Vrbo Reviews

VRBO rented us a home in Wyoming for a week. Beware of what owners don't tell you... like, 5 miles of curvy mountainous dirt roads to get to property. Like infestations of biting flies and mosquitoes so that is impossible to sit on a highly promoted deck and view the mountains. Like sound systems, television and Internet services so out of date that the whole group wished we were at the Jackson Super 8. And most important is the fact that this house which is supposed to be loaded with amenities does not have air conditioning. The owner explained that no one in the area has it. Meanwhile, half of the rental was paid as a deposit and the other half was due more than a month before we arrived. I will not use VRBO again due to this disappointing experience. One more "beware", note that only positive reviews are posted for the properties listed.

We just reserved a property near Monterey, CA for a few days in October. I need to correspond with either VRBO or the Owner to clarify a comment in the Confirmation email (a "no reply" message). It does not inspire confidence regarding my money they already have in their hands. I have rented properties around the world, and NEVER was I denied a source of communication. I will retract this review if VRBO contacts me. If they do not, the review will stand as a warning to others.

Seychelles Resorts in PCB - My family and I spent over $1,400.00 dollars to stay at this condo the week of July 4th. It was the worst experience of my life there.. First, the hot tub bleached both of my daughters' new bathing suits. When I went to say something, of course, no one's on site to help! Then they want to test it 3 days later, WTH!! And then call me!! It smelled like hot garbage in the elevators all night every night... Then it started in our rooms and they just gave us air freshener? And then how can you run out of ice on a popular week and just say we don't take care of that? Really?? I would never recommend this place. In fact, my friends cancelled and went somewhere else.

Seaview Condominiums on Madeira Beach - The owners in Unit #305 were WONDERFUL. The Condo was so nicely decorated and it was very spacious. The balcony overlooked the ocean and we saw lots of dolphins from our balcony everyday. I would recommend this condo to anyone. You will be very pleased with the front desk service as well as the owners.

I would like to remove my complaint about this unit titled “Elegant and Modern Junior Suite". My name is Brian ** from Memphis, TN. I have spoken with the owner and there was some miscommunication and confusion about the apartment and rental dates. That has now been resolved and I am staying with him on our agreed dates. My number is ** if you have any questions. Thank you.

We rented this house at Innsbrook, MO for our annual family reunion. My sister had communication with the owner in Feb. and made her first payment in March and the second and third payments as required. This home held 16 people and two weeks prior to our event, he cancelled. We had no other place to stay. So 16 of us were unable to be there the July 4th holiday weekend. His calendar then showed he had it occupied for an additional 8 days (thinking he had a longer renter contact him - so we did NOT matter). This owner did NOT care what he did to our family and did not respond to any of our e-mails. I would NEVER use his VRBO and would tell everyone be very careful since he is irresponsible with his home.

I stayed at this midtown Manhattan rental a year ago in June 2012 titled "Elegant and Modern Junior Suite". We enjoyed our stay and decided to book again for December of the same year. Roy told us by e-mail the dates we wanted were available, so we booked our airline tickets and told Roy to book us. Three days later he informed us the dates we wanted are not available. We were very irritated and booked another place. In January 2013, we decided to go back to the city in December. We once again e-mailed Roy with our requested dates. We paid him and got confirmation. Keep in mind we booked this 11 months in advance.

DO NOT STAY WITH SARAH'S CONDOS! I am a 53-year-old woman who has been coming for 15+ years every year for a week on the beach. This was the nastiest place I've ever seen. Not only will they not refund your cleaning fee for this nasty place, they won't even refund your deposit. They say they are sending it over and over and still after a MONTH, they don't. This couple is running a scam to keep your money and rent you a nasty place. They don't care on black dust on the ceiling dangling down, black dust on top of all the pictures and around the door frames, crumbs and hair on the throw carpet, harden stains on the glass tables and to top it off, MOLD in the tub and growing on the shower curtain. Don't say I didn't warn you.. NASTY and a scam for keeping your money.

