VRBO.com

VRBO is awful!! The country is being told not to travel unless necessary (vacation is not necessary). We live in *** and booked a rental in *** for early April. Our flights were canceled today. I have asthma (as does one of my nieces traveling with us) and the two other adult travelers are nurses and were told their vacation requests are no longer approved because they are needed to work in their hospitals, so they can't fly and I shouldn't fly. ***, as well as ***, has just been put on the 'shelter in place' order. *** is starting a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all visitors on 3/26 (our vacation is booked for 7 days, so even my 4 year old niece can figure the math on that one). I have spent HOURS on the phone and using chat with VRBO and their stance is basically to work it out with the owner. The chat representative just kept telling me to read their website and when I asked for clarification about the fees VRBO said they would refund after a cancellation, they couldn't answer them specifically so I still don't know how that is supposed to work. After several back and forth messages the owner has offered a 50% refund, but when I asked for the specific amount, it was nearly $200 LESS than 50%. Without a refund we are out $3000. It is absolutely ridiculous that VRBO can't and/or won't set the policies for the property owners that use their site. Apparently *** still wants to be in business after all of this settles down. I'm not sure VRBO will make it if this is their idea of customer service.

I rented a home in *** for March 2020, property #*** / *** Kenneth *** is the property owner. I cancelled my reservation due to the COVID—19 pandemic. The owner of the property refuses to refund any money. I am out around $8,000. Hotels and airlines are all giving refunds with no hassle. VRBO leaves it up to the property owners to decide if a refund will be given. I will NEVER use VRBO again, and I will make sure everyone I know knows what a terrible business model they have. I have called VRBO five times to get this resolved. It has not been resolved.

Warning DO NOT BOOK WITH VRBO*** I am writing this post to expose the pure SCAM that is VRBO during a nationwide pandemic (Coronavirus). My family and I booked a vacation rental in Siesta Key, Florida for our spring break vacation in April. We paid a large amount of money, being $3,500, as she has 5 children & we needed a large rental. The rental is also on the beach. The beaches have since been shut down as the state of Florida continues to be one of the epicenters for the Coronavirus outbreak. The owner is refusing to refund our money and IS NOT being accommodating to change our dates when VRBO “suggested” to give renters a year to change. We contacted VRBO who was NO HELP and stated it is between us and the owner! I am sure they are doing this to other poor families who paid good money to go on vacation, some of which may REALLY need it during this time of unemployment and uncertainty. This is such a scam during a nationwide epidemic when we cannot be going on vacation during this time particularly to a place (Florida) which is as I said is one of the a primary locations of the virus.

VRBO is the most unethical company ever!
Due to the Pandemic COVID-19, the vacation my family was supposed to go to in Palmetto Florida this April however it was cancelled by the government. We are not allowed to travel based on NJ and FL Governors. The owner of the property told us we would get NOTHING back, because It’s less than 60 days. Well, the government closed down the majority of the USA, so how are we supposed to give the home owner 2 months notice. We went to VRBO to see if they could help us since we went to their site to book the reservation. I have tried to talk to the property owner with no avail. We feel like our family is getting punished for something we had no control over. This is a Global Pandemic and very serious and the property owner and VRBO don't think so; we are listening to our government and staying home, we should get our full refund, due to things out of our control. I work for the military and my wife works for a hospital, so we know all the dangers facing this country, and it’s a shame people are not doing the right thing with reimbursing us. Do not ever use VRBO!

Pathetic! A global pandemic forces States to shut down restaurants, ski resorts, and non-essential travel but you won't refund the money for our rentals! We physically can't travel there. Will never use this company again!

This is a horrible, unethical company. I rented a vacation home for spring break for my family. My mother in law passed away suddenly, and my wife and daughter had to travel to Europe for their funeral. They are trapped there, because of the coronavirus. I had to cancel my reservation, and asked the owner for a hardship exception to his cancellation policy. He refused, and both he and Vrbo kept half my money. I am active duty military and we are now not allowed to leave or post area. My wife also had to go on unemployment and we really need the money. This is a greedy, filthy corporation that cares more about profit than the health and welfare of military families.

