VRBO
Reviews and Complaints

Formal complaint VRBO holiday home platform
Property_ID: 10192494ha
Location: Arcos de La Frontera, Andalusia, Spain
Property address:
23 Av. del Santiscal
El Santiscal, AL 11638

On July 29th 2021 we arrived at the villa, owned by mr. Philip Lee.
We planned to enjoy the villa from 29th of July till 5th of August and paid the total amount of 1259GBP for the villa plus 279GBP for the casita, the additional building to ensure our 3 oldest kids had enough space.

Exploring the place we had to figure out that it was heavily deteriorated and totally polluted. In total we have made 26 photos to illustrate the state we found the property in.
Basically the spaces/facilities that you could label as "decent" were the pool, the living room and the garden. The rest was at an absolute unacceptable level of hygiene, safety and/or quality.

Main kitchen:
The main kitchen wasn't cleaned for a log period; all devices, such as watercooker, coffee-machine, refrigerator, oven, microwave were filthy and food remains were all over/in them.
The functional kitchen furniture, such as tables, chairs were also dirty, clearly not cleaned at all.

The main bathroom:
There were cockroaches at the floor, the toilet was polluted, the shower cell deteriorated and dirty, shampoo/soap leftovers from previous visitors were left behind.

Airconditioning and utilities:
During the first day, the main electricity of the villa went down and we couldn't recover or reset it. During our search for a resettable fuse box we found out that the overall wiring and systems were totally unsafe. Open ended cables all over the place, open junction boxes with unisolated wires could have electrocuted someone easily. Imagine our 7 year old daughter would step on an unisolated power cable left openly at the floor of the pavement around te house. Not even mentioning the risk of fire by short-circuiting.

The casita:
The little bathroom in the casita was unusable because it was deteriorated and incredibly dirty. The shower head was spraying all over the place, except in the shower area.
The towels provided were worn out, had holes in them and blood stains were found on some.

The refrigerator was covered with fungus all around the door seal. No one would put any food in there.
The beds were way too short for normal European people up to 185cm tall. Lying yourself being on the bed for a 180cm tall person would mean that you had to put your feet outside the bed.
The springs in the matrasses were poking in your body so sleeping was impossible anyway.

The airconditioning wasn't working and the fan spreaded a very unpleasant air that wasn't good to breath in.

Finding this place in te described conditions we immediately tried to contact the property owner, Philip Lee. When he responded after half a day trying to call and Whatsapp him, he initially seemed to be willing to listen and resolve the acute problems with the electricity and airco systems, sending the Spanish housekeeper.
They inspected the airconditioning of the casita and were able to get the main electricity of the villa back on again. The casita's airco would be repaired the next day, we were told. The latter didn't happen, unfortunately.

After some family evaluation among the 6 of us we concluded that staying for the planned duration, would ruin our vacation completely. On day 3, the kids hadn't slept at all because of the failed airco and the poor beds of the casita.
We had sent the photos to Philip Lee where he started to deny the situation, treating us with more outdated promoting videos to prove we were wrong. We kindly asked for a decent settlement of our cost, leaving it to him what exact amount he would refund to save our holiday. We urgently booked a property somewhere else when concluded we needed to leave asap, so we have faced double cost until this point in time.

Our aims:
During the ongoing discussions with Philip Lee, asking him to settle for our financial damage, he finally promised twice to discharge us with a refund. Unfortunately until this point in time he has let us down and we can't conclude anything else than this property owner can not be trusted.
The videos and photos at the VRBO site are absolutely not in line with the photos and videos we have made. The property is not worth the money charged for it and we would like to see VRBO taking the responsibility to save other prospects running into the same situation.
We explained to Philip Lee that we are not the type of people that try to claim money back in our favour against the cost of an honest property owner. But Mr. Lee has proven to be distrustful person, fooling a well-paying client with an unacceptable level of quality and empty promises.

We thank you for confirmation on how VRBO will handle this case. We are more than happy to elaborate further on the case with additional evidence and communication threads of required.

