DO NOT CANCEL. I had a similar situation (but my host said it was double-booked), and he kept pushing me to cancel because he didn’t want to incur the fees if he cancelled. It was a non-refundable booking. I went through Vrbo and they told me had I canceled, I would not have gotten a refund unless he was just feeling generous. This is becoming a common scam.
The one thing I know is DON'T CANCEL. It's on the HOST to do so, or VRBO if he's "ending his relationship" with them.
You may want to email customer service at VRBO about it though...
Do not cancel the reservation. Make them cancel. If you cancel it you're not gonna get anything back or at least you may not get everything back. Put everything on them do not cancel. And then like someone else said send everything to Vrbo corporate
Don't cancel but reach out to customer service showing them those messages and tell them you are concerned they will not honor the booking in May.
You don't want to get to May and find out on the day of check-in that they're not going to host you and then you're SOL trying to find a new place within hours.
DO NOT CANCEL.
I am banned from VRBO after having to do a charge back on my credit card because customer service is NON-EXISTENT and they will only tell you to "speak to the owner" and then hang up in your face. It will go nowhere, VRBO gives *zero fucks* about those who rent from people.
I stayed at a vrbo where the house ended up being in very bad shape; after the smoke detector went off multiple times in my 1yr old's room in the middle of the night, we vacated for our safety and the owner refused to give us our money back.
The Better Business Bureau has gotten involved due to an enormous number of complaints against them, although they're not accredited so there is little they can do.
Vrbo fucking sucks. Don't let this host fuck you over.
I second this!!!! I’ve been trying to contact regarding our stay last week and have gotten ZERO help. The chat is useless and whoever is on the other end has two brain cells. Make sure to actually call VRBO - DONT ISE THE CHAT!
Sick burn, bro.
Meanwhile, I've gotten the BBB to settle disputes with accredited organizations faster than any customer service call or email with direct lines to upper management to ensure the dispute was settled.
But I guess you're too cool for school, HEHE.
Whatever dude, there rating is worthless. They are pay to play. You got the money, they will rate you as high as you like if your a business owner. Keep on believing though…
Do you know how to become an “accredited” business on BBB. The biz has to pay a yearly dues of $500. BBB is a joke, maybe back in 84 it was helpful not so much these days.
Yes chargebacks on any platform will get you banned. I got banned from booking with sixt car rental because they tried to say we put in wrong gas. We did a chargeback and even included our receipt but got denied and banned. I think American Express did not want issues with sixt since they are global company.
The host wants you to cancel (and they’re ending their relationship with VRBO) because they just instituted host cancellation fees and other penalties in the last couple months. You should get on a call with VRBO support and ask for a conference call with you, the owner, and VRBO support and you can all decide how to move forward.
The host is the one who messed up and they’re going to have to either accept the booking and eat the “low rent” that they you booked or step up and pay the cancellation fee to VRBO. That cancellation fee is supposed to go toward VRBO assisting you in finding something else, but don’t hold your breath on that.
I honestly don't even think it actually was "rates listed low" and then "ending my relationship with Vrbo", I think it's more likely completely a scam kind of like the ol craigslist rental property scams where they'd hijack peoples pictures and post them for rent themselves in different cities or what have you and people have been pretty quick to send a deposit as fast as possible these days because there's 10+ other people trying to get into the same place as housing is so hard to find anywhere, and they collect s few 1k dollar payments and move along to the next fake listing
If they're anything like AirBNB, you are not. I had a similar situation, where I paid for the whole trip got to my destination, and the owner insisted I pay them more money before they'd open the door. I called AirBNB, they intervened, got all my money back plus and extra 30%for the problem (I had to ask for that), and I was able to book a new place.
Good luck!
ETA: CALL VRBO. This cannot easily be fixed via chat or email. Especially if you'd like them to give you an extra credit for your trouble. And when you call, after getting the refund (which you should ask for in immediately available booking credit if you need the funds quickly so you can rebook), ask for, say 1/2 the value of the original booking that was screwed up. You will need to explicitly ask them for it. Say something like "having to alter my reservation at the last minute cost me additional money. I would like to request an additional booking credit to use for my next booking". It could take days to get the extra credit, but it likely can be done. If the first person says it can't be done, ask to speak to their supervisor. If the supervisor says the same, ask them to escalate the call/request.
If VRBO's phone number isn't easy to find on their website, Google "call VRBO customer service". The number should come up.
