Experience with VRBO?

In all of my many VRBO rentals the refund has been generated by the property owner. I've always paid the property owner directly by check, credit card or Paypal and the refund has come back to me in its original form.

I too have a question about VRBO. I have found a rental in London,but reading the horror stories I'm afraid to pursue it. If anyone has positive or negative things I would like to know. Thanks to all

I would never pay a deposit. I would pay upon arrival if it is not too much or send the money by bank transfer ( can then show which account it came from and to which it went), not so obvious with a credit card I find.

I only rented through VRBO once in Europe and the deposit was deducted from the final cost of the rental. The refundable damage deposit was handed to me by the renter upon checkout, after he assured himself there was not damage. I've never rented in US or Europe where VRBO handled any refundable deposit.

Maybe I should explain this is a refundable damage deposit.

I have no complaints about the actual apartments, furnishings, cleanliness, locations, etc.

Yes, I was referring to the refundable damage deposit. They're more common on my US rentals than in Europe but I haven't had any trouble with them. All of the times I've located my apartment on VRBO, I made contact through VRBO and received a payment link and paid the apartment deposit and the refundable security deposit. At some later point, closer to travel time, I paid off the remaining rental balance. Then, after staying in the apartment, I received an email from the owner saying I had been refunded a damage deposit. A credit would then show up on my credit card when I checked it online. Are you certain that VRBO is going to be the one giving you the refund? You're paying the property owner, less any cut that VRBO takes. And likewise, the property owner took the deposit to protect their property - are you certain that VRBO holds on to your damage deposit when you book a property? It seems like the property owner would.

I'm not sure here - just adding my two cents worth. Do you have a written contract designating which party holds your damage deposit?

Did you pay the refundable damage deposit separately? If not, that might be throwing a monkey wrench into the works.

The payment system used would probably have to debit one account then credit another, which would take time.
Also, some owners are extremely serious about inventory and either have a manager or want to examine the apartment themselves with a fine-tooth comb, before they refund a damage deposit. This might also be contributing to the problem.
I'd keep on both VRBO and the owner, though.

I have gone to Europe for 14 of the last 15 years and travel to Hawaii yearly. I have checked out VRBO in both places and every time I found a place that seemed attractive, they wanted a rental deposit before I even got there. I have offered to provide a credit card number for them to hold as a deposit but have always been turned down. I did not pursue any of them as I want to see the place before giving them my money and using a credit card seems like a good compromise.

Just an update on the damage refund. Basically, the owner has been responsive to my emails to her. It seems I am not the only guest who has not received a refund and I believe the owner is also unpaid. Apparently there is a glitch in the system regarding the host country's banking laws and VRBO's system of managing payments and refunds. VRBO's responses to me, the guest, have been polite but completely useless. Essentially, the customer service people assume the error is on the part of the property owner and seem to have done nothing to correct the problem. It seems like "pass the buck." The property owner has now forwarded to me the emails she received from VRBO in which there is acknowledgement of a technical problem and a promise to correct that problem.

Needless to say, I am extremely disappointed in the poor customer service VRBO has given me, and I am still waiting for the refund.

Europe is a big place...which country were you in?
Rentals in France can hold refunds for up to one month, unless stated otherwise. It seems that nobody likes to go to the bank - either for deposits or withdrawals.

Too late, I just checked Consumer Affairs to see recent issues involving VRBO. It's now an Expedia-owned business with many complaints about billing and poor (nonexistent) customer service.

A whole lot of people aren't even aware that HomeAway bought out VRBO in 2008, then bought out a lot of the competition.

HomeAway was sold to Expedia in mid-November, one year ago.

Hopefully, you'll be able to make some headway with Customer Service at Expedia - I'd recommend that you be very specific with the facts, mention the Better Business Bureau and send a letter by registered mail. You'll need a paper trail in case something goes really wrong.

If you don't get satisfaction, I'd go to an attorney - a free legal clinic might be able to do this for you - and ask him/her to write a "demand letter" explaining the issue in detail. Again, send everything by registered mail.

In my opinion, when Expedia purchased HomeAway (which had previously purchased VRBO) for 3.9 billion dollars, they apparently didn't budget for meaningful customer service. They continue to blame the property owner for a billing problem they created. Their mantra is that they are the go between, and apparently that means to them that they have no responsibility or liability. Caveat emptor---let the buyer of their services beware.

Well, actually this is true.
You didn't realize that you were dealing with a 3rd party website, and what Expedia has told you is true. Expedia and other listing sites only list property, which is all they are legally obliged to do.

It is the property owner who is responsible for customer service. You will get much better results if you send a registered demand letter directly to the owner.