Vrbo Reviews 119,004

While I was financially compensated for a host absolutely ghosting me, I had to sit on hold for an hour after I was advised to call at a specific time. This host had done the exact same thing to a guest the month before, but VRBO didn’t pull their listing. The quality of properties at the price they are charging, I’ll start going back to hotels… it ridiculous to gamble on vacations…

VRBO allowed users to create booking on properties that were already booked and then made it extremely hard to get full refunds. They fought me, and the property owner at every step of the way. Their customer service wait time was in the 2+ range in English so I decided to speak to the Spanish line. Mostly incompetent people who could not care about the owners that sustain the company that pays their salaries. Awful customer service, awful policies and I "I got your money so I do not care" attitude from pretty much everyone I spoke to at VRBO.

Stop giving your dollars to companies like this.

third booking via vrbo/abritel, all had issues, but the latest one took the biscuit, host advertised hot tub, bbq and fast wifi, none existed, contacted host regarding very slow wifi, told me to contact company and arrange for repair, had to remind him that was his job and that I was the paying client! Property was dirty, shower was disgraceful, with brown gunge in all corners and the shower head full of limescale, On return contacted vrbo who promised to look into issues and contact host. After a few days no reply, so contacted vrbo again to be told host has not responded, upon checking his ad hot tub and bbq were removed.After more discussion over 3 days eventually got a 20% refund, host then left an awful lying review which vrbo refused to remove, would I use them again? NO they allow liars to advertise and take no action against them only thinking about their profit, not the paying customer.

Vrbo doesn't side with owners ever. Against contracts. They don't even id your call after 4 credentials and hang up. Piedor. No case open. Don't honor the insurance either. Im out 2 months since they blocked, they allow e.g.
make no claim for below.
Guest enter early wo texting nor permission, tracking dirty shoes all over, unpermitted dog poop, broke door though dont enter sign, left all doors open , damaged queen bed and canceled without me being contacted.
Wanted a day early check-in on an instant booking.

We rented a house in Apalachicola, Florida. At first glance this place was nice. Then...its is/was filthy! The oven was dirty. The couch has pee stains that look like the owner didnt bother to clean. There is a nasty looking mattress pad on the main bed- stained and dirty looking. The 2nd bed and 1 of the twin beds don't have mattress pads. There's only a few pillow cases. Paint is stored under the 2nd bed. PAINT! I had to clean the washer seal to use it. Gross! Black slimy gunk. And no hot water hooked up to the washer. What are they sanitizing with? Hair and mildew in both showers. VRBO was no help. We got our $150 cleaning fee back but I have spent HOURS cleaning! So, half of my vacation has been spent cleaning. I am absolutely fed up! How do you walk away from $5k? My granddaughters are coming, its spring break, and there's not many openings to go to and no refund. I'm just sickened.

Our experience with Vrbo and their travel insurance provider was extremely frustrating and disappointing from start to finish.

We booked a Vrbo property in El Mirage, Arizona for March 20–23 specifically to attend our son’s 14U travel baseball tournament. The reservation was made Thursday evening. On Sunday evening we were notified that the tournament had unexpectedly been cancelled and rescheduled locally in Southern California, making our trip unnecessary.

We immediately contacted the host through the Vrbo platform requesting a cancellation and refund. Unfortunately, the host never responded. We sent multiple messages and attempted to call but received no response at all.

We then contacted Vrbo customer service for help. Vrbo representatives attempted to contact the host as well and were also unable to reach them. Despite the host being completely unresponsive to both us and Vrbo, we were told that Vrbo could not issue a refund without the host’s approval. This left us in a situation where the host could simply ignore communication and still keep the payment.

We spent significant time trying to resolve this. We participated in multiple online chats with Vrbo agents, waited on hold more than 40 minutes to speak with a supervisor, and were ultimately told there was nothing Vrbo could do and that we should file a claim with the travel insurance.

We had purchased the travel insurance offered during checkout, believing it would provide protection in situations like this. However, when we filed the claim it was quickly denied because a tournament cancellation is apparently not a covered event. This was extremely misleading since the insurance was presented during the booking process as protection for unexpected trip disruptions.

The entire process felt automated and impossible to escalate. Email addresses provided for customer relations bounced back as invalid, and there appeared to be no clear way to reach anyone who could actually review the situation.

