my son is an ER physician and was told to stay home and my husband has a compromised immune system because of the treatment he is receiving and was told not to travel.

We rented a VRBO for later this month. We were going to ski & take our adult kids out to celebrate Birthdays. 2 1/2 weeks before we were to go, COVID 19 happened. Ski hill closed, all restaurants closed & we are quarantined. Owner Fletcher ** refused to give us back our 1/2 of paid rental. VRBO is not requesting Hosts to refund your money due to this outbreak! Do not book with VRBO. Airbnb is requiring their host to give refunds back. I will never rent with VRBO again.

So excited for our upcoming spring break!!!! Of course then came COVID. With first Michigan being placed in shut down, then we received notices that all of Galveston was as well. Of course all travel is highly discouraged. Following the recommendations from the CDC and government we contacted the owners to change the dates. Of course we still wanted to go on our vacation. Just move out a few months. They refused!!!! Said that they already used the money to pay their mortgage and we were out of luck!! What in the world???? Still waiting to hear from a representative from VRBO corporation but not keeping my hopes up. I guess we are out $3000.00.

The VRBO policy around COVID-19 refunds is a joke. We had a California trip planned for mid April, and are being told by the host that we will only get 50% back. Take some responsibility for your business VRBO, don't just state that "it's up to the hosts". Your competitors are dealing with this terrible situation better than you are. We have used VRBO probably 20 times in the last 3 years, we will not be using them again.

We had to cancel our trip due to the corona virus pandemic. We were told to limit travel. Friends from Canada were to join us. We have closed borders with Canada now and they no longer can travel and they also have underlying health problems which would be compromised with being exposed to the corona virus. Naturally we had to cancel our much anticipated trip. We are disappointed we can not see our friends. VRBO unlike Airbnb is not offering a full refund. So disappointed in this company and will not use them for help in my travel destinations ever again. How can they profit off this catastrophic disaster that is happening worldwide? This was out of our power and we are being penalized for the very fact the world is suffering in this pandemic.

California is on lockdown and our flights from MN are cancelled. VRBO says “suck it”. Not only being charged for rental, but the GD $175 cleaning fee! $800 in fees for a pandemic cancellation. I’ll never rent from here again. Hosts have gone mute.

I booked a room at Sonoran Spa in Rocky Point through VRBO and I paid in full. When, I got there, the deposit required was $200 and I had cash, but I had only like $185 on my credit card (the eve of a payday) so I ended up paying a $200 cash deposit. Long story short? I had an argument with the man I was with at the resort and I decided I needed to leave for my safety. I was the resort guest and I had paid for the reservation and paid the deposit in cash. So when I left the room that night, I returned both his and my keys to the front desk and explained I was checking out early. I left the resort.

I canceled my VRBO reservation 30 days before and was supposed to a receive 50% refund. I was hoping for 100% because the reservation is in mid-April and my event had been canceled due to the Coronavirus, but VRBO is not doing this apparently. On the VRBO website it states "For example: A traveler cancels a reservation totaling $500.00, but has only paid $200.00 towards the cost of the reservation. If your cancellation policy allows for a 50% refund at this time, the traveler would receive $100.00 back."

I was looking for a rental in kentucky for august and found one I liked. I asked the property owner a question and they responded quickly. I decided not to book that night but the next morning I had an email from VRBO saying I was preapproved by the property owner (NOT SURE WHAT THAT EVEN MEANS). I decided to go ahead and booked it. During the process it somehow reserved and charged me for a date that had already passed. I called vrbo right away and because of COVID-19 the wait time to talk to someone is about 30-40min. When I did talk to someone they said it's up to the property owner to refund me and there's nothing they can do. I've now spoke to 3 different people all talking me the same. Conveniently, the property owner will not respond.This is FRAUD. DO NOT USE VRBO. THEY ARE SCAMMING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE.

And you were the recent virus and the travel restrictions and the shelter in place that we are all experiencing my conference was canceled. I am unable to go to Atlanta as much as I would like to but I can’t even contact anybody from VRBO or the property manager to even discuss any options of a possible partial refund or a change of the venue or a change of time so I can travel at least later date. They won’t even talk to me to even give me any of that information. Even to say no way. At least deserve a response. I can’t believe that they would take peoples money and not give any kind of compensation in view of this pandemic. It is affecting the entire world.

VRBO has been completely unhelpful in this time of national emergency. They put all responsibility for getting a refund on me to deal with the property management company. I have had multiple conversations with the property managers and they refuse a refund. VRBO basically says “Oh well, it’s up to them.” This is the most un-American company I have ever seen. The management co. rents the same condo through AirBNB and those customers got a refund. Property management said if I had used AirBNB I would have gotten the refund but they are not required to give one through VRBO. Unbelievable! I’m sure VRBO will hold their hand out when the federal government offers money for their “losses.”

