VRBO.com

I booked a property through VRBO & purchased a cancellation policy through them. When I needed to cancel the property because of military drill dates being changed they gave me the run around for weeks. Surprise- the cancellation policy only covers with a commanding officer writing a note about leave being revoked OR my husband needs to be leaving for military orders for a natural disaster. Thats it! Now Im 2 weeks away from the vacation date that we cant attend & they're saying I have to mail in a claim if I want to fight something that isnt listed exactly like in their policy. So now that Ive been put off this long I only have two weeks to try to get this claim submitted & answered whether I can get my $1800 back or not. So in the meantime theres a possibility that I wont hear anything back at all & then the vacation date will have passed already. I could at least try to get some family in the condo so we wouldn't completely lose all of our money & the property would get used but at the rate everyone has moved to help me get this cancelled-Im sure I just have to lose the $1800! so if youre military then be careful!

Horrible company to deal with. I requested 8 different homes for three days in October. Each one was listed as available but none actually were. But my credit card was still billed a fee for each request. Never doing business here again.

I stayed in a property in London in December. While I was there, I rebooked the same property for a later trip in March. I paid my deposit. On arrival back in the US, I tried to make the rest of the payment online. Despite multiple calls to the bank to assure there was nothing awry (there wasn't) VRBO refuses to accept payment. So I have paid the deposit, but they are not allowing me to pay the remainder. I have spent over three hours on the phone, yesterday and today, being bounced back and forth, and no-one can help me. I already have my airline tickets. Disgraceful. I will not use VRBO again.

We thank this consumer for their comments.  We are an online marketplace bringing advertisers of vacation rentals and travelers together.  We take no role in the reservation process and the vetting of potential guests is the responsibility of the advertiser.The damage deposit for this...

consumer's guests was set up to automatically be refunded 7 days after checkout.   After the stay, a notification is sent to the consumer asking if they wish to refund the deposit immediately, report damage or delay the refund.  The deposit was refunded as scheduled.   Payments made through the site are processed by a company called HolidayRentPayment (HRP), with whom the consumer has an account.  When the issue was raised, HRP attempted to cancel the refund but it had already cleared.  Unfortunately, we cannot recover funds that have already cleared and we apologize for any confusion we may have caused.

I am a seasonal vacation rental owner. I have been listed on VRBO for several years, at the beginning it was a great source for my seasonal rental in our small rural setting. Just recently VRBO has imposed a booking fee that my guest are forced to pay at the time of booking. There was very little effort made on VRBO's behalf to clearly make homeowners aware in advance of this new fee. I have called customer service multiple times and was told that if I tried to find a way around the HUGE extra fee to my guest that I would be removed from the site. Except I paid a huge yearly fee to advertise with no promise made from me to use VRBO's payment system or booking system. I am signed up with online payments and bookings with them. I have managed to stop online bookings, but I am not able to stop online payments which is built into the "Instant Quote". After many attempts to end my online payments with VRBO I am trapped. I just spent 57 minutes on hold to customer service to be told that I needed to call back at a later time. I never signed a single agreement with VRBO to use them exclusively for my bookings or method of payments. If I am paying a yearly subscription and a 3% processing fee why should my guests need to pay for a booking fee? This is a scam and a breach of contract. This needs to be stopped, there are thousands of complaints online that are in the last 60 days from vacation homeowners being bullied by this large corporation.

Thank you for your additional comments.The only additional fee charged to this consumer was our HomeAway Service Fee, which as previously explained went into effect 2/1/2016. This is not a refundable fee. According to our records this traveler entered into a contract through our site for a booking Mar 18 - 21, 2016 and was applicable for the HomeAway service fee. The vacation rental home owner also explained to this consumer that this fee went into effect and also explained to this consumer that they also received notification from HomeAway regarding this new service fee. We notified all of our advertisers that this service fee would be implemented much in advance of it rolling outWe do see that the vacation rental homeowner tried to refund the total amount paid to avoid the consumer from paying the HomeAway service fee which is a violation by the vacation rental home owner/advertiser. Even though the consumer and the owner took their payment outside our system (via personal check) this fee is non refundable.