VRBO#33745 - The owner agreed to rent this HHI condo for $758/week, which we agreed was a good deal in July. The owner immediately expressed regret over the rate and would not relay timely information about how we should make the payment. Then, over a holiday weekend, she sent a series of emails to my husband's obvious work email address pretending to try to contact us and then stating in the last email that she had rented to someone else. In one email, she stated that we had until May 31 to send payment, and then cancelled on us in an email on May 27.

I sent an email to a Melanie ** of 5 Star Beach Rentals for a vacation on Dec. 21 to Jan. 4 (Listing #**). I was told the following in an email on March 19: Open and the rate is $6,000 per week. I immediately emailed back that I was interested and how do I proceed. I am a first time VRBO user and had no idea what to do. I never got a response. I then phoned and emailed. She called me back on Saturday, May 11, and said I now could only have one week. She said she never heard from me even though I responded the same day. Very disappointed in the way VRBO handles reservations and treats people.

I sent payment in full for a 4-day rental in Arizona through PayPal, multiple emails confirming details. We did not quickly send the contract back due to business travel though we expressed our intention to do so. As a lawyer, I know that a signed agreement is not necessary to constitute a contract (we had offer, acceptance and payment in full in advance), and also knew that I would be sending it back shortly when I returned from travel. Realtor re-rented the property to another party and I can only assume that he would make more money. He cancelled one week after receipt of our full upfront payment and refunded our payment on grounds that contract was not returned timely.

Cancellation one week after the deposit was made due to sudden family financial needs. I understand deposit must be kept. I do not want to be held responsible for balance, thus the attempts to contact the landlord. No response from the landlord or VRBO. Total burn. I have reported to the Better Business Bureau and law enforcement. Do not use!

By transferring ownership, the landlord of this property has persuaded VRBO to feature the house. Amazingly, until I pointed out the obvious, they trimmed out the negative reviews and carried a positive one. On the mobile app they touted "new listing." Here are reviews from a few weeks ago. Review #5971060. Take precautions on this one. VRBO guarantee, perhaps.

I paid for $698 for a listing on VRBO on July 2, 2012. After completing the listing and submitting credit card online, the website interface crashed. I had to start all over with a new listing and pay again to complete it. The funds from the "failed" transaction were drafted from my account, as well as the funds for the second payment. Now, on Feb. 13, 2013, after multiple calls to VRBO and many broken commitments by VRBO staff, such as Kerri, Chad (a senior agent), Heidi, Dianna and others, I am still out nearly $700 with no apparent prospects of getting it back.

We have rented through VRBO three times but, unfortunately, the third time was a bad experience. While recognizing that VRBO is a listing site for property owners, we were disappointed that VRBO refused to post a negative review as the owners told them we had threatened them. This begs the question to whom they are interested in serving.

Three weeks before our Hawaiian vacation, we have been informed by the owners that they sold the place and is no longer available. This place was booked and paid for 6 months in advance.

We rented a two-bedroom condo at Executive Bay Club in Islamorada, Florida for Thanksgiving 2012 through Vrbo.com. The owner was attentive by email and phone while reservations were being made. Upon arrival, the condo was dirty - long black hairs all over the floor, couch, kitchen counters. Bathrooms were dirty with soiled toilets and toothpaste stains on mirrors. We swept the downstairs three times to get it clean. Nuts were on the kitchen counters. No sheets were on the beds. I phoned the owner. He said to look in the closets, and that it was his wife who took care of that.

Internet fraud on VRBO, Still wrangling for refund - Let me start out by saying I have been using VRBO since the late 1990s, between 2 and 3 times per year for rentals ranging from San Diego to Lake Tahoe to New Orleans to Paris. I have never had a serious problem. I had one glitch with a double booking that was resolved immediately, and one or two of the houses were not as well-equipped or clean as I would have expected, but overall I have been a happy customer and have always recommended the site to friends.