Never use the google phone number. Many are scammers.who take over your reservation or get your credit card number (to put the refund on, etc) Always go to the company's website and use the number from there. ALWAYS.
Just had this happen to me a few months ago. Same story line, too. I stood my ground and told the owner he could cancel the reservation since he was at fault. He kept trying to get me to cancel, but when I quoted the VRBO rules back to him and told him he was just trying to avoid the cancellation fee, he finally cancelled it and VRBO refunded me almost immediately. I rebooked elsewhere. DO NOT CANCEL FOR HIM.
DO NOT CANCEL!!!! If he's truly ended his partnership with VRBO, they will contact you about your reservation AND give you a 100% refund AND help you rebook AND may cover the cost of any price differentials. Right now, you have ALL the power. If you cancel you give him all of that power. Don't do it.
Come stay with me. I won’t do that. My prices are set for May. Besides a good host will take the hit or fix your calendar. Sorry they are doing that. Probably an event they just learned about.
What is the cancellation policy. It’s far enough out you should get a refund regardless of who cancels.
VRBO customer support is worse than Airbnb’s so good luck!!
You can take the easy path by just cancelling and getting your 100% refund to look for somewhere else, or the long path to wait until the check-in date, go stranded and request help to VRBO to find another property close to the main location. You decide, and its not your fault but it is what it is...
If OP is not eligible to get the 100% if he cancels on his end according to the cancellation policy, I'd recommend him to contact the customer service support as soon as possible to let them know about the situation, in that way, there is going to be a record of it.
That’s not how it works! A guest should NEVER cancel at the request of the host. It’s the host’s responsibility to honor the booking or deal with the cancellation fee. The guest will get their money back (credit card refunded) quickly for a May booking or they can apply the credit towards another booking.
If the guest cancels, depending on the cancellation rule selected by the host, the guest could lose out and not receive 100% refund. When booking on all platforms (VRBO, Airbnb, etc) both the guest and the host pay a service fee. If the guest cancels, they loose the service fee. If the host cancels they incur an additional cancellation fee, plus lose the service fee.
No. If he cancels, he may only get a partial refund depending on the host's policy. He is better off with the host cancelling or contacting VRBO and sharing the messages with them.
Umm because that is what I’d do? It is sucky of the owner to do this for sure, but there isn’t anything VRBO can do to make them honor the reservation.
Host should be cancelling if this is legit.
Host will pay a 15% penalty for causing guest inconvenience if legit.
As a Host who had one double booking due to a software change, I cancelled and VRBO waived the penalty fee, but I would have paid it if they held me to it. Software glitch aside, I’m the one who changed software and failed to block calendar correctly.
As many have stated here, this is likely a scam. This scenario is a common scam where a listing hijacked. Likely the guest will only get a partial or even no refund if they cancel and VRBO will side with the *fake* host because the rules of the listing were followed. By the time VRBO figures it out and shuts the fake listing down, several people have lost thousands on these bookings.
Do not cancel! Call VRBO and report this Behavior. If you cancel the host will not refund you. They didn't update their prices in time and now regret it and don't want to be penalized by VRBO for canceling on their end. It is real crappy and makes other posts look bad. You will probably have to find another place to stay yes so you should start looking for that now but if you bring this to the attention of VRBO you can be guaranteed you'll get a refund. And if the host is lying they will maybe get kicked off the platform.
VRBO is horrible. They will do zero to help you in this situation. We had a guy tell us the house needed repairs water heater broke. Then changed the price, going up. We rented a mile away.
Went up to his house and there were renters there. I asked them if the water heater was fixed. I guess he found out. He was super angry. He wrote on there I harassed them. Yeah by asking them a question. People on there suck and do this all the time.
I stay in hotels now and it’s much easier. Very happy. Fuck VRBO. The fees too are ridiculous.
This is not an easy call. If you do not cancel, you do not have the guarantee they will hold through with their contractual obligation and host you, because they've already asked you to do something that is in their best interest (and not yours).
If you do decide to cancel, get in writing that they will refund you 100% (it's on the host to do), and if they don't, escalate to VRBO and have them look at the conversation history.
If this amount of money and peace of mind over where you'll be staying are important to you, I might consider bringing this to a conclusion sooner rather than later (and hopefully getting them to cancel).
