Vrbo Reviews

I used VRBO to advertise my property for 15 years and was very satisfied. As of this past year they have taken control of my home. I am not allowed to talk to my clients before renting. I can no longer accept checks or PayPal. My clients are charged an extra fee that amounts to hundreds of dollars. If they rented from my other site they would save hundreds of dollars. As a homeowner I find VRBO to be totally lacking in ethics. If you are looking to rent find any way possible to locate the property on other sites. Most owners have their own website, do a search and contact the owner directly and save hundreds of dollars.

Renter beware!!! Not sure where to start with this. We started out by renting a property from VRBO and what a mess this became. We first of all rented a Villa in Bradenton for 5 weeks. We booked it and paid our money to VRBO so that all went well till the bottom fell out... We got an e-mail from the owner of the property saying that our rental was not confirmed and that she was confused at how we rented her property without her authorizing it. We find out that VRBO takes our money and makes it look like we are all good to go. Well guess what a week and a half before we are suppose to leave for Bradenton we find out we do not have a place to go to... So it was no issue to get our money back for this booking after a few calls to VRBO. I would get a different person every time so you are never dealing with the same person.

We bought a small condo and wanted to rent it out on VRBO and Airbnb. After the first 30 days VRBO had no bookings or inquiries. Airbnb was filling up fast with over 10 books in the first 30 days (same photos same description). A few months later we came to the conclusion that Airbnb met our needs much better so we called to cancel VRBO only to be told we can only cancel in the first 30 days and receive a refund. Not satisfied with the customer service or how I was blamed for them not booking the unit. Never will they have my business.

This is a review regarding working with a property owner who was unfair and communicated poorly. I booked a condo through VRBO/HomeAway and paid a cleaning fee, a service fee, and a refundable $200 deposit. It is a long story but suffice it to say that the property owner of this condo did everything in the book not be pay me back my deposit.

I would NEVER recommend VRBO or any of its partners to anyone! Their customer service is horrible! I prepaid $399 for a year's worth of bookings and I wish I hadn't! For that kind of money upfront they still FORCE people to book through them at significant added cost to the customer! When people contact you with an inquiry and you try to provide them with contact information such as an e-mail address or phone number they edit that information out FORCING people to pay extra money to book through them!

VRBO reversed the fees paid for a week stay claiming charges on a stolen credit card. They showed the renter was verified and I was never given nor asked to verify the renter's credit card number. I emailed them the proof the guest stayed and even showed evidence the guest stayed an entire week. VRBO reversed the charges as a stolen credit card yet they are the only ones who take the credit card. How can I as an owner verify a credit card when the number is never even shared with me. They are no pro owners nor guests and have increased annual fees yet are inferior to Airbnb accounting, apps and websites. Their IT Department is a joke and their system crashes all the time. This is a poorly run company with terrible service to their customers.

I began working with VRBO in 2010. They were great. All they did was advertise my vacation rental property in Coos Bay, Oregon. They allowed me to contact my guests and answer any questions they had. It was a good experience until VRBO sold to Expedia. I am now held captive by their rules, without being informed of changes before, and they are now the owners of my property. I would suggest to any potential renter out there to go elsewhere. You are not getting the best service, and definitely not being regarded as a guest but a cash cow. Owners are not happy and booked guests are not happy.

Here we go again VRBO getting their fingers into my profits. Now you cannot book on VRBO without giving them a credit card. I am a property owner and just got my first booking since my renewal "1 day ago". They have charged this renter a 9-10% fee just to book with me - for what nothing. The only way to avoid this and get to the owner is use the "ask the owner a question" button, then I do everything outside the system. Which is fine but now renters cannot just inquire about my property without giving their credit care or playing the "ASK THE OWNER" trick question process. They say it's to assist renters if they have a problem - I said "HAVE YOU EVER CALLED YOU" good luck. I am sick of everyone trying to get a piece of my profit for doing ZERO. Posting how to go around the system in my description - until I can figure out another service that works for me. Oh and by the way I pay them $499.00 already each year - for posting on the site.

We signed up with VRBO to rent out our property and it has been the worst experience ever!! They have lost our payments for all our VRBO bookings...we have called and emailed over and over with no luck, their customer service has been nonexistent! We have spent hours on the phone and no one seems to be able to tell us where our nearly $2000 is! And to top it all off we have paid them almost $500 in service fees! We are seriously disgusted with this company, we will never rent our property thru them again and I strongly encourage others to not use them as well, unless you like to pass off your money to a large company that doesn’t care!! Where does one go from here??? What a scam...

I just found out that Expedia purchased VRBO. The level of service, fees and payment system are disgusting. Would love to hear suggestions on other safe and reputable home rental services. I am in a battle with them right now as their payment service provider continues to attempt to withdraw money from my account placing me in overdraft and incurring fees. I tried talking to them and they basically said "Sucks to be you", "Talk to your bank". FRUSTRATED.

Since being purchased by Expedia, the HomeAway companies, including VRBO have eroded the rights of owners to run their business as they wish in order to gouge owners and renters alike. Now VRBO has informed its rental owners that they will be required to provided online booking or they will not be allowed to renew membership. This is a move to extract more money from owners and renters. We already pay a large sum to be listed but now VRBO wants to make money off of each rental. We use a management company to handle the money from our listings because they also professionally manage the condo since we live 3 hours away. This is going to force us to sell our property.

For years we have rented monthly vacation properties in the Hawaiian Islands through VRBO. I was shocked this year at the exorbitant booking fees. This year we split our island stay and paid $444.00 in two booking fees! This is in the "details" under the reservation receipt, I guess the devil is in the details. What happened to the OWNER part of the VRBO? Never again will I use this service and I will use the local rental services and speak to an owner.

We started renting out our guest house with VRBO close to 2 months ago (went active Jan. 26, 2018). Since then we have had 3 separate renters which came to a total amount owed to us of $1925.12. The first renters arrived on Jan. 29 2018. After about 2 weeks we inquired about when we would actually be receiving our money. They informed us that it would likely be up to 30 days as they hold funds for first disbursement to make sure it’s secure? So they're really just using your money to earn interest for themselves. The 30 day window rolled by and we still hadn't receive any money.

I and 3 other girls rented a property in Charleston off of VRBO. Although the home was remodeled, the property ended up being in an extremely unsafe area of town, with half of the homes on the street posted with eviction notices and broken windows. Due to the condition of the area, we didn't feel safe enough to eve exit the car let alone stay at the home. After reaching out to VRBO they did nothing to assist us or offer a refund, have not posted our review to let others know of the danger of the home, and informed us we need to work with the property renter who has refused to speak with us. I am appalled by the horrible customer service and never plan on using their business again.

Vacation Renters beware. Don't waste your time with this agency. We just tried to rent a Mission Beach, California house for July and read all the information. We thought we were renting from VRBO and a homeowner but the property was really represented by Pacific Sands Vacations, which we have come to find out from the Yelp ads is not very ethical in their negotiations. We sent word on the VRBO website that we wanted to rent the advertised home on 742 Windemere Ct. Pacific Sands Vacations sent us the rental agreement which I signed, they took my credit card information and they made me send my driver's license. I just got word from a Nicole, with the Pacific Sands company that they are passing on us because we might have visitors.

My wife and I have been advertising our rental properties since 2011. Since then we have watched VRBO take the vacation rental industry to a all time low. We have been forced as homeowners by VRBO to accept their terms and rental policies as if they owned my properties. We had two rentals booked on February 18th, 2018 in the amount of $3,800.00. It is now March 09, 2018 and we still have not seen our rental money from VRBO. We have tried everyday since the bookings and have not received a dime. When we call we get different answers as to why and none of the answers make one bit of sense. We have asked to speak to a manager and none are to be found. We are getting ready to take legal action against VRBO.

I rented a house in Big Bear CA. for my family. The owner nor manager never contacted me. I waited months and sent several e-mails. I complained to VRBO with no response. When I found the Mgr local she said the owner fired her and cancelled the cleaning service. I threatened small claims, she gave me the owner's name and number and I contacted.

We rented a property, always sight unseen, only to discover it was a mobile home in a trailer park. The owner described her property as being "in a manufactured community". That means 'trailer park' in VRBO listing speak, I guess. When I tried to cancel and get back my money, the owner wrote a scathing email accusing me of taking up her time. She also told me she would NOT rent her property to me! I called VRBO and opened a case to get a full refund. VRBO's agent told me that her term, manufactured community, is fair and that I should have understood. The agent further told me that VRBO cannot get involved as they have no authorization. Really? Then why did they offer to open a case us? Essentially, VRBO says they are just a vehicle for listings. Don't ever use VRBO as they will not help you settle a dispute.

