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Find a Location

Vrbo has 26 locations, listed below.

*This company may be headquartered in or have additional locations in another country. Please click on the country abbreviation in the search box below to change to a different country location.

    Country
    Please enter a valid location.

    Business ProfileforVrbo

    Vacation Rentals
    HeadquartersMulti Location Business
    The Complaints and Reviews shown on this HQ profile may have been submitted against either the HQ itself or one of the corporate-owned locations found under "Find Locations".

    Current Alerts For This Business

    Pattern of Complaint:

    BBB files indicate that this business has a pattern of complaints concerning consumers experiencing difficulties including unreasonable delays in refunds, honoring guarantee claims and processing timely cancellations.  On June 7th, 2023, BBB submitted a written request to the company encouraging them to address their pattern of complaints. October 20th, 2023, BBB received a response from Vrbo: 

    Dear Better Business Bureau,
    Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to respond to the BBB assessment and provide clarity.
    Our top priority at Vrbo is to ensure guests and hosts have a positive experience. As part of our
    continuous improvement efforts, we strive to make the experience better for all parties involved.
    We want to address our refund, cancellation, and Book with Confidence policies in the below.
    First, Vrbo operates as a dual-sided marketplace, facilitating connections between travelers and
    vacation rental hosts. Hosts on Vrbo range from individual property owners renting their second
    home or cabin by the lake to professional property management firms. In either case, hosts have
    the flexibility to manage their rental properties independently or to enlist the services of a
    property manager.
    With this flexibility, hosts have options when setting their refund and cancellation policies.
    Cancellation Policies
    For guest-initiated cancellations, we have always allowed hosts to choose the cancellation policy
    that is best for their properties, and refunds are issued according to this cancellation policy when
    a guest cancels the booking. We do encourage hosts to adopt more flexible cancellation policies
    and in recent years, many hosts have chosen to adopt our most relaxed policy, which offers
    guests a full refund 14 days before check-in.
    We have also made cancellation requirements very visible to the traveler throughout the search,
    property listing and check-out experience. Travelers can filter searches by places that offer
    flexible cancellation, and the final date they must cancel by for a full refund is clearly displayed
    on listing pages and during check-out, so there’s no question whether you get a refund and when
    you must cancel by to receive it.

    To that end, when a guest needs to cancel outside the cancellation policy they agreed to when
    booking a property, it is the host’s decision if they want to issue a full, partial or no refund. We
    have also seen hosts offer credits for future stays at their own discretion, and it’s also up to each
    host to determine when those credits expire and whether they can be used towards the original
    property that was booked or any in their portfolio if they have multiple listings. An individual
    owner could agree to honor a future booking at the same property or fully refund the guest in the
    same way a large property management company could.
    In these situations when guests cancel outside of the set policy, we suggest that they work with
    the host to find a solution that works for both parties, such as a refund or credit for a future stay.
    When hosts provide a full refund for a cancellation, Vrbo automatically refunds the traveler
    service fee, which is the amount we make from the transaction.
    Regarding host-initiated cancellations – while we expect hosts to honor their bookings,
    sometimes cancellations are inevitable. Some hosts may need to cancel bookings due to reasons
    outside of their control, such as damage to their property or the effects of a natural disaster.
    However, when hosts cancel due to reasons under their control, those cancellations negatively
    impact the host’s listing performance and visibility to other travelers on the site. A new policy
    charging tiered cancellation fees for hosts that cancel bookings under their control also recently
    went into effect on October 14, and hosts that cancel on guests too frequently may be suspended
    or removed from our platform.
    Refunds from Vrbo
    Since March of last year, we have implemented policies that help with faster refund times.
    When Vrbo is the Merchant of Record, and the guest is within the cancellation window, we
    strive to process refunds within 5-7 business days of the refund request or within the next billing
    cycle depending on the guest’s financial institution. It’s important to note the traveler's issuing
    bank may have its own timelines that we can't control so we cannot guarantee timelines. As we
    mentioned, we work with property management companies and if a guest rents through one of
    these companies, the refund is up to the property management company. If the guest and host
    have a dispute regarding refunds it takes time for us to investigate the matter and determine
    whether a refund should be issued.

    Book With Confidence
    We will be reviewing and editing the Book with Confidence page. We are taking the following
    action items to address the feedback:

    • Providing clearer guidance on what is covered and what is not covered by the guarantee.
    • Increasing the prominence of these clearer terms on the Book with Confidence page.
    • Conducting a full review and revision of all job aids and training materials related to
    Book with Confidence to maintain consistency with terms and from agent to agent.
    We have spent a lot of time and resources improving our BBB rating over the past few months.
    As a result, our rating has improved from an "F" to a "B". We hope our responses and handling
    of customer concerns will reflect our commitment to our customers and our partnership with
    BBB.
    Once again, we appreciate the opportunity to review these concerns. 