Complaint[redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
The most important detail of this issue is that there was a huge mistake on the part of VRBO (that they do admit) their mistake occurred on January 4th
I purchased the annual classic subscription on January 1st online. The next business day, Jan 4th  I called into VRBO to discuss how this new service would work in regards to my listing, the LUXURY MOUNTAIN RETREAT - I have only had one active listing at a time. We discussed in detail this specific listing and its reservations. I was informed that reservations that were made prior to this subscription would be still subject to the pay per booking fee. We even looked at the reservations for this listing .SO- the sales rep did NOT notice at this time that the classic subscription was accidentally credited to an old inactive listing. It was not until mid February that I noticed I was still being charged the pay per booking fees on reservations made after Jan 1st.
I have been double charged by VRBO and am requesting the pay per booking fees on 3 reservations be returned to me. It adds up to over $850. that is a lot of money to a working mother.  
On Feb 16th, they said they were unable to move the subscription to the correct listing so they would need to refund it and re-charge it the correct listing. This was done but they refused to give me the fees back- they at first tried to say they could only give them back to the traveler which makes no sense at all. I asked WHY I would ever buy a subscription when the money would just be paid by the traveler.
 
Thanks so much for your attention to this matter.
 
Sincerely,
 
[redacted]
 
 
 
 
 
Regards,
[redacted]

VRBO is one of the worst companies I have ever had to deal with. First, they don't hire enough employees to handle telephone calls. Their system has plenty of flaws which directly affect the 'ratings' they have imposed on their paying customers - the HOMEOWNERS. Inquiries come into my mailbox hours after VRBO receives them. I am 'penalized' for having 'poor' response rate. Their only objective is to do everything they can for the vacationer and nothing for the person renting the property. They allow renters to review properties they use, but do not allow rental home owners to review renters. Their prices are outrageous, their 'layers and layers' of security are inconvenient, to say the least, to the person who pays for the ad. If you're not strapped to a telephone, many times you cannot receive their 'verification codes' so you're locked out of your ad. (Try getting a text in a remote place w/no data service anywhere around.) They have taken it upon themselves to 'rate' the owner of the property and have mucked up their website with all sorts of tips on how to respond faster; how to get more inquiries; how to get more rentals. They seem desperate for $ even though they must be worth billions considering what they charge! I didn't ask for any of this! I just want a place to advertise my rental property. Once contact is made with a potential renter, VRBO should STAY OUT OF IT! This is a MISERABLE company to have to deal with! I hope someone opens a new website SOON that puts them totally out of business!

Thank you for contacting us regarding this consumer complaint, we do hope that we will be able to resolve this issue for this consumer.According to our records this consumer has contacted us directly about this issue in our internal case# [redacted] concerning a review from a traveler whom the...

consumer declined the reservation for and states never booked or stayed at the property.According to our procedure and our Reviews guidelines this review is in dispute status. The review is not posted to this consumer advertisement unless the dispute is found in favor of the traveler. The traveler has been asked to provide "proof of stay" to date we have not received the necessary documents to post this review.We do hope that helps resolve this issue for this consumer.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I can't how it is not a security issue and those affected not notified.  I was able to see someone else's password protected email.  I do not know whether anyone could see mine.  Why do passwords exist if it is not meant to imply that the email is safe communication not accessible to others?  At the very least, those affected should have been notified so they could review their inbox and see if it contained any personal information.
Regards,
[redacted]

Thank you for your recent contact. We apologize for the delay in our response. According to our records this consumer was sent notification multiple times that they were in violation of our Non Fair Market policy. ...

