Vrbo Vacation Rentals 17+

Horrible process

I tried to book this property several times and it kept giving me an error saying that the rates had changed and it would not let me book. I was on the phone with Vrbo three separate times and each person told me to do something different. First it was I should use a PC instead of a Mac. Then it was the fact that I was trying to book with an American Express card and they told me to use a different card even though it states clearly on their website that they except American Express. They finally told me to send an inquiry directly to the homeowners who then sent me a payment request. I tried to complete the payment request and it gave me additional error codes the first two times and then finally went through on the third time. We booked a different house for a couple of days on our same trip through Airbnb and had no issues at all. As a vacation rental home owner myself renting through Vrbo, this is very concerning to me. This, in combination with the shotty customer service we have dealt with in the past has finally made me decide to switch over to Airbnb. Can’t believe Vrbo is even still on the grid as I’m sure I’m not the only traveler/homeowner who has experienced this nonsense.

Developer Response ,

We apologize for any inconvenience you had and appreciate your feedback. We hope you will give us another chance to earn your trust back.

Technical Glitch Nightmare

Due to an error on my part, which was a typo on the email address when making a reservation, the reservation didn’t show up in my trips. I called Vrbo and they were able to forward the confirmation email to my correct email. But they could not change the email on the reservation as their system was having technical difficulties and they could not add it to my account cause it is an Apple account.

I called again a few days later, still they are having technical difficulties and cannot change address on reservation. I am not comfortable with a stranger having access to my reservation so I asked to cancel the reservation and rebook with correct email. I cannot cancel through the site because the reservation is not part of my account. Customer service tried and said they could not cancel because the account connected to the wrong email is not setup. My recourse is to connect directly with Vrbo host and see if they can and would change the email on their end so I could get updates and any other communication or I can dispute the charge through my credit card. Customer service left a message for the host, but haven’t heard anything yet. I will try to call on Monday to see if that will work out, though not a fan of the idea. if that doesn’t work out I’ll have to call the bank.

On a good note the 2 customer service reps were pleasant, understanding and tried to help, though they didn’t have the tools to resolve the issue.

Fees are RIDICULOUS, don’t bother.

Downloaded this in hopes it wasn’t as money hungry as AirBnB. It is somehow worse. Didn’t think it was possible. My total went from $495 to $1200 all from “fees.” I know fees are necessary to keep the app running, but come on people. There is no way on God’s green earth I will ever pay for something that is more than doubled from fees like “$125 - management fee” 🤡.

Edit:
After receiving a response from the developers, I’d like to expand just a bit. First off, I respect that you take the time to thoughtfully respond to reviews. I think it is a great idea to incorporate more transparency in your fees. It’s rather jarring seeing your total more than double, but if I knew why it doubled, I might be able to bring myself to buying it. What exactly is a “management fee” and how does that differ from the rest of the *expansive* list of fees? I don’t remember the rest of the fees but adding some type of information as to why those fees exist and what they are would at least be a good step in the right direction. Another thing, if price is solely dictated by the hosts then they need to be regulated. A $125 “management fee” is 25% of a $495 total price. That fee alone has added an additional quarter of what I’m already paying. That is ridiculous. So, hosts either need to be constrained within more reasonable percentages or outright denied from charging outlandish fees like this one —outlandish in my opinion, that is.

Developer Response ,

We are sorry to hear about your negative experience and appreciate your feedback. Pricing is ultimately left up to the host and while many on our site do not charge additional fees, some do. We are always looking for ways to improve our site and are investigating how we can improve transparency for these fees in the future.