Renters of VRBO housing in Ashland Oregon, beware! There are up to 50 unlicensed houses being rented in this cute town known for its fine Shakespeare Festival. Not all the ads are by uninsured and unbonded lodging owners, but you should be sure to ask lots of questions before sending any money. One place is so desperate to rent that it asks you to buy its t-shirts for such-and-such a sum, the amount depending on how many people are in your group and how many nights you need. After "buying" the t-shirts, then you get the house for free! It is an obvious scam to avoid paying for a business license, insurance, and bonding. It is also a scam to avoid collecting the Ashland lodging tax and Oregon transient lodging tax.

I booked a trip to Mammoth, CA with VRBO #** weeks in advance from my trip. The owner immediately deposited the deposit and trip money upon receipt. After returning home from my trip, he did not return my $500 deposit. The place was left clean as a whistle. The owner would not return calls, emails, or text. I found out he took the money of over three other renters when I went to his website again. All renters complained that he was stealing everyone's money. I am writing this to warn anyone out there renting this home.

I had a rental agreement with the property owner of VRBO #106012 from 8/25/12-8/27/12. He cancelled on 8/15/12 - telling me the property was no longer available, because he was renting it to someone else for a longer term - and refused to refund my full payment of $330 (2 nights at $150 + $30 cleaning fee).

I have been with the VRBO since 2009 and it has always been a great advertising platform. In the past 6 months, they have made multiple changes to the website - each one more confusing. The last straw happened in the past month or so. They removed their owner's line contact phone number and resorted to either an email source or a feedback commentary. When I finally did get a return email (after I made 2 requests for assistance which never came), I received an automated email about a week later. Their website is now so slow I'm actually hearing complaints from clients too. The website calendar loads so slowly it takes several minutes to complete a new reservation in what normally only took 1-2 minutes tops. My business is suffering because of it now, in the time it is costing me in booking reservations alone, not to mention the overall use of the website itself. I and the other owners paid for support and ease of use on this website - it's all gone. It is so bad that I am actually trying to contact them through Twitter since they don't answer emails.

I was in the process of writing a partially negative review of an apartment in Lucca, Italy when I realized that the owner was going to be able to see it and block it from being posted (the owner gets to verify that I was really a renter and can easily deny this). Now, I realize why every review for this place was a 5 star, top rating. The VRBO customer service was completely unhelpful in responding to some of my complaints. I hasten to add that I've used VRBO several times over the past three years and have had no problems up to now. Any suggestions on how to warn other potential renters for a specific property that bypasses the owner?

I have been listing my property on VRBO for the last 10 years and have not had any problems until my account was set up on an automatic renewal. I wanted to change the credit card information. I called customer service; they could not take my information over the phone so they refunded the amount and told me once I received an email, I would need to go back online and enter the new credit card information. Then, the account would immediately become active, which I did but my account was showing inactive. Since it was over a weekend, they were closed so I had to call their sister company Home Away.

I booked this house for my husband's surprise 70th birthday. Son/girlfriend flew in from CA. Daughter and her family, brother and wife all came to celebrate for the Labor Day weekend. Sadly, this so-called beautiful house was absolutely disgustingly filthy. The owner told me that the cleaner had only 3 hrs to clean instead of 6 hrs as we wanted to check in at 3:00 pm. There had not been any cleaner in this hovel ever. It was so bad and dirty that my grandsons refused to sleep in the bedrooms, two slept on couches and one slept on the floor in our bedroom! The kitchen floor was swept by a guest and produced a pan load of dirt and crumbs!

Nightmare on the River http://www.vrbo.com/72605 - Beware of this rental nightmare! We’ve been using VRBO for about 4 years and this was by far our worst vacation experience ever! I should have known something would be off this weekend when minutes after we arrived, we discovered the owner in the unit snooping around the upstairs. The owners of this property live next door in a run-down cluttered structure with at least two large dogs that charged and barked at my 2 and 6 year old every time we walked outside. The two structures are joined by an elongated deck of which the owners of the property gave their dogs’ free reign. On several occasions, the large dogs would occupy the deck right outside of our unit. We felt uncomfortable/unsafe and could not go out to sit and enjoy listening/looking at the river.

