r/vrbohosts

I just had a guest book through VRBO for over the New Year Holiday - a peak season for me. They got a 10% early booking discount that I never authorized. I called support and they said they do that automatically to boost bookings. I am gobsmacked. I get very few bookings through VRBO and a ton through Airbnb. They said they won't cancel the reservation and won't give me any compensation.

I am shocked that they can do this on their own without the account owner's permission. I'm going to contact the guest outside of VRBO, ask her to book direct, and delete my account. This is completely out of line. I'm actually shocked that it's legal, but apparently it is.

Why is VRBO withholding my payout as a host? Do they have cashflow problems and are using me to finance their business.

I have used their chat platform 5 times to chase payment and each time they reply saying to be patient and that they have escalated the issue, but I keep being given a different call reference number, which means each time I contact them, I start all over again.

I have not been able to speak to anyone by phone about this terrible service and very bizarrely they gaslight me, by suggesting delays are normal and outside of their control. I cannot believe that VRBO believes this is acceptable service and hosts should tolerate it.

I have only returned to VRBO after a 4 year break (after they could not tell me how much the host annual service fee was, and I had to trust them to take the money owing, and I would find out the cost after I had set up a direct debit for the fee). Clearly, I refused and left their platform. When I heard last year that VRBO no-longer require hosts to pay an annual fee, I decided to return to the platform and had the first guests stay from 20th - 27th June. It is now 3 July and still not money from VRBO for their stay. In the past, VRBO used to pay me within 4 days of a guest arriving. But, this delay is completely unacceptable, with no explanation of the reason from VRBO.

After chasing via their chat forum (I cannot call them with paying for an International call to the USA from the UK) for a formal acknowledgment of my complaint over the delayed payout, on 2nd July, I finally received an email from their customer support representative saying:

"Thank you again for contacting Vrbo Support.

I wanted to let you know that I will notify the specialized team who is currently working on your payout case and highlight your most recent contact and the urgency of the situation. Once their review is finished, rest assured that you will be notified via email with an update.

Thank you for your patience, and have a nice day."

Where is the apology!!?? Where is the reason for withholding the payout - I am owed over £2,000 and they think it is normal and fine? I had to borrow money on 1st July to pay my mortgage due to this payout disaster. VRBO should not be normalising or minimising this terrible service.

After this experience I will be removing my listing from VRBO and keep all future bookings with AirBnB, who have far superior customer service with someone you can speak to by phone and who actually takes positive action to resolve any issues in a empathetic and efficient manner. VRBO's host support is almost non-existent and is the most diabolical service I have ever experienced. I seriously worry they have financial issues, or will have soon, if all hosts remove their listing due to failed pay-outs.

I also heard today from USA guests who booked direct to stay at our villa in Menorca next month, that they have been chasing VRBO for two months about their VRBO booking in Barcelona next month and they have not received a single response from VRBO or the host.

What on earth has happened to VRBO. Years ago, you could talk to a human being by phone and they would resolve issues promptly and with empathy.
VRBO is now a disaster and needs to upgrade its customer service immediately if it wants to be a trusted platform for hosts and guests.

I have lost all trust and respect for VRBO - I told them I expect compensation for the delayed pay-out - so interest plus inconvenience compensation.

I will update this Reddit portal as soon as I hear back from VRBO - but I am not holding my breath for a fast resolution from VRBO. I have kept a detailed log of 5 dates and times that I have complained to VRBO using their "chat" forum. So, they cannot deny the poor service.

I had always heard that you don't want to ignore requests, and you don't want to deny them either. So I make it a point to message people back immediately. Recently I had two requests in a row, lots of back and forth messages, very friendly. They both ended up not booking with me for their own reasons. All positive.

So VRBO sent me a nastygram after the second request expired. My listing would be hidden and I was losing my preferred host status for ignoring requests. I tried to get help from the help bot, but it hasn't been working AT ALL for the past few days. Finally this morning I called support. The agent said I had hidden my listing. I had to read the nastygram back to her about the accusations.

I clarified with her: if you ignore a request, you get penalized. If you deny a request, you also get penalized. So... ? She did take care of the issue after checking my message history. I haven't checked my listing yet, because I think if I saw that it was still hidden I would blow a fuse.

The VRBO website and app are both so glitchy that I am right on the edge of leaving the platform. They took care of things this time, but there is some serious nonsense going on there. I know, I know. Only a matter of time before it happens on ABB.

[supprimé]

The last 7 guests we have had have brought a dog. Only 2 people have successfully booked with adding the fee before booking.

Sending revised pre approvals is a hassle and confusing to many guests it seems.

Is this just a normal thing that happens for other hosts or is there a better way to get the fees handled during booking?

Most people have been good and let me know beforehand but I have to say this is becoming a hassle that seems preventable.

Hi, ive been waiting for over a month now to get my payment (guests are staying 30days, payment is over 1500 dolars), contacted support, they told me they ll take care of it, but nothing, now i cant even access support anymore

what to do?

We’ve got a family with 3 dogs staying. No indication in the booking they were bringing dogs.

We have a $50 per stay pet fee set up, but there’s no place in the booking screen for a guest to enter that and then learn about the fee.

Am I missing something?

I am considering using them. But this sub is filed with people being screwed by them. Should I even bother? Sounds depressing. Thank you all.

Would anyone be willing to share their experience with VRBO and submitting damage claims?

We had a guest that smoked on property (violation of house rules, triggers $300 deep cleaning fee), and thoroughly trashed the bed sheets (sweat & dirt stains all over... garbage now), and left un-address liquid spills on the walls and the carpets.

I submitted the claim, and I am in the waiting mode now.

Anyone else having this issue? I can log in fine on my computer. But the app has signed me out and is telling me I do not have an account. I have gone round and round on it...

I noticed VRBO has started rolling out video on listings.

Curious from actual hosts/property managers:

1. Have you used VRBO’s video feature yet?
2. If not, is it because you don’t think video helps bookings, or because getting a video made is too expensive / too much hassle?
3. For those who considered adding video, what stopped you?

Also curious — if you could create a walkthrough video without hiring/scheduling a videographer or another property visit, would that change anything?

Not selling anything — just trying to understand how hosts think about video.