Vrbo Reviews 270

If I could give 0 stars I would. Contacted customer service as an owner with an issue with my subscription. Was told that someone would contact me within 24 hours. 4 days later and a follow up phone call from me, still no one has contacted me

As a host, team is very difficult to work with, or simply incompetent.

I wish I had read these reviews before using VRBO. I booked a room and it was $207.
All went well and then later the money advertised was in USD and then converted and charged in AUD. Which I think is a rip off because it was nowhere mentioned or made clear about this. And there is no way of contacting them. So if u want ro save your money and stress for any after sales issue, try to book directly with hotel, I think they would be better in helping.

Your booking at a glance
Hotel Quest Campbelltown
Reference 5025095
Name XXXXXXXX
Check-in dateWednesday, 23 April 2025
Check-out dateThursday, 24 April 2025
Room type: Three Bedroom Apartment
Extras
Guests : 3 adults, 2 children

If you list your property on Vrbo or are thinking about it - Don’t! Vrbo renters destroyed my home! THEN, to make matters worse, Vrbo took back the 6-week rental payment & security deposit and offered little compensation for $10k+ in damages. When I asked Vrbo how they prevent fraud, they said they check that the booking name matches the credit card. COMPLETE LIE! After the tenant left, I received a « Rate your guest » email and the name was totally different. When I called Vrbo back, they said « Well, it could be a family member. » So essentially, they don’t do any checks and expose all owners to these dangerous & costly risks. If there is any problem, it falls 100% on the owner. Vrbo doesn’t give a damn about you. All they care about is getting their commission. STAY AWAY!

Wow!! Always been an Airbnb customer so decided to try Vrbo. No no no no. Booked our first stay and didnt like that I was charged the full amount up front. Tried to reach the owner about just accepting a deposit, and never heard back so I canceled. Found a new place and asked questions about parking. Once they responded, I had to go to work so tried to book the next day and it showed booked but yet also showed I needed to book more days. Which is it? Lastly, booked another place and was denied because they said they booked out their rental yesterday and forgot to update their listing. Definitely a shady business and looks like 200+ others on this site agree with me. Done with VRBO!

Buyer beware! VRBO rating = Zero! Zero regarding Customer Satisfaction, Honesty, and Integrity. All the necessary items that customers expect. Please refer to previous reviews and the "copy and pasted" responses received from VRBO. This is similar to what has occurred with any other communications with VRBO.

we have just taken an Air B&B with Vrbo, the property was advertised as a beautiful and comfortable 2 bedroom town house in Dona Pepa, Quesada, when we arrived we found it far from the property described, the kitchen is in an appalling state, the oven hob was dirty,as was the oven, the microwave was dirty and rusty, the general cleanliness of the kitchen cabinets and draws had not been cleaned for some time,we found the iron was in an unusable condition, the ironing board was totally broken, the bedding in the main bedroom was ill fitting on the bed making it cold and uncomfortable to sleep in,all in all a very poorly presented property,after contacting Vrbo about this, our complaint was ignored, The Vrbo company all clearly not taking due dillegence on who is post there properties on there website

I would like state that I will never rent a property from VRBO, their advertising is racially discriminatory, no Caucasian renters in sight

Had the worst experience in a VRBO to date. Previously, we've used VRBO for a variety of stays throughout the US and Ireland. This recent stay at a property in New Smyrna Beach, FL was such a poor experience, we are going to significantly reduce our use of VRBO, if we ever use it again at all.
To make a long, tedious story short, the property was not as described. When attempting to discuss issues with the host, we were treated poorly (rudely, insulted) so we chose to not leave a review. The host then lied about us saying that we'd left the place dirty, had broken house rules and would not communicate. We have evidence to show those are falsehoods, but VRBO is not concerned with helping us resolve this issue.
So, we're warning anyone who cares to read this, be VERY wary of using VRBO. Very wary.

worst website I booked a Hotel ever.
As I arrived at the Hotel, no reservation. I contacted Vrbo, were Hotel was booked and my credir card was charged, but all I received after many and different ways of tryinf to contact them, was an KI answer saying " contact the hotel", The Hotel said, there isno booking and no room available and they did not charge my credit card. My bank said, it was a secured and non refundable acction. My money was lost and I had no reservation. Never book here on Vrbo something else again!

used to be great of late horrible, hidden fees no service and absolutely crazy owners. I will never use this service again.

