VRBO.com

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
I did not ask to speak to a previous agent. How stupid is that? That is a complete fabrication. Agents are useless. I wanted to speak to an executive, Vice President or higher
Any business can claim "Oh it's policy" *** policy. THE POLICY IS UNFAIR AND UNREASONABLE. The Internet will be posted about this unreasonable company
Regards,
*** ***

Thank you for forwarding this consumers concernsUnfortunately we are unable to locate a traveler Linda SMalott in our system using the email address as *** ***If you could please provide us with the property ID number and/or this consumers reservation ID number we may be
able to further investigate this issueThank you

We understand the consumers frustration regarding the events they experienced with this vacation rental propertyWe are sorry to hear that their vacation plans did not go as expectedWe take complaints very seriously and truly appreciate this consumer taking the time to contact us
When we receive complaints, we encourage both parties to work toward a mutual resolutionWe have provided the vacation rental owner or property manager an opportunity to resolve the dispute by forwarding them the details of your complaintOur procedure is to note both sides of the situation and closely monitor accounts that have had a complaint filed
As an advertising medium, we are not able to mediate disputes. To do so would violate our terms and conditions. If a resolution cannot be reached after efforts to contact the advertiser regarding the situation, the consumer may need to consider other avenuesWe cannot advise the consumer on how they should proceed, and we are sorry for the negative experience they have had and that this dispute has not yet been resolved to their satisfaction
We want to assure you that we have taken appropriate action on this advertiser’s accountPlease note that due to privacy laws, we are not permitted to disclose any action taken regarding this situation
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Regarding Review Posting Case#***
Our reviews team has been working with this traveler to obtain proof of stay (rental agreement)According to our records as previously mentioned we have not received this information to dateBelow is the most recent email we have sent this consumer
***
You already sent in the proof of payment which we acceptedWe need the rental agreement which we have stated beforeThis is required and your review cannot post without itThe owner response is no longer showing on our site but I have included below for your recordsIf you have the rental agreement/contract, please send that in
Response Text:
It is upsetting that people who were not ever registered guests at out rental can randomly get online and write such hurtful thingsWe do everything in our power to provide a clean and beautiful home away from homeI can assure any prospective visitors that there is not a single syllable of this "review" that is trueThis is written by a member of our community who is in need of helpPlease look to the other reviewers as proof of the service we provideThank you
Best Regards,
***
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Complaint:
I am rejecting this response because: *** representative explained to me in March that the reason their algorithm assumed that I was taking payments outside of *** was because of all of the blank reservations on my listings. I explained this already in my complaint that *** Representative LAST NOVEMBER specifically instructed me to NOT use BLOCKED on my calendar to block out dates, but that I had to use RESERVATIONS to block out unavailable dates. I would encourage *** to listed to that recorded phone call and hear their customer service Representative specifically tell me to do this, which I did immediately after hanging up the phone with him (his name was ***). My restricted listings were all because of misinformation by "*** at *** who told me to use RESERVATION for my calendar to block out unavailable dates, which made the *** algorithm assume I was taking payments outside of ***. I have never done so and I would like to see any evidence that *** has to support that position. It is too bad that they will not hear anything that their customer tells that and focus instead on training their customer service Representatives who clearly do not know what they are doing in providing me information that caused my listings to because restricted. And apparently because I asked questions, they went so far as to lock me out so that I cannot even manage my active and upcoming reservations all the way into 2016. None of this makes any sense and it needs to get resolved
Regards,
*** ***

We apologize for the experience this consumer has had, it is not what we want any traveler to go through. However, at this time this advertiser does not meet our criteria for fraud Our records indicate we have contacted this consumer directly to see if we can provide any further assistance

I have been a customer of VRBO for years and paying what I consider to be way to much money for the service they provideI was up for renewal and found a coupon online showing a small discount and applied it to my renewalThe next I know I get an email that tells me it's for new accounts only, when I called them they told me it wasnt a valid coupon of there's ...they had just told me it was for new clients only ...????