First they started masking email addresses so that we couldn't use PayPal. Then they added a new payment system so that we have to pay 3% on all reservations AND VRBO keeps all the money until the renters show up. I don't care about having cash sit in my account those extra months between payment and rental dates (I wasn't investing it anyhow) but it burns me up that they are now sitting on (and surely investing) piles of cash. Last insult is that I just took my first booking thru their sucky new system and the renter also has to pay $185 service fee!!! That's new, expensive and possible deters rentals! They are constantly looking for a new way to make money and we are hostage because some moron somewhere let VRBO and HomeAway merge so that there is now no competition (Apol’s to Airbnb).

I would give VRBO/Home Away negative stars if possible. I reserved a property through VRBO the beginning of November 2017, for March 8 - March 11, 2018. I had a reservation confirmation and had paid the amount in full. On March 6th I contacted the owner through the VRBO site to obtain the house code and check in instructions. Shortly after emailing him I was called by the owner who informed me that he was sorry, but I did not have a reservation anymore. He said that VRBO had blocked him out of his account and that since he did not have access to the calendar anymore and was no longer using VRBO for reservations, he had booked someone else during the same time I had. He also said that he assumed that VRBO would be contacting renters since he did not have access to that information anymore.

OMG... We have been with VRBO as property owners for many, many years and we have 3 beach properties. Since combining the AirBnB the service with VRBO is so horrible it is almost unbearable. One department transfers you to another department because no one knows who is supposed to do what. I have to call them at least once a week for clarification. They make reservations and transfer strange amounts of money into our accounts and no one can even tell me who the guest is that is paying. You are supposed to get an email giving you the breakdown of the payment. I have 2 mystery payments right now and no one can supply the breakdown. The Payment Department just told me that HomeAway/VRBO is to email the breakdown, so they transferred me to them.

Attempted to book a vacation rental online. Availability and rate were confirmed. 8 hours later the owner states that the unit is not available at the stated rate and the reservation was cancelled. Called VRBO. After a 20 minute wait, was connected to a customer service agent whose English was at best marginal. After a lengthy interchange, was told VRBO fees would be refunded in 7-14 days. As of today, the same unit is still listed at the same price. Use this site at your own risk. No quality control and very marginal customer service.

VRBO/HomeAway/Expedia have quadrupled their income and to an equal extent diminished their service. Owners used to pay an annual fee which had several tiers of membership. The higher the fee the better and more prominent the listing. After the HomeAway purchase of VRBO that changed into a flat annual fee of $499 and a "service fee" charged to the traveler of 10% to 12% of the rental price. So, in my case for instance, VRBO went from annual revenue of about $350 to last year's $2387.25.

My first experience using VRBO was a total disaster. I do not recommend this website to anyone. I found a booking, created an account, got verified, and booked a reservation. Soon an email stated that my reservation was accepted... Minutes later the property owner emailed to say the booking would be refunded due to a "booking error". First problem: The refund was not in full! It was $143 short! No explanation! Second problem: The quote/end quote "booking error" was a change of the price! The owner would not honor the previously advertised and confirmed reservation price! The owner claims that the VRBO system is at fault. VRBO blames the property owner. WHAT A SCAM! DO NOT BOOK WITH VRBO.

Most of the online booking sites of VRBO charge booking fees, and some are very high (i.e. VRBO charges an extra 10 - 12%). Sometimes these fees are hidden from the renters.

I am a property management company that has utilized the VRBO advertising product since 2008 with great success. We average around 30 rental properties advertised on VRBO. A couple of years ago we were even able to integrate our software with VRBO which made keeping calendars and rates up to date in real time and at a Property Management discounted affordable annual subscription per property (average cost is around $12,000 per year). It was a great B2B relationship.

I own a vacation property and have been using VRBO to rent it since 2011. For the first 4 years it was great. I booked my entire summer season. For the past 2 or 3 years I can't get a booking. The entire website has been changed and they are taking over the bookings. The website has become almost impossible to navigate. They want you to use their credit service - for a fee, of course. I haven't because I can't get a booking. Today I discovered that they have my property listed in the wrong section so I am not even being advertised where my property is located!!

I have been using VRBO for years to rent out my condos. Since HomeAway and VRBO combined, it has been nothing but headaches. Because of something that is their fault... Which they have admitted to. I cannot, nor have I been able to rent out my condo for weeks. Plus, every time you call, they tell me it has been taken care of... It has not. I am so disgusted with them. I asked to speak to a supervisor today. Guess what? The supervisors are gone!! I want my money back... But they won't do it! Totally disgusting!

I attempted to book a property and the request was accepted and VRBO took a $151 fee. I then went to complete the transaction with the owner and they requested an email transfer of cash rather than using the payment option through the site. This is highly risky as transferring cash has no recourse if something goes wrong. VRBO's own website advises against this as do tons of consumer protection sites, Airbnb, etc. I contacted VRBO to confirm that they would reimburse me if I discovered the owner wasn't legit. Their response was maybe, and it's probably ok. That was not reassuring enough for me and I requested to cancel. The owner was snippy but agreed to cancel. This was all within 2 hrs of the request so no revenue lost for them, but it is now my understanding that they could have refused.

I own beachfront condos that I rent out. Although we get lots of inquiries from HomeAway/VRBO (same company), they provide little support for homeowners and property managers. I've spent the 4.5 hours over the last 2 days trying to add 5 condo listings. I get transferred from one department to another, disconnected 4 times, and spent more than 2 hours on hold. I still don't have my problem fixed and after a few minutes talking with me, most of the customer support people get sarcastic and condescending. I've called and written emails and can't get support. I relisted yesterday for $499 annual subscription and when I tried to cancel it today based on the lack of support I was told I couldn't cancel. So now I have a listing that I can't get to go live, no one will call me back, no one will help me with my problem and I'm out $499. Terrible way to run a company.

We, like all of the other vacation rental owners that have been with VRBO (or HomeAway or VacationRentals - they're all one now...) for a long time, this new format and business model is atrocious! We already pay a hefty (very hefty) fee to have our property on the site and they've now started charging guests an additional booking fee and us a percentage of every payment they accept "for" us - we don't have a choice. If we don't simply hit the Accept reservation button, we have no access to their email or phone number. And if we try to reply to their inquiry and include our email or phone number, VRBO blocks it so the guest cannot see it.

I sent a reservation request for property id 4850733 in Sevierville, TN. On the website it stated the rate was $500 per night and minimum stay was 2 nights. Which the website still says 2 nights minimum but the property manager Tara ** declined my reservation saying it was a 3 night minimum. And told me to "Go ** yourself!", of which I still have the email and a screenshot showing the property listed for 2 night minimum. Very unprofessional and nasty response. When I told her I was going to report her behavior, she then replied that I cannot report her, which I have found to be somewhat true when trying to contact VRBO to report this issue. So I've turned to the ConsumerAffairs to warn others about this property listing.

NEVER AGAIN! I can't add much beyond what other owners have posted below, but this company is flat out greedy. Once VRBO realized or decided they could double dip on the fee structure and then basically extort the owners, was the last straw for me. When I signed up in 2017, I was given the option to renew with the automatic bookings ($399) or remain independent ($599)... I chose to stay independent and incur the additional cost so I could screen my renters. Next thing you know, my booking requests basically disappear... and lo and behold, VRBO has buried my listing.

VRBO site required me to commit my credit card info to request booking for a property at South Seas Resort in Captiva, FL for 4.5 months later. Owner, Kim **, questioned whether she wanted to rent to me. At first I argued, but then decided not a good match. I asked to cancel immediately, but the owner refused to cancel and charged my card for over $870. VRBO told me I had to wait to see if she rebooked the property. Then instead of canceling, Kim ** changed the date of my reservation to following year. About a month before the rental date, the property was marked unavailable on VRBO. Now Kim ** claims she could not rebook and is keeping my money. The contract requires reasonable efforts to rebook, but VRBO will not help me and says they can’t do anything. It's not practical to sue because I (of course) live in another state. I will not use VRBO again.

I generally only post positive feedback on public forums, but VRBO/Homeaway has pushed me over the edge. This is no longer a site homeowners or renters should use. We listed our home for the last 5 years and had nothing but positive experiences with any of our guests. Most of this I attributed to the fact that I phone-screened everyone. This is no longer allowed. We are now supposed to blindly accept reservations with only email contact with our guests. Good luck knowing that someone who writes a nice email isn't going to have a college party at your house or host a wedding gala in your backyard! - These are two real situations that I was able to screen out through phone calls!