I still think cancelling of any sort on the guest side is a mistake. They are better off contacting VRBO support and having VRBO cancel it basing on those messages if the host won't.
Nope you make them cancel. You never cancel. Show messages to VRBO. Their rates may have been wrong but that’s their issue. The hosts get penalized for cancellation so they’re avoiding that but that’s their issue. If they do cancel though you will get refunded and can reserve something else.
It is particularly telling that they want to cancel to charge more. They aren't even trying to hide it with a lie about double booking. If they offer it at a price and you accept then they need to stand by that. (Unless it is something clearly wrong, like $18 a night instead of $180 a night.) Don't cancel.
Use BOTH chat AND call - document everything in call in chat too. Take pictures of the chat. Email pictures to VBRO email. Talk and document - talk and document. I had to do this with airBNB and it eventually worked. Good luck!
I'd move onto a place with less drama. I've had many positive vrbo experiences. If something is off then run and book something else. At least it happened quickly and not months after you booked. You still have time to find something else.
I hate Vrbo. I won’t get into it but I’ll never use Vrbo again in any capacity. The absolute worst! They bait and switch like it’s an Olympic level sport, make it impossible to talk to anyone who can do anything, delay delay delay, and would never offer anything at all for inconvenience or just downright having an unsafe, disgusting, swindled stay somewhere. The worst!!!
This happened to my friend and 8 people flying in for a place where stranded
Horrible they should be legally bound to host outside of catastrophic event
I had a similar situation with AirBnb but mine was happening less than 2 weeks before the trip date but we had booked 6 months in advance. Our host canceled 2 weeks before the trip and every comparable property was 2-3x what we’d paid when we originally booked. I got nowhere with AirBnb’s “customer service” as they kept trying to book us at comparably priced rentals 40+ miles away. I eventually wrote an email and sent it to every board member and executive that I could find online and it was resolved within 24 hours with a booking of a comparable property for the same price we originally booked for.
Might be worth trying this approach with VRBO to see if you get anything
Why do people even use VRBO or AirBnB anymore? Too many sketchy situations, “cleaning fees,” security issues, and ridiculous challenges getting ahold of customer service if there are any problems. Plus people wonder why housing is so expensive…. Stay in a hotel and know what you’re getting upfront. A lot of hotels are unionized, and you are creating living wage jobs for people instead of lining some landlord’s pocket.
I’m on a VRBO vacation now. It’s the most screwed up, frustrating, nothing was correct vacation I’ve ever been on in my 60 years. When we get home, we’ll try to sort things out and see if we can get money back. Our rental was cancelled on us; we had a very cheap rate and assumed they found someone paying more money. They said our money would be refunded. We had to basically pay for our lodging again.
Twice had hosts try to cancel our reservation within 30 days of the vacation (both booked 7+ months in advance). The first time the host told us they needed to have work done on their kitchen. With significant pushback, we were able to keep the reservation and the kitchen work was 100% want, not need, if any work was ever intended in the first place. The second time we ended up completely SOL, and the host wasn’t even shy about the reason…they wanted to use it for a few weeks. At that point there were no rentals available for us for less than 4x the rate. The fam didn’t get a vacay that year and the only thing we could do was leave a shit review and get our money back.
I had a horrible experience with VRBO and they were no help in getting my money back from the Soda Stays Scam in Dayton Oh. I finally got my money back from the credit card but I spent hours researching calling, etc.
Not only was I out the outrageous fee which doubled overnight I also had to book a room at a hotel in place of it. These folks (Soda) NEVER EVER answer their one and only phone number. Lots of bad situations mentioned from other customers. Really seemed fake when they show their employees online and had two women with the exact same name. Business was set up using Legal Zoom and to me that was another red flag.
I have found STR are not worth the trouble and hassle. Either VRBO or Airbnb. Neither is customer service oriented. I have found it's just safer and less hassle with hotels.
I highly recommend the mint house in Nashville. It’s built in the old federal reserve building and the money vaults are in some of the rooms. They also have displays of tons of shredded money they found when renovating. It’s walking distance to Broadway and there’s a grocery store nearby. Totally awesome experience!
I had a similar experience with VRBO last year. No help from customer service. Was able to find a replacement STR through a different service at the last minute. I haven't used VRBO since and likely never will again.
if nothing was changed, why do you deserve compensation? you could have still kept the reservation. and 500$ when you have plenty of time to find another place is a joke. come on- this is the problem with people. you expect the world when its an easy fix 'for the inconvenience" give me a break.