Based on current states of emergency, we are unable to enjoy our rental in Fort Lauderdale this weekend (booked on 1/23). The only response we have been able to get from the host, Jaime, claims that "public beaches are still accessible including piles of humans enjoying spring break," so she is unwilling to refund hundreds of dollars. After 4 phone calls to VRBO with a 60 minute wait time each time, VRBO claims they will help after first looking into the case. Each time ends with a disconnected call. At this point, we have no choice but to surrender this money and hope that other people do not fall victim to such scams in the future.

I have used VRBO many times, but I never will again! In light of COVID-19 virus pandemic, and my age (well over 60), I contacted the VRBO vacation rental property owner -- 5 days before our reservation was to occur right after the Federal Govt recommended cancelling all non-essential travel. The property owner readily agreed to a cancellation, but he was unable to make the change through the VRBO system (he said he'd tried for many customers). He said to call VRBO, which I did; after 100 min on hold, I got an agent who said the owner must initiate refund! I called the owner back and he said he tried again and could not. I called VRBO again and they sent me to another phone number, which turned out to be a travel insurance company, which does NOT cover Covid-19 unless you are actually infected! VRBO, apparently since it was bought by Expedia, has changed for the worse. It must step up to the plate and do the right thing NOW!

VRBO you are NOT doing the right thing for your customers. I have a trip planned on March 28th and paid a LOT of $$ and only given the option for a credit and NOT re-reimbursement. Every time I call or email, I received a templated take it or leave it response and no response back at all from the property owner. Please make this right for your customers!

DON'T book with VRBO!!! If you have to cancel, even if it is prior to the 100% full refund time frame, you have to FIGHT to get all your money back. They only issued me partial refund, short by over $1,000. I had to make several phone calls back and forth as homeowner and VRBO pointed the finger at each other. 1st phone call was 58 minutes long....on hold now with this one for 46 minutes with still no answer. YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TO FIGHT THIS HARD TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK!!!! STAY AWAY!!!! As a customer, if you cancel prior to the 100% full refund, I should receive my money immediately, not have to figure out who owes me what portion of the refund. That is the job of VRBO to have in place. Will never book with them again.

I have never booked through VRBO, however had a friend tell me about it and decided to use it for my upcoming vacation. When this Pandemic broke out, they are REFUSING to refund payment. This is not something ANYONE expected to happen and I’m sure would rather not cancel their vacation plans but due to the shutdown we are having to. I plan on rebooking my trip once this is all over but WILL NEVER use VRBO or recommend them to anyone.

Hello, I am writing regarding the same topic many others have posted over the past few days. In light of the Northern California mandated shelter-in-place related to the COVID-19 virus scare, I contacted the VRBO vacation rental property owner to inform her of the mandate as soon as I received word (which was 5 days before our reservation was to occur). We requested to reschedule, not cancel the reservation. The property owner agreed to the change, but has been unable to make the change. Neither of us are able to reach the VRBO Customer service team by phone or chat, which are the only options given to reach customer service. The automated phone attendant requests the caller to call back, then hangs up. There is no option to sit on hold. VRBO's chat option is also not operating properly. This has been going on for the 3 days I've been attempting to reach them.

My first cancellation of 4-night stay that guest booked thru VRBO in my FL homestay due to Corona Virus. Shocked that of guest's $110 upfront booking payment, VRBO claims it refunded guest $58, but then pocketed $32 in "fees" and sent me only $20 as homeowner. I'd sooner guests get a full refund than VRBO + as Airbnb is doing) than for VRBO to make more than homeowners in this emergency. I depend on this guest income during high season to pay property taxes, utilities and house upkeep for a nice listing. When I called VRBO about its keeping fees despite guest cancellation, the service rep Moses based in Costa Rica actually had nerve to laugh and then sound impatient w my complaint. His supervisor Valerie refused to get on the phone. Travelers, I am only listing w Airbnb going forward, and please never book thru VRBO again.

VRBO is one of the few companies still making money in this crisis. The difference is, they’re doing it by providing no service whatsoever, in charging people for vacations they cannot use. I’ll enjoy watching VRBO/Home away for out of business when this comes to light.

AirBnb has much better protection for their travelers than VRBO. The difference is very notable with how they handled Coronavirus: AirBnb let travelers cancel with NO penalty, while VRBO basically said you're on your own--go figure it out with the property managers. I've had a problem with a property manager (They tried to charge me more than the agreed upon price.) and even though VRBO admitted I was right and the property manager was wrong they said that all they would do was e-mail the property manager and note their file. That means nothing and did nothing to help the problem. Meanwhile AirBnb clearly has rules that said if the property manager did what they did, that property manager would be prevented from booking another rental for the same dates. Never doing business with VRBO again.