The original mission of VRBO was to connect vacation homeowners and guests looking for a better experience with more value. They were a marketing partner for my vacation rental. Guests and owners alike were able to speak one-on-one and make a mutually agreeable arrangement. The unique experience is what created the incredibly successful business model. That model no longer exists. Now that VRBO is owned by Expedia, guests and owners are no longer able to contact one another directly. As an owner, I have no choice but to agree to online booking where VRBO's staff take over all direct client contact, as well as all financial aspects of the rental. They become a fee-based property management company, increasing guest and owner costs with no added value to the owner or guest.

I booked a stay at a place in Dallas where I had a business conference. When I booked it six weeks prior to my stay, they immediately took a $1500 refundable damage deposit, which I thought was strange... But knew it would be returned. When we arrived at the property at approximately 5 pm. The host answered the door and said she was not expecting us and appeared very confused. She told us to hold on while she checked something. She left us outside in 30 degree weather. She came back and said that she wasn't expecting us because VRBO removed her account on their site. She went on to say that it's ok, cause she didn't have anyone else expected to stay. I offered to show her my phone and the confirmation. She seemed to know that I did have a booking, just couldn't access the site to see it. She said that the apartment wasn't ready yet, but could be.

VRBO is a total scam. I have used Airbnb before and had great experiences. I booked through VRBO for the first time and ended up paying $371 per night instead of the advertised $179 per night. They charged multiple fees to my credit card without notifying me. I recommend staying away from these guys unless you don't mind giving your money away!

I tried repeatedly to book a room, sent several requests that were not responded to, called customer service several times with no answers. Wasted an entire week waiting for responses from homeowners. Decided to just book a hotel instead of waiting around for weeks to not have a place in the end.

My husband and I own a vacation property in FL which we have rented through VRBO for about 15 years. Initially, it was a wonderful service for both renters and property owners and we were very happy with it. The annual fee was higher than most, but we liked the way the service was structured so we happily paid our annual fee ($400-$600/year depending on the level of service we selected). We spend a lot of time and money keeping our property in tip top condition, well furnished and renovated. And, to keep that, we have high standards who can rent our property - no one under age 25, no spring breakers, etc. That was clear in our ad, and we had the opportunity to communicate directly with prospective renters.

My issue is that VRBO does not allow you to cancel requests to book. This not made clear up front. It's in the fine print, where most users will not double check. So if you decide to get rid of your request, only the owner of the property has the power to either take your money despite you wanting to cancel your request, or maybe they will cancel the request if you send them an email through VRBO. Again, none of this was made clear to me after until I called their helpline. It's not user friendly at all. So save yourself the time and either go through Airbnb or Priceline to find hotel deals NOT VRBO.

I used their website to book a rental for a weekend and was charged a service fee for booking online. I was then charged a service fee from the actual rental agency. My 280 dollar rental came with 100 dollars worth of service fees, what a joke! I will never use VRBO again, Airbnb is MUCH better without all the fees.

I also as a homeowner agrees with other property owners. VRBO has so drastically changed the format of the company and now seek to control every facet of the rental. I now am unable to speak to anyone inquiring to rent my home and vice versa for the renter, it is and was very important to have an open line of communication with both parties to ensure that it is a good fit regarding the rental. I really miss the old VRBO company and I feel the new policies they have implemented. Don't have anybody's best interest except theirs.

My entire nightmare with VRBO/HomeAway began because VRBO posted a fraudulent rental. I notified VRBO immediately the day after I booked it on Nov. 26 that I believed the property to be fraudulent. They told me I had to wait for them to do anything as my trip was over a month away at that time, and they had other people that needed help before me. They operate on a first in line priority listing. In other words, none. It took them 2 weeks for anyone to look into it and when they did they sent me a letter acting like I had never called and reported it in the first place but that they had discovered it.

I have been a host on VRBO since 2009. It has always been a contentious relationship but they were a necessary evil and so I put up with their ineptitude, their lies, their many systems issues that went on for weeks, months, and in the case of my channel management issues, years. The company had a “you need us more than we need you” attitude in my early years. That changed somewhat when Airbnb became hugely popular very quickly. But then Expedia bought VRBO and their attiitude went from bad to good to horrible!!

Beware everyone. VRBO will not switch your credit to another account nor will they give it back. Do not give them your credit card or pay for it upfront. They told me that I would have to wait for a manager to call me back 24-48 hours (that's just insane!). They quoted me paragraph blah blah blah some made up ** that I can't get a refund. Who do they think they are!?? They are awful! Stay far away. On top of everything they try to get renters to pay their fee if they pay upfront. I always told my renters to go through me and avoid their fees. VRBO only worries about $$$ not their customers.

NEVER GO TO THIS SITE. VRBO doesn't stand behind their product and it's a FRAUDULENT site. This site does no review or analysis of the "owners" who purport to rent space.

The level of incompetence is overwhelming!! I have over 55 homes listed with this joke of a company and they make it so hard to work with them! They removed guest communication which was expected and common for most advertising sites, however when there is an issue I expect VRBO to call the guest because I can't and when they "won't" it is so frustrating and unacceptable. For VRBO to lie to my face and say they don't have access to the guest info as well is the biggest slap in the face! The anger I feel for this company in un-natural and quite alarming. Every time I or my team calls no one helps us and no one knows what's going on and we are lucky if they speak any English at all! I don't understand how this company is so large and incompetent! I am looking forward to a day where a new booking site launches and we can all say goodbye to this corrupt shady company! VRBO YOU ARE THE WORST!!!

I attempted to rent a place and was told there would be no charge until the rental was confirmed. They said the rental was unavailable and charged my card anyway. After 7 days it was still there and I had to have my bank retort it as fraud. 1 month later on Feb 13, they charged me again!! It's about $900 each time they charge me and I have to get a new card each time. This company is fraudulent! Buyer beware!

Yesterday I tried to send a question about availability to a property owner. The website was confusing and sent some sort of message off into a black void with no acknowledgment of anything. I assumed it didn't work. Then it asked if I would like to try and book the property. I wanted to see if they had availability - so I tried to see if the booking would work. It asked for card info and then charged me.

VRBO just notified me that "you are no longer eligible for pay-per-booking listings." I get very few requests from their site, and a few of the requests didn't work out, so their computers determined that my "conversion ratio is low," and they bumped me from their site. They offered me the option to pay for an "annual subscription so you can continue booking your property on our site." I book so few renters from their site that it would not be profitable to do this. But they just want my $300 plus annual subscription fee! Stay away from this site. Book on Airbnb instead! Smarmy site!

As an owner of a rental property we paid for a year subscription. VRBO canceled our listings because we refused to charge guests a service fee of $75 per rental. We felt this was unfair to our guests. As a result VRBO deactivated our listing and when we called to finalize the deletion of our listing they told us they would not refund us the year's subscription ($597) that we had paid in advance even though they deactivated our account and we only used 5 months of their service.

For what was a great site to list your property on has been taken over by the greed of VRBO. We have always paid a membership fee, $399 per year, to use their site. That fee still exists - but now they charge our customers a service fee along with us paying a credit card fee. The service fee is rather steep which looks like we increased our rates. We can no longer speak to people before they rent our condo, because VRBO wants their $$$ first before you can speak to potential renters. We have lost a lot of people to this service fee and homeowners are starting to seek alternative ways to rent their homes. This site is more geared towards hotels, motels, etc. not the individual homeowner wanted to rent their place in which they cherish!

I booked my first vacation rental through VRBO. I spent a couple weeks looking for different places and locations. When I made a selection the contract required 1/2 down with the balance due 6 weeks before my vacation dates. Seemed reasonable and I booked. Now I have 1/2 down and the balance due 2 weeks later. I am beyond angry and of course lesson learned - nonrefundable. I have trip insurance but this is not covered under trip insurance. Another scam. So disappointed in this company and the inconsistency in booking and actual contract. Never ever again.

As a client of VRBO for the past 14 years, I am very angry and disappointed at the way they changed their business model from advertising owner rentals to becoming a booking company for Expedia which bought them. It is no longer a friendly "rent from owner" company. And forget trying to speak with a VRBO manager as they will deceive you. Many of your fellow vacation homeowners have expressed my same frustration. The only way I (we) can fight the giant is not to renew with them... which I plan to do. If we keep feeding them money, they have no reason to change their onerous treatment of their clients (you and me) who provide the inventory.

Since 2003, I have been one of the original members of VRBO and Vacationrentals.com, I had 2 property listings with them, referred countless owners to them which they collected their fee in full for, and all parties were satisfied until they took my money 2 years ago and decided to try and collect the rental amount themselves plus a hefty credit card fee which was not our agreement AND charge the consumer a convenience fee. My rental business was cut by 70% and I threatened to leave and did stop my Vacationrentals account but was assured by Mary in upper management at VRBO that I could still book my own clients if I renewed for $499.00 for the year for VRBO.