Pay-per-booking listings are required to use our payment platform. This consumer was sent an communications explaining that the activity associated with their account (phone and email inquiries, quote requests, booking requests compared to confirmed bookings) indicated a violation of our requirements for pay-per-booking listings. Since that time our company has actually formally dismissed this advertiser. Pursuant to our Terms and Conditions, we can no longer allow them to advertise on our sites. [redacted] They also have been notified that any future attempts to advertise on our sites will result in removal of the advertisement(s) and forfeiture of payment.    [redacted] | Trust & Security Lead [redacted]

This consumer has two separate cases with us regarding VRBO.com #[redacted]
1) According to our records this consumer filed a formal property complaint in Case#[redacted]. In regards to this formal property complaint, this complaint is not against HomeAway Inc.
We cannot...

comment on this consumer/traveler’s complaint, because it appears that this complaint is not with our online advertising service, but appears to be the result of a marketplace transaction between this consumer and the owner or manager of an individual vacation home rented by that owner or manager to the public. We are in no way a party to the agreement or contract between this consumer traveler and the owner manager, and cannot solve this consumer’s complaint. Our advertising service is an online site for owners to advertise and travelers to find vacation homes to rent, but we are never involved in the transaction between the traveler/consumer and the landlord/property manager. See the Terms and Conditions below that the consumer/traveler and landlord/property manager agreed to about our role here. Therefore, this complaint is incorrectly being associated with HomeAway Inc, and it should be associated with the landlord/property manager.
Section 1 of our Terms and Conditions http://www.homeaway.com/info/about-us/legal/terms-conditions:
“The Site is a Venue and We are Not a Party to any Rental Transaction.
We urge all users to be responsible about their use of this Site and any transaction entered into as a result of either listing a property or renting a property. We do not own or manage, nor can we contract for, any vacation rental property listed on the Site. Instead, the Site acts as a venue to allow homeowners and property managers who advertise on our Site (each, a “member”) to offer for rent in a variety of pricing formats, a specific vacation rental property to potential renters (each, a “traveler” and, collectively with a member, the “users”). We are not involved in any transaction between travelers and members even though we may from time to time provide tools that relate to a booking, such as a tool to enable a traveler to enter into a transaction to lease a specific property directly from a member. As a result, any part of an actual or potential transaction between a traveler and a member, including the quality, safety or legality of the properties advertised, the truth or accuracy of the listings (including the content thereof or any property or guest book review), the ability of members to rent a vacation property or the ability of travelers to pay for vacation rental properties are solely the responsibility of each user.
We are also not responsible for the condition of the vacation rental properties listed on our Site or the compliance with laws, rules or regulations that may be applicable to any vacation rental property in any jurisdiction.
Finally, while we do take certain measures with a goal to assist users to avoid potentially fraudulent or other illegal activity of which we become aware, we assume no liability or obligation to take any such measures or actions. In the event we do provide warnings or messages to users about any such activity, we do not warrant that such messages or accurate or that such messages will reach any or all users they should have reached in a timely manner or at all or that such messages or measures will prevent any harm, result or action."
2) According to our records this consumer has been working with our reviews team in a separate Case #[redacted] in order to post a review of VRBO.com #[redacted]. It has been communicated to this consumer what is required since the advertiser disputed the review. It appears that we are awaiting further documentation from this consumer.

This complaint is not against HomeAway Inc.We cannot comment on this consumer/traveler’s complaint,
because it appears that this complaint is not with our online advertising
service, but appears to be the result of a marketplace transaction between this
consumer and the owner or...

