Vrbo Reviews 119,010

VRBO failed to protect guest from host property's demand for personal identification information, including guests' credit card numbers and irrevocable pre-approval of charges.

Vrbo provided a misleading location on their map, which resulted in us being unable to find the property and ultimately having to sleep in our car at a roadside parking area.

When I raised this issue with Vrbo, they responded by pointing to a small note in the booking email that contained the “correct” directions, suggesting that I should have followed those instead of relying on the map.

However, when a map clearly shows a property location, it’s only natural for travellers to trust it. Most people wouldn’t expect to double-check separate written directions, especially when using modern navigation tools.

This experience was extremely frustrating and disappointing. To make matters worse, Vrbo has refused to take responsibility or offer any compensation.

I would strongly advise others to be cautious when using Vrbo or cottages.com, as inaccurate location information can seriously impact your travel plans.

After reading all the bad reviews on here I thought it would only be right to share my experience
I had to cancel my reservation within the hour as something arose I messaged the host who didn’t reply as this was the first time I’d used this site I got nervous and rang vrbo what a pleasant and helpful agent rina was she emailed the host sent me a confirmation email and dealt with everything in a calm and professional manner I can not praise her enough
Thank you and well done

Booked a vacation property in Kissimmee. The booking was made in October. Two days before the stay in March, the host canceled because of plumbing issues. A month later, the host is unreachable, Vrbo is no help, the property is still listed, and I am out just under 2k$.

Stay away from Vrbo. Stay away from Vacation USA Ltd.

Yet another terrible VRBO guest. Since we hosts no longer have any option of reading other host's reviews of guests, it's a crap shoot who is going to end up inside our properties. The star system algorithm is not cutting it. This guest had 5 stars, but 8 reviews that were invisible! He had zero interest in: house rules, communication, and even basic accountability. Left entrance door wide open when going out for hours. Smoked weed inside suite in spite of sign on door at eye level about property being a non-smoking unit. This with a covered deck area for smoking right outside the door. And more. After ignoring all communications, I forced him to meet with me by making the entrance key he'd left on the deck table while out again unavailable to him. I was surprised to find that he was a grown man in his 60s. Not someone in their twenties, which is who usually acts with this kind of disrespect. SMH.

Booked an apartment through VRBO a year in advance to turn up at the apartment to be told it's no longer available. VRBO have a limit to how much they are willing to compensate you for (which is pitiful) leaving the customer completely out of pocket with limited options of where to stay when you are already there! Their suggestion was for us to stay over 30minutes away from our concert venue but they wouldn't cover the additional costs! Upon contacting them afterwards they responded that they provide "guests with confidence when booking" AVOID AT ALL COSTS THEY BASICALLY WASH THEIR HANDS OF ANY ISSUES SAYING ITS UP TO THE HOST!!!

Ten days after a holiday VRBO took money from my credit card. The host had requested charges which were not included in the booking contract and on one issue an allegation which had no basis in fact. As a precaution, I instigated a block on the payment card. I have been informed that VRBO circumvented the block by using a different merchant number. My card company is refunding this money and raising a dispute with VRBO. I do feel sorry for the customer agents on the end of the phone. Working for an unscrupulous company must be stressful.

The customer service personnel are rude, condescending and are a bunch of liars.
Just because you are in a third world country, doesn’t give them the right to be snotty.
Never book with VRBO.
There are plenty of other choices for finding a home or condo to rent.

As a short-term rental host, I’ve had an overall positive experience with Vrbo, but I recently encountered a situation that’s worth sharing for transparency.

While setting up my listing, I followed the onboarding process exactly as designed (2 bedrooms + a sofa bed in the living room). However, the platform displayed the property to guests as a 3-bedroom listing.

A guest relied on that display and filed a misrepresentation claim. Vrbo then issued a full refund automatically—without my authorization—despite the listing being configured correctly and the property being fully available.

Support later confirmed there was an internal discrepancy and that the refund was not host-initiated. However, the financial impact remains unresolved.

What’s concerning is that this appears to stem from how the platform interprets and displays structured data, which can create unintended risk for hosts even when listings are set up correctly.

For hosts: it’s worth double-checking how your property is displayed on the guest side, not just how it’s configured in the backend.

For Vrbo: improving clarity around bedroom classification and ensuring hosts aren’t financially impacted by system-generated discrepancies would go a long way in strengthening trust.

Sharing this in hopes it helps both other hosts and the platform improve.