Had to cancel after travel advisories came out about coronavirus. VRBO letting suggested owners should honor and do refunds. Hasn’t happened. Unable to contact owners. They don’t answer phone. Area is now under a shelter in place advisory. I am over 65 and would expect that they would at least refund something since this is really out of my control.

I have used VRBO almost exclusively to rent vacation homes for years. We rented a home in a current Covid19 hotspot in November. At that time, of course, we didn't know there would be a world wide pandemic. Currently even airlines and cruises are offering refunds, but not VRBO. While they say the right words on their website, "we care about customer safety" they are showing by their actions (sticking to their rigid cancellation policy) that they do not care. I will not rent with them again in the future.

Very disappointed in reaction to COVID-19 cancellations. I have had pretty good experiences with VRBO the past few years. However, I had booked a house with VRBO for a conference in Palm Springs that was set for March 18-21. By the time we were informed that our conference was cancelled it was past the cancellation date. Under normal circumstances I'd just suck it up and move on, but under circumstances I was hoping for some accommodation or creative thinking to assist travelers with this issue.

While we have used VRBO for travel in the past, this time it has not be satisfactory. Virtually all other travel providers are refunding due to the pandemic, including their main competitor Airbnb, hotels, and airlines. VRBO has chosen to simply reiterate their inflexible refund policy. It is absolutely astonishing. We booked several months ago to celebrate a major milestone birthday of the matriarch of our family. 18 of us need to travel from all parts of the country to Myrtle Beach. There is absolutely no way we would subject her to travel during the pandemic, let alone the rest of us. VRBO's response, "you should have canceled within the first 5 days after you booked." The virus wasn't even on the horizon at that time. Do not! Repeat, do not rent from VRBO.

To start off with let me be clear that I have used VRBO for years without any issues. Unfortunately, this time I was a victim of a scam that is apparently well known to VRBO, but new to me. I found a great looking property in Costa Rica and inquired about its availability. I was told that it was available and was sent a contract to fill out and return along with instructions on how to pay. I followed all of the instructions to a T. I received notice that they had received my payment including a HomeAway guarantee that my money was protected. Well come to find out, someone had infiltrated VRBO's website and when I inquired about the property I was sent to a phony site. From there it went downhill fast.

I have a pending trip to Maui that I have waited 2 years to take. Clearly, no one plans on a pandemic to interrupt their travel. Upon reaching out 2 weeks ago about what options I might have to re-book the trip in a year, I was met with curt, cold and unhelpful replies from Sunbeach Rentals. You cannot reach the owner of the unit directly- you only get short answers from this property manager. They told me to buy trip insurance, which I did... only to find out it does nothing to cover our unprecedented, global health crisis.

My family and I have only ever used VRBO when renting a place to stay for vacation. I will definitely be using Airbnb from now on. Vrbo has provided no support in the wake of the pandemic. We have a travel advisory for my area at the moment saying we can only go out for essentials. No non-essential travel. The owner of the cabin we are renting from refuses to give us any kind of a refund. We have never cancelled a reservation with Vrbo and we wouldn’t be cancelling this one if there wasn’t a pandemic happening. It is absolutely ridiculous that Vrbo can’t help people out during a time like this when Airbnb is refunding reservations. They have no compassion during this difficult time and I will be using Airbnb from now on.

The customer service at @vrbo is unbelievable. As a property manager, we have been waiting on funds to be disbursed for over a month from a guest that checked out over a month ago. No one is willing to help. This has been an ongoing situation for the last 6 months. The customer service will not let you speak with anyone to help resolve this issue. I have been hung up on, called a liar, yelled at, etc. I will be looking at other avenues to promote my rental property. If you own vacation rental property, I would advise you to stay away from VRBO and HomeAway.

VRBO does not provide any assistance during the Corona Virus outbreak to people or families that need to cancel their travel due to health concerns. You can often book the same property on AirBnB at the same price and have the ability to cancel within a certain window. DO NOT BOOK THRU VRBO!!

We have used VRBO on many occasions in the past and I have loved the experience; however, I am extremely disappointed in their reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic! We booked a condo in Hawaii well before the COVID-19 crisis but the owner has a 30 cancellation policy. Now that there are no trans-border flights between Canada and the US we have absolutely no possibility to do this trip - not to mention that it would be completely socially irresponsible if we did. We have paid about $2500CAD that we will lose if we cannot convince the owners to do the right thing and allow us to cancel. So far, that is very questionable.

I rented a home in Bluffton SC to attend a wedding on April 18th at Palmetto Bluff. Due to the COVID 19 the wedding has been cancelled. The bride and groom are from California as are all the guest. I saw the CEO of VRBO say they were going to do refunds. What he really means is they are asking their owners to give a full refund by they do not have to. I did buy trip insurance. Guess what? They are not covering this. This is my first and last time using VRBO. My rental was 3200.00. Every other travel company is providing refunds. This is just a greedy owner who won't refund or return my emails once I noticed she only gave me 50% of my cost. This shows what kind of company they are. They should work with their owners and help hem maybe but I will never use the company again.