manager of an individual vacation home rented by that
owner or manager to the public. We are in no way a party to the agreement or
contract between this consumer traveler and the owner manager, and cannot solve
this consumer’s complaint. Our advertising service is an online site for owners
to advertise and travelers to find vacation homes to rent, but we are never
involved in the transaction between the traveler/consumer and the
landlord/property manager. See the Terms and Conditions below that the
consumer/traveler and landlord/property manager agreed to about our role here.
Therefore, this complaint is incorrectly being associated with HomeAway Inc,
and it should be associated with the landlord/property manager.Section 1 of our Terms and Conditions http://www.homeaway.com/info/about-us/legal/terms-conditions:“The Site is a Venue and We are Not a Party to any Rental
Transaction.We urge all users to be responsible about their use of this
Site and any transaction entered into as a result of either listing a property
or renting a property. We do not own or manage, nor can we contract for, any
vacation rental property listed on the Site. Instead, the Site acts as a venue
to allow homeowners and property managers who advertise on our Site (each, a “member”)
to offer for rent in a variety of pricing formats, a specific vacation rental
property to potential renters (each, a “traveler” and, collectively with a
member, the “users”). We are not involved in any transaction between travelers
and members even though we may from time to time provide tools that relate to a
booking, such as a tool to enable a traveler to enter into a transaction to
lease a specific property directly from a member. As a result, any part of an
actual or potential transaction between a traveler and a member, including the
quality, safety or legality of the properties advertised, the truth or accuracy
of the listings (including the content thereof or any property or guest book
review), the ability of members to rent a vacation property or the ability of
travelers to pay for vacation rental properties are solely the responsibility
of each user. 
We are also not responsible for the condition of the vacation rental properties listed on our Site or the compliance with laws, rules or regulations that may be applicable to any vacation rental property in any jurisdiction.Finally, while we do take certain measures with a goal to assist users to avoid potentially fraudulent or other illegal activity of which we become aware, we assume no liability or obligation to take any such measures or actions. In the event we do provide warnings or messages to users about any such activity, we do not warrant that such messages or accurate or that such messages will reach any or all users they should have reached in a timely manner or at all or that such messages or measures will prevent any harm, result or action."According to our records this consumer also filed a formal property complaint against this advertiser (case[redacted]) As part of that formal complaint process we did reach out to the advertiser on behalf of this consumer in order to try to get the two parties to settle their dispute. We however do NOT mediate; we simply try our best to put the two parties together to work the situation out if possible. We also closely monitor accounts that have had formal property complaints filed. Our policy is to carefully document both sides of a dispute, and keep track of all complaints submitted. When a pattern clearly develops where an advertiser is causing problems for our travelers, we do not hesitate to remove that member from our site. . I assure you we have taken the appropriate action in regards to this complaint.

This complaint is not against HomeAway Inc.
We cannot comment on this consumer/traveler’s complaint, because it appears that this complaint is not with our online advertising service, but appears to be the result of a marketplace transaction between this consumer and the owner or manager of...

an individual vacation home rented by that owner or manager to the public. We are in no way a party to the agreement or contract between this consumer traveler and the owner manager, and cannot solve this consumer’s complaint. Our advertising service is an online site for owners to advertise and travelers to find vacation homes to rent, but we are never involved in the transaction between the traveler/consumer and the landlord/property manager. See the Terms and Conditions below that the consumer/traveler and landlord/property manager agreed to about our role here. Therefore, this complaint is incorrectly being associated with HomeAway Inc, and it should be associated with the landlord/property manager.Section 1 of our Terms and Conditions http://www.homeaway.com/info/about-us/legal/terms-conditions:
“The Site is a Venue and We are Not a Party to any Rental Transaction.
We urge all users to be responsible about their use of this Site and any transaction entered into as a result of either listing a property or renting a property. We do not own or manage, nor can we contract for, any vacation rental property listed on the Site. Instead, the Site acts as a venue to allow homeowners and property managers who advertise on our Site (each, a “member”) to offer for rent in a variety of pricing formats, a specific vacation rental property to potential renters (each, a “traveler” and, collectively with a member, the “users”). We are not involved in any transaction between travelers and members even though we may from time to time provide tools that relate to a booking, such as a tool to enable a traveler to enter into a transaction to lease a specific property directly from a member. As a result, any part of an actual or potential transaction between a traveler and a member, including the quality, safety or legality of the properties advertised, the truth or accuracy of the listings (including the content thereof or any property or guest book review), the ability of members to rent a vacation property or the ability of travelers to pay for vacation rental properties are solely the responsibility of each user.
We are also not responsible for the condition of the vacation rental properties listed on our Site or the compliance with laws, rules or regulations that may be applicable to any vacation rental property in any jurisdiction.Finally, while we do take certain measures with a goal to assist users to avoid potentially fraudulent or other illegal activity of which we become aware, we assume no liability or obligation to take any such measures or actions. In the event we do provide warnings or messages to users about any such activity, we do not warrant that such messages or accurate or that such messages will reach any or all users they should have reached in a timely manner or at all or that such messages or measures will prevent any harm, result or action."According to our records this consumer also filed a formal property complaint against this advertiser (case #[redacted] As part of that formal complaint process we did reach out to the advertiser on behalf of this consumer in order to try to get the two parties to settle their dispute. We however do NOT mediate; we simply try our best to put the two parties together to work the situation out if possible. We also closely monitor accounts that have had formal property complaints filed. Our policy is to carefully document both sides of a dispute, and keep track of all complaints submitted. When a pattern clearly develops where an advertiser is causing problems for our travelers, we do not hesitate to remove that member from our site. . I assure you we have taken the appropriate action in regards to this complaint.This consumer also states that they purchased the Carefree Rental Guarantee.  This product is designed to provide protection to a traveler should they encounter an issue so serious that remaining at the property is not feasible.  A non-functioning hot tub would not be covered by this product and is the responsibility of the person or persons advertising the property.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response the review does not meet the review guidelines of vrbo the review hurts my business and is not true 
the review states that I am a criminal and that I secretly record my guests , that is not true and if you read this you would not rent my cottage
both statements are not inline with the review guideline of vrbo 
again if I secretly record my customers I would not have any customers , 
involveRegards,
[redacted]

