Vrbo sucks

[mid_gen]

I generally find Airbnb not worth the hassle these days and prefer to just deal with actual professional hotels, but for a trip to south of France this weekend, the only accomodation where I needed to be was on Vrbo.

Tried ringing the host this morning, and although it's a completely legit host, they don't actually use Vrbo, some scammer has just nicked their details and made a fraudulent listing, and Vrbo clearly don't check jack ****.

Now no accomodation within miles of where I need to be, fun times.

 

[mid_gen]

People actually use Vrbo? Thought nobody did as Airbnb is so much better and cheaper.

Were no options on Airbnb. Besides, Airbnb is pants these days, hotels are cheaper half the time.

There's nothing on Booking.com nearby? Tried searching on Google Maps? Some accommodation don't list on any sites but they are on Maps.

I've got something sorted now, half hour drive from where the gig is we're travelling for, but looks decent. With booking.com who I've never had any issues with.

 

[mid_gen]

I'm going to upgrade the thread title from 'VRBO Sucks' to 'VRBO is a ****ing scam'.

Two weeks later, still no refund. Customer service are absolutely maddeningly, intentionally obtuse. I'll be disputing the original payment if they don't sort it out soon.

The service agent I spoke to today basically said they will only refund the service charge, I'll have to get the rest back from the host (i.e. the scammer). Christ alive.

 

[mid_gen]

Chargeback time IMO.

Yeah I will be shortly, Starling want you to wait 15 days.

 

[mid_gen]

Oof. Downside of a challenger bank. AMEX would have had you refunded by now!

Well, it's not a credit card. I don't think it's unreasonable to give a couple of weeks for the vendor to sort something out.

 

[mid_gen]

Kicked off a dispute at the weekend through Starling. See what happens.

 

[mid_gen]

Kicked off a dispute at the weekend through Starling. See what happens.

Chargeback refund just came through from Starling. Vrbo have 45 days to dispute it mind.

 

[mid_gen]

We were trying to find somewhere to stay in Mykonos a couple of years ago, and were really tempted by a villa we found which was a bit pricey but looked amazing. It was on a lot of the booking sites and also shared a name with our dog, but in the end we went with something a bit cheaper.

Whilst there, we thought we’d do a drive by of it only to discover it was still a building site, and some reviews saying as such had started to come in…

They don't verify anything, the place we booked was totally legit, but some scammer had just copied a listing from booking.com, used all the same details including phone numbers, but obviously their payment info.

Vrbo appear to pay the host immediately rather than holding in escrow, so the platform is a gold-mine for scammers. Chuck a listing up, get a booking, disappear with your monies, repeat.