DO NOT use VRBO!!! The company takes a hands off approach when you have an issue that needs to be resolved with an owner of a property. During these times of the widespread of Covid 19 where people are asked to stay home and cancel all non essential travel, owner are refusing to give a refund and allow folks to cancel. This is a real problem, you are forcing people to make bad decision because of a financial impact putting their own lives and the lives of others at risk. And why would you want to put your own property at risk inviting strangers who could be infected in your home!
Absolutely reckless and selfish behavior and VRBO as a company should do better.

VRBO should be put out of business for unethical business practices during a NATIONAL EMERGENCY. NO ONE should be profiting off a HEALTH CRISIS THAT IS CONTAGIOUS!! Asking renters to fight for their refunds from owners during the corona crisis is abhorrent. Many owners are unethical and say things like there's only 1 case of coronavirus near your rental. This is so irresponsible of the owners and VRBO. Customers may forget the owner but they won't forget they booked through VRBO out of Austin Texas. VRBO COULD DO the right thing and offer refunds for travel MARCH 12, 2020 or after.

As per Government orders & Global pandemic dictates, we cannot travel. VRBO & Owner refuses to change our travel dates or refund or help out at all. After connecting with THOUSAND upon THOUSANDS of other travelers online in the same situation, it is clear that VRBO does NOT care about public safety and is more concerned about short term money gains versus long term reputation. This will be the end of them. *** did the right thing and changed their policy to serve their customer base in this emergency. Does VRBO think they are immune to social media? The airlines refunded us, the tours we booked were no problem, the ski resorts, the lifts, the rentals, the car rental company, etc. VRBO is the only one giving us problems. We are currently out $5k! We have saved for years for this. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!! THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMER BASE. WE WILL NEVER EVER BOOK WITH THEM AGAIN, AND WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD THE WORD.

We needed to cancel our reservation due to Coronavirus. We cancelled 45 days in advance due to our cancelled meeting. We were offered no refund from the property owner. They stated that they can’t be financially responsible for “last-minute” cancellations. We cancelled as soon as we learned the meeting was cancelled and gave as much notice as possible. We do not consider 45 days as last minute. Our trip insurance does not cover Coronavirus. Contacted the company, and were told that they encourage the owner to provide a refund, but that it is completely up to the property owner, and that there is no penalty to the owner if they refused refund or travel credit. Really frustrating and will not use VRBO again!

VRBO you are NOT doing the right thing for your customers. I have a trip planned on March 28th and paid a LOT of $$ and only given the option for a credit and NOT re-reimbursement. Everytime I call or email, I received a templated take it or leave it response and no response back at all from the property owner. With all that is going on in the world right now please make this right for your customers!

I booked with VRBO in Dec.2019 for a vacation in July of 2020. We paid our $4000.00 deposit and booked 12 airlines reservations for our trip.We bought 12 ticket to *** and 12 tickets to the rodeo, as well as $1400 in van reservations for our group.Then 3 days ago we were notified the owners decided they wanted our week and they were canceling our reservations...I was shocked, just like that we were kicked out! They offered suggestions to 2 other properties ( on completely different dates), but of course all the prices of the places that accommodate a large group had doubled in price, not to mention the homes we had looked at originally were already taken.The property manager said there was nothing he could do, since it is completely at the owners discretion to change their minds at any time....I will never book with VRBO again, but instead go through a local listing company which requires owners to designate their travel dates 1 year in advance and not kick out their guests without so much as an apology....

CORONAVIRUS. No help for guests that are not allowed to travel. Lost THOUSANDS!

Had a VRBO in Lagos Portugal booked for April. Due to coronavirus-19 all travel to Europe has been restricted from United States. Owner would not offer a refund, gave us 8 months credit.
Will never book with VRBO again. *** is already offering full refunds to all guest with no penalties to hosts.

In order to leave a comment, I must leave a start. I would wish to leave zero stars in the matter of my involvement with VRBO. With the outbreak of Corona Virus and the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES saying do not travel and stay at home, VRBO is still not willing to budge. They are ripping off millions of Americans who would be willing to travel, but can not due to the guidelines put in by the government! I will never use VRBO again. Everyone is willing to work with people during this time. However, they are not willing to help or add guidance. VRBO is crooked and needs to redo their policy in place. Horrific customer service. Terrible company. Step up and do the right thing VRBO.