VRBO stands for Vacation Rentals By Owner and used to be a great site for owners of rental properties and people trying to rent directly without the rip-offs from large corporations. Unfortunately they have changed their policy 180 degrees and now make it impossible to have a direct relation between tenants and the owner. Instead VRBO tries to force all clients to use their "service" for a hefty fee. VRBO collects the down payments and installments of the rent and does not forward these funds to the owner before the end of the rental period. Property owners have to pay sales and tourist development tax on this income and thus have to pre-finance these expenses out of their pocket. At the same time VRBO enjoys to work with the liquidity of their clients.

I just called customer service in India who told me there is not time frame after the guests have left to bill for the used electricity which makes no sense to me. The whole Service fee is a ripoff and only to create more income. Then I also have to pay the 3% to 5% for the credit card fee where before I took a check and nicely interacted with future guests, I have no choice and hope a new startup company can take this business away from VRBO/HomeAway.

We stayed at property which is located on Bay Ave. on Bonnet Island. Our stay was 7/29/17 to 8/5/17. The place was nice and we enjoyed our stay even though there was construction right outside our unit from 7:30 to about 4:30 each day. There were some small issues that needed addressed during our stay and it was difficult to reach Mr. **. At the end of the week we cleaned the unit and left it spotless. The problem was getting our security deposit of $500.00 back. When we did not receive it in 2 weeks we tried to contact Mr. ** by phone and email several times with no response. We contacted VRBO and received no help from them. They told me to try and resolve the problem with the owner or contact my bank. I filed a complaint with the bank and finally received my deposit on 12/5/17. I will never deal with Mr. ** or VRBO. This was our first experience dealing with VRBO and it was very frustrating and disappointing.

I would suggest you avoid attempting to rent any property from Kathleen ** from Oregon. My girlfriend reserved a house in Astoria in October from Kathy. She confirmed the reservation and took the deposit. In January she asked for the full payment which we immediately paid. A week later she emailed and said, "I'm sorry somebody beat you by five hours." 5 hours three months ago? We looked at her rental and it was now booked for that same weekend indefinitely.

I booked a trip...paid down payment...paid balance 20 days before arrival. We have had a business emergency come up and are unable to come. No one would talk to me about it or allow me to talk to the owner about possible doing a partial refund. The customer service was lacking. What really irks me the most is that if I cancel they can rebook and double the money. And even if they will not refund all of my money, I do not understand why I would still be responsible for a $450 clean up fee, 629 in taxes, another 105 in taxes again, and a 321 service fee??? On top of losing the rent I paid, they get $1505 for nothing??? I will not use these groups again. I will stick with Airbnb where I only had to cancel once but they were gracious, personable, understanding and refunded me.

2002 was the year we started using VRBO. We have several listings. Then, in 2016, everything good seem to be negated. Listings buried with the assurance that that wasn't the case. We were told to "refresh the calendar" or have a "new review" posted in order to become more "prominent". What a joke. We have several guests who weren't able to access the site well enough to give us a nice review. But the worst part? Homeowners are not allowed any contact with guests until AFTER they have paid. And they're forced to go through VRBO to do that; we've been shut out of the process. Complaints seen here are spot on. The company has become a bully of its homeowners; we feel like we're being strong armed. The COG attitude - count on greed - is alive and well with Expedia/VRBO/HomeAway... Am searching for new ways to stay in business.

I spent hours ++++ carefully narrowing down the options for a trip out to Western Canada. I asked clarifying questions through VRBO site and got answers but when it got down to booking then things went south. My card got "rejected" - though the bank didn't see any of the so-called rejections. (I trust my bank 100%). Called VRBO, same thing. Told me to communicate with the owner via the site. MIA. Has been for 2 days. Why? it's unclear. This whole thing is a scam. Completely. Now, I feel like I've exposed myself with my credit card and wished I hadn't even considered. Stay away!

I was booking a cottage, for whatever reason (they won't tell me why) they said that my credit card was rejected because of "irregularities" but they still managed to charge the card $1,500. How exactly they pulled that off is quite a feat. Even better, they aren't returning the money for 5-7 business days. Now, this cottage was for my boss, who is arriving in 2 days. So in order to make sure she has a place to stay, I am going to have to shell out even MORE money to secure her lodging. And I still have no idea why they took my money and then claim they have to return it. Unprofessional and unacceptable.

I have had property listed on VRBO for two years, despite having used it in the past and finding it extremely difficult. However, I realize that most vacation renters ARE using VRBO so tried again. We have lost so much money to them!!! This year, especially, my own parameters for rents charged, discounts, etc were "fiddled with" (no better words to describe). All of a sudden, my rental rates were lowered and included an additional $225.USD discount... (what discount???) I called and was told that "our new rate editor must have recognized a better pricing". No notification to me, nothing.

I am very disgusted. After being a member since 2004 I'm finding it too difficult to work with this group any longer, they have taken control of my calendar, they continually make changes to control the owners and besides the large yearly fee to have our site listed. They now have found ways to take money from our patrons. They do not deserve to call themselves VRBO "Vacation Rental By Owner"... it's no longer by the owner!

Not only is VRBO and Homeaway collecting listing fees for the millions of property listings, but now they are even charging the guests a mandatory booking fee of 5 to 15%. They are doing this without even providing the property owners the right to set their own rates. We have 3 seasonal rates, In season, Off season and Holiday season. Since they only allow rates for 2 seasons, 30% of the instant quotes they give are wrong. In addition, they want property owners to give a per night rate for each additional person over 2 people. Our Villas rent by the number of bedrooms used or by the numbers 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 people etc. They want to run your business the way they tell you, not how you want to run your own business. Awful.

I have used VRBO for years to advertise my vacation property. Typically potential guests would see my ad and contact me. From there it was up to us to negotiate dates, times and costs. VRBO has changed the operating procedure so that it is now impossible for direct communications between owner and guests. They have engineered the process to make it nearly impossible for owners to vet the guests ahead of time. They also force owners to allow VRBO to handle all of the financials so that they can take a hefty chunk in fees. VRBO has become the vacation rental bully.

Frustrated and disappointed. My experience is similar; I sent messages for 2 days trying to book a place in Orlando. After 3 days of unreturned phone calls I finally reached an agent who reached out to the owner/ property manager on my behalf. Apparently, the property calendar (VRBO # **) not maintained, days were not available. The property manager responded via email to say that she had another property available (VRBO # **) she will follow-up the following morning. Surprise, no follow up! After several attempts to reach her I contact customer support again, a message was left on my behalf. It's now Friday morning January 26, 2018, still nothing.

VRBO does nothing more than a website that hosts vacation rental homes owned and operated by owners, yet they charge a hefty fee. When we had questions on our rental and called their customer service, their reps had no idea what they talked about, and read from a script, hard to understand. The phone line got discontinued multiple times, the wait time was long. We canceled our trip and booked with Airbnb. Will never use their sites again.

VRBO is requiring homeowners to accept a process called automatic bookings. I am given 24 hours to accept or decline, but I am not allowed to see the reserving parties contact info/email or phone contact until after I accept or decline. As a homeowner of a vacation home or as a business I should have and have always taken the opportunity to be sure that the folks inquiring about staying in my home are guests that I would want and likewise my home fits the needs/requirements of the folks reserving it. I currently speak with all potential guests and find that to be the best screening process for all.

I have used VRBO in the past but my experience in Palm Desert was a disaster. I spent 4 hours reviewing multiple properties and trying to book them. Each time I was rejected by the owner with "we can't confirm your reservation". Additional attempts to contact owners went unheard. All properties said they were available when I booked and still show available a day later. I'm not sure what game these VRBO owners are playing in Palm Desert, but don't waste your time and don't expose your credit card. I booked a nice hotel in 10 minutes.

My family planned our holiday vacation in La Jolla, Ca. We secured a property owned by Kyle ** and paid upfront the entire rental amount for the 4-night stay to include New Years. I somehow came across the property on a well known real estate site and saw it was listed for sale. I called Kyle ** and asked what the listing meant for customers who had future rental agreements for the property. I was told the owner was testing the waters and the property was to be taken off of the MLS. As we got closer to the holidays, I maintained constant communication with the owner and found the house again on the market as a short sale. I told the owner to return my monies as we would need to secure another property; he told me all was good and the rental would still be available.

I canceled a reservation through the VRBO website, for the service fee. The website is very user-unfriendly, and since I canceled I can no longer access information about the canceled reservation. After waiting 2 weeks, I emailed customer service and they explain the refund was processed but didn't actually go through. I was told it would be another 5-7 business days. Well now it's been 7 business days and I called and my refund didn't process until 5 days after the last email. I will not go through VRBO again.

