Can we trust VRBO/HomeAway?

Susan, how are you making the payments which are required prior to your visit? We've used VRBO/Homeaway successfully as well but only choose properties which will take credit cards: that way if something goes awry, we can have the CC company investigate. I NEVER send cash, transfer or check. Also request a contract from them.

This will also be helpful, and a good way to go if possible:
http://help.vrbo.com/articles/en_US/Article/How-do-I-pay-securely-for-a-vacation-rental

More and more we have had to pre-pay, generally via bank transfer. As long as I am paying through VRBO's payment site, I feel secure. No problems yet, anyway, in 3+ years of doing it!

VBRO holds the money, so the property owner doesn't get paid until you show up. We don't make plans 14 months ahead as we're more impulse travelers.

I've used AirBnB before which operates much in the same as VBRO, and had no problems. They were adamant about my rating the property. I later figured out the property owners were also rating me as a renter to AirBnB--for future use.

Booking.com is also another agency that has properties of all kinds all over the world--many of which just take a credit card in lieu of a deposit.

I have used VRBO and Home Away many times in the last 10 years and never had a problem. I also get nervous about waiting too long and usually choose apartments many months ahead. One time with Home Away, the apartment owner had to sell the apartment prior to my trip. But he emailed me and returned my deposit in plenty of time for me to choose another apartment.
I feel confident in using both companies as my experiences have always been positive.

We booked ours for Rome and Venice a year or more out (that's how you can snag the very best places!) and had to pay, then pay the remaining in cash on arrival. I would feel ok with it, as long as the property had lots of good reviews, and the owner was responsive via email. :)

I would just book it and not worry about it! :)

Kim

Isn't there some sort of insurance option with VRBO?

Rosalyn, yes there is an insurance option on VRBO/HomeAway. If you're paying a lot of money up front I would use it. Or use the payment through VRBO if it's available.

We've used them both lots of times for apartments in Italy with no problems at all.

We will be traveling to Italy in Septmber, 2016, and have found some nice options on VRBO....my question....how do you secure lodging prior to purchasing airline tickets? Airfare/ schedules won't be released for at least 3 more months for our trip in Sept '16....

I only used Airbnb in Europe and we never had any issues -- Airbnb also keeps the funds until you actually stay there, so I would assume they would refund it back to you if the stay isn't completed. It might be worth looking at rentals where you've seen reviews for a long period of time vs. just a few months.

I only used Airbnb in Europe and we never had any issues -- Airbnb also keeps the funds until you actually stay there, so I would assume they would refund it back to you if the stay isn't completed. It might be worth looking at rentals where you've seen reviews for a long period of time vs. just a few months.

Unless there is insurance that pays in the event the apartment is not available -- and I have never heard of anyone claiming on that successfully -- one is pretty much on their own if they have a dishonest or bankrupt landlord. In many venues the rentals are illegal and the agencies are listing services not agencies that manage apartments. It is a risk which is why you have to do due dilligence and protect yourself.

AirBnB has degrees of flexibility as far as cancellation goes. It ranges from Flexible to Moderate to Strict to Super Strict 30 Days and on all the way to a special policy for long-term rentals. The "Moderate" level reads as follows: "Moderate: Full refund 5 days prior to arrival, except fees"

MANY THANKS to all who responded. We are feeling more confident, not only because of some of your remarks, but also because I called the VRBO/HomeAway support people and got some verifications. It is true that the money is held and nothing is paid to the owners until we actually arrive. There is a schedule of payments in the VRBO system once the owner sends them a reservation prospect with dates. In fact for the apartment in Florence our schedule of payments had already been entered into their system, showing the two advance payments we are to make and the 50% balance to the owner on the date we are reserving to arrive. VRBO told me there is a $1,000 guarantee on each rental property so that if either defaults, then at least $1,000 of it would be returned to us. They both have the blue shield on the listing to indicate secure HomeAway payment. As for making reservations so far ahead without knowing the airline schedules, we figured that we would just make the flight schedules fit our reservation dates. Both of the apartment owners (we have not done Venice yet) said we could have some wiggle room on the reserved dates, with a day in either direction, until November, and by then we should be able to nail down the in-and outbound flight dates. I'm checking out the AAA travel insurance options tomorrow, before we send the first payment, both the insurance for losses/thefts, but also the medical piece of it. Ultimately, because these apartment owners have been so accommodating and so communicative, I feel almost like they have become new friends over the last month, so as someone implied, I'm just going with my gut instinct that they're trustworthy.

Glad that you actually spoke to someone at VRBO/HomeAway/
I had a terrible experience with them in December 2014 - booked an apt in (Paris) Trocadero area - exchanged several emails with owners of property and did a foreign $$ transfer to Barclays Bank in London to an "escrow" account.
2 days later found the whole thing was a scam - property did not exist and I spent a lot of time and effort to get my 3500 dollars back (thanks to Fidelity) VRBO HomeAway was no help and they said they do not vet all of their properties. Their legal dept. said they could give me a partial refund - even-though their website says 100% guaranteed.
Yet, I have some friends who use them frequently have not had any problems.
I hope your rental is successful and worry free.

This was very interesting to read, and thanks to those sharing experiences about VRBO. I have not used that service myself yet, and have used Air BnB in a few places in Europe now to my great satisfaction. I will always recommend Air BnB from my personal experience, and also have used Booking.com, and am open to any sites with good deals, so it is important to see people's own opinions of how these places work in reality. I have used Home Away as well but not as recently, and also had a pleasant experience.

that is interesting. I have used VRBO as recently as a couple of years ago and have always sent the money directly to the landlord after making the deposit (which is the VRBO fee) to VRBO. There was no holding of the money and so it was up to me to deal if there were problems. I had some serious problems with the last apartment rented for a month and was lucky the landlord's agent was diligent about working on the issues (no hot water or heat in October); there was no local VRBO agent to assist.