VRBO.com

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because of the following email I received. I have also included it as an attachment.
[redacted](HolidayRentPayment)
Jan 10, 12:23 PM
Dear [redacted]
This is [redacted] from VacationRentPayment.
We are reaching out to you regarding the status of the refund cancellation request regarding VRBOcom [redacted], for the amount of$350.00. Your refund cancellation request was successfully processed.
If you would like further assistance, please do not hesitate reply to this email or contact our Customer Support department at[redacted]. Our representatives are available to assist you from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pacific Time, seven days a week.
Best Regards,
[redacted] | Customer Support Representative | YapStone
Regards,
[redacted]

This consumer signed up for a new listing on 4/9/2014. He then contacted us on 6/3/2014 asking for a refund since he had not received any bookings yet. That was 55 days into the annual subscription term.The listing subscription for this consumers advertisement was purchased for...

one year of service under the [redacted].com Terms and Conditions, which can be located in its entirety at http://ww[redacted]om/[redacted].htm. Each member MUST agree to these terms prior to making a payment on our website.Specifically, regarding refunds, our Terms & Conditions state the following:"Refund Requests: Generally, no refunds are available unless a member qualifies for a refund under any guarantee program we may have in effect. If you believe you qualify for a refund under a guarantee we are offering, you may contact customer support by sending your request to the address listed under “General – Contact Us” above and include your listing number, and your reason for dissatisfaction. We will then determine, in accordance with the applicable guarantee program, whether any refund is due."This consumer was sent a link to the terms of the No Booking, No Fee Guarantee on 6/16/2014. The link was fully operational at that time and has only recently been disabled as we are no longer offering this guarantee. This consumer was also informed in the same email that he would need to fill all the photos slots in his listing to qualify for the refund. He had only 17 out of a possible 24 photos displayed on his listing.This consume only just informed us on 3/5/2015 that the link no longer worked. We immediately sent the following guarantee eligibility information to him via email:* The new subscription or renewal must have been for a twelve (12) month period and the member must have not received any discounts on the subscription;* The member must have made the property available for rent at least six (6) months during the twelve (12) month subscription period and rental rates must have been displayed on the listing during at least six (6) months of the subscription period in advance of the dates during which the property was available;* The property may not have been sold during the subscription period or the first renewal, as applicable;* The member must have updated the rental calendar at least once per month throughout twelve (12) month subscription period; and* The member must have posted the maximum number of free photos of the property provided for under the member’s subscription.This transaction does not qualify for a refund.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: VRBO advertised this property and was the agent between the two parties. They have a responsibility to assure the customer is satisfied with the product. All I am asking is help in dealing with the property owner that knowingly rented the condo to me with the front window missing. I believe VRBO is partially responsible because they approached me with this rental by way of their advertising.
Regards,
[redacted]

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

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We first off want to apologize to this consumer for their negative experience. According to our records the issue that this consumer was reporting at the time was a known technical issue and the consumers call was incorrectly sent to the Trust...

& Security department. According to our records the consumer was told of this known defect and that our technical team was working to resolve the issue. The consumer was told that there was not a security concern of her personal information and was told how to resolve (work around) the issue on her computer. She was then transferred to our technical department.We certainly do apologize that this consumer experienced this technical issue and also for her negative experience with our Trust & Security agent. We want to assure this consumer that Trust & Security management will be addressing this case handling with the agent involved.

Dear [redacted], Thank you for contacting HomeAway Customer Support. I sincerely apologize for the delay in your refund. There seemed to be confusion about the request to confirm your mailing address. I have submitted this to our accounting department. Your check refund for listing #[redacted] in the amount of $598.00 has been approved and was submitted to our corporate office. Please allow four weeks for processing. Thank you for advertising with us and I hope you have a great week. If you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us again through our Help page at the link below. This resource also provides commonly asked questions and answers.http://[redacted].com. Thank you for using HomeAway, the world leader in vacation rentals, with over 1 million listings across our family of brands. Best regards, [redacted] HomeAway.com Customer Support

We booked a house for eight people via the online vacation property site VRBO (also known as HomeAway - check the HomeAway reviews on Yelp) for a long weekend and paid over US$3,000.00 for rent, cleaning and deposit. When we arrived the owner was still cleaning. One of the bedrooms reeked of cigarette smoke (the owner and her son were staying in the house). When we mentioned that since we had paid a $425.00 cleaning fee we were not willing to also clean the house after the rental - the daughter of the property owner had sent us two pages of 'this is what you have to clean to get your deposit back' just before we were due to arrive - the owner and her son kicked us out of the house. They lied that we had cancelled the booking and that we had lost some remote control to the entrance gate they had never given us. The owner and her son stayed at the house during the entire time we had paid for. We later checked with her neighbors and they warned us against this woman and informed us that they had taken the woman to court.
When we returned to the house the following days to ask for our money back they threw water on us and physically assaulted us. We immediately contacted VRBO and over the following six months VRBO basically told us to go away. The reviews on the VRBO site look manufactured and VRBO refuses to allow us to warn other holiday makers from booking this place by consistently turning down our one star reviews. STAY AWAY from VRBO!
VRBO DOES NOT have your back if you are the person renting the vacation property. They protect the homeowner as this is the person who pays them.
Supposedly airbnb has a better policy to protect the holiday maker as they only pay the homeowner once you are staying in the house. Airbnb collects the money from the renter and only hands it over to the property owner after you have moved in. Note HomeAway is buying up the bulk of the internet holiday rental sites - just check Wiki if you want to know the names of the companies they have purchased. They purchased VRBO in 2006 and are starting to monopolize the market.