[redacted].com strives to provide a secure online marketplace for owners to advertise their vacation rental properties and for travelers to research an extensive catalog of rental options. [redacted] has invested in trust & security technology, people and processes to help protect consumers against...

criminal activity on our sites. This consumer/traveler unfortunately has been the victim of what is referred to as phishing. Phishers are individuals, or small groups, who execute phishing schemes in an attempt to steal identities or information for monetary gain. The advertiser/vacation rental owner or property manager’s personal email account  or [redacted] account credentials had been phished. When we learn of a phish attempt of our advertiser/vacation rental owner or property manager’s email account or their [redacted] account our Trust & Security team takes immediate action by temporarily deactivating their vacation rental listing(s)  locking their account down and putting them through a security process by which they must update all of their account details. We also immediately send out messaging to any travelers who may have inquired on their listings to protect any travelers from falling prey to a phisher. Phishing is one of the most common internet scams; [redacted], Inc. being an internet based business has both programs and educational materials in place for our site users to protect themselves against phishing. We strive to inform and encourage our travelers to protect themselves in various ways. Upon inquiring each traveler receives instruction on the safest payment methods. They also are instructed to call the advertiser prior to sending any monies. Travelers also are encouraged to buy the [redacted] Carefree Rental [redacted]. Terms & Conditions of the [redacted] Carefree Rental [redacted]: http://www.[redacted].com/[redacted].html. We also direct each inquirer to learn more about renting safely from our Security Center at: http://www.[redacted].com/info/[redacted]/Owners In the event that a traveler has fallen victim to phishing and has not protected themselves we do have a program in place called the Basic Rental [redacted]. This program will reimburse an unprotected traveler up to $1000 of their lost funds. According to our records this consumer does qualify and was approved for the Basic Rental [redacted]. This consumer has responded to the approval notice and settlement forms by stating that they would prefer to seek legal counsel. When a consumer mentions that they are seeking legal counsel at that point Trust & Security is no longer able to communicate, and therefore we supplied them with our legal teams contact information.

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We do show that this consumer did contact us about this situation (ref#[redacted]) and supplied us with a copy of communications that the consumer was having with Holiday Rent Payment (HRP) our third party payment processing company.We are...

not involved in payment disputes between the owners and travelers on our site. This matter does need to be handled with this consumers financial institution and HRP. This traveler paid through our third party payment processing company in which this consumer is contracted directly with. If this traveler filed a chargeback then this consumer should fight that chargeback. In the event tat they are unsuccessful in recouping their funds we do recommend that they seek other avenues with regards to this matter.Also this consumer mentioned that they do not have this travelers contact information. That is not the case. This consumer simply needs to log in to their account with us and navigate to their dashboard for this particular listing, and they will be able to see the traveler name, email address, and phone number.

This complaint is not against HomeAway Inc.
 