Tried renting a place in Greece. (9 months in advance) Paid them rental price and their service fee. Was debited from my checking acct. Homeowners never got the monies. Called them and was on the phone with them for 2 hrs. Spoke to 4 people who kept saying, "I cant help you," and kept putting someone else on. They refuse to refund my money. (Their service fee.) They argued that they are entitled to it for their service- which they never provided! Do yourself a favor and don't use them. Putting a stop to the payment with my bank.

When we learned we had toxic mold in our house, I called VRBO. It was the best support I have ever experienced in 50 years of traveling. The five customer support people were incredibly helpful. They were kind, supportive, informative and most important had my back. I am so sad that I did not know of their small fee they charged for insurance but they could not have been better.

I have yet to secure a booking through VRBO. 3 for 3 property owners have flaked out at the last minute. There is no recourse as a consumer either. I'm a 39 year old traveler and use Airbnb often. I will never try VRBO again as it's always a disappointment.

I attempted to utilize VRBO to rent a cabin. I got as far as the "request a reservation" step, in which I needed the owner's go ahead to proceed. I received a message via my VRBO account from the owner, telling me to book directly through them, as they don't use VRBO's payment system and it would also save me $ on the fees. I had already entered my credit card info into my VRBO account, so I wanted to make sure I did not get charged twice. I attempted to go into my account and was unable to access my account. I attempted to change my password, but kept being routed to "this page does not exist" message. I contacted customer service via e-mail and received an e-mail back stating because my issue dealt w/ a password/privacy issue, they wanted to talk to me instead of fix via e-mail. I respected this and attempted to call the number provided and was told there was a high volume of calls and a three hour wait for callback.

We went on VRBO and property showed availability. We booked a Wednesday to Wednesday stay and the property manager wanted more money after we paid. They would not refund us transaction fees or the difference in money we lost due to the conversion rate. Basically we paid for something they were unable to provide and I lost over $60 for this whole mess.

I literally can’t believe what just happened. We arrived at the vacation rental and they never told us it would $65 for the amenities, ok whatever. That fine. Then we opens the door and the place was a nasty dirty mess. Pee on the toilet, ants in the sinks, toothpaste on the countertops, bath towels on the floor and beds that were slept in.

I have had my properties listed with VRBO for 1 year now, previous owner of the property had been with them for 7 years. You cannot get a callback or an answer to an email...EVER. I have been transferred 5 times this morning and still no solution, only "that is done by another department". I will certainly be looking at my options this year and it will be my last year with VRBO. I would highly recommend that you research other options before you pay that ridiculous subscription price with VRBO. Because no one would answer my phone calls or emails, I have to pay an additional $100 for my yearly plan. Keep in mind you have to pay that subscription fee for each of the rooms you rent out in your vacation rental (i.e., B&B).

No negotiated refund, no explanation. Only excuses. NEVER AGAIN. Can I rate this NO STARS???

I felt absolutely zero protection as a customer using this service. There is no protection for renters on this site. The property we wanted to rent had a listing promising "resort access to a 5 star pool" amongst other amenities. However, once we booked the listing the homeowner could no longer guarantee anything. Even though nowhere on the listing did it say anything was not guaranteed. I called to make a complaint to VRBO and they were did not care at all about the misrepresentation of the property. Just kindly warned me "it's a zero cancellation policy, so you won't get your money back."

I just read several other negative reviews about the changes VRBO has made to their MO since they were bought out by Expedia in 2016, and I have to admit that I agree with all of the other homeowners' comments. We began listing our beach home with them 5 years ago, and had no issues with VRBO until 2016, when we noticed that suddenly we weren't receiving any inquiries. I looked into it, and discovered that our home's listing was buried among hundreds for our tiny town where there used to be only 30 listings. There were places listed in for beach town that were two hours' drive away! We basically were bullied into online booking, and were told that it would boost our inquiries and bookings. Not so... And then we looked into the fees they were charging our guests in addition to what they were charging us for the credit card bookings PLUS the ever increasing subscription fee. Total rip-off of our guests and us.

The contract I signed (as a traveler) states deposit refund will be "within" 14 days of your departure date. Two days prior to the deadline, I contacted both the owner (silence) and VRBO. VRBO stated it was the owners responsibility to process. Owner (once I opened a complaint) finally responded and stated VRBOs responsibility. At the 14 day mark, VRBO notified me the refund had been "initiated" and should receive by 1/23 - 4 weeks after departure date. Contract stated "refund within 14 days" not "processed or initiated" at 14 days. Breach of contract.

VRBO began with a compelling case. Load up all the information of your family vacation home onto our site, set the rates, manager the guests, create your own experiences and we will charge you for the portion where our economies of scale benefit you. Plus, if you pay a bit more here and there you can improve your rankings. Fast forward: We are going to double and triple the amount of money we take from you and for that you will get less hits, fewer guests, payments after the guests leave and constant meddling in your communications. Overall you will have a much less effective and pleasant experience. They are taking advantage of the high volume commercial owner and screwing the homeowner who wants to make a few bucks on their home away from home. If that's you, go to Airbnb. At least they vet their guests.

I started renting properties 2-3 times a year 12 years ago. Then I became an owner and listed for the last 8 years. Simple concept, Owner pays for ad, customer deals directly with owner at no charge, owner decides payment and security deposit, all good. Then they merged with HomeAway so we had no competitor to turn to. After I invested heavily in my vacation rental property and built the business the greed starts. They now force the owners to "online booking" and demand credit card payment from renters. Plus they CHARGE THE RENTER to book. Then they CHARGE the owner a 3% credit card fee of which they retain a portion. Then they hold your money for a week to get the float. And they collect and hold the deposit (more float) and decide if you get it if something is broken or stolen.

Truly horrific... I have NEVER experienced such poor customer service and incompetence in my life! As a homeowner, it has been an absolute nightmare to collect money. I have been waiting for two payments for TWO MONTHS! Their "vetting process" is lousy at best. I will not being doing business with this site going forward and would NEVER recommend this experience to anyone.

At first they had no phone support. I started to sign up online but had questions that couldn't be answered so I left it behind. Several months later a woman called me saying she wanted to help me finish signing up, take my payment and that they were starting phone support.

We are a homeowner who has used VRBO since 2011. At first it allowed us to completely control our listing and how we managed it, that is: how we communicated with potential customers, how we contracted with them, how we received payments, and so forth. Two years ago VRBO began to offer owners an optional “booking service” where the owner could opt to use VRBO to control the flow of money (deposits, payments, distributions to owners). We opted out and noticed that our listing ranking fell lower, however we continued to receive inquiries from potential customers.

VRBO seems to have changed their entire business model. We tried to book a condo rental in South Florida. The contact information for the owners was no longer available. On the condos that we wanted to rent, our only option was to call the HomeAway booking service and deal with a telephone rep from another country who had never been to the condo or even the city. The reps couldn't answer specific questions. When I tried to book, they required my credit card, which took a fair amount of time and they said that they owner wound contact me within 24 hours.

Our property is located in a special environment that requires us to personally contact and screen our renters. This process takes time and is not amenable to online booking within 24 hours. Despite this, VRBO has FORCED US to accept online booking. Online booking has many disadvantages for the customer- they are charged a 10% booking fee that they could avoid if they contacted the property owner directly. Also, things like the damage insurance offered by VRBO and insurance on cancellation are according to other accounts on this site, quite simply terrible.

We've been on VRBO for at least 9 years and until they implemented their required booking policy everything was great! Now, it's on crappy company looking to extort money from both home owners and vacationers alike. Use VRConnection instead!! We used to get a lot of inquires/referrals from VRBO. This year, it's down at least 90% - that is not an exaggeration. In 2016 we had a total of 9 inquiries, 7 of which booked with us. In the same time period in 2016 we had a total of 1 inquiry. 1!! And that person did not book.

As owners we have used VRBO for 8 years. Our subscription runs out the end of January and after reading all the reviews from both owners and tenants we will not be renewing. Our rental is very nice and we take pride in keeping it that way. We like to have personal contact with our tenants and feel that we have lost the ability to have control over our own property. The fees they are charging the guests are ridiculous as we already pay a pretty hefty fee to advertise with them. This is really going to hurt the vacation rental business for tenants and owners alike. Can't wait for a new listing business to be created that is like the old VRBO!

We travel often and have used VRBO since its beginning. I dislike the fact I cannot contact the owners with questions before booking. I dislike the fees now being charged to renters. We had an issue with an owner selling the rental and the new owner refused to honor the reservation. Old owner would not refund and said new owner had our money. VRBO was absolutely no help. We plan to search other venues for rental. One owner we actually got to talk to has said she is not renewing when her contract. She is a member of the local Chamber of Commerce and will be listing with them. I think this is a good idea. We will be going through local chambers from now on. Rentals are Vetted by the chamber before allowing the listing. Sounds more reliable and cheaper than VRBO. It is worth a try.