Sincerely,

Wilco Hekkert
Gradi van Ittersum
+[protected]

This company is a joke. They make it very easy to take your money, but they make it very impossible to address any complaints.
We have a reservation in Destin Florida and paid $60.00 for dog fee, our died 5 days before vacation started and we would refunded $60.00 for pet fees. After we reach out to them 6 times for our refund and
filled out proper paperwork, still no refund.
Avoid this company.

We booked a condo on Anna Marie island Fla for 2/2022. Paid and also secured everything thru VBRO. Then they send a message telling us the host has decided they want to use their condo ! No help or suggestions for something else. This is devastating to us.

What can we do
Kay snd Tom Bylenga
[protected]
VBRO #20062
Bradenton beach

We rented our house through VRBO. The tenant came, took the keys, he stayed and stated he was paying using money from the insurance company b/c his house was in need of repair. American Express and VRBO took the side of the tenant and they are now taking the money back, despite the fact that we cannot go back in time and re-rent the house to someone else after the agreement was signed.
Case: The tenant is a resident of the same county as our house, they requested to rent the house b/c their house was under renovation and stated that the rent was covered by the insurance company. The insurance company allotted them money to find a rental, as their house was being repaired. The tenant came to inspect our house, they were happy with the house and took possession with a no cancelation clause. The tenant took possession of our house and they notified us shortly after, maybe a week, that they were not happy with the house. They left our house and requested the money they received from the insurance company back to them.
They now have pocketed the insurance money.
To me this sounds like insurance fraud... Are we the charge back house!? Like all people who get money from insurance can pocket the money and commit the same fraud...!?

property # 1089244 Cabin with Spectacular View of Whiteside Mountain on VRBO is a DUMP! DO NOT RENT! we rented thru VRBO and when we opened the door, the disgusting smell of mold hit us in the face. We locked the door and contacted the owners who only gave us back the cleaning fee. This place is nasty. You have been warned. The property is still being listed for rent. It is a health hazard.

It is located between Highlands and Cashiers NC.

Property # 1089244 Cabin with Spectacular View of Whiteside Mountain on VRBO is a DUMP! DO NOT RENT! we rented thru VRBO and when we opened the door, the disgusting smell of mold hit us in the face. We locked the door and contacted the owners who only gave us back the cleaning fee. This place is nasty. You have been warned. The property is still being listed for rent. It is a health hazard.

It is located between Highlands and Cashiers NC.

Trying to charge me extra cleaning fee because the cleaner was "shocked "
By finger prints (lots of kids around) and some blood stains on something. Oh and extra trash on patio. False. I cleaned up everything before I left so. Their word against mine at this point. Been going down there for 35 years and only when I rent from vrbo do I get "extra" chargers. I get it now. It's such a scam.

RE: Property #118841 Res ID HA-P5LQH5

I communication with the property owner regarding a broken pot top (Wolfgang Puck brand), explaining the top had shattered suddenly over a pot of pasta. I included numerous examples of this same problem with spontaneously shattering glass pot tops from an online search of Wolfgang Puck cookware which this is. Here is an extremely similar and recent experience https://www.complaintsboard.com/wolfgang-puck-worldwide-lid-shattered-during-cooking-c1241942. There are many examples online.

Rather than appreciate the extremely unpleasant situation as I described it, the property owner chose to blame me and is now charging me
$28.22 for a replacement.

I dispute this charge and would like it reimbursed immediately. Perhaps the property owner should offer to reimburse me for the loss of the pasta, olive oil, and Parmesan Reggiano which was all ruined when blanketed with shattered glass? How would I go about making that claim?