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, *** ***
I will await their review of photos and wait for their responseas stated I have video's of the unit and if need be will burn them to cd and mail them to you

VRBO is a scam. It is owned by Expedia now and they are essentially using the same model of charging inflated fees to their customers. It is no longer a vacation rental by owner, it is vacation rentals by Expedia which now charges 9% on top of what you pay the vacation home owner. How they get an A+ rating by the Revdex.com is really a mystery. Especially since VRBO is actively being sued because of their deceptive business practices.

Hello!
I want to first say that I have been a VRBO customer for 8+ YEARS! This property has generated significant revenue to VRBO and much of what you identified in the screen shot urls were from may years ago when I originally setup the site per VRBO THEN INSTRUCTIONS! AS SUCH, I FIND YOUR EMAIL COMMUNICATION AND IMMEDIATE REMOVAL OF MY SITE ABSOLUTELY DISTASTEFUL AND UNACCEPTABLE - A COMPLETE LACK OF RESPECT FOR YOUR LONG-TERM CUSTOMERS!
REGARDLESS, I HAVE SPENT AN HOUR TRYING TO NAVIGATE THROUGH MULTIPLE SCREENS TO TRY AND FIND THE LANGUAGE YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE ADJUSTED PER YOUR MOST RECENT EVER CHANGING T&CS. I AM ALSO WRITING TO THE Revdex.com AND ATTORNEY GENERAL REGARDING YOUR TACTICS AND YOUR POLICY AND STRONG-ARM .
PLEASE CONFIRM THAT I MADE THE LANGUAGE CHANGES PER YOUR INSTRUCTIONS AND IMMEDIATELY REINSTATE THE SITE AS I HAVE OUTSTANDING RENTERS COMING IN FOR THE HOLIDAYS AND THEY NEED TO BE ABLE TO FIND MY SITE!!!!!!!
SINCERELY,
***
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On Fri, Dec 14, 2018 at 1:28 PM VRBO Customer Support wrote:
Dear ***,
We recently became aware that your listing VRBO-*** description page and inquiries indicate you are directing travelers to contact, book, or pay offline to avoid our online secure checkout system.
The text found to be in violation of our policy can be seen below:
Description
***
House Rules
***
Rates notes
***
Inquiry
***a G
*** Rental agreement
***
Per Section 9 of the Terms and Conditions of the site, travelers are required to pay the Traveler Service Fee for using our website to find and book your listing. It is not an optional fee and members cannot encourage travelers to avoid it. And per the HomeAway Marketplace Standards in the Terms and Conditions, all bookings must be processed through HomeAway Checkout. You have Online Booking enabled on your listing and guests do need to pay through the site so they can go through the HomeAway Checkout and pay the Traveler Service Fee. Presenting travelers options that would have them avoid the service fee is a violation of the Terms and Conditions and does make your listing subject to deactivation. Taking payments outside our reservation system means that travelers will no longer receive the benefit of the Book with Confidence Guarantee™.
Additionally, we do require that all communication between owner and traveler remain on the dashboard until a confirmed booking has occurred. Please refrain from giving out your contact information to travelers pre-booking; it is seen as an indication that the booking will be taken offsite.
Since your listing has messaging that violates our Terms and Conditions, we have deactivated your account until the messaging in your listing has been removed. Please be sure that all listings on your account are in compliance. We also request you immediately cease directing travelers offsite to contact, book or pay you outside of our reservation system.
In addition, I am writing to notify you that one or more of your photos did not meet our photo guidelines, and unfortunately we had to remove it from your listing VRBO/*** . I apologize for this inconvenience.
Photo 21,22 watermark
***
Below is a list of the reasons why photos may be taken off our site:
photo is copyrighted
photo displays a URL (a web address such as www.________.com)
photo is watermarked
photo contains a logo
photo is copied from another listing
photo contains contact information like an email address, physical address or phone number
photo is something other than a picture, such as a document, certificate, illustration, poster, or text
photo contains inappropriate content
photo is a collage of multiple images
photo is not related to your property or area
photo is blank
photo is a duplicate
We will review your photos again to make sure they meet our guidelines.
Once you have made the requested changes, or should you have any questions please reply to this email directly for assistance. Please note that Customer Service cannot assist with questions regarding this type of case via phone.
Best regards, ***
VRBO.com Customer Support

