VRBO is decently reliable when it comes to getting a good property to rent for your vacation. As long as you do your research and keep in contact with the property owner, you should be able to avoid many common booking pitfalls, and resolve the ones that you do have without needing to contact VRBO directly.
Reviews that meet our content guidelines cannot be edited or removed by vacation rental owners or property managers. If you have received a negative review here are some options that you can take to help manage that review.
Can I remove a negative review? Reviews that meet our content guidelines cannot be edited or removed by vacation rental owners or property managers. If you have received a negative review here are some options that you can take to help manage that review.
Other travelers and owners who are not in a conversation with the traveler will not be able to view the traveler's rating. Travelers who receive ratings will be able to see their ratings within their profile.
The only major difference is the number of single rooms for rent on Airbnb. It's much more common to find shared, shorter-term accommodation on Airbnb than VRBO. On the latter, you'll find more long-term stays and "entire home" listings.
Owners and property managers can rate their guests who book and pay through our sites. These ratings are shown as an average to owners when a traveler submits a booking request. If the traveler has been reviewed by previous owners, the average will appear at the top of the conversation in the owner or manager's Inbox.
Reviews cannot be edited once they are submitted. However, a new review can be submitted to replace an old review. To do this, contact HomeAway customer service via email and request that your existing review be removed. Once it is removed, the guest can then submit a new review.
Ratings of travelers are not public; owners and property managers can view the average star rating of travelers with whom they are corresponding. Once a booking has been completed, owners will continue to have access to the average star rating of that traveler.
At any time you can view all upcoming and past reservations in the Reviews page. After your guest checks out, you can review them on this page. Click Property. Click Reviews.
Short for Vacation Rentals by Owner, VRBO is a listing site that matches folks in need of vacation rentals with property owners who have vacation homes to rent. And, listing on VRBO gets your property placed on all of its affiliated sites, thereby upping your exposure.
A traveler, property owner, or manager can submit a review up to a year from the date of stay, however, if one party provides their review at any point prior, the other party has 14 days to write their review.
VRBO does NOT do an actual background check but instead “verifies” the traveler by validating their physical address, birth date, and other personal information and identifies this check with a “Verified Identity” badge next to the guests name. Having a verified identity is not necessary to make a reservation request.
Airbnb head of trust and risk-management Nick Shapiro told Inc., "These types of [negative] experiences are extremely rare." Seventy-five percent of Airbnb users post reviews, and upward of 90 percent of those reviews are positive.
So how do you rank higher on VRBO and HomeAway?
- write good titles.
- write good descriptions.
- upload lots of good pictures.
- answer inquiries quickly.
- respond to reservation requests quickly (and approve them)
- keep your calendar up to date.
If the traveler has been reviewed by previous owners, the average will appear at the top of the conversation in the owner or manager's Inbox. If the traveler books and pays using our website, the owner or property manager will see a card in their marketplace feed to review their guests on checkout day.
HomeAway is as safe to use as any other booking website that allows you to book a stay at someone's dwelling. In fact, it is perhaps safer than other websites due to their property damage protection, insurance, secure communications, fraud protection, deposit protection, and 24/7 customer service.
Editing an owner response
Click the Property icon. Click Reviews. Click the review with the response you want to edit. Click Edit response.How do I submit a property complaint?
- Click Contact Us at the bottom of this page.
- Click Property Complaint.
- Have ready the following details: The name, phone number, and email address for the property owner or manager. The property listing ID# from the site you booked on. A brief explanation of the situation and your desired outcome.