VRBO hid our listing due to high rejection rate of applicants without consulting or inquiring with us. They basically collected our listing fee and then hid our listing so that other listings would get them the % booking fee they charge the consumer. For 7+ years we have been using them and the consumers who have rented our condo have been great with many repeating their trips. Since August of 2017 my listing has been hidden without any cause from VRBO. They said it was because we rejected too many inquiries - the only people who have been rejected are those that did not meet the requirements on our listing such as no pets and adults/families only (no beach week under 21ers) or asked for weeks that were already booked on the calendar that they did not look at.

I have been so dissatisfied with VRBO (now Home Away) the past 2 years that I actually took the time to set up an account with CONSUMER AFFAIRS to complain. My complaint is similar to other homeowners. I pay hundreds of dollars for Home Away/VRBO to market my home, and when I call to complain they say "we're changing for the best interest of our client"... whom they say is the "traveler". Legally, I'm the one paying, so I AM THEIR CLIENT. Home Away/VRBO has lumped my Ft. Myers home with Cape Coral, Sanibel, Ft. Myers Beach for a total of 8,6** listings.

Their 2017/2018 format requiring all contact between potential renters and property owners to run through VRBO is invasive and unacceptable. VRBO used to serve as an advertising medium, putting together two interested parties. They are now strictly a booking service. I don't know any high end property owner that would allow potential renters to book without speaking to them directly first. Terrible business model. Will find renter this season another way.

I have never liked VRBO's service, as a host, especially compared to other company's like Airbnb. They have unfair business practices, threatening to shut down my site (for declining guests, accusing me of using the site for lead gen). Instead, I was declining guests because VRBO does not have a thorough process to vet guests before I let them in my home! Now, they have removed ability to contact your potential guest until booked, which increases safety risk. They charge a large fee to be the lead gen engine and now they continue to raise rates for hosts and guests while continually downgrading the services offered.

We have been using HomeAway to list our condo at Las Palomas Resort for the last 5 years- We now have to convert to the BookIt now feature if we want to keep it listed. We are going to stop using VRBO due to this forced change which also adds on a 8% fee.

I have rented a property through VRBO where the owner of the property was a scammer. He secretly contacted me to add an additional charges. When I refused, and wanted to cancel two hours after my reservation, he said he would take the money and not refund us our vacation saved $. Called VRBO and their assistance was mediocre. I wanted to write a review about the owner to alert other customers and VRBO said no. Be aware people. You are on your own and VRBO won’t have your back. They referred me to my credit card to dispute the charge. Very disappointing experience.

My family is relatively new to VRBO, but it's still been a decent two years renting out an old family home, which is almost continuously booked due its location. We have opted out of online bookings for the past two years and have had no problem getting our place filled for much of the time. About two months ago, I noticed our property disappeared from the site VRBO/HomeAway site completely. After a few frustrating calls where I was relegated to online call centers apparently located in India and/or Mexico, I was informed that Expedia/VRBO/HomeAway is now blocking all properties that do not use their obnoxious online booking service (extraction fee), which tacks on a 6-12% to all renters who use the site. We pay $1,000 a year already to advertise on VRBO/HomeAway.

I refunded a cancelled reservation through the VRBO website, and the traveler stated he had only been refunded the deposit. The website is very user-unfriendly, and since I cancelled and refunded I can no longer access information about the cancelled reservation. VRBO sent an email to the wrong email address stating they would block my VRBO account (meaning no one can make reservations any longer) with no reason other than saying the traveler complained about not getting his refund, despite me refunding through their website and I never received any money from VRBO from that reservation to refund myself.

The changes have begun to affect us so drastically that we are worried about being able to hold on to our property if it does not pay for itself. I did a google search to find out if anyone else had any problems with the new changes and found many complaints dated recently (November & December 2017). We are not getting booking inquiries and are hard pressed to understand the new ranking matrix, though I've read through it several times. Do I have enough 5 star ratings? Do I need all 50 pictures uploaded? Now they give you the ability to upload 50! Good luck finding 50 pics that are relevant. Are the quality of my pictures passing muster, although I've had mine professionally taken. What is the secret?

This company has gone from an advertising agent for homeowners seeking vacation rentals to a business that tries to take full control of your property as if they own it. They now post nightly rates on their site even though nightly rates are not offered by the property owner. They do everything they can to isolate the property owner from the tenant including the blocking of emails. What property owner wants a total stranger showing up that they have no information about?

I was one of the original subscribers to VRBO when they opened over 20 years ago so I have lived through literally ALL the changes that have occurred over the years. What a sad decline to what was once a wonderful company with a focus on people along with their financial bottom line. These things don't have to be mutually exclusive but it seems the company philosophy at the present time dictates this should be so.

NEVER BOOK WITH VRBO. I booked and paid for a Florida vacation to Cape Coral on July 23rd of 2017. On December 13th the last half payment was requested due Dec 20th. On December 15th they cancelled my reservation and refunded my money. A FULL FIVE DAYS BEFORE IT IS DUE! No legitimate reason was given. Airline costs, family plans, etc. have been trashed by unethical practices. No resolution has been received to date. DON’T RISK YOUR FAMILY VACATION WITH THESE PEOPLE. NEVER.

I've used VRBO or Homeaway for years. We are a nonprofit ski racing company and suddenly I can't book anything and they do not help at all. No information for the owners. Owners are going to lose out on a lot of bookings with this type of service.

I have been a subscriber of VRBO for 8 years. During the middle of my yearly rental Listing Agreement they changed the rules wherein I was required to use booking through them only and not being able to communicate with my renter before the renter agreed to a fee payment to VRBO and I agree to accept the rental without communicating with the renter. They also changed my rental rates listed and discounted my rates at their discretion. I decided to sell my condo instead of using VRBO or rental agents.

I've never had the displeasure of doing business with such a horrible company. I booked a vacation rental thru VRBO's endless false advertising because it seems like property owners can say whatever they want and VRBO will never fact check. We arrived to a property that is mold infested, made us extremely ill. I had called VRBO during our stay and they said nothing they can do, contact the owner. I left property after 1 of 4 nights and contacted VRBO upon my return to file a formal complaint on the property and to seek refund on my unstayed nights. Again, VRBO said their famous quote: "nothing we can do, contact property owner". Now the property owner is endlessly harassing me at my job, I once again contacted VRBO and once again "nothing we can do, contact the property owner". Why do we need to go thru a booking agent such as VRBO if they offer ZERO SERVICE AND PROTECTION to travelers???

Find another way to rent other that VRBO! My wife and I have a condo located in Panama City Beach, FL. and have had it listed on VRBO since 2010. For the past six years we have paid annual listing fees ranging from $899 to most recent in 2016 $1,674 having the option for our guest to rent directly from us as the owner. Our listing is expiring on 28 December 2017 so when I contacted VRBO to renew I was informed that we can no longer book our guest and that all bookings have to be processed through VRBO. Now guest are subject to paying outrageous booking fees and who knows what other fees they will stick the guest and owner for. When I asked the representative if they will rent to anyone that inquires the listing he said yes. Well that's a wrong answer! We have never just rented to anyone that walks in off the street and we're not about to start now.

I have used VRBO for about 10 years and the recent changes are unacceptable. My inquiries have dropped dramatically since their new policies were enacted. I want the ability to screen my potential renters and they have taken that away. Before they took away the contact #'s I had to refuse 2 potential renters because the group was too large for my house. Usually no problem but now because I refused potential renters I got moved down in the rankings and got minimal inquiries. When I asked how I could improve my ranking I was told to accept more inquiries. BS!!!

I am writing a review to warn potential vacation guests to avoid using HomeAway/Vrbo now owned by Expedia.com. This company bought the two above rental sites and now charge guests 6 to 12% plus a 3% credit card fee and even charge fee on cleanup fees. As an owner for many years on Vrbo with a great company we had many years dealing with being an agent to put renters and owners together and we the owners paid a web fee. You the renter paid nothing and dealt with the owner the only person that knows their property and never had anything but 5 stars and happy customers. We offer all returning guests a 5% discount for returning and Expedia has done away with that for it cuts into their greedy fees. If you need to talk to a rep you're going to India or the Philippines. We have left this greedy site and hope anyone who read this will just say no to corporate greed. Spread the word.