Used VRBO to rent a house in Frisco, CO for a ski vacation in Feb 2020. The house required a $250 deposit which was paid 3 months ahead of the rental. I asked the home owner why I hadn't received my deposit back a week after we departed. She told me that VRBO puts a 2 week hold on the deposit. I have never had this issue before. It is now 2 weeks and still haven't gotten my deposit back. The sleazebags at VRBO are holding money to try and make money on the float. They also make it very difficult to contact them. We have used VRBO for many years for home rental but not anymore.

Vrbo is not offering any refunds due to cancellations related to the coronavirus. They are leaving all refund decisions up to the individual owners. The company is taking taking zero social responsibility for keeping their community safe. I would recommend Airbnb, which has offered a much better policy for cancellations related to the coronavirus outbreak.

My wife had booked a trip through VRBO two weeks ago. We tried to cancel last week, (1 week after booking) still 50 days before her stay and we were denied any refund. The stay totalled near $1,000 dollars and with that was a broken down statement that included cleaning fees, the property fees, along with vrbo's fees. We were told basically unless the owner agreed to refund we would not be given one penny back. In light of the Covid19 crisis other property listing sites like Airbnb that have similar terms are requiring their property owners to refund guests.

VRBO is not willing to consider cancellations outside of their normal policy despite of the recent COVID-19 epidemic. I tried to explain that the President of the United States has recommended to avoid travel, however, they are unwilling to reconsider their cancellation policy during the COVID-19 epidemic which seems unethical during this time. I would avoid using VRBO. My experience with them has not been pleasant and they do not exhibit ethical standards. They would not address my concerns they would only refer me back to their cancellation policy. I am very displeased.

I've rented through VRBO a handful of times through the years without issue. However, their crisis response to COVID-19 has brought out the true colors and shown that they prioritize homeowners over renters. My family of 5 booked a week-long ski vacation in Park City, which has shut down operations during the COVID-19 crisis. VRBO has been completely unresponsive - it's impossible to get them on the phone or use their chat during this time. The only guidance they've given online is to work with the owner to potentially receive a refund if the owner agrees. As expected, the owner did not agree and is giving no flexibility to moving the dates or splitting payment in any way. So now my family is out thousands of dollars for a vacation we are not going to take. VRBO has lost a customer for life. We will never again book with them and will use AirBnb or hotels which have responded with empathy to the crisis for so many of their customers.

Either the fit I pitched helped or the chaos surrounding the Covid-19 caused complete confusion but I checked my online banking this morning and every penny was refunded. I'm not sure but I was able to get a refund, although yesterday they were telling me I wouldnt. Who knows. I would still be cautious booking with this company!

I booked a place and called for confirmation number and was told they couldn't see anything on their end that the house I paid $463 for had been reserved. I checked my bank account and I saw that the money had been debited so I called my bank to cancel the transaction. I was given a temporary credit while this was investigated by my bank. About a week ago I had a chargeback on my credit only to be told by my bank that VRBO - Homeaway refused to pay them stating that I canceled outside the policy window and that the service was provided.

I am having a very bad experience with VRBO ex HomeAway. Due to Coronavirus restriction at 99% I won't be allowed to go from Amsterdam to Bonaire in April 7th 2020. I tried to ask the owner a partial refund or just a rescheduling, but she doesn't care at all, she categorically refused to make any other arrangement. I contacted Vrbo and the only thing they will do is to try to convince the owner to be more collaborative, which for sure won't happen and to pay me back their commission, about 120 dollars.

I am blown away with the rude customer service and lack of sympathy due to a Pandemic. I would never recommend booking through this company. I contacted VRBO initially to ask for a refund due to the COVID-19 Virus. The response was that they don't give refunds and I should have purchased insurance. I responded that I indeed purchased a travelers' insurance before Dec 2019. She then stated she cannot help me and I need to contact the insurance directly. They were no help either and refused to refund this $4000 trip. Unbelievable knowing to have thrown away that amount of money AND insurance that doesn't even cover for you to cancel. VRBO is simply a CHEAP BOOKING FIRM that is obviously money-hungry, unsympathetic and not willing to help you out in any way at a horrific Virus outbreak like this that we all have no control over it. I am so DISGUSTED... SHAME ON YOU GUYS.

I have used VRBO for over 5 years and have paid them thousands of dollars in fees and service fees. As of the last few months, VRBO has introduced a new policy (under the disguise of a new payment platform) that essentially collects 50% down payment from my renter many months in advance of the rental (My renters usually book 6 to 8 months in advance) but holds on to my money until the day before check-in.