I agree with the reviews below. I rented a house, and two days before we were supposed to arrive, the manager called and said the house is not occupy-able. VBRO agent cancelled this rental and owner will not refund the money. VBRO has been no help in getting this money returned to me. They told me my bank needs to get the cashed checks back from the owner. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT rent from this company.

I reserved property online. Site said full refund if canceled within 24 hours. I spoke with manager of property, who said she would not process until I confirmed I wanted to proceed. I said I would advise by 36 hours. She said ok. I called, left message and wrote email via the site that we were not proceeding with booking and not to charge my credit card.
Then, there showed up a $399 vrbo "service" charge on my credit card. I NEVER received an email about this charge. Now I look up my vrbo account, and it shows up there as though I stayed in the property one night two days after I canceled.
It took me 40 minutes on phone with someone with thick Indian accent, to get the charge reversed. She said it looked like I stayed on the property one night on the second night after I canceled the booking.
This is an illegal and unethical business practice, proper for a class action.

I have been with VRBO for 10 years and up until now they were great to work with they have outsourced their customer service overseas and it clearly shows. I could not get a manager on the line after 1.5 hours on hold. They are holding my payments for 6 weeks and won't pay me until after my tenant moves in which is ridiculous. They are holding on the funds that are NOT theirs. This is crazy. They don't own or manage homes. They are collecting their commissions and these fee's should be released.
I will be leaving VRBO sadly. They must of sold out to another company that truly doesn't care their customers.

For 7 years, we have successfully managed our clients' properties by talking with guests PRIOR to finalizing a reservation and with a carefully drawn lease outlining the terms. This is done to protect the homeowner and also help guide the traveler. The new system with VRBO requires online booking and doesn't even allow us to contact the customer to have a discussion with them regarding the property. Overall the guest and homeowner experience has significantly suffered with higher fees and a decreased lever of customer service from vrbo. I am posting this review after a call today to vrbo as a property manager. They took away our ability to even see an inquiry's phone number or email and block out our number and/or email if we reply with it. This is very unfortunate as they used to be a great organization. I highly recommend everyone stays well away from VRBO.

Did not help to solve my dispute with the vacation rental website VRBO. Abandoned the case without an explanation or follow-up, even though our case was determined as one that would fall under their scope of work.