I am a host, and most recently was attempting to change my billing from 'subscription' to 'pay by booking' on 2 of my properties. The subscription is now $699 per year for each listing. VRBO has produced less and less over the many years we have been listed, so we elected to drop out of the subscription plan for the pay by booking option. VRBO had charged my card for both listings ($699 X 2) well before the expiration dates, and I notified had them of my desire to switch plans. VRBO said they would make a refund. That was a month ago. I have called numerous times, getting 'customer service' which is a joke now. They cannot directly contact their 'billing' and they will not provide a contact. Unbelievable. The last 'customer rep' asked that I provide her with my bank acct info !!! I would say its laughable, if they didn't have $1400 of my money !! The issue remains unresolved. VRBO customer service told me to contact my card company because thry were unable to provide me with verifiable info regarding the refund. VRBO custmoer service must be a bunch of idiots... certainIy they must realize that I can view card activity on line, and can see where the refund has not posted, nor is it pending.
VRBO is NOT like it used to be since they have merged. I am a 'premier' host, which previously entitled hosts to premier 'service' ....but that means nothing now. Consumers beware.

2025 ONGOING VRBO FAILURES:

Failed programming and communication at Vrbo AGAIN
The latest in 2025 is their not posting over half my reviews for 2025 and randomly sequencing reviews they did post for example putting 2023 reviews before 2025 reviews.

It took many emails with smug incompetents and patience to get the missing 5-star reviews restored. TOO BAD I DIDN'T NOTICE EARLIER.

Be AWARE: Their little messaging boxes are programmed to sweep away any message you've just sent to a guest, to be restored later at their convenience, so I try to remember to copy and save to another location so I can keep track of what I have promised, etc.

It's really too bad that they have not hired highly intelligent systems thinkers with sound judgment to run the Vrbo and Airbnb rental platforms and that -- despite the obscene amounts of money flowing to them -- as a result they continue to fail to provide top quality communication services.

BTW, Vrbo only accepts "landscape" orientation for photos, so just forget about posting an energizing VERTICAL "portrait" oriented photo of an arresting entry, an interior chimney, uplifting views through cathedral windows. It all has to be presented as flat -- horizontal.

And their system has no workaround to get moody or dark for any reason top quality INFORMATIVE photos posted to, for example, suggest relaxation with a guitar by a fireplace or an exterior PHOTO in a Dark Sky Zone designated place.

________

2024 FOLLOWS

Vrbo failed to forward an inquiry to my email, and this cost me several hundred dollars in the last 60 hours. The Customer Service rep I got on the phone said she would forward the problem to technical support, and they would follow up by email. But to reach this point took 40 minutes including a "silent 3-5 minute hold" that ran over 5 minutes and had -- same as always -- music blasting. I would have liked to have spoken with someone who would IMMEDIATELY FORWARD THE PROBLEM TO THEIR DIGITAL EXPERTS. It felt like "teach English as a Second Language" to the rep and pay her to learn English on the job, paid by my Vrbo ANNUAL FEE plus a percent of every booking.

The email I received the next day supposedly from "technical support" asked me to send a screenshot of "the email." Of course there was no email for a screenshot. The whole point of my call was that although I have been set up for years to receive Vrbo and Airbnb inquiries in my email, an important guest inquiry was not relayed. The "tech expert" lamely suggested that I submit a new email address and/or that I "refresh" my current one -- one that Vrbo successfully weekly forwards to -- following 8 years of Vrbo forwarding to it. I explained that their programmers may have created a new navigation path for reservation requests asking instant "approval" by a Host, likely connected to their NEW requirement of a ONE HOUR RESPONSE TIME BY HOSTS TO SOME INQUIRIES.

The next day, I was awakened by a phone call at 11:30 pm from Vrbo apologizing and "wanting to make it right" -- by yet another no-solutions rep calling me close to midnight? Unreal.

Vrbo's dashboard (only slightly less junked up than last year) alerts me to "unread messages" when all have been read, some with a confirmed reservation. Their calendar updates offer Book or Block to complete a change but no Delete option where expected. The One Key launch often blocked entry to my listing over several months. Cancelling Vrbo reservations with refunds after Helene was tedious because their policies lacked clarity, while refunds were a breeze on Airbnb. It is widely reported that over half of Vrbo employees get paid over $127,000. And still their CS is not serving me well when one of their programming bugs causes a problem.

Very last time EVER using VRBO. They have gone the way of AirBnb and have no human beings to help regardless of the exorbitant booking fees they charge. Do NOT recommend. Advise trying to deal directly with owner NOT through this useless app.

