VRBO.com

For the better part of a week now, my wife who is the owner and manager of a property that typically does a great deal of business during this time of the year has had problems with her listing. She has discovered that potential customers are unable to book and the problem is clearly systemic as she has normally booked spring break in its entirety. She was made aware of this issue by guests trying, but unsuccessfully being able to book. She has been told EVERY DAY for the past week that there is a problem. NO KIDDING! Great analysis. In the meantime, she has lost income for the busiest and most profitable time of the year. Is VRBO going to pay the bills? Not likely, but they sure did receive their annual fee from her!!!! This happens on average 4-5 times annually - actually probably more. She realized this problem as a future guest who has repeatedly tried to book the home was able to let her know. How many bookings have been lost? On average these next two months have been booked 75-85% of the time. In my opinion, VRBO’s failure to act in a timely manner, and this IT situation (but they promise they are working on it) have existed for WHO KNOWS HOW LONG, but has cost her exponentially. They appear to be money hungry and not really committed to taking care of their customers. I post this after 3-years of putting up with this type of treatment.

What a rip-off! Booked a condo for my family at Hilton Head for May of 2019. They charged $152.00 for the booking and all they offer is the website! The property booking agent then charged a reservation fee of $50.00 more. Renters should look at their website, but never book through them, and then suffer an additional reservation fee on top of their ridiculous charge!

Our rental situation with Carol *** in the Phoenix area was a nightmare. We were looking for a rental through VRBO that allowed pets. I connected with VRBO and asked if “pets allowed” meant just dogs (we have two cats). The response was that “dogs only” was used if they didn’t want cats. So we thought we were following the rules when we brought our two cats along with us. We moved in, stayed two nights in a substandard rental, and I wrote to tell the owner that we had our two cats, explained that they are declawed, spayed so no spraying, Siamese which is as close to hypoallergenic as a cat can be, and they sleep on their favorite towel during the day and in their carriers at night. The owner called us “blatant liars” numerous times until she told us to be out of the rental in four hours. We offered to pay a pet fee for the misunderstanding and in addition volunteered to pay a cleaning fee of $200. Numerous hysterical untrue, unstable messages followed from the owner until we contacted an Arizona deputy for advice, sharing messages that she had sent to us. We were advised to stay since we had not done anything wrong.
Carol *** kept all our money for a four week stay although we stayed only three nights in a dirty, cluttered rental. The VRBO rep we spoke to said it would be ethical for her to return some of our fee but she did not, instead continuing with hysterically untrue, ridiculous statements.
VRBO did nothing to help us, nothing. We called and asked that VRBO contact Carol *** to tell her to stop contacting us after we left but they did nothing. We also contacted VRBO through HomeAway.legal twice but received no response.
My husband is the kindest man on the planet and has serious health issues. The menacing threats caused a very unwarranted and stressful situation for him. I hold Carol *** and VRBO responsible.
We urge everyone to stay away from VRBO, especially Carol *** in the Phoenix area.

BEWARE! The service fee that is charged is anywhere from 6-12% according to the customer service rep I spoke with and it's like playing a slot machine--you ever know what you're gonna get!
I recently booked through VRBO for a rental on Oahu 07/11-07/17 and was charged a service fee of $422 for a 6 night stay. I considered moving the vacation dates a few days after I booked and put in the next 6 days to check availability and noticed the service fee was only $282--same place, same number of nights! I called VRBO to ask them why and ask them to honor this lower price on my reservation. I was told no and that the computer randomly picks a percentage between 6-12% and because it was computer generated there was nothing they could do about it. Also on a hunch I went back onto the VRBO website this morning and put in the 07/17-07/23 dates and lo and behold the service fee is up to $422. Imagine that?! But if I chose dates 08/01-08/07 it's only $282. So what additional service am I getting paying $140 more than the family coming in the 6 days after me? That would be none.
Charge a service fee--I get it, this is a business. But make it the same for everyone on the same rental for the same number of night. Simple. Period.

I have been a very satisfied customer of VRBO since Expedia recent bought the company, I was told Without advance notification, the company began collecting a 9% service fee from all online bookingsI feel robbed in a sense I feel that I must reduce my rate, to make up for the increased consumer expenseThe added cost to the consumer virtually triples my annual rental expense
I also was promised search placement by seniority, when I began advertising with VRBO, which would put me on the top of the list I now am buried in the search