My wife and I wanted to spend a month in Florida so I went to VRBO (now called Homeaway) to look for property to rent. After looking for available property we tried to book only to receive a notice that the property was not available even though the calendar showed it was. Each time you send a rental request you have to put in all of your information including credit card info. We found a very nice property we were interested in after searching for days so we put in a request to rent only to be sent a message again, that it was not available and they hope we could find another property. We did find something and we’re to able to book but not through VRBO. Later that day I received a message from the property owner for the place we tried to book through VRBO that stated he had made a mistake and the property was available and that he accepted our request.

As a homeowner I have used VRBO for about 5 years. They started out with an annual fee to the owner of $199. Then it went to $399 and optional online booking. Now it is mandatory online booking and online payment. I do not want them to handle my bookings and money. They charge a fee of $250 per $5000 booking. I said I did not want the fee and they said it is paid by the renter. When I asked if my regular renters and new renters wanted to pay me directly, VRBO said it was in violation of their policy. As rental owner, I cannot support this kind of money-hungry company bent on fees and sub-standard customer service. I will no longer subscribe nor recommend their services. They have become a scam company.

My sister and I rented a VRBO/HOME AWAY property in Greenville, SC. On the third day of our stay, palmetto bugs (large cockroaches) were crawling around the kitchen (on the countertops, floor and walls). We contacted the property manager at Entre-Realty and explained that we were uncomfortable and had decided to leave. The property manager initially handled the situation very professionally-stated that she understood and did not blame us for leaving. We did not initiate or expect a refund. She offered it and we thanked her profusely.

VRBO is a joke... not even worth a bad review. Go with Airbnb. I'm a host and according to VRBO, 60% of my guests used fake credit cards, so after one year with VRBO (I paid $2000 for advertising btw), this is what I ended up with: damaged floor, stolen iPad, broken sofa, stolen projector... and VRBO took over $12000 DIRECTLY FROM MY BANK ACCOUNT WITHOUT MY AUTHORIZATION. This is illegal.

I have booked rental homes through VRBO for over 8 years. Unfortunately, I will never be able to do it again. I specifically emailed VRBO customer service concerned that I may have rented through a scam artist and wanted their advice before paying the 2nd half of the rent for an NYC rental over Thanksgiving. I received a response back from VRBO that they would only assist me if the labeled owner of the property was not being responsive to me. The said "owner" was very responsive, but it concerned me when I found out his PayPal account was cancelled and then he asked me to wire him money. I asked VRBO if they had any issues with this owner since I noticed the listing had been removed and they said they could not reveal any information about the owner or his reputation on their site because of their "privacy policies". Come to find out, my greatest fear came true.

I've rented from VRBO in the past with only a few problems. This last time I rented a property in Scottsdale AZ, "Presidio" at 7041 E Presidio, Scottsdale and I paid a refundable deposit. That was almost two months ago. The listed owner will not provide a response to my question regarding the deposit return. I asked VRBO to get involved because it looks like this property has different owners on different websites. They sent me a form letter telling me it's their policy to let renters and owners work out their differences. I followed up explaining the lack of contact with the owner and now I wanted them to get involved or follow through on their promise of ensuring the security deposit for renters. To date, they have ignored several requests. BEWARE.

My family and I have used VRBO for years to book our rentals. No longer!! I recently booked a trip through them to Hawaii for Christmas and was SHOCKED to see that they were charging me a $700 "service fee"!! What?! Of course, I've called and spoken with their customer service reps in the Philippines, been transferred to supervisors, etc. only to be told a line about why their charges are warranted. It is simply a ploy to make more money. I unfortunately will NEVER book with them in the future. Shame on you VRBO!!!

As a buyer of rentals (over 20 years, we like to enjoy different spots rather than own another home), my experience this month is horrendous due to VRBO. First attempt to make a reservation, it is called "request to reserve" the buyer/renter puts in all her information dates, the number in the party all normal, but to move the question to the homeowner buyer must input her credit card information, then website request her to buy cancellation insurance. Again, you must do, since the website will not send questions out. My first attempt, I happy to hit that insurance button, because it immediately went right off my credit card as a charge, without any of my questions being addressed as far as Nordic skiing trails length, internet, cell service or dead zones, (people need to work, right).

They quote wrong prices continually. I have condo in Florida with winter rates and off season rates. They quote the off season rates which are 75% less than winter. If you are just starting out renting and need some cash flow ok but look elsewhere later. They are arrogant indifferent terrible people. We are in the main middle class owners trying to make a few dollars.

Even though I paid my subscription in full and have had zero rental complaints in 7 years, VRBO inadvertently kept my deactivated my account for an entire month, sending my own VRBO URL link that I've had for several years to OTHER condos instead of mine. That link is the one I send to people who want to book my condo and the one I use in marketing because it used to take them to book the condo directly. And for a month, it has gone to a long list of my competitor condos instead of mine. So basically I PAID to do Facebook marketing, web marketing, and website SEO just to link to competitive properties? Wow wow wow! I noticed I was no longer getting bookings and checked my VRBO link that I've had for years. It was down and they admitted it has been down for over a month.

I've rented from VRBO for over a decade. It seems like they have merged with HomeAway and their standard has been reduced to money grabbing. They do not care about customers, repeat customers especially - they would rather keep only positive reviews and not let consumers know that there may be a bad experience awaiting. They refused to post my review for my Ocean City, MD trip. I spent hours on the phone with the owner and have text messages where the owner suggested that I take in a piece of equipment for repair (!). None of this mattered. I simply asked for a partial refund. No refund. No post of my negative review. They don't care about people - buyer beware. Airbnb is what I will try next!

I have used VRBO since their inception and up until 2016, was happy with the listing, the website, the cost...and even avoided passing along the 'service fee' by keeping all payments through me and not on-line. However, with their raised annual dues and their most recent announcement that ALL transactions MUST be via the VRBO payment systems for 2018, which then includes worthless-to-renter fees and credit card fees, it's unacceptable to me and adds cost to renters that is totally non-value add. And the new stupid ranking system that puts them in control of who views your listing is way over the top. We will be looking elsewhere for our property listing, but not before sending out a bulk email to all past renters letting them know why, and where to find us in the future.

I have been a very long time customer (homeowner) advertising on VRBO then VRBO/HomeAway and have paid the ever-rising fees to advertise. I prefer to communicate personally with those wanting to rent my property and have been successful; however, the rules changed this year. Homeowners not only pay the fee to advertise but must agree to allow VRBO/HomeAway to schedule rentals, match renters to the most suited property, (VRBO/HomeAway knows more about my property than I do???,) collect all payments, charge the homeowner a "service fee" for collecting payments, charge the renter a "service fee" (for what?), then bother renters with emails to sell them "vacation insurance", remind them of their vacation dates, etc.

I listed my home in The Villages for a "seasonal rental" - I was given their name by a fellow Villager who used to use them years ago, she said they were great! Ok, so sometime in September I decided NOT to go with a Realtor - however I did advertise on Craigslist for FLORIDA - OCALA - HOMES FOR RENT - VACATION PROPERTIES - THE VILLAGES. I had immediate success for my March rental. I vetted them (myself), collected the payment (myself) offered a vacation lease (myself) and have been paid in full - totally. I decided to go with VRBO and since then, I booked February, and a few days ago January. Everytime I call VRBO customer support, they transfer me to their "finance department" after hanging up on one Philippines rep after another (wanting to hear an American voice) I got through to their "financial department". This time I got a lovely woman, whom I could understand, but she was from Ireland.

I started my own vacation rentals business 6 years ago listing one property on VRBO. Now I have 33, but 2 weeks ago I stopped promoting my listings on HomeAway / VRBO. This company began making changes that seriously impacted my business. In less than 2 months I lost more than $15,000. I'm not sure what happened with the traditional HomeAway. They started being the ideal tool for the second owners and for the ambition to increase their income they left aside the ethics and professionalism that a company involved with customer services requires. Now they want to use it for everything and try to be the leaders in marketing, which they are not. Each shoemaker in their shoes.

You can just read the other reviews to see what happened at VRBO. Once it was great. Now they just want to take more money and they don't care. My friend and I rented a beachside cabin 2 months ago and had to pay an extra 10 percent to VRBO who made the whole process confusing. Worst is that the extra charge was kinda disguised so it sounded like it was an extra charge from the owner. Fortunately the owner gave us some tips to help us avoid getting ripped off next time. We've just booked our next trip now–an apartment in Mexico and although we found it on VRBO we were able to make the deal direct with the owner, thanks to a browser add-on called Staysavr. That shows all the owners phone numbers so we never need to get ripped off again.