I will never use this company again to book any vacation. I was trying to stay positive with my vacation booked and paid for then all of a sudden the united states gets put into a pandemic. Guess what if it’s passed your deadline for full refund you won’t get your money back nor will this company help you out in any way. I spoke to both the company and owner of the home. I will be fighting the chargers if I will not be able to go to Florida or receive my money back.

I don't believe VRBO is handling this Coronavirus outbreak efficiently nor following moral obligations for the general health of human beings - between their paid travelers and property owners. I have been trying to reschedule (not even cancel) my reservation, but the property owner won't let me do that. They told me I take a 50% refund within the 15 day prior to arrival window, or I risk both flying and staying there. The beaches between Ft.Lauderdale and Miami are closed!! This will be so unpleasant. Our 3 kids' schools just closed (and we weren't taking the kids with us); it was a quick getaway for my husband and I. I've tried calling multiple times and the chat function on the VRBO website, but both are down right now. Either their platforms are not working or they've shut all lines of communication down.
I do NOT trust this company nor the property owners. It's quite evident they don't take morality into account, but just see $ signs. They won't even make rescheduling a possibility and I find that completely asinine at a time like this.
The property owner who is refusing to work with me and let me reschedule when we should be able to travel confidently and avoid this pandemic is in *** (just south of Ft. Lauderdale) at the *** (Property ID Reservation ID)

VRBO is putting their business and financial interests before their customers, and the nations, safety. This is evident by the fact that they are not allowing customers to cancel (and get refunded) during this NATIONAL EMERGENCY. Obviously this is a crisis where people have no control over whether or not they can (because they shouldn't) travel so they shouldn't be punished by not being able to cancel the reservations. Working with the home owner is NOT a solution because the owner is looking out for their best interest. Hopefully people have rented from a good person; but that is not the case for thousands. I am currently looking at losing 17,000 because a group of 14 adults are supposed to travel to Park City for a ski weekend. ALL 14 adults have partners and kids - so you are saying that either 14 adults should lose 1k+ each or should still travel and then put themselves, their families, and others they would encounter over the next few weeks at risk? This is absolutely ridiculous; especially since competitors (airbnb) and others in the industry (hotels, airlines, etc) quickly made the decision to allow customers to cancel with no financial repercussions. what a horrible business decision you are currently making and I hope whomever is in charge realizes they need to correct this decision by offering customers to cancel. extremely disappointed in vrbo's policy, mission, ethics, and strategic decisions .......

Let me preface by saying if negative stars were available to choose, I would not hesitate to do so. This business doesn't even deserve the one star I was required to select. We rented a property from a *** for *** Weekend 2. Since the recent spread and concern of the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak we reached out to our property owner to inquire about their cancellation policy should *** get cancelled/postponed. They informed us they would give us a full refund for our property in the event *** was either cancelled or postponed. Now, today 3/13/2020, roughly 3 days after *** was officially announced to be postponed they will only either 1) reschedule our reservation for the new weekend dates or 2) give us a 50% refund. Thus, in essence, reneging on their original stance. Nobody in our group can make the postponed dates and have already initiated refunds through *** ticketing. After discussing with both Vrbo and the property owner they refuse to do anything further and told us to either "take the refund" or walk. Airbnb has a consumer friendly stance of refunding (in full) any Coronavirus related cancellations. Vrbo on the other hand decided that their policy would be to take their customer's money and not assist us at all in giving us a refund for a cancelled event beyond our control. Vrbo has made no effort or policies to protect their consumers. Vrbo has repeatedly refused to continue any further customer inquiries regarding such issues. I am writing this review to display the type of consumer exploitation tactics this company and its property owner users have taken during a time when they should be flexible and willing to help their consumers. Instead they have decided to capitalize on an awful set of circumstances at the expense of customers who spent their hard earned money to enjoy a weekend that has unfortunately been cancelled for precautionary measures. DO NOT book using Vrbo. DO NOT book any property with an owner under this name. Would NEVER recommend. Will NEVER use again and I hope the social media firestorm being waged against this thieving company produces positive results for customers like me. There are way better services out there that you can utilize that will value your business and protect your interests.

Horrible company that takes advantage of people during national emergency. Avoid at all cost.