We have used other vacation rental platforms such as Airbnb many times and have never experienced anything like this. Hosts have always been responsive and customer service has been able to help resolve issues. This was our first experience using Vrbo and it unfortunately turned into a complete nightmare.

Between the unresponsive host, the inability of Vrbo to intervene, and the travel insurance denying the claim, customers are left with very little protection when something unexpected happens.

Based on this experience, we would strongly caution others before booking through Vrbo or purchasing the travel insurance offered during checkout.

I was unable to book a property using my VISA card without going through a third party to "authenticate" payment. Had very little response or help from VRBO. Was warned by my bank that further authentication for a VISA purchase is not necessary. Perhaps this was a SCAM??

We had a trip planned to Baton Rouge modern Industrial was the home listing. We were scheduled to leave Thursday and on Tuesday home owner canceled. Citing Environmental as reason for cancellation. We were coming a long way for 3 night stay. Very unprofessional.

As a host, this has been a HORRIBLE experience. You have to wait an entire month to receive your payout for the first booking, and now my payout has been delayed because I apparently didn’t fill out a tax form. I actually called a month ago to confirm everything was in order so I could receive my payout, and I was told I was good to go. Clearly that was not the case.

I then received a notification to fill out a tax form, but when I clicked on it, nothing happened. There was no way to complete it through the app. I had to call customer service, and they sent me a link to their website, which is poorly designed and not optimized for mobile use, making it extremely difficult to complete the form.

Now, on top of already waiting a month, I have to wait 2 MORE WEEKS to receive my payout. They allow guests to book, stay at my property, and collect the money, but when it comes time to pay the host, suddenly there’s another requirement that delays the payout.

Then when I asked about damages caused by guests, customer service made it clear there’s little they can do unless you force guests to buy insurance. So VRBO provides a crappy website, takes a cut of your earnings, and offers almost no protection for hosts. I even take photos of the home before guests arrive to document the condition, and I was told that doesn’t really help unless you selected the insurance option and that has a limit on what they can reimburse.

Overall, horrible first experience and I will be removing my property from this platform.

DO NOT BOOK WITH THESE!
Booked a 3 bedroom apartment in Brighton last year for July26. This is for an event we are travelling 5 hours to.
They have just cancelled us and refunded with no explanation whatsoever. Will never use again!

What an awful experience. I booked a house and I had to pre-pay for that. But I couldn't message the host without pre-booking so I asked for some extra pictures for the house and the host did not provide that. So I looked through other websites and I didn't like the pictures of the properties so I decided to cancel the booking because I had a full cancellation included in my booking. Suddenly I started getting random emails from random people asking me to provide them my bank details because the payment did not go through so I contacted VRBO and I asked them to cancel my booking. So I did and I was told to wait 24 hours and after 24 hours I contacted them again and said that nothing is going on so they told me to call the host and I did that but they did not answer so I was waiting for another 48 hours. After 48 hours I was told to wait another 48 hours and right now I just don't know where I am I'm just really afraid if something is going to happen with my money. Customer service is not helpful and they are refusing to cancel the reservation apparently they can't do that. So I don't know why is it stated that I have a free cancellation until 4 June while it is only a 11th of March right now. I was looking at other properties on the VRBO but after this I'm not sure that I ever book again anything on that website

Wow, these guys won't release my funds almost 2 months now. I wont do business with VRBO again.

My experience with VRBO was extremely frustrating. The property I booked turned out not to be available, which can happen, but the way the situation was handled was unacceptable.

Instead of resolving the issue, I was sent back and forth for hours between VRBO and Expedia support, with each side redirecting me to the other. No one seemed able or willing to take responsibility or provide a clear solution, and I ended up stuck in a corporate loop on the phone trying to get help.

To make matters worse, I eventually had to dispute the transaction through my bank and wait months before the money was finally returned. What should have been a straightforward resolution became a long and stressful process.
Overall, this was an absolutely frustrating experience and left me with a very negative impression of the company. I sincerely hope they improve their customer support and accountability, because no customer should have to go through something like this.

