I used VRBO for a trip to Hawaii recently and discovered it isn't all its cracked up to be. Two things really stood out -
1) owner sets refund policy. This might seem reasonable, but VRBO provides no (zero, zip, nada) recourse in the event an owner has completely misrepresnted their property. If you end up at a property that isn't what you had in mind for your vacation (not exactly a wonderful time to discover it), small claims court (probably in another state) is about the only recourse you have. I should have checked into this in advance, but (stupidly) assumed VRBO held owners responsible in some way to deliver what they promised.
2) 'owner approved' reviews. This means the only reviews you read are those the owner has approved. Again, I should have discovered this in advance, but it isn't that obvious, nor does it make a lot of sense. Once I'd discovered a property was badly misrepresented, I decided to look at all the reviews. Turns out the owner was only approving positive ones. Imagine that. Funny thing was the owner then threatened to withold my security deposit unless I provided a positive review (I'm still trying to resolve this through legal means).
VRBO seems like a great idea, and in a perfect world it would be. Unfortunately, there are too many opportunities for abuse. Don't risk your family's vacation by using this site.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Please ignore the part from the comment below about updating your 'Circle of Trust' this becomes like a group of people that will always read your reviews.. -This is a totally untrue statement made by the member and there are guidelines that would be helpful for you to read before adding people to your 'Circle of Trust' at http://www.ciao.co.uk/faq.php/Id/4/Idx/4 . Fiona(New Members Guide)
TheHairyGodmother 21.04.2007 17:10
sorry for the low rating but this review is crying out for loads and loads more information. Have a look around at similar reviews to see what is required and if you update, please do not hesitate to drop me a line in my guestbook and i will happily come back and re-rate :o)
Nathan_Innit 21.04.2007 17:06
Welcome to Ciao. If you ever have any problems feel free to leave a message in my guestbook and I shall be happy to help. The site is also a great way to meet a lot of new and different people, and you can do this by updating your 'Circle of Trust', this becomes like a group of people that will always read your reviews. Also it's a good tip to look at other peoples reviews to see how you can improve upon your own, and the more ratings/comments you give out the more you will receive back. Hope to see you around the site for a long time to come.
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