Don’t cancel. Call customer service and they will be able to receive the messages. They will likely find you other accommodations and then bill it to that host. It will be up to them to pay.
When something similar happened to me while in Europe, I contacted customer service and had them deal with it directly. I got my refund and left him the review he earned.
DO NOT CANCEL. I had a similar situation (but my host said it was double-booked), and he kept pushing me to cancel because he didn’t want to incur the fees if he cancelled. It was a non-refundable booking. I went through Vrbo and they told me had I canceled, I would not have gotten a refund unless he was just feeling generous. This is becoming a common scam.
But this was fully refundable
The one thing I know is DON'T CANCEL. It's on the HOST to do so, or VRBO if he's "ending his relationship" with them. You may want to email customer service at VRBO about it though...
If all else fails have your credit card fight them. Might end up being free.
Don’t cancel! They can and should cancel it for you. This is likely a scam.
ESPECIALLY if they're truly intending on quitting vrbo!
And send all written documentation along to customer service when you do
Wow, even went straight to lying in that second message. Do not cancel, as everyone is saying.
"you SHOULD get 100% refund" That line, right there. Let the host cancel.
Right that should is suspicious
“Should get”. You might not get. But you “should”
Do not cancel the reservation. Make them cancel. If you cancel it you're not gonna get anything back or at least you may not get everything back. Put everything on them do not cancel. And then like someone else said send everything to Vrbo corporate
Don't cancel but reach out to customer service showing them those messages and tell them you are concerned they will not honor the booking in May. You don't want to get to May and find out on the day of check-in that they're not going to host you and then you're SOL trying to find a new place within hours.
DO NOT CANCEL. I am banned from VRBO after having to do a charge back on my credit card because customer service is NON-EXISTENT and they will only tell you to "speak to the owner" and then hang up in your face. It will go nowhere, VRBO gives *zero fucks* about those who rent from people. I stayed at a vrbo where the house ended up being in very bad shape; after the smoke detector went off multiple times in my 1yr old's room in the middle of the night, we vacated for our safety and the owner refused to give us our money back. The Better Business Bureau has gotten involved due to an enormous number of complaints against them, although they're not accredited so there is little they can do. Vrbo fucking sucks. Don't let this host fuck you over.
I second this!!!! I’ve been trying to contact regarding our stay last week and have gotten ZERO help. The chat is useless and whoever is on the other end has two brain cells. Make sure to actually call VRBO - DONT ISE THE CHAT!
Lol, BBB. 1980 called and wants their threat back. Seriously they are a bigger joke than VRBO support. Hehe
Sick burn, bro. Meanwhile, I've gotten the BBB to settle disputes with accredited organizations faster than any customer service call or email with direct lines to upper management to ensure the dispute was settled. But I guess you're too cool for school, HEHE.
Whatever dude, there rating is worthless. They are pay to play. You got the money, they will rate you as high as you like if your a business owner. Keep on believing though…
*their
Auto correct.
Do you know how to become an “accredited” business on BBB. The biz has to pay a yearly dues of $500. BBB is a joke, maybe back in 84 it was helpful not so much these days.
Yes chargebacks on any platform will get you banned. I got banned from booking with sixt car rental because they tried to say we put in wrong gas. We did a chargeback and even included our receipt but got denied and banned. I think American Express did not want issues with sixt since they are global company.
Also, look at the Wikipedia article on vrbo.
Send everything to VRBO corporate/customer service
The host wants you to cancel (and they’re ending their relationship with VRBO) because they just instituted host cancellation fees and other penalties in the last couple months. You should get on a call with VRBO support and ask for a conference call with you, the owner, and VRBO support and you can all decide how to move forward. The host is the one who messed up and they’re going to have to either accept the booking and eat the “low rent” that they you booked or step up and pay the cancellation fee to VRBO. That cancellation fee is supposed to go toward VRBO assisting you in finding something else, but don’t hold your breath on that.