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#16875495) 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 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#[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.

Revdex.com:
I was...

contacted by VRBO to submit paperwork via email; already sent to VRBO directly today. I may be covered under their Basic Rental Guarantee but I am waiting on response to resolve the situation. They wanted me to dispute the charges with by bank, already did and it was denied (attached) due to the fact it was pass the 60 day period of original transaction.
Regards,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because they changed policies 
Regards,
[redacted]

Consumer is advertising VRBO [redacted]. The listing went live on 2/24/2014.
Consumer contacted us on 9/10/2014 (ref#[redacted]) explained to us that her travelers are not receiving emails from her. CS agent ran a test with consumer at that time and CS Agent was able to receive the...

consumers email. Consumer mentioned this issue happened to her friend as well, CS Agent found that there was an issue with the email address of the Friend of the consumer. Case was closed as resolved.
9/12/2014 consumer called in following up on previous issue (ref#[redacted]) Consumer claiming still that when she sends a quote to her customers that when they hit request booking nothing happens. She states that she tested this and she got an error message saying unable to request booking find another property. CS Agent tried to send an inquiry and then she sent one back and CS Agent was able to request a booking. CS agent advised he would send to tech team to see if there was an issue with these email quotes that where being sent. CS Agent advised he was not aware of any issues but would have tech investigate since everything appeared to be working on our end.
9/16/2014 Tech case [redacted], emailed consumer that the issue that she was reporting was resolved. Two separate occasions we were not able to reproduce.
As a gesture of good faith, even though we were not contacted until 9/10/2014 and issue was resolved by 9/16/2014, we have added 2 months extension to this consumers listing for the inconvenience.

Stayed at a home in California. Upon completion of rental, the owner has yet to return security deposit but continues to extend the due date of the deposit. VRBO hasn't provided reason for the extension or assistance with retrieving deposit. They continue to allow the owner to extend the date deposit will be returned.

We apologize if this consumer feels that we are taking sides.  We strive to remain independent but require that reviews do meet the Content Guidelines.  As this was not the case with this consumer, we cannot publish their review.

Possitively the worse company I ever worked with. As an owner we felt they didn't do what was promised.

We thank this consumer for their comments and apologize for any frustration caused. The advertiser of the property the consumer booked has been on our website for over a year and has been positively reviewed following successful bookings. This advertiser no longer lists their properties on...

our website and we are not certain of the status of any of the reservations. As HomeAway is not a part of any rental agreement between the property owner or manger and the traveler, we recommend that the consumer continue trying to work with the advertiser and their financial institution to recover their funds.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:VRBO advertised 100% payment guarantee. But now they told they are not responsible for the payment.Therefore, the Company guarantees of activity that is not under their control. So, they mislead customers with such advertisement. It is not compliance with law.Also, their partner YapStone does not response.I am not satisfied. I consider VRBO needs to provide the guaranteed payment.
Regards,
[redacted]

Thank you for bringing this consumers concerns to our attention.According to our records this consumers listing was temporarily suspended due to the consumer making a bank account change. Since there was no longer an active bank account on 4/22/2016 to route traveler payments to, the...

system suspended the listing. We show that the consumer was logged into his account on 4/22/2016 and made several account updates.The listing was then reactivated 4/24/2016 by the system as soon as this consumer completed the necessary banking information required by our third party credit card processing company Yapstone. This matter is resolved according to our account records.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that there can really be no resolution. Their document referenced says nothing about my particular issue and continuing to call them as they advise is not a viable option, as the hold time is so long my phone goes dead each time, and I never get anywhere. The referenced Terms and Conditions(15.) basically says they can change the rules as they please and if I have a problem it's up to me if I want to put up with it. They cover themselves quite well, and it's a shame their customer service is so poor, and they don't seem to care. So, I very much appreciate your help, Revdex.com--you guys are great--thank you for your efforts.
Regards, [redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
The response from HomeAway/VBRO is false! My Capital credit card statement shows charges from HomeAway, so they are involved in monetary transactions.
Homeaway booking agent specifically suggested the purchase of Trip Cancellation policy as method to get around the homeowner cancellation policy, which was not clear to begin with.
This company is in the business of selling extra policies, and don't provide any legitimate customer service or support. This can be verified through the Capital One agent that was on a conference call with me, when we contacted both HomeAway and CSA.
Will never do business with this company and will recommend to everyone on Social Medial and elsewhere to stay away. 
Regards,
[redacted]