Business ProfileforVrbo

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 7^th, 2023, BBB submitted a written request to the company encouraging them to address their pattern of complaints. October 20^th, 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. 

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."