Lesson Learned and We Were Burned – Sept 2018
I had to quickly locate new lodging (due to a cancellation) within two days – as it was in another country (Vancouver, BC). I go to VRBO and locate a property and felt relieved to have found something on such short notice. My wife and I go to dinner and on our return, VRBO sent a splash screen to our phone telling us the property was not available on the dates requested. Back to the drawing board!
We locate another less desirable property, but we feel we have no choice. We request a reservation and go to bed thinking we have dodged a disaster.
On waking the next day, we have two messages from VRBO both of which say they are confirming lodging in Vancouver, BC on the same dates at two different properties. Our credit card has been charged for both properties! Imagine our confusion.
When we contacted VRBO, they essentially tell us:
1) Yes, they know about the splash screen and can see how that might be confusing but we should not have hit enter more than once (do not recall doing this) as that is what caused the splash screen to appear, and
2) Yes, they send this splash screen out even to the person who made the request and there are no safeguards in place to prevent this, and
3) Yes, VRBO will reserve two different properties on the same dates for the same person – there are no safeguards in place to prevent such an error, and
4) No, even though the property was requested less than 24 hours ago and is obviously an error, VRBO will not cancel. Take it up with the owner.
5) Thank you for using VRBO.
We contact the property owner and his cancellation policy allows him to refund 50% of the total since we were cancelling less than 7 days prior to arrival (we made the request within 2 days of arrival and tried to cancel as soon as we were made aware of the error – not really harming this property owners listing as it was less than 10 hours off market). The property owner was not willing to take on the monetary loss of VRBO's inadequate software. The property owner did agree to return all of our money if his property were to lease during those exact same dates or if VRBO would agree they were the cause of this problem.
In the end, VRBO did not agree that they caused this problem. The owner did not lease his property for those exact dates (or at least he never replied to our inquiry) and therefore, we are having to pay for VRBO’s technical deficiencies. I suspect our money will go to the property owner and not toward fixing the problem. Beware of these circumstances and the end cost to you. I would suggest going somewhere else for your vacation lodging as we spent way too much of our vacation on VRBO problem solving. Lesson learned and we were burned.
But most importantly, know that VRBO makes contacting them difficult, long periods of being on “hold”, and long pauses between answering questions when you do finally get them on the phone. It’s as if when you ask a question they put you on hold (without saying so) to ask someone for the answer and then they come back to the phone. We were constantly asking “are you there?”, because there would be no response to the conversation.
In the end, if you have a dispute, VRBO will send you canned text responses through their system platform, letting you know how much they care, but the reality is that they take no responsibility and leave disputes to be resolved between you and the property owner… “you can reach out to the property owner” is the best they can do.
I encourage you to go somewhere else for your vacation lodging unless you want to spend your vacation (like we did) trying to reach out to the property owner and VRBO with this obvious error/flaw in the system. It's so hard to believe it can be this bad until it happens to you!

Do not fall for purchasing VRBO’s insurance. I did and it turned out to be worthless. We were given a mandatory evacuation from the State of South Carolina during Hurricane Florence. By state law any renters must evacuate. The owner we dealt with had no leniency and refused to give us any money. We lost 5 out of 7 days. I contacted VRBO they told me that the insurance they recommended on their site covered Mandatory evacuations. They do not even know what they are selling and pushing on their own website. The insurance is issued from CSA Travel Protection. VRBO said I should file a complaint against the owner of the property. I did through a reply to their email. They came back and told me that I could not file a complaint. Lesson learned: VRBO will not back you or help you when you are dissatisfied.

Vrob does not keep their guarantee, when there is a dispute with the owner of the house about the security deposit, and you PROVE you are in the right they say your on your own. They just file it and that's it. How can you ever get money back from a delusional homeowner?

As a property owner and vrbo customer for over 10 years.... I truly wish we had an alternative. What pushed me to write this review today is after my call to owner customer service. For 10 years, we have successfully managed our property by talking with guests PRIOR to finalizing a reservation. Good for both the traveler and home owner. The new system security requirements at vrbo will not present travelers contact info until you accept the reservation. Payment gets processed then you have deal with refunds which are challenging to get processed.

Overall the guest and homeowner experience has significantly suffered with higher fees and a decreased lever of customer service from vrbo.

I am posting this review after a call today to vrbo as a homeowner. The rep could not provide the information, wold not transfer a call to a manager as she stated... "that would hurt my stats and performance review" So.... the agent preferred to manage her needs versus those of my potential guest or me as a paying homeowner.

Very unfortunate as they could be a great organization, if they can ever get the concept of service understood.

Very frustrating.
I found a property I was interested in booking and contacted the property manager thru the VRBO site to clarify their cancellation policy. No response after 3 days and three messages. I called the Property Management company only to be told that they never received my messages and that the prices listed on VRBO was not correct (in fact, it was about half of the correct price!). The company mentioned that VRBO does this quite often! How can they do this?

I've advertised my vacation rental cabin with VRBO for 6 years. In 2018 they began
"a new business model" which restricted my access to my customers, they took over the booking and payments. At first customers were given choice of how to pay, now it's credit card only, VRBO takes a $60 fee, and then holds the remained of my money sometime for months until the customer checks in. Even then I cannot clearly see that they are transferring my money from VRBO to my bank account. If I can find an alternative I will quit VRBO. They are a monopoly taking advantage of owners.