Edit: Following this review, I had an existing booking for a much anticipated trip to Kauai. This was to be a very special family trip. The booking turned out to be a full on construction site with heavy equipment inches from our unit. [Vrbo 134142463]. This was an unsafe situation with the equipment working into darkness. VRBO did nothing to resolve the situation. The unit was filled with dust and diesel fumes and noise including piercing equipment reversal beeps. The bins where debris was being dumped was directly behind us and upon every dump, a small cloud of dust would come streaming through the window. The owner didn't care. We could not find an alternative housing within the price. Our vacation was ruined. No real assistance from VRBO. Reaching an agent, we were told to reach out to the owner.

The hotel was good but i was charge $200 more by VRBO now it is hard to contact them.

**Warning - Mould in property and no investigation or communicatioN from VRBO **

The place we stayed in had mould on the walls all around the house and the room our baby slept in. We sent photos to VRBO and explained that the owner wanted to offer money off our next stay (so knew it wasn't acceptable and actually dangerous for health) however we felt a discount on the current stay would be more appropriate. We have heard nothing back since emailing, it is totally unprofessional. Once they have your money, they really don't care about your well being or safety. Steer clear!

"Appalling Experience – Misleading Listings, Intimidating Hosts, and Complete Lack of Support from Vrbo!"

Avoid Vrbo at all costs. My colleague’s recent experience was nothing short of disgraceful. The property she rented was far from the glossy photos advertised – it was in dreadful condition, reeking of urine and with no proper key, only a flimsy push-button lock that felt entirely insecure. When she raised these issues with the owner, their response was aggressive and intimidating, leaving her feeling unsafe and ultimately prompting her to leave.

However, the worst part was Vrbo’s complete lack of responsibility. For four days now, we’ve been chasing a refund through emails and live chat, only to be met with hollow promises, evasions, and a total failure to take ownership. Not one representative has followed through on what they said they'd do. Vrbo’s customer service is utterly appalling – they simply don’t care, no matter how legitimate the complaint.

For anyone considering booking with Vrbo, think twice. They allow property owners to misrepresent listings with impunity and abandon customers who raise valid issues. This experience has shown that Vrbo is unreliable, unsupportive, and frankly, not worth the risk. Take your business elsewhere if you want a safe, dependable booking platform.

Had a nice stay at villa Celine in Maillane, France, but due to a glitch in my banking app making it difficult to send a bank transfer direct to the owner for a 500 euro security/damages deposit, the owner sent me a Vrbo payment to use instead. I thought nothing of it and made the payment.

After the stay the owner refunded the deposit less 75 euro in Vrbo fees.

It turned out that Vrbo see all payments via their links as a payment on the rental and automatically apply fees, all security deposits should go direct for the host to avoid Vrbo fees but this wasn’t explained at the time by the host.

Host went from being friendly to completely unhelpful when I queried it. Spoke to two different Vrbo support agents who said they understood the issue and promised I’d get the rest of my deposit refunded, and not to worry as it had been escalated.

I asked, since it was Vrbo who took the fees why they couldn’t just refund those direct to me, they just repeated that they’d ensure the host would pay it back to me. I assumed they’d refund the host, to allow them to pay it back.

After a week I received an email to say there’s nothing they can do and need to speak to the host. Which they knew I had done already. Complete waste of time.

Vrbo knowing the issue should refund the fees they took, but equally the host shouldn’t have shared the link to pay the deposit that way without advising me it would cost 75 euro, and shouldn’t be passing on their fees to me. why the charge was also 15% is also odd, as looking online their fees for owners are usually much lower.

Very disappointing experience, won’t be using or recommending Vrbo or the host again. Annoyingly I left a good review for the host immediately after the stay, which I can’t now update.

We had some guests who stayed in our house but never paid. Vrbo refused to take any responsibility and said it was our problem.
We assumed as home owners that we were insured by Vrbo but apparently there is no compensation or protection for home owners for people scamming them.
So think very hard before signing up your home to Vrbo.

I made a booking more than six months in advance, but the host cancelled it, claiming they double-booked and only realized three months before our arrival date. I suspect they may have realized they could charge a higher price. We're heading to New Zealand, a very expensive holiday destination, and booked early to avoid high prices. Now, all accommodations are fully booked, and Vrbo has been of no help. Their complaints team redirected me to another department, but I haven't received any response despite requesting a transcript and email confirmation. It's been 2 weeks, and I'm still waiting. I'd recommend avoiding Vrbo as there's no guarantee of getting accommodation, which causes unnecessary hassle and uncertainty.