– Jordon

We booked a place on VRBO, and a month later the host cancelled our reservation (with no reason given). I noticed the host still had the property listed, but at a HIGHER price. I tried to re-book another property thru VRBO and ended up talking to 3 customer service agents as well as sent multiple emails. The customer service agents were difficult to understand, and also provided UNSAFE advice (ex: they stated that doing a BANK transfer to a foreign host was "100% safe"!). I also messaged the host directly to see if we could re-book, and they were very rude and accusatory. I sent a detailed complaint to VRBO re: this entire experience and I am still waiting for them to respond to all the items I detailed. I can't believe all the time I've WASTED on this, what a HORRIBLE company....

VRBO can’t provide tax documents that are mandatory for doing business in USA

if it were possible to give no stars that's what I would have done.
I booked an apartment in Paris 2 months in advance and VRBO not only charged over $1,000 CAD damage deposit as well as the rent but they cashed the damage deposit immediately.
upon arrival the entryway was filthy and smelled of urine.
the apartment had not been cleaned, there was dust on the shelves, the floor had not been swept or vacuumed and there were visible dirty fingerprints on the cupboards and smears on the kitchen counter.
I immediately contacted VRBO and asked to be relocated which they did not do, asking for photos which I had taken and sent.
my sister and I did not feel safe or comfortable staying in that smelly, dirty apartment and when VRBO didn't relocate us we had to book another apartment paying a premium for a last minute booking.
therein has followed over a week of exchanges with my VRBO contact but no action just 'sorry you feel that way' type response so I escalated to VRBO complaint, still no action.
my credit card company is looking into the matter and hopefully will get my money back.
we think it's hilarious a damage deposit was requested as it would be hard to tell if there were any damage.
never, ever, book with VRBO because unlike their ads - they don't do anything to help and they keep your money!

i am shocked by the low ratings on this site . i was using VRBO for the last 10 years, this year we had an issue with a host that cancelled a 12 month reservation 3 days before our trip. vrbo was able to get get us rebooked at a superior place at an extra 50% cost that vrbo care totally covered within 10 days of submitting paperwork. i will always use vrbo and they stand behind their guarantee !!!

I purchased the protection plan and I was never reimbursed for my 1 night stay, they ignored me after several calls and acted like they did not know what I was talking about even after I showed them their own email that said I would be refunded

VRBO is the least user friendly app I’ve ever used as a property owner. I have been listed on Airbnb for years and they are leaps and bounds ahead of VRBO. VRBO’s calendar won’t communicate with other platforms allowing customers to still book on VRBO’s platform even when they aren’t available. VRBO then FINES the owner for having to cancel due to their own mistake. No customer service, no ownership taken. Just a worthless website that scams its owners. Never, ever use this website.

Host misrepresented the property. Vrbo when showed by pictures did nothing to penalize or get her to change. Host took 2 months after money was taken to send contract so the time to cancel had already lapsed before telling all guests manditory to sign waiver stating anything were to happen based on THEIR gross negligence they were not to be held accountable along with everyones phone number and drivers liscence to do a backgrpund checkwhich also was not on website. All kitchen dishes had to be washed prior to use and house that did not allow pets smelled of cat urnine. Wanted to write a review but not being the person who paid but a registered guest that had to sign away my rights and send government id vrbo platform does not allow

As a host their system is horrible. I had a co-host and needed to move the listing to my account. Vrbo support said they will fix it but did nothing for 3 days. Now I cant even communicate with the guest to give them the code for entering let alone see anything about the listing itself. Airbnb is waaaaaaay better.

Beware: We booked 2 weeks through VRBO. Book That Condo (their approved partner) sends their 9-page Rental Agreement AFTER your credit card will be charged.

Their agreement is 100% pro them, leaving the renter in an exposed position to any fee that is indisputable.

Of course, we cancelled, they agreed to refund 100%, but short of the exchange rate so our attempted vacation transaction = 10 hours of stress, half-answered questions, no budging on the rental agreement even though my credit card was already charged, it cost us $125 for this nightmare.

They say VRBO is responsible.
No. Both of you are responsible for transparency, making that contract available on the listing, BEFORE TAKING OUR MONEY.

The host was dishonest and their photos did not show the true structure of the house we rented. It ended up being unsafe, cracking as we were in it, and ended up costing me becuse we had to leave due to safety.
Vrbo was slow to help, difficult to get a hold of, and there is little effort to resolve issues.

Vrbo ! 4 months i am awaiting a refund on the "glitch" booking that never existed but took my money !

i see now in the review that i am not the only one this happened to ! so please act on this and refund your customer !