Our VRBO won’t give us a refund

I cancelled a trip last Monday for May. It was refundable then. Still haven't gotten my refund. So, should I wait another week and then email. If I do, do I email the owner or VRBO?

Please be patient. I work for a vacation rental related company and this national tragedy is something that could have never been planned for. The company that I'm with is pretty small and we have our entire staff working all day...and night, every day.

We're all in this together, so patience helps us so much. :)
 
Please be patient. I work for a vacation rental related company and this national tragedy is something that could have never been planned for. The company that I'm with is pretty small and we have our entire staff working all day...and night, every day.

We're all in this together, so patience helps us so much. :)
I can do that. This is for Branson. Was supposed to be the senior trip for the graduating class. Just wasn't sure what was reasonable.
 
We got lucky.
we booked ocean city MD for a cheer competition.
Orginal book date was in October.
1200 for 4 nites. All cheer is cancelled for next 8 weeks.
So we called to cancel. The agent on the phone home told us, (my husband asked about unforeseen circumstances) they told us we had to have our unforeseen circumstance before December 21 to get refund! My husband threatened to call credit card company.
We did purchase the insurance and we are waiting for refund.
 


Can you file a dispute with your credit cArd company

As the person who handles the chargebacks for a vacation rental company, I do have to caution people about filing disputes with their credit card issuers.

First, it costs the business money.

Second, it can actually slow a refund down, because a lot of work needs to be put in to each chargeback rebuttal by the business and any refund may be put on hold while the chargeback is being decided. We’ve had cases that this can take several weeks.

Third, after charging back, you may be unwelcome to use that company in the future.

And lastly, the cardholder just may lose. The vast majority of chargebacks are found in our favor. Vacation rentals are typically non-refundable and if you’ve accepted a rental agreement that states that, you shouldn’t expect to win a dispute based on the principal of the matter. If there’s a contract or rental agreement in place, typically the decision will be based on that.

For valid reasons, chargebacks are a valuable tool for consumers, credit card issuers and businesses. Unfortunately, they’re routinely abused and drive up the costs for many online businesses.
 
VRBO is the issue here. They need to start putting some teeth behind their policy. They need to start throwing the owners who refuse to even refund a cleaning fee off their site for good.

I had to wait on hold on the phone for over an hour to try and report the owner I had rented from. That’s ridiculous. VRBO needs to set up an online complaint form and then they need to start throwing these greedy thieves off the VRBO platform.
 
CNN has an article that a guy using VRBO is losing $3,400 because his conference in Austin was cancelled and VRBO won't issue a refund. The official VRBO response was "get travel insurance." VRBO, of all things, is headquartered in Austin. Apparently AirBNB is being much more gracious.

Just remember when booking future travel, VRBO is owned by HomeAway, and HomeAway is owned by Expedia.


I just saw this.... anything to do with Expedia will be a nightmare... We used it for years, then their policies started changing... even with travel insurance...you will have problems... the only time we have used Expedia in the last few years is if we are going the same day or the next day for last minute hotel rooms....when there was no other choice...
 


IMHO...For the future dump VRBO if u were unhappy with them.
Personally I’d try thru ur Own cc company if that’s how you paid. Let the other company take their time, energy and money and use it to get bogged down in multiple claims against them. So be it, part of business and
Perhaps in the Extraordinary Times, reasonableness and compassion for people should be Atop greed ( like not refunding cleaning fee) or offering a future credit.
Good luck all!
 
We are having the issue of no refund/ no transfer of dates from VRBO. BUT.... I have been checking regularly and yesterday I noticed they have enacted a COVID-19 cancellation plan...our dates do not fall within the window (until April 31st) but J am hoping if I wait until a little closer to our travel date they may extend it. Still looks vague, like the owner can choose not to do it...it’s worded “we ask that renters,” either give at least a 50% refund or allow a date change to a much later time.
 
This really stinks for everyone. But I don't think that the renter should have to loose any money since it was not up to them to cancel the trip. It would be different if the renter had personal issues and cancelled because of that. But to have the government mandate that you not travel should mean that the renters get a full refund and the owner should apply to the government for lost income. No one should be able to profit off of a pandemic.
 
I had a VRBO for cocoa beach scheduled for MAY 6th. We were just 2 days shy of the 50% cancellation window and we contacted the owner to move the trip to Next year. She wasn't responding (which was unusual as she had been very communicative up to now) so I called VRBO and they reached out to her and she emailed me right away. We moved the dates.
 