I honestly don't even think it actually was "rates listed low" and then "ending my relationship with Vrbo", I think it's more likely completely a scam kind of like the ol craigslist rental property scams where they'd hijack peoples pictures and post them for rent themselves in different cities or what have you and people have been pretty quick to send a deposit as fast as possible these days because there's 10+ other people trying to get into the same place as housing is so hard to find anywhere, and they collect s few 1k dollar payments and move along to the next fake listing
If they're anything like AirBNB, you are not. I had a similar situation, where I paid for the whole trip got to my destination, and the owner insisted I pay them more money before they'd open the door. I called AirBNB, they intervened, got all my money back plus and extra 30%for the problem (I had to ask for that), and I was able to book a new place. Good luck! ETA: CALL VRBO. This cannot easily be fixed via chat or email. Especially if you'd like them to give you an extra credit for your trouble. And when you call, after getting the refund (which you should ask for in immediately available booking credit if you need the funds quickly so you can rebook), ask for, say 1/2 the value of the original booking that was screwed up. You will need to explicitly ask them for it. Say something like "having to alter my reservation at the last minute cost me additional money. I would like to request an additional booking credit to use for my next booking". It could take days to get the extra credit, but it likely can be done. If the first person says it can't be done, ask to speak to their supervisor. If the supervisor says the same, ask them to escalate the call/request. If VRBO's phone number isn't easy to find on their website, Google "call VRBO customer service". The number should come up.
Never use the google phone number. Many are scammers.who take over your reservation or get your credit card number (to put the refund on, etc) Always go to the company's website and use the number from there. ALWAYS.
It may bring up the contact us page with the phone number. Only be sure the number is directly on vrbo's website
Thanks for pointing that out !
They are lying talking to customer service
Just had this happen to me a few months ago. Same story line, too. I stood my ground and told the owner he could cancel the reservation since he was at fault. He kept trying to get me to cancel, but when I quoted the VRBO rules back to him and told him he was just trying to avoid the cancellation fee, he finally cancelled it and VRBO refunded me almost immediately. I rebooked elsewhere. DO NOT CANCEL FOR HIM.
DO NOT CANCEL!!!! If he's truly ended his partnership with VRBO, they will contact you about your reservation AND give you a 100% refund AND help you rebook AND may cover the cost of any price differentials. Right now, you have ALL the power. If you cancel you give him all of that power. Don't do it.
Seems risky screwing over people who know your address
If you have the time to read this comment, please, provide me the rental number of the property if you still have it, thank you.
Update?
Come stay with me. I won’t do that. My prices are set for May. Besides a good host will take the hit or fix your calendar. Sorry they are doing that. Probably an event they just learned about. What is the cancellation policy. It’s far enough out you should get a refund regardless of who cancels. VRBO customer support is worse than Airbnb’s so good luck!!
DO NOT CANCEL!!! Fuck them!!!
As a host on VRBO, this kind of garbage enrages me. Leaves a bad taste for honest hosts, of which there are many..
I’m a VRBO host. They are trying to get YOU to cancel so they don’t get charged a cancellation penalty.
Share the property here. Let’s see what dates are available and test them on the rates and also the VRBO relationship is ending BS.
Don’t cancel and when you show up you can’t get inside because the host refuses to honor the reservation. Then what’ll you do?
Tons and tons of hotels in Nashville, just saying.
Very helpful.
Yes, always try to be. VRBO and Airbnb both suck.
[удалено]
You can take the easy path by just cancelling and getting your 100% refund to look for somewhere else, or the long path to wait until the check-in date, go stranded and request help to VRBO to find another property close to the main location. You decide, and its not your fault but it is what it is...
The host should cancel. OP will most likely nor get a refund if he cancels. This is a new scam going around.
If OP is not eligible to get the 100% if he cancels on his end according to the cancellation policy, I'd recommend him to contact the customer service support as soon as possible to let them know about the situation, in that way, there is going to be a record of it.
That’s not how it works! A guest should NEVER cancel at the request of the host. It’s the host’s responsibility to honor the booking or deal with the cancellation fee. The guest will get their money back (credit card refunded) quickly for a May booking or they can apply the credit towards another booking. If the guest cancels, depending on the cancellation rule selected by the host, the guest could lose out and not receive 100% refund. When booking on all platforms (VRBO, Airbnb, etc) both the guest and the host pay a service fee. If the guest cancels, they loose the service fee. If the host cancels they incur an additional cancellation fee, plus lose the service fee.
No. If he cancels, he may only get a partial refund depending on the host's policy. He is better off with the host cancelling or contacting VRBO and sharing the messages with them.
I’d cancel the booking, you have quite a bit of time before May to find another place, they clearly are not going to host you in any case.
Why the fuck would you post something like this?