Please remove the review posted for the VRBO complaint submitted by me, dated August 27, 2012. I have heard from VRBO and I am satisfied that a resolution will be found. Please email me to confirm removal of this. Thank you.

VRBO#322051, Thousand Oaks, CA - The owner of this property is equivalent to a slum out of state landlord. While we were at this property, the air conditioner and water heater broke down. The owner lives in Las Vegas. We had to use our time to wait for her repairmen. The air conditioner (in August) took 3 weeks before it was repaired. The owner tried to have us pay a service charge to get the water heater repaired. When we arrived at the property, it was dirty, garbage overflowing in the outside cans, and ripped bedspreads. We had our own weekly cleaners while there and have receipts to prove this.

We rented a house in Mammoth Lakes, California that we found on VRBO. Although the house was nice, the homeowner failed to return our security deposit and VRBO was of no help in resolving the issue. The following is what we learned from this experience:

Kahana Vacation Rental - I wish I had seen this site prior to booking home through VRBO. Renters beware! I wish I could say our family had a great time staying in the home we rented as we were really looking forward to having the comforts of home while on vacation, but we had issues with this property. We had the following issues with our rental: water was shut off due to a dispute with the water bill, rotting smell in the house was beyond (dead rat in kitchen) what we could stand, large amount of house flies due to dead rat, stained bedspread, master shower door 14" wide, TV's not working in 1 bedroom, remotes didn't work, advertised as 3 baths but actually only 2 and one was in master suite (no door on bathroom), lacked privacy.

Misrepresentation of rental property on website - We arrived this past Saturday, 6/9/12, and were disgusted by what we walked into. This condo is extremely dated, dilapidated and dirty. As soon as we walked through the door, we noticed the dingy, dirty walls (especially to the left of the sliding glass door leading out to the patio). The main door and trim throughout was chipped and dirty. The area rug in the living room was stained. We lifted up the sofa cushions and noticed a pile of dirt and sand that had built up obviously over months. We couldn't even imagine sitting on any of the furniture provided. The furniture and throw pillows on the sofa were worn and stained. The kitchen had a faint smell of urine (that's the only thing we could attribute that type of smell to). The counter tops (to the left of the stove) have come loose from the wall, have little support and are caving in.

Do not rent through VRBO.com! I rented and paid for a vacation home in Cave City, KY through VRBO.com for the last week of March. Two days before we were to depart, the owner of the property called and says that the home is not available due to "storm damage," but will refund my $1,100 which I paid for the rental. Two months later, still no refund, and the owner will not respond to numerous phone calls, emails, and texts. The listing mysteriously disappeared from VRBO.com shortly afterwards.

We confirmed the rental of the condo on 5/13/2012 with the owner by email. He asked us to mail deposit and when he received the deposit, he would send us info on key box to condo. On 5/16/2012, the owner emailed us and said he had rented it to someone else who had sent a deposit in. When I complained and told him he had accepted our confirmation, he said he was sorry but he takes more than one confirmation from people and uses first come first serve on the deposit. That is wrong and as far as I am concerned is a breach of verbal agreement. Don't rent from them. You are wasting your time. Now, we have to start all over again. I even made plane reservations. What a crock. Do not use these crooks.

My husband, daughter & I stayed at White Crane Court in Kissimmee, FL for one week back in March. I signed a rental agreement which quite clearly stated that the security deposit will be returned - well, I am still waiting! I have made several attempts to contact both the home owner & the management company, to no avail! The owner did not even bother to respond to my e-mails and the management company did not even have the courtesy to return my call. I find this to be despicable & unethical. Families save up their salaries in order to be able to go on vacation and something like this happens! I hope that no one else stays at this place and is subjected to the same treatment as my husband & I. The house itself wasn't even up to par, several tiles were broken & sharp on the bathroom floors - I did not complain, just kept quiet in order to try & have a pleasant vacation.