We cannot comment on this consumer/traveler’s complaint, because it appears that this complaint is not with our online advertising service, but appears to be the result of a marketplace transaction between this consumer and the owner...

or manager of an individual vacation home rented by that owner or manager to the public. We are in no way a party to the agreement or contract between this consumer traveler and the owner manager, and cannot solve this consumer’s complaint. Our advertising service is an online site for owners to advertise and travelers to find vacation homes to rent, but we are never involved in the transaction between the traveler/consumer and the landlord/property manager. See the Terms and Conditions below that the consumer/traveler and landlord/property manager agreed to about our role here. Therefore, this complaint is incorrectly being associated with HomeAway Inc, and it should be associated with the landlord/property manager. 
Section 1 of our Terms and Conditions http://www.homeaway.com/info/about-us/legal/terms-conditions:
 
“The Site is a Venue and We are Not a Party to any Rental Transaction.
We urge all users to be responsible about their use of this Site and any transaction entered into as a result of either listing a property or renting a property.  We do not own or manage, nor can we contract for, any vacation rental property listed on a Site. HomeAway.com and other Sites act as a venue to allow homeowners and property managers who advertise on the Site (each, a “member”) to offer for rent in a variety of pricing formats, a specific vacation or short term rental property to potential renters or renters (each, a “traveler” and, collectively with a member, the “users”). "Members" may also include property owners or managers who originally advertised their properties on another website and their listings have been redistributed on the Site. We also may offer online booking or other tools or services to allow users to communicate with each other and enter into rental agreements or other transactions.
We are not a party to any rental or other agreement between users.  This is true even if the Site allows you to book a rental or provides other ancillary products or services, as the Site may facilitate booking a rental or other tools, services or products, but we are not a party to any rental or other agreement between users. As a result, any part of an actual or potential transaction between a traveler and a member, including the quality, condition, safety or legality of the properties advertised, the truth or accuracy of the listings (including the content thereof or any review relating to any property), the ability of members to rent a vacation property or the ability of travelers to contract for properties are solely the responsibility of each user. You acknowledge and agree that you may be required to enter into one or more separate agreements, waivers or terms and conditions prior to making a booking or purchasing a product or service and may place additional restrictions on your booking, product or service.
While we do take certain measures with a goal to assist users to avoid potentially fraudulent or other illegal activity of which we become aware, we assume no liability or obligation to take any such measures or actions.  When we provide warnings or messages to users about any such activity, we do not warrant that such messages are accurate or that such messages will reach any or all users they should have reached in a timely manner or at all or that such messages or measures will prevent any harm or otherwise have any impact." According to our records this consumer also filed a formal property complaint against this advertiser (case#17468991) As part of that formal complaint process we did reach out to the advertiser on behalf of this consumer in order to try to get the two parties to settle their dispute. We however do NOT mediate; we simply try our best to put the two parties together to work the situation out if possible. We also closely monitor accounts that have had formal property complaints filed. Our policy is to carefully document both sides of a dispute, and keep track of all complaints submitted. When a pattern clearly develops where an advertiser is causing problems for our travelers, we do not hesitate to remove that member from our site. I assure you we have taken the appropriate action in regards to this complaint.

VRBO has taken away the owner's rights previously agreed to by taking away ability to communicate with travelers, charging the traveler's an extra service fee among many other unethical practices. This was all done with no notification and in the middle of my contract (and millions of others). DO NOT POST YOUR VACATION RENTAL ON VRBO!

Complaint: [redacted]I really dont care if this is your last or first response.  I am not accepting this since you guys failed to answer my previous questions.
VRBO has failed to show proof that how this affected not renting my unit plus they failed to show that the link was working back then also.  as I stated this is just a reason to not to offer the credit.  I HAD 17 pictures for a [redacted] condo....... Realtors dont have this mush.  Plus I have couple pictures of the outside.  Discontuning the "supposibly MONEY BACK WARRANTY" is the best thing you guys did since you do everything not give this anyways.  Great customer service.  I hope Texas Attorney General is looking at this also.  I am sure I am not the only one. 
Regards,
[redacted]