I have 3 properties on VRBO and have been a customer for a long time. Their new policy on having to make all payments through their website is a money grab. Paying over $1200 USD to list all my properties guests are also being charged a % to book. When I was told today that I needed to add the payment through VRBO or they wouldn't accept my renewal, that is ludicrous. They are holding both owners and guests hostage for admin fees. When I told the agent I am not giving out my bank info to any corporation to look after "my" money he said, "shouldn't be a problem and if there is... you can always SUE VRBO." This is what they are telling long standing customers. Anyone have any suggestion for new sites please advise because VRBO is a thing of the past... time will tell!

I have been using vrbo for many years for individuals to locate and get in touch with me for renting our vacation home. I average 43 guests/reservations per year and am very satisfied with that. In the beginning (2009) the site was perfect and fit my needs. In the spring of 2016, they chose to abruptly change it and without the discretion of the people who originally signed up for it.

I had rented a condo in New Orleans for one night. It was for a week-end of high demand -- there were no hotels or other condos available. The day that I traveled from Boston to New Orleans I was contacted by the property owner that they had canceled my reservation. The company is called Hosteeva. They said that the local fire department had told them they needed to do "a fire inspection". Since this sounded highly suspicious, I contacted the fire department and they confirmed that they didn't have any inspections planned. Neither the property owner or VRBO would do anything to help me with the situation. In the end, I had to pay an additional $300 for a place to stay that evening. Both of these companies should be considered high risk in terms of keeping their agreements with their customers.

OWNERS BEWARE – For many years I listed my lakefront home on VRBO and was very happy with the site. After several years they began making changes that seriously impacted my desire to use the site. I did not allow online booking, as I believed it was important to speak with potential renters to make sure it was a good match.

The recent changes in VRBO/HomeAway "Standards" forced on owners advertising on the site adversely impacts potential renters in numerous ways. Although homeowners pay an annual fee or subscription based fee for listing the property on their site, the new "Standards" impose a 10% service fee to the renter. I have yet to get an answer on what services are provided to the renter for this fee other than faster booking through VRBO/HomeAway website.

We have been booking VRBO properties for years. We booked a property for Christmas and were hit with an undisclosed service charge of $129! This is a charge for using the website and is not refundable. Plus this was on top of a $60 fee from the property management company and a $500 security deposit. We are done with VRBO. Might as well pay for the resort hotel and get the extra service.

Owner of a large property. I discovered this property listed for rent and available on the VRBO website last May. I complained that this had not been authorized by me. After many calls and evidence of my ownership I received an email saying that they had removed the listing. I checked again a few months later and it is still there. After numerous calls they are now asking for same paperwork again despite sending all over before. They are advertising a house they have no access to and it seems there is no way for me to get this listing off. I consider this very suspicious and would be wary of booking anything through this company.

I thought it to be frustrating and ridiculous that my first attempt to use both these websites resulted in the same outcome. You are required to enter all of your personal information including credit card info only to be told the owner has never responded to your request so it is cancelled. Am I the only one here that thinks this is ridiculous???!!! And then I am told that my account will be a permanent account on HomeAway?? I can never delete or cancel the account, I can change the email address that is on file but can never cancel the account permanently??? Why anyone would ever use these websites is beyond me. Also cannot stand foreign speaking customer service reps that you can't understand and don't know what they are doing (the fleecing of America). Outsourcing as usual.

I rented a cabin in May in Sevierville TN. Had a great time the cabin was not bad. Communication with owner was prompt when I had questions. However, after the trip I asked when I was going to get my deposit back. 2 Weeks I was told. That came and went. I tried to contact owner again no response to any of my attempts. When it was clear the owner was not going to give deposit back I contacted VRBO. They had a guarantee.

On two occasions tenants have written bad reviews when all or part of their security deposits were held. This happens after the tenant tells you how wonderful everything was and then after they leave excessive damages and don’t get their deposit back they post negative reviews. VRBO will only remove these negative reviews if the property owner can provide written proof that the tenant threatened the property owner with a bad review to get their money back. Property owners that have numerous five star reviews should not have to accept excessive damages and provide full refunds in order to maintain their excellent ratings.

Vacation Nightmare! - I paid 8,600 in advance to rent a property. Upon arrival the property was not as described, in very poor repair and filthy. I did not stay in the home, but lost all of the money, neither the homeowner nor VRBO were will to help me in any way.

I cannot see how they can blatantly use and abuse customers and remain in business? LOOK AT THE REVIEWS!! Really doesn't matter what area you talk about, this is just a scam on several levels. The worst part is how they force you to use their mobile app., but in order to download it, they require to know all your information about you and to get your contacts list off your phone, as well as other private access. Customer service will double talk you to death trying to say they don't get your contact list, and of course the agents themselves don't, but this pathetic company can harass and abuse your friends and family, start SPAMMing them, selling your information, whatever they like!

I rented a vacation unit at Papakea on Maui based on the photos the owner posted on the website. When I arrived I was given a completely different unit which was not anything like the posting and far below the standards shown in the photos. Knowing the owner lived in Las Vegas, I decided complaining would be useless and just enjoyed the time outdoors. When VRBO emailed for a review I gave a less than complimentary review, the owner then gave me, as renter, a less than complimentary review, even though I left the unit cleaner than when I arrived. I'll never book through or recommend VRBO. I learned a lesson: VRBO may sound like a good way to enjoy a vacation, but beware, not all owners are honest, ethical or dependable.

Been a VRBO vacation rental owner since 2008. Right now, have 4 rentals on their site and am searching for new ones so that I can drop VRBO. Their advertising is absolutely false, as they claim they only charge service fees of 5-1/2% to 9%. So far, all of my rental service fees have ranged from 14% to 18% of the rental. My business has dropped and their site is horrible (and I'm extremely computer literate). I've had customers tell me they are avoiding VRBO because of the exorbitant fees.

I tried renting my home through VRBO and needed to know what my guest was billed. Their support team is off-shore, and had a script they read from. If the question wasn't on the script they couldn't answer the question. They cannot forward the call to someone who can answer the question (apparently if it's not on the script - there is no answer). They ultimately forwarded me to their payment processing 3rd party contractor who agreed that VRBO was completely disorganized but they couldn't help at all because they simply take the payment, deduct 3% and forward it on to VRBO -- they have no details on what the payment is for.

Went from 3-4 inquiries/rentals a month down to none since the Expedia merge. What a shame - was a great company - now going to AIRBNB. They say having hotels on the site next to our listings is not damaging - that is nonsense.

Terrible experience with VRBO/Home Away. I made a reservation thru them on October 1st and one month later on October 30 I received a cancellation notice. I had reserved for the Thanksgiving holidays, now the cost is higher and a new reservation for the same dates not only has increased the price but finding a place for 7 people is much harder. This company doesn't offer an additional credit like Airbnb. Last time I will use this site. Not recommended. On my own experience Airbnb is way much more responsible. The owners of the property Bryan and Daniella **, won't reserve any properties from them either. I'm just waiting to receive my money back.

October 2017 booking at Property# 211771 Lil Apple Bear Cottage: The listing says to contact the owner directly for booking. Since the site allowed the owner to list the property in this manner, I thought nothing of it. The property was atrocious! There was no hygiene amenities, all of the towels under the sink were wet (NOT DAMP, WET)! As if the 'cleaning' crew (I use the term loosely) simply folded up the previous guests’ used towels and stowed them. It made me wonder if the bed linens were even changed. The refrigerator was frozen up, and non-functioning (so much for the groceries I bought)!!! The note on the central heat said I couldn't set the heater higher than 52 (that's cold). Neither television would work either.

They are the worst company to work with and are afraid of the tenants/ holiday people. I as property mgr really recommend never to use this site for your business or houses. They are not qualified peoples and the position of them is not to stay impartial. They just do what they want and are not listen at all. After the whole morning wasting my time to stay the situation as it is they treat to do a refund or my listing is inactive. The worst company ever.

In the past week, VRBO seems to have completely changed their website from a personalized format by owners, to a structured subject format which offers only half the information about the lodging as before. Of particular frustration is the MAP, which is bare when I try to bring it up. It seems like VRBO is trying to appear like an Airbnb site, which I purposely view last, after VRBO, because that site also offers much less information, in comparison to VRBO's as of 10 days ago. PLEASE consider my complaint seriously. Your new site presentation does you no favors!

This was a great site years ago, now corporate greed and incompetence has taken over. I started with a membership cost of $350.00 annually, now they collect more than $4000.00 in fees, commissions and membership. And they are like "big brother" with renters' information, I cannot correspond with potential renters until they book? It's also apparent this site was designed by "techies" as it is not at all user friendly (even my Techy friends agree). Deposits are extremely hard to track and while customer service is available their responses are all canned and not very helpful, not to mention every call is at least 25 minutes, with or without resolution. Very sad but typical of companies that go corporate!