The owners and VRBO misrepresented themselves. Period. The water was undrinkable, the odor from the water coming from the sinks as well as the shower greeted everyone upon entering the "home". The owners left their belongings everywhere. The refrigerator was full of partially eaten food and drink. The owners left their shoes out in the master bedroom floor along with personal toiletries on the dresser. We lived out of our suitcases for 2 weeks because there was nowhere to put our things- both bedroom closets were filled with their junk as well, as all of the drawers in both bedrooms.

Called Shirley to make reservations. After she took all my information, she states that does not include taxes or cleaning fees. Took several call to get in touch with her. First stated wasn't available then stated was also stated that site says not including taxes and cleaning fees. This is not listed anywhere on the site. This is a switch and bait. I advise not to give out any information to this owner. A May Special - Any Week 1st- 28th $638 Total **Call Today ** . This is what is listed. Would not let me post without a date so put the date I spoke with her. Fall rates as low as $129.00 per night/ $800.00 weekly springs break rates - $195.00 nightly/ $1,295.00 weekly Spring rates as low as $149.00 nightly /$900.00 weekly summer rates as low as $169.00 nightly/ $1195.00 weekly. Nothing stating taxes and other fees. This is reported to VRBO.

We rented a condo in Daytona Beach Shores, pictures on the internet were fine. When we got to the condo, it was absolutely filthy. I had to virtually houseclean the place, there were broken screens,as well as, garbage disposal, dishwasher and coffeepot all broken. We did get the garbage disposal and dishwasher fixed after complaining. They should have paid us to stay in the place. Also, I find many property owners never return responses when you are inquiring about a property. I will never use VRBO again, it is a total ripoff.

In late August, we rented a home in Wildwood, New Jersey for a week with our handicapped son. Hurricane Irene hit the east coast the day we were supposed to travel there from Connecticut. The storm made it impossible to get to the house so we had to cancel. The landlord would only refund $380 out of $2,100 that we had paid out. VRBO would not help us out at all. They simply referred to their " terms and conditions policy". Being a third party provider was the excuse they hid behind. Do not book through this company! You have no recourse should anything go wrong.

My wife & I reserved this cabin, Snugglin Inn in Tennessee on 7/10/11 for 5 nights arriving on 12/27/11 until 01/01/2012. The owner charged our credit card $703.00 to reserve these dates, not a problem, but unfortunately we had to cancel and did so in writing and by phone on 10/6/11. The owner refuses to refund any of our money. We have disputed this with our credit card but the owner still refuses. The owner is stating that they didn't re-rent the cabin for these dates but their website clearly states that they did and it was unavailable for these dates. I have a print-out of this. The owner has clearly made double the money on this cabin for these dates and it is fraudulent and unethical.

I inquired about a home to rent through VRBO. They sent the my email of interest to someone other than the home owner. After emails, I thought were from the home owner, I rented the home and wired the $7,300 as stated on the web site and requested in the email. Only a week before the trip did we find out that all the emails had been internet fraud.

I rented house in August 2011 for January 2012, but had to cancel in September. The owner still won't refund and I came to find out the bank foreclosed on him. VRBO guarantee will not honor it and the owner was still allowed to advertise even though the property is now bank owned. The owner won't refund and the owner is in bankruptcy.

The place was great. It was only 2 minutes from Buckingham Palace but 5 months later I'm still waiting for our 250 British pounds deposit to be returned. I have been waiting and have written numerous emails to this fraud. The place has great reviews because VRBO only allows positive reviews. They do not allow for you to post anything negative about the deposit.

I made various inquiries pertaining to various properties in Park City, Utah. I received a reply from ** answering my question regarding a weekly rental rate and that the property was available for the desired dates. We continued to interchange messages and I proceeded to wire transfer the deposit of $3,282 on 29 Sept 11. The following day, I sent the provided contract signed, requesting a signed copy of owner returned.

