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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Welcome to VRBO.  They will do nothing to help you, OP.  I was ghosted by an owner when I tried to cancel (within the terms of the contract) and VRBO admitted they were wrong but did absolutely nothing to help. The VRBO “guarantee” is worthless. They suggested that I challenge the charge on my credit card. They will not even provide you with a form to file a claim. I sent a letter and got back a polite FU letter from the VRBO legal department.  It’s why I will never use VRBO again. They charge outrageous fees and do nothing at all in exchange. You might as well be renting on Craig’s List. [/quote]

You don’t seem to understand what VRBO is, and expect it to act as a property manager in at least some respects, like managing rental payments and reservations.  VRBO (and Airbnb) are never going to do that, in part because it would require becoming licensed as property managers in every state that requires it (which gets expensive), and in part because, by acting as property managers, they could become legally responsible for things like making sure all rental units are up to code, property owners don’t violate anti-discrimination laws, and all rental units have necessary business licenses and permits.  That is not something VRBO is ever going to take on, so they make very sure to structure themselves solely as a matching service for owners and prospective renters, without taking on any responsibilities that could be construed as property management.

As a result, VRBO had limited options for remedying your situation.  If a property owner violates their rules, they can ban the owner from using the site going forward but they otherwise can do very little to help you without risking violating the law. [/quote]

Well, that’s my point. VRBO is worthless in terms of providing any protection for the renter, and people need to understand this. They charge significantly higher fees than property management companies and do nothing in exchange. I am *not* expecting VRBO to act as a “property manager.” I am expecting VRBO to live up to the “Travel with Confidence” guarantee that they themselves advertise. I do notice that VRBO has changed their “guarantee” — back when I had an issue their guarantee said that they would protect the renter against fraud by the property owner. Their “guarantee” is carefully written to imply that they’ll protect you against fraud, but it doesn’t even say that anymore.

Forget OP’s situation and discussions of “acts of God” — even in cases like mine, where the owner commits actual fraud, VRBO will do nothing. In case of fraud, their “guarantee” says they’ll “try to find you new accommodation” but says nothing about who pays and getting you your money back.

Also, VRBO may delete the listing (as they did in my case), but they also do absolutely nothing to screen for the relisting of properties by the same owners under slightly different names.

https://www.vrbo.com/l/travel-with-confidence/[/quote]

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