My family booked for a stay in La Jolla, CA, there was listed 3 "house rules" one stating a camera outside the front door and if more then 3 visitors walked in that we would be charged 400 per person per day and vacated of f the premises, sad because the whole reason why we were taking the trip was to visit my daughter and son in law, but ERIK the owner said even though they were not staying there if they enter the premise I would still be penalized. Ok so fair enough a little silly but we could figure something else out. then 10 days prior to our stay ERIK emailed me with 2 pages listing 14 house rules which state the camera was inside the front door and there was a noise monitor- which is absolutely BS. So after I confronted ERIK about my concerns he in a email he said my phone number was not working and to call him and talk like an "adult"! Ok so I called him and he states lets just cancel the reservation and I will give you a full refund, but do it prior to 6 pm tonight, I cancelled our reservation while on the phone with him and still no refund 4 days later. I called VRBO and they stated on Monday ERIK is not allowed to have noise monitors or cameras inside the house and will reach out to owner for the refund, after 3 attempts no luck so she was going to email the owner Rich. Today Thursday still nothing so I called VRBO AGAIN, Spoke with Melanie which was very rude and unhelpful, she said he was not responsible for my refund and "next time I should investigate my rental properties" WHAT are you serious! So I am out 2500 because ERIK said to cancel and would give refund well here I am no refund and no rental ! I will post this anywhere and everywhere until I am heard and refund as been processed!

Found a great dewey beach rental that was listed as available for our week 9/18 thru 9/25/2021.
Applied for renting the unit and was denied because the unit was already rented last january. We were quite disappointed and had prematurely made plans to travel to dewey beach for this vacation rental, only to find it had already been rented.

There should be some controls to prevent this type of false advertising by vrbo. Not sure i can trust what i see on your web site.

Trying to work with them to get a refund due to one of our family members testing positive for Covid 19. They won't give a refund and have also locked us out of the property. And refuse to refund cleaning fee even tho we have not traveled or checked in.
Trying repeatedly to resolve and they are hanging up on us.

Paid $692.69 for two nights: July 7 and July 8. Check in was 4:00 PM on July 7. Checked in at 6:00 PM and found absolutely FILTHY unit: cockroaches on floor, feces in and around toilet, dirty wet towels on floor, unsanitary conditions, dirty soiled carpets, unmade beds, etc. Obviously, we did not stay even 15 minutes. Complained to VRBO, who deferred to owner, who says she will "look into it." She says she purchased unit "sight unseen."
This is unacceptable.

The house was stale smoke permeated when we walked in. We were willing to live with it even though unacceptable. When I closed my bedroom door I was locked in from the outside. I had to bang on the door to have someone come find me locked In the room. The end was when I went to get in bed and a moved pillow that had been chewed and rodent droppings. We moved packed our belongings to move out immediately in disgust. I made the complaint that night see attached but just saw it went to Singapore. Please facilitate a fill refund as this was not a place we could stay and had to get and pay for acceptable accommodations so we could sleep safely.

Please remove all ads with Chrissy "bully" Teigan and her husband, John Legend. I have invested thousands and thousands of dollars in vacation rentals through VRBO and will not until you remove ads with either of them. Bullying is unacceptable. I know many people have complained and yet you still air commercials with their family. People deserve to voice an opinion without fear of cyber bullying. One celebrity contemplated suicide after her bullying. Suicide is the number one cause of death between ages of 10 and 34...Please remove her from your ads and her husband and his voice! When you do, I'll start booking through vrbo again.

We came to St George Island. FL to attend a wedding on Sunday evening . May 16, 2021, at 6:00 pm. The bride's aunt, Gail, was staying in Apalachicola and her service dogs were attending the wedding on the island. Gail came to our rental unit with her service dogs around noon. There are 4 units in the complex. Gail left the service dogs in her air conditioned car for approximately 45 minutes while we ate lunch in the unit. After lunch, her husband leashed the service dogs and walked them through the common boardwalk to the public beach. Kim Miller called me at 1:30, after the maids from unit 4 called her about the service dogs and told her the dogs were in her unit. She was yelling at me and telling me her Insurance didn't allow dogs. I explained the dogs had never been in her unit. They left the beach via the public beach access at 3:00 pm as I had agreed with the owner rather than have them walk back through the common area boardwalk. The following Tuesday she has charged me $200.00 for cleaning as she said the maids found dog hair in her unit. I asked for proof such as photos. This was never provided. If the maids found dog hair, it wasn't from our stay at her unit. At no time were the service dogs or any other dogs in the unit. I can only assume that the maids were lying because I spoke to them after talking with the owner and told them the service dogs were never in the unit. Which is why I also took photos of the unit when we departed. The maids were very rude to me and I didn't want them to say we had left the place trashed or dirty .We left the unit clean and spotless . I have photos to prove this . Whenever we stay at a hotel or a private home. I ALWAYS ensure we respect the property, treat it as if we own it and leave the facility clean.