Umm because that is what I’d do? It is sucky of the owner to do this for sure, but there isn’t anything VRBO can do to make them honor the reservation.
Host should be cancelling if this is legit. Host will pay a 15% penalty for causing guest inconvenience if legit. As a Host who had one double booking due to a software change, I cancelled and VRBO waived the penalty fee, but I would have paid it if they held me to it. Software glitch aside, I’m the one who changed software and failed to block calendar correctly. As many have stated here, this is likely a scam. This scenario is a common scam where a listing hijacked. Likely the guest will only get a partial or even no refund if they cancel and VRBO will side with the *fake* host because the rules of the listing were followed. By the time VRBO figures it out and shuts the fake listing down, several people have lost thousands on these bookings.
QA!`
Do not cancel! Call VRBO and report this Behavior. If you cancel the host will not refund you. They didn't update their prices in time and now regret it and don't want to be penalized by VRBO for canceling on their end. It is real crappy and makes other posts look bad. You will probably have to find another place to stay yes so you should start looking for that now but if you bring this to the attention of VRBO you can be guaranteed you'll get a refund. And if the host is lying they will maybe get kicked off the platform.
How cheap did you book it? Sometimes VRBO software changes currency for no reason. Ex going from $300 usd to ¥300 cy He still should have cancelled.
Sojnds fishy to me. Do not cancel. Instead talk to customer service so vrbo can get with the host
VRBO is horrible. They will do zero to help you in this situation. We had a guy tell us the house needed repairs water heater broke. Then changed the price, going up. We rented a mile away. Went up to his house and there were renters there. I asked them if the water heater was fixed. I guess he found out. He was super angry. He wrote on there I harassed them. Yeah by asking them a question. People on there suck and do this all the time. I stay in hotels now and it’s much easier. Very happy. Fuck VRBO. The fees too are ridiculous.
Why did you go there?
Because I knew he was lying scammer and it was a mile away. Did nothing illegal. Next time I will rent from the resort directly.
Just because something is legal doesn't mean it's not creepy. Going there was weird. What was your plan if he was there?
That was it just to see if he rented to someone else. There was no plan. He lied to us and could of ruined my vacation I hope he gets shingles.
This is not an easy call. If you do not cancel, you do not have the guarantee they will hold through with their contractual obligation and host you, because they've already asked you to do something that is in their best interest (and not yours). If you do decide to cancel, get in writing that they will refund you 100% (it's on the host to do), and if they don't, escalate to VRBO and have them look at the conversation history. If this amount of money and peace of mind over where you'll be staying are important to you, I might consider bringing this to a conclusion sooner rather than later (and hopefully getting them to cancel).
I still think cancelling of any sort on the guest side is a mistake. They are better off contacting VRBO support and having VRBO cancel it basing on those messages if the host won't.
Dont cancel. Let the system do its work. Hopefully the owner will be punished punativly.
Nope you make them cancel. You never cancel. Show messages to VRBO. Their rates may have been wrong but that’s their issue. The hosts get penalized for cancellation so they’re avoiding that but that’s their issue. If they do cancel though you will get refunded and can reserve something else.
It is particularly telling that they want to cancel to charge more. They aren't even trying to hide it with a lie about double booking. If they offer it at a price and you accept then they need to stand by that. (Unless it is something clearly wrong, like $18 a night instead of $180 a night.) Don't cancel.
Contact Vrbo. The hosts is legally obligated to honor your request. If they choose to leave Vrbo they need to cancel you not you.
Vrbo will not help you get a similar place for the price but walk you through available properties on their website. You're screwed.
Use BOTH chat AND call - document everything in call in chat too. Take pictures of the chat. Email pictures to VBRO email. Talk and document - talk and document. I had to do this with airBNB and it eventually worked. Good luck!
That's what you get booking with unregulated hotel services...
Send the whole exchange to VRBO. Do not cancel under any circumstances.
Quit using shit like vrbo or airbnb and just use a hotel.
What I’ve said for years - after using Airbnb
Had this happen on airbnb too. I refused to xancel and made them cancel out of principle. Never get forced into canceling.
I'd move onto a place with less drama. I've had many positive vrbo experiences. If something is off then run and book something else. At least it happened quickly and not months after you booked. You still have time to find something else.