We appreciate this consumer's comments and their business.Our #goal at HomeAway is to drive more bookings to our owners and property managersYour success is our success, as it has always been in this business.The vacation rentals industry is shifting and they are now considered a
mainstream travel optionAs a consequence, travelers are expecting more.The service fee is a fee charged to the traveler and is calculated on a sliding scale of 4% to 9% of the rental amount, excluding the deposit or taxesThe charge applies to the cost of the rental and will not exceed $The service fee helps cover the cost of running the HomeAway websites, including features such as 24/customer support and marketing efforts to ensure a quality experience on our sites for both travelers and owners.Additionally, travelers that book and pay through HomeAway are eligible for the Book with Confidence Guarantee.More information about the fee can be found at these links:***
***
Our records show that we contacted this consumer directly to address their concerns

Subject: Complaint *** Hi vrbo has agreed to credit my account the fee they charged meI'd like to redact this complaint. Thank you! *** *** ###-###-####

Thank you very much for contacting us regarding this matter
According to our records we do see that we did discuss this with this consumer in case#*** back on 9/26/and that our Customer Support Team did transfer the call and connect the consumer with Vacation Rent
Payments
Vacation Rent Payments (VRP) is our third party credit card processing companyHomeAway is not directly involved in the disbursement of these fundsWhen a traveler books and pays via credit card through our site as a security measure the advertiser initially does have to wait days for the first transaction to be disbursed
In this particular situation it sounds like the disbursement may have been delayedWe do have to defer this consumer to VRP since we do not have visibility into this matterWe do suggest that the consumer contact them directly regarding this complaint.
VRP can be reached at ###-###-####

We appreciate this consumer bringing this to our attention, and we certainly do apologize for any frustration that this issue may have caused themTo clarify, any payments made through our site are processed by our partner, VacationRentPayment (VRP), which is a third party credit card
processing company.. It appears that the 'billing department' the consumer is referring to is actually VRP Using the 'Request to Book' button on a listing requires the consumer to enter a credit card so that if the booking is accepted, the card can be charged. On the page where a traveler enters their credit card information, there is a message that states: "The owner has hours to confirm your reservation or declineA temporary hold will be placed on your card to ensure sufficient fundsYour bank's policy determines when this hold is released."According to our records, this consumer submitted two requests to book under Reservation IDs *** and *** Both requests expired after hours because the advertiser did not accept or decline them. When a booking request is declined or expires, no charge is made for the requested amount and the hold request is withdrawn. The amount of time it takes for a bank or credit card company to remove the hold request varies based on individual bank policiesHold requests are usually resolved within - business days.After reviewing the case and call handling of this consumers contact with us, our agent did not identify the two sets of charges, for which we apologize and have provided the necessary coaching to our staff as to avoid this in the future The consumer was then transferred from HomeAway Customer Support to a VacationRentPayment representative. Should this consumer have any issues with how this matter was handled by the VRP representative we do recommend that they contact them directly. They can be contacted on at ***

I lost two cabins and one damaged in the Gatlinburg fires.I called VRBO to ask if they would put a hold on my subscription untill we can rebuild.I was told that there was nothing they could do and they do business all over the world and disasters just happen.We pay over $a year in subscription fees.Other providers such as Charter,Dish,Airbnb and Verizion have all worked with us.When there is a federal disaster you might want to help your vacation home owners since they are your business
Mike W***

VRBO refusing to print my complaint because I did not stay at the property, but the owner double booked! In early May 2015, when we first contacted Abbey Lane Cottages through VRBO, we inquired about two accommodations, The Captain's Quarters and Cozy Cottage After consideration and numerous emails with the manager, we booked the Cozy CottageWe sent our $deposit and signed a very detailed contractWe received the formal rental confirmation VRBO on May 27th for Thursday August 27th to Sunday August 30th
When we arrived in Picton on August 27th, Abbey Lane's manager told us the Cozy Cottage was not availableLater, he made a passing reference to the fact that we were only renting for nightsHe also said he felt entitled to switch us to the Captain's Quarters because of our initial inquiryWhen we objected, the manager reacted with disrespect and belligerenceIn a underhanded attempt to mollify us, he displayed his handicap and listed his numerous ailmentsIt was with reluctance that he showed us the Captain's Quarters, and it was clear we were imposingThe situation was extremely uncomfortable, and the Captain's Quarters did not meet with our expectations
We took the refund of our deposit and went to the local Chamber of Commerce for redressTheir representatives told us Abbey Lane Cottages were no longer members of their organization because too many complaints had been lodged against themThese Chamber representatives were very courteous and kind enough to help us find suitable accommodations on a very busy weekend

Complaint:
I am rejecting this response because:
Regards,
*** ***
I fully understand the position of HomeawayHowever, they offer no recourse that a renter can take against an owner who "flakes out," As a renter, I am obligated to put up a deposit to reserve the home, which I lose if I cancel under certain circumstancesBut if the owner pulls out of the deal, there appears to be no penaltyI am still angry over this situation and just want to make sure that it doesn't happen to someone elseThe OWNERS should also have to make a monetary commitment that they would lose if they pull outIf every owner did this to every client, Homeaway would quickly be out of businessSo Homeaway should make it their business to monitor their owners closelyThis particular homeowner should NEVER AGAIN be allowed to offer up her house for rent!