As the person who handles the chargebacks for a vacation rental company, I do have to caution people about filing disputes with their credit card issuers.

First, it costs the business money.

And lastly, the cardholder just may lose. The vast majority of chargebacks are found in our favor. Vacation rentals are typically non-refundable and if you’ve accepted a rental agreement that states that, you shouldn’t expect to win a dispute based on the principal of the matter. If there’s a contract or rental agreement in place, typically the decision will be based on that.

I’ve friends who are dealing with this from The DVC Rental Store - the company and their egregious handling of the pandemic is an atrocity. They are forcing their customers to bear the brunt of their own shortsightednes. They act as the intermediary, and take the payments. Due to the company’s faulty business model, they provide the rentee 75% of the payment at the time of the booking - providing the additional 25% at check-in. As WDW parks and resorts are closed, the rentee has had their points returned to them, and the DVC Rental Store continues to pay them - for a reservation that no longer exists. They admit that the rentee is in default of their contract - as the reservation no longer exists (I’ve seen the emails they are sending to the rentee). Yet this company, for almost two months, staunchly refused to provide any compensation to their customers. Then, they began offering credits - but you have to sign a legal waiver absolving them of any wrongdoing (another admittance of fault). The DVC Rental Store is in default of the contract with the renter since the reservation that was paid for no longer exists. They are aware that these reservations can not be reasonably rescheduled for the foreseeable future. The DVC Rental Store is seeking to shift their losses onto the customers, furthering financial hardships endured by their customers.

the rental agreement, in this instance, is in default as I’ve pointed out - since their is no reservation due to Disney cancelling it.

Would it not be the same with VRBO?
 
I’ve friends who are dealing with this from The DVC Rental Store - the company and their egregious handling of the pandemic is an atrocity. They are forcing their customers to bear the brunt of their own shortsightednes. They act as the intermediary, and take the payments. Due to the company’s faulty business model, they provide the rentee 75% of the payment at the time of the booking - providing the additional 25% at check-in. As WDW parks and resorts are closed, the rentee has had their points returned to them, and the DVC Rental Store continues to pay them - for a reservation that no longer exists. They admit that the rentee is in default of their contract - as the reservation no longer exists (I’ve seen the emails they are sending to the rentee). Yet this company, for almost two months, staunchly refused to provide any compensation to their customers. Then, they began offering credits - but you have to sign a legal waiver absolving them of any wrongdoing (another admittance of fault). The DVC Rental Store is in default of the contract with the renter since the reservation that was paid for no longer exists. They are aware that these reservations can not be reasonably rescheduled for the foreseeable future. The DVC Rental Store is seeking to shift their losses onto the customers, furthering financial hardships endured by their customers.

the rental agreement, in this instance, is in default as I’ve pointed out - since their is no reservation due to Disney cancelling it.

Would it not be the same with VRBO?

Wow, what a mess. I have rented points from DVC owners many times. Some use a contract, some do not but certainly a pandemic has never crossed my mind as a reason everything would shut down. Most often, our DVC rental stay is 1-2 nights pre-cruise so it's not thousands of dollars we're risking. One visit 4 years ago, we flew down after school with the plan to do 1 day at MK then leave the next day for our cruise. We rented 2 nights stay at BWV+ dining plan, knowing fully that it is non-refundable. So we checked in late in the evening and went to breakfast at Ohana the next morning. While waiting for our table we got a phone call from a neighbor that a giant tree fell on our house. The damage was extensive and we needed to get home. We were starving and since we prepaid the meals anyway, we stayed for breakfast and spent most of the time there changing flights to get home. We took a taxi back to BWV and I never packed so quickly. I explained to the front desk why we had to check out early. A day or 2 later I got an email from Disney saying x amount of points will be returned/banked, blah, blah blah. At that point 1 night rental cost was the least of our worries but in the end the DVC owner kept the $ and got half his points back. We chalked it up as you win some, you lose some. Most of the times we rent points, we make out very well and are happy with the arrangements but it's a chance you take for huge savings.

I don't think it's the same with VRBO because the VRBO rental properties are technically still available. The owners never told the renters, 'You have no reservation.' The problem is that the renters can't travel.

I do believe it's not the owner's fault that Disney World closed and it's nice that so many are being flexible. That puts both parties in a difficult spot when the main attraction/reason for travel is not available. It's similar to renting a beach house on the gulf coast and having a horrible red tide starting 2 weeks before check in and people can't enjoy the beach. The rental property is still available but it wouldn't be a great trip without the beach but that isn't the owner's fault either.
 

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