Vrbo allows scammers on their website and then defends them when the scam is revealed. We booked a property (single family residence) in University Place, Washington for two weeks while our house was being sold. There were three photos that gave an acceptable appearance. We walked into a filthy, cluttered home that was not even close to looking like the website photos. Old construction garbage piled 8 feet high on the side of the house where rats had made a home. Hair on the bathroom floors. Dirty countertops. The oven had not been cleaned in years. The dishwasher was half full of dirty dishes. When we immediately complained to the property owner she showed up at the front door demanding to see photos. She was already "unhinged". She accused us of conspiring with a Mr. McLean to shut her down. When we denied knowing this person she called us liars. Because of her aggressive demeanor I asked her to leave. When she refused I called the police and only then did she leave. As a former Chief of Police I did a background check on her: from 2009 through 2024 three assault arrest and two resisting arrest charges. When we spoke with an Vrbo representative they defended her and refused to help us. I offered to share photos and they refused to review them. Within 20 minutes Vrbo informed us that the owner cancelled our registration and we were ordered to leave. When asked about a refund for the unused 12 days the representative said we had missed the "refund window" but would not explain what that meant. So, now we have to sue Vrbo and the property owner in small claims court.

I am a host with Vrbo. I recently had a guest cancel a two month booking early. Because I assisted the guest in canceling, I got charged all of the cancellation fees that should’ve been charged to the guest. On top of that, the guest somehow was able to cancel the remaining time that they actually stayed AFTER they had already canceled and not only received a refund for the time not stayed, but for the time stayed as well. I have called VRBO multiple times I have spoken with multiple supervisors and every single time they say they’re sending it off to some team and I never hear from anybody again. I will absolutely be removing my property from this platform after my next stat is completed. Worst experience with the company ever.

If you are a host or guest do not use VRBO! Rather use Airbnb or another platform. A guest made a 3 week booking in February. Two days after making the reservation she reduced her stay by 3 days. I had to confirm if ok, which I did. VRBO then went ahead and refunded her €545 - why I don´t know as this amount should have been deducted from her total amount and not her deposit! The deposit was then reduced to €424. When final payment was due the guest did not pay (€2026). There was no answer from the guest and after numerous attempts to contact the guest from my side and VRBO there was NO final payment but there was a credit of €424. I was told by VRBO that I
couldn´t cancel the booking as it would look bad for me - I just had to wait until her check in date and I would be refunded the €424. It is now a month later and after contacting VRBO 3 times I am finally told that "sorry but you won´t get refund the €424 as it is fees and commission for VRBO!" This is thievery on the side of VRBO. It is my property and my guest - not theirs. I couldn´t cancel the reservation and get new guests (which I did have but couldn´t confirm due to VRBO misinformation!!) and I didn´t receive the balance of the deposit of €424. VRBO you are a disgrace that you treat your property owners this way. DON`T USE VRBO

This was the first time I used Vrbo to rent my time-share for one week. I was supposed to get paid shortly after the guest checked in, but that didn't happen. It took over 5 weeks for me to get paid, after spending more than 5 hours on the phone and multiple emails to various departments, trying to get paid. Their software would not accept my SS#, but required a tax ID number, which I don't have. Their reps did not respond to emails, and many times did not reply to my phone messages. When I finally received payment, I requested that they waive their fees, but they refused. It's a wonder this company is still in business. STAY AWAY!!

The house was open and had been robbed before I arrived. Also, a significant misrepresentation about the property. The pictures were AI enhanced. The property was old, dated and dirty. The master bedroom door was coming off the hinges. VRBO did nothing !!! They were totally unconcerned about the safety of myself and my family.

Absolutely frustrating experience!!
When we booked the rental with VRBO and looked at the charges, the numbers didn’t even add up correctly. So we called customer service and they couldn’t tell us why the numbers didn’t add up. So we asked to have the accounting department call us to go over the numbers. They sent us an email saying they were turning it over to the appropriate people and would get back to us in a day or two. It has been almost 2 weeks and we have not heard from them at all, no phone calls no emails.
We are very good customers, having rented from VRBO 2 to 3 times a year for the last 15 years! We will not be using them in the future and will be switching our business to either local companies or Airbnb!

Advertises properties that are not actually available from great escapes wales. Messages are unanswered until you actually book and pay the money. Cancellation through a bot means I now have to wait a week or so for them to bother to refund my money. Fortunately I am in a position to to be able to afford to book another whilst waiting for a refund, many people would have to wait until monies refunded to be able to book somewhere else. Very dissapointed