    Alert:

    In June of 2023, BBB began investigating Vrbo’s business practices. This investigation was prompted by a large volume of complaints and customer reviews received by BBB. Based on an evaluation of the consumer complaints and customer review data, BBB’s file conditions indicate that this business has a pattern of complaints and customer reviews concerning customer service issues and Guarantee issues specifically around the terms and conditions of the “Book With Confidence Guarantee.”
    Consumers allege:
    •         They experience an unreasonable delay in providing a customer refund
    •         They experience an unreasonable delay in honoring a valid guarantee claim
    •         They experience an unreasonable delay in processing a timely cancellation of their transaction:
    Consumers requesting cancellation within the refund window experience delays from Vrbo or the homeowner in addressing their request. Allegedly, the consumer may forfeit all refund or only receive a partial refund. Consumers further allege the “Book with Confidence” guarantee is unclear on who is responsible for canceling or providing refunds, further delaying the process.
    •         Consumers allege “Material Misrepresentations” are said to be covered in the advertising on the website, however, claims regarding cleanliness or actual misrepresentation are then not covered in the fine print and in the complaints themselves.
    •         Consumers allege Vrbo claims not to be able to assist with issues since they are “only a 3rd party hosting site” but this appears to be contradicted in advertising specifically the “Book with Confidence Guarantee” Customers do not understand the contract to be with the homeowner and it is unclear what the recourse is for customers when the homeowner refuses contact.

    BBB is concerned about the pattern and underlying issues of these allegations.
    In July 2023 BBB began contacting Vrbo to address the underlying issues of these disputes. BBB requested the business respond with an outline of the policies/procedures, actions they are taking, and other efforts they have in place to help address and eliminate the underlying issues of this pattern. BBB received a response from Vrbo,which is available above under "Pattern of Complaint."

    At-a-glance

    Customer Reviews

    1.04/5stars

    Average of 884 Customer Reviews

    Customer Complaints

    3,259 complaints closed in last 3 years

    1,224 complaints closed in last 12 months

    Customer Reviews are not used in the calculation of BBB Rating

    Reasons for BBB Rating

    Related Categories

    Business Details

    This is a multi-location business.

    Find a Location

    Vrbo has 26 locations, listed below.

    *This company may be headquartered in or have additional locations in another country. Please click on the country abbreviation in the search box below to change to a different country location.

      Country
      Please enter a valid location.
      Headquarters
      11920 Alterra Pkwy, Austin, TX 78758-1115
      BBB File Opened:
      10/18/2004
      Years in Business:
      30
      Business Started:
      1/1/1994
      Business Started Locally:
      1/1/1994
      Business Incorporated:
      4/15/1994
      Type of Entity:
      Corporation
      Alternate Business Name
      • HomeAway.com, Inc.
      • Vrbo.com
      • Vacation Rentals by Owner
      Business Management
      • Ms. Amy Munguia, Manager - Priority & Global Privacy Customer Escalations
      • Ms. Rachel Fields, Supervisor, Escalations - Expedia Group
      Contact Information

      Principal

      • Ms. Amy Munguia, Manager - Priority & Global Privacy Customer Escalations

      Customer Contact

      • Ms. Amy Munguia, Manager - Priority & Global Privacy Customer Escalations

      Customer Complaints

      3,259 Customer Complaints

      Need to file a complaint? BBB is here to help. We'll guide you through the process. How BBB Processes Complaints and Reviews

      File a Complaint

      Customer Reviews

      884 Customer Reviews

      What do you think? Share your review.

      How BBB Processes Complaints and Reviews

      Start a Review

      Most Recent Customer Review

      Kara C

      1 star

      11/22/2024

      Had a reservation in ******, ****** for November 1-7 and booked 8 months in advance because everything books up for Dia de los muertos celebrations. Everything was confirmed and then 24 hours before check in, we did not receive check in instructions and I tried contacted the host 5 times and didn't hear back. The day of I tried again, with no reply. I reached out to VRBO support (sat on hold for an hour) for them to tell me they can't do anything because it isn't 4pm check in time yet. I explained that it says 24 hours in advance we should receive something. They still couldn't do anything. Finally 4pm check in time, didn't hear anything from host and all VRBO said was to find a different hotel and we could be reimbursed up to $124 for only 1 night. I explained that there is no hotels due to the holidays but they didn't care. My sister and I were already in ****** at the airport calling hotels, looking at ****************************************************, trying to find ANYTHING or any price range and NOTHING, not even hostel rooms or something an hour away. We were stranded with no place to go. We searched and called for 3 hours before we found a hotel with 1 room available but it was $1,300/night for a 4 star hotel. We decided instead of no place to go, we will book just one night and go from there. Fast forward to the next day. The host cancelled the reservation the next day saying that "we didn't meet the minimum required age".. BS excuse so they don't get in trouble. I then was in contact with VRBO demanding they pay more than $124 back to me due to the fact there was NO LODGING ANYWHERE. They said there was absolutely nothing they could do. Then I said, the least you can do is let me leave a review for them. They said yes for sure, then hung up. I called back and demanded to leave a review and they said you can't due to the fact you didn't stay there. I said that is BS because this host can continue to do this to other people and it isn't right. They didn't care. THIS BUSINESS *****.

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