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me
Regards,
*** ***

VRBO does not acknowledge their Book with Confidence GuaranteeThey do not respect their customersWe rented a house for a sporting eventWe began receiving threatening and bizarre emails from the property managerHe accused us of destroying his garage door, exceeding the occupancy limit, and receiving nuisance violations from the cityHe ended up evicting usAnd threatening to send the policeHe locked us out of the property when we went to get our belongings to vacate, as directedHe told VRBO that he had boxed up and mailed all of our belongingsVRBO told us that we needed to get outWe had no where to go and were traveling with childrenWe are two Moms and childrenThe property manager kept our deposit to replace the garage door that we "destroyed" even though VRBO had photos of a completely undamaged garage doorOne employee put us up in a hotelAnd VRBO has since told me that was in errorThey did nothing to help me get the money back for the nights after my illegal evictionThey did nothing to help me get my deposit backVRBO charges money for their "guarantee" but it's a jokeI was told numerous times that I cannot prove that I didn't do the things I was accused of doingI guess in America we are no longer innocent until proven guiltyThe employees knew we were traveling with children and treated us like criminalsWorst travel experience of my lifeI will never use VRBO againTheir solution: remove the property from their siteBut they did nothing to help me recoup any of my money or my depositStay at a hotelI've never been evicted from a hotel beforeNor has a hotel ever charged me a deposit and kept it based on lies and allegations

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to meRegards, *** ***

Vrbo has now done three things in the last months to increase their profits with no consideration of the home owners that have made this site successful Number one they have raised their prices about 20% each of the past two years The latest in the last six months Number they now are putting other web sites on my site, such as hotels.com, among others which simply takes traffic away from vrbo and my site in particular Number now they have decided to charge an extra charge to my customers, just because they can to make more money What the new short sighted vrbo management doesn't realize is that the site exists because of the owners and the owners supply all the listing for them Now they are cheating and tripple dipping Vrbo should be ashamed of their new practices!!
Sincerely,
Mitchell L***

The Carefree Rental Guarantee provided protection to this traveler against internet fraud, material misrepresentation, wrongful denial of entry and wrongful deposit loss. The Terms and Conditions of the guarantee, agreed to by the consumer when purchased, state that the product only protects the rental amount Although the issue was a serious one, as the consumer indicated they received a full refund, they are not eligible to request reimbursement under the Guarantee. However, similar to insurance products, the consumer was protected by the product should any of the outlined incidents have occurred

Thank you for bringing this consumers concerns to our attentionAccording to our records this consumer reached out to us in case#***We have asked the *** team that oversees this area to assist us with a formal reply to the Revdex.comPlease allow a couple of days for that formal reply to come
through the Revdex.com portal, thank you

We apologize for any frustration caused by the introduction of our service fee and appreciate this consumer's custom The service fee is a fee charged to the traveler and is calculated on a sliding scale of 4% to 9% of the rental amount, excluding the deposit or taxesThe charge applies
to the cost of the rental and will not exceed $The service fee helps cover the cost of running the HomeAway websites, including features such as 24/customer support and marketing efforts to ensure a quality experience on our sites for both travelers and ownersAdditionally, when you book and pay through HomeAway, you are eligible for the Book with Confidence Guarantee.The service fee is itemized (along with other fees like cleaning or pet fees and taxes) in a quote and in the checkout process. It is presented to the traveler before payment is made Again, we appreciate this consumer using HomeAway to find and book their properties each yearAs a return customer, you may have noticed the improvements to the site that have made the booking experience more convenient and safe. As we move forward, we are asking both sides to bear some of the cost for the services we provide. The service fee would only be refunded if the owner cancelled the reservation and issued a full refund

Thank you for reaching out to us with this consumers additional concernsAccording to our records this was a technical issue not a issue of our Security team, nor that of our Trust & Security team This technical issue was brought to the attention of our technical team the same day as this consumer experienced the issue and was routed incorrectly to the Trust & Security TeamTo speak to the security concern of this consumer, at no time was there any highly sensitive information exposed to this consumerWhat occurred was this consumer (owner) had visibility into another consumer (traveler) accountThe traveler account was showing a traveler email address and inquiries to propertiesAt no time was any secure information other than the travelers email address exposedThis travelers email address is visible to this owner on their dashboard under circumstances as wellWe certainly can understand this consumers concerns as this is not our sites behaviorThank fully this technical issue was resolved with in a few hours of it being identified by the tech teamAgain we apologize for this experience