I paid $2, 576 in full for for a vacation rental in March 2020. Due to state government mandates, I could not travel due to COVID. The owner refunded half but kept the other half of my payment and promised I could have it as a credit until 12/31/2021. Once it was safe to travel, I tried to book a trip but the property was booked. I contacted the owner via email 5 times and called. He didn't respond to any emails or messages. When he answered the phone, he yelled at me and told me no funds and hung up. He then called and left me a message not to call or email him again. I believe it is fraud to promise a credit and then not allow the traveler the opportunity to use it. I would like my remaining balance of $1, 073 refunded to me because I was promised a credit for a stay that I am not being allowed to use. This is for reservation ID :HA-CDV5DR

Property #1297830
Reservation ID HA-7YN6K4

We unfortunately had a terrible experience with the property manager, Maureen Weis. When we arrived at the property on Wednesday, we were unable to get into the property because Maureen did not give me any check in information or check out policies and procedures. Last night, while cooking dinner for my family, we heard a crashing noise (it sounded like some dropped a glass on the tile) and when I opened the oven door I discovered that the interior glass on the oven shattered. I immediately took a picture and sent a text along with the picture to Maureen and within a couple of minutes she called me then accused me of having a party and told me I must've done something wrong to cause this to happen because it's never happened to her before. I politely told her that I was not going to tolerate her speaking to me like that and have her accuse me of doing something wrong and told her I was hanging up. She then screamed at me and told me to back my bags and I told her that I would not pack my bags and leave until my rental time was over, she again told me to leave and if I didn't she was calling the police on me. A short time after, she texts me telling me that VRBO was calling me and I better answer or she will call the police. VRBO never called or if they did they didn't leave a message. I reached out to VRBO to try and talk to someone but I was unable to get in touch with anyone.
I am sorry that the glass shattered in the oven but it was not my fault, I was simply cooking dinner.
I'm reaching out to you so you are aware of how your property manager is treating people and it is unacceptable.
I'm sending you a picture of the oven door as well as the text message I sent to the property manager and the text she sent me.

I wanted to book for Breckenridge, CO for 4 nights in July. Traveling from CA to CO to see grandchildren. Haven't seen since pandemic so taking them there. I went on your site and saw many nice places. Contacted for property ID 1827811. July 26-30. A Mark Jensen contacted me from your site saying he manages a few properties for people. I was to use pay pal which I knew was safe but Xoom which is connected to pay pal but over seas because owners of the condo lives in Europe. $800 was sent. He sent me very official paperwork from your company and papers from Xoom. If I hadn't had to try and cancel I would have drove two days and am 73 retired teacher, gone with 5 kids and had no place to stay. When called to cancel there was never a reservation made for me. Toni Balch [protected] [protected]@gmail.com

I booked a vacation rental through VRBO and the rental I booked is a shared space which is strictly prohibited from VRBO. The rental is advertised as a separate suite which is very misleading.

The place was loud and noisy with the family yelling at each other and kids running and jumping in the house all day long. It was so loud and noisy that I checked out after one day even though I paid for 9 days.

I called VRBO and they said they would escalate this since the owner is in violation of their policy as a shared space is prohibited. I have yet to hear anything and would like a refund.

Booked vacation rental for JULY 2020, Wild fires in area prevented use of the vacation rental. Attached are documents of the credit card charges, Attempt for credit card company to obtain refund. EMAIL from VRBO confirming that a refund would be given.