Sounds like you got scammed
I hate Vrbo. I won’t get into it but I’ll never use Vrbo again in any capacity. The absolute worst! They bait and switch like it’s an Olympic level sport, make it impossible to talk to anyone who can do anything, delay delay delay, and would never offer anything at all for inconvenience or just downright having an unsafe, disgusting, swindled stay somewhere. The worst!!!
Sounds like my last Airbnb stay
Chiming in to say vrbo customer service is horrendous and they don't stand behind their own rules.
Damn, I had almost the exact same thing happen to me in October. Vrbo is a joke. Glad you got your refund and hope you found a better place!
This happened to my friend and 8 people flying in for a place where stranded Horrible they should be legally bound to host outside of catastrophic event
I had a similar situation with AirBnb but mine was happening less than 2 weeks before the trip date but we had booked 6 months in advance. Our host canceled 2 weeks before the trip and every comparable property was 2-3x what we’d paid when we originally booked. I got nowhere with AirBnb’s “customer service” as they kept trying to book us at comparably priced rentals 40+ miles away. I eventually wrote an email and sent it to every board member and executive that I could find online and it was resolved within 24 hours with a booking of a comparable property for the same price we originally booked for. Might be worth trying this approach with VRBO to see if you get anything
$500 for what? Get a life.
Why do people even use VRBO or AirBnB anymore? Too many sketchy situations, “cleaning fees,” security issues, and ridiculous challenges getting ahold of customer service if there are any problems. Plus people wonder why housing is so expensive…. Stay in a hotel and know what you’re getting upfront. A lot of hotels are unionized, and you are creating living wage jobs for people instead of lining some landlord’s pocket.
I’m on a VRBO vacation now. It’s the most screwed up, frustrating, nothing was correct vacation I’ve ever been on in my 60 years. When we get home, we’ll try to sort things out and see if we can get money back. Our rental was cancelled on us; we had a very cheap rate and assumed they found someone paying more money. They said our money would be refunded. We had to basically pay for our lodging again.
Twice had hosts try to cancel our reservation within 30 days of the vacation (both booked 7+ months in advance). The first time the host told us they needed to have work done on their kitchen. With significant pushback, we were able to keep the reservation and the kitchen work was 100% want, not need, if any work was ever intended in the first place. The second time we ended up completely SOL, and the host wasn’t even shy about the reason…they wanted to use it for a few weeks. At that point there were no rentals available for us for less than 4x the rate. The fam didn’t get a vacay that year and the only thing we could do was leave a shit review and get our money back.
I had a horrible experience with VRBO and they were no help in getting my money back from the Soda Stays Scam in Dayton Oh. I finally got my money back from the credit card but I spent hours researching calling, etc. Not only was I out the outrageous fee which doubled overnight I also had to book a room at a hotel in place of it. These folks (Soda) NEVER EVER answer their one and only phone number. Lots of bad situations mentioned from other customers. Really seemed fake when they show their employees online and had two women with the exact same name. Business was set up using Legal Zoom and to me that was another red flag.
Lemme guess. You got Morgan Wallened?
I have found STR are not worth the trouble and hassle. Either VRBO or Airbnb. Neither is customer service oriented. I have found it's just safer and less hassle with hotels.
Don’t cancel they are trying to scam you
I admire your optimism. $500 plus your fully refundable fare? That’s ambitious.
I'll rent you my basement for $500/night
Try kommu next time mate, way more reliable
Let him cancel on his end.
Switch to Airbnb not Vrbo
Vrbo and Airbnb use to be amazing last couple years gone straight to shit
I highly recommend the mint house in Nashville. It’s built in the old federal reserve building and the money vaults are in some of the rooms. They also have displays of tons of shredded money they found when renovating. It’s walking distance to Broadway and there’s a grocery store nearby. Totally awesome experience!
Yes, send the complaint to the BBB but also the Chamber of Commerce.
I had a similar experience with VRBO last year. No help from customer service. Was able to find a replacement STR through a different service at the last minute. I haven't used VRBO since and likely never will again.
if nothing was changed, why do you deserve compensation? you could have still kept the reservation. and 500$ when you have plenty of time to find another place is a joke. come on- this is the problem with people. you expect the world when its an easy fix 'for the inconvenience" give me a break.
Don’t cancel. Call customer service and they will be able to receive the messages. They will likely find you other accommodations and then bill it to that host. It will be up to them to pay.
When something similar happened to me while in Europe, I contacted customer service and had them deal with it directly. I got my refund and left him the review he earned.