We rented a studio in Nice, France thru VRBO. The studio was dirty. We had no assistance from owner or agency. The front door was malfunctioning while we stayed there for 3 weeks. It was never fixed. I wrote a poor review through VRBO, which they never published. And they refused to alert the next poor soul that books that studio in Nice by the Negresco hotel. The studio is owned by Jorge Reis and the studio is misrepresented to say the least.

My husband and I rented a property listed on VRBO in Vancouver, the owner's name is Dan Beegan. We put up a $500 dedposit which he was supposed to refund to us within two weeks after our departure. It has now been two months and we have not received any money back. The property owner keeps coming up with excuses - at first he was busy, then the Canadian postal services were on strike etc. He stated that since he once had to wait for a refund for 6 weeks, it was normal for us to still be waiting.

We normally book our vacation rentals through Vrbo and always have good experiences. This is one bad apple in the basket.

There were absolutely no cockroaches at 7 Lake Avenue during the time our family occupied the residence. The prevailing opinion was that they probably left long ago because they couldn't stand the oppressive dirt and grime that infiltrated the entire house. This house simply is not being maintained at all. The owner has discovered that he doesn't need to put money back into maintenance, or even routine upkeep.

The family was going to rent vacation home from perpetrator. I sent her $200 deposit check in September 2010. I had to cancel vacation plans for May 12-19, 2011 which was 6 months from now. I sent e-mail to perpetrator on October 9th, 2010 to explain we would not be able to use home at that time. She responded with either change dates or lose deposit $$. They live in England and cannot be contacted there, but use above address for home business. Her e-mail address is Sandra **.

I rented a vacation home in Seattle, advertised on VRBO.com from July 28 to August 7, 2010. The name of the owner is John and Deborah **. I paid $800 in security deposit and pet deposit as a guest of mine was traveling with three small dogs. Upon arrival at the property, it was obvious that it was not as advertised. The owner was living on the first floor with no noise control, there were renters in the garage, none of the windows in the living space opened making the house hot and uncomfortable, the house smelled old and musty, floors were in bad condition, rodent droppings in the kitchen, and appliances were broken. As this was a family vacation, we decided to just make the most of our time and spent limited time in the property.

Web-based company that does not screen who they are representing as owners to lease rental property. A woman, Gayle **, claimed to be an owner of a condo in Myrtle Beach that she was renting through VRBO. I provided payment on a condo for July 2010 and never heard from anyone again. There is no rental available to me and I am out of $700. The VRBO company is evasive and impossible to reach. You can not talk to a live person. The condo property, Ocean Forest Plaza in Myrtle Beach, allowed someone to advertise on their website a property that was not proven true. They should verify actual owners of properties or not allow use of their site as a referral. I would like my money returned but am unable to speak directly to anyone taking responsibility. I did file a complaint with the Myrtle Beach Police on 6/14/2010.

On March 1, 2009, we departed listing #**. By contract, we were supposed to receive our $150 deposit. Therefore on March 14, 2009, we should have received it. On March 16, 2009, I telephoned William ** and asked him when will we be receiving our deposit. He stated, "I mailed it to you already." After waiting for 1 week, I asked my husband James to call him. He stated to Jim, "I will look into it." On March 24, 2009 at 6:15PM, I telephoned again. William ** stated to me the following, "Your husband called us at 8:30PM last night and disturbed us! I sneezed out more than $150.00 (what does that mean, cocaine?) We are now out of town and on vacation." He hung up on me. My husband called again on March 26, 2009 and he spoke to William's wife, Melissa. She said, "I will look into it (she promptly hung up on my husband)." Finally, we received a check for $150 on April 3, 2009 and I hope the check is good!

Last year I booked a 10 nights condo through VRBO.com for my honeymoon and paid the half of the rent up in front. Then my fiance and I broke up and so he cancelled the flights - so couldn't even take the holiday. As soon as this happened I wrote to condo owner and he agreed to release the date and if the condo gets rebooked, he would give some of my money back. The condo has been rebooked for 9 nights but he has not given my money. I wrote to the VRBO and they said they can’t do anything and the case is considered to be closed.