I've never booked with vrbo booking, but when I have rented houses before I generally get the key when I get there or the owner or rental agency meets me at the property or in their office. Can't you get the owner on the phone?

I have tried e-mailing with no response and only get answering machine when i call ( although that may be a time difference problem).Owner asked for address to post key to so that is why I am expecting keys to come in the mail.

When you do reach the owner, be sure to ask if there is a local contact for any problems that might arise while you are in his unit.
I rent from vrbo listings frequently, with great success. Only one bad experience where we lost pool key and couldn't reach anyone for replacement. Turned out owner was in hospital, so I couldn't rant and rave too much. Now I have a little list of questions I ask, and "local representation" is one of them.

We have used vrbo many times but always contact owner initially with questions and then try to contact management company to verify ownership. Discovered once that owner wasn't free to rent bcs he had a contract with the management co and was always double booking. Keys have always come as soon as we sent final payment or we were given a combo to a lockbox. Try Googling the name of your resort and see if there is a management company or some local company to contact. Let us know how you make out. Would also let vrbo itself know of your concerns.
Good Luck,
isy

Sorry to hear about your situation. I am an owner who uses vrbo and I give my guests both the code to enter with and a backup key is mailed out 3 weeks before, just in case. This owner probably has mailed the key already and has a lower anxiety level; i.e. not as compulsive as we are. I had one guest who never received my mailed key which is why I like 3 weeks....it gives me plenty of time to send a second set if that happens and my guests never have to worry. I would expect you should hear from the owner within 24-48 hrs. Please let us know what happens. I hope the key is just in transit and that you will be set before you leave.

p.s.- I rented through vrbo once in Buenos Aires and the owner does not send a key. He said someone would meet me. I was anxious about it and said what if my flight is delayed? etc..., I would feel much better with a key as backup or lockbox combo..... he said, no, someone WILL be there. Sure enough, after all the vagaries of clearing customs and finding out way, there was someone waiting for us. I guess the expectation was that she was not to leave until we showed up no matter how long it took!

A little late for this, but when you book with VRBO, always go to their link and register your rental with their free insurance against "fraud". That must be done fairly soon after signing a contract.

Wow,Patrick, I didn't even know about that. Great tip!

Also, check how long that listing has been with vrbo....the longer the better. If there had been problems and complaints, vrbo would have pulled the listing.

I'm not sure that the free insurance has been there on VRBO for very long. But on the top tool bar it says "Rent with Confidence". Click that and do the free "Home Away" insurance. You have to register it BEFORE you actually send deposit payment to the owner, though.

Thanks for the tips. I am on to it now as the key has still not arrived !I didn't know about the vrbo insurance - one to remember for the future. I will let you know how I get on - hopefully it is the slow pace of everything downunder.

Good luck wallos. We've booked through VRBO many times. We always get the entry information as soon as the booking was paid in full. I'm sure it will all work out fine. Let us know how your trip was when you return.

Finally got in touch with owner by phone. He seemed amazed that I was worried and assured me that there will be someone there to meet us at the specified time ! ( this was not the original arrangement ) I guess I am more anxious as I am with husband and 2 kids and don't want to to be "taken for a ride ". I will let you know how the trip goes. We fly out in 2 days and after much planning with the help of Fodorites particularly Dusty I am hopeful of a posting a happy trip report on our return.

Have a great trip!

Wallos glad you finally heard from the owner. we have rented from vrbo many times with now problems.
i'm not sure if you've heard the saying "Hawaiian time" in Oz, but it is something i have learned to deal with when renting in Hawaii. It kind of means no hurry, if not today, tomorrow.
have a great trip, we love the north shore. Have a meal at the Grass Skirt in Haleiwa for some really good fresh fish at a really reasonable price.
aloha

Well we are just back from our trip with some mixed reports mostly good but a few testing times ! Firstly when we did arrive there was no one to meet us as I had been told so after an hour and half of running around and several phone calls all of which were in the heat we were finally told that the key was actually under the front door mat !! Who would have thought ?? Anyway the accomodation was lovely and we did enjoy the villa until..........we had a power outage on the third day and night. It was only in our villa ( an apparent misunderstanding by the power co. regarding a bill payment.) So after throwing out the contents of our fridge and being not too impressed we were reconnected and able to enjoy the remainder of our time. A more detailed trip report to follow.

Ahhh, the glitches of travel. I look forward to your report.

hmmm, i am also in oz, heading to Hawaii in October this year, about to book through vrbo, i really struggle to get in touch with the owner at this point, no contact number, never replies to my emails and i have to keep sending him enquiries through the website to get in touch with him, is it safe to book, i would hate to arrive in another country and find out we have no where to stay and have lost our money. A bit concerned at this point. feedback would be great, thanks

that is pretty poor performance on that owner's part. I used to rent out my unit in vrbo and always responded within 24 hours to emails and had my phone number listed. You shouldn't have to work that hard to communicate.... are there no other choices?

bella,

Youmight want to just look at a differnt VRBO place with an owner who DOES list a contact number.

I have used vrbo over 50+ times & had only problem (a place that was not as advertised) & I rec'v'd a full refund w/vrbo's help. If you don't have confidence in the owner, use somebody else. Your trip is, however several months off, so I am guessing you are probably not at the top of the priority list right now. Any comments about the property/owner (on the website) ?

It takes two seconds to respond via email. I would NOT pursue this rental with a totally non-responsive owner. (I think the key to a successful rental using VRBO or similar services IS contact with the owner).

bella666, I would NOT pursue a rental with an owner who is not immediately (24- 48 hours) responsive. There are too many good deals, and good owners renting right now, to get involved with someone who causes you anxiety from the start.

As an example of a "good" owner, we were looking at rentals in Park City a few years ago. We emailed various owners. One afternoon we were walking around Costco and my phone rang -- it was an owner calling to talk, and to basically to tell us that she couldn't rent for less than a week. She was so nice about it -- she could have just not responded, or emailed us that she only rents weekly, but instead she made contact, and therefore, in the future, I'd rent from her in a minute.

bella666- Just to chime in with the others, DO NOT rent from an owner who does NOT respond to emails promptly! What if you rented from him/her and when staying at the property you run into issues with the place, and you can't get hold of the owner?

We rented w/ VRBO and it was a nightmare. We arrived and the place was a mess and there was no electricity. We contacted the management emergency number at the condo and they said since we didn't rent through them it wasn't their problem. But they were able to find out the owner was behind on his condo fees and his electric was shut off because she didn't pay his bill. He got a hold of us later that evening and said he was sorry and would give us our money back in cash and the extra we had to pay for list minute reservations. Sadly, I always wanted to meet Elvis but some things will never happen.

oscar,

The fact that you used VRBO and had a very bad experience is unrelated. You should have started with "We rented with John Smith in Fairbanks, Alaska and it was a nightmare."

To tie your experience to VRBO makes as much sense as saying "I bought a defective bike through Craigslist - will never buy through them again". Craigslist didn't sell you the bike - an INDIVIDUAL did.

I'm so sorry to hear about your recent experience. You can seek assistance from VRBO regarding this issue at: http://help.vrbo.com/help/RequestForAssistance.aspx

"The fact that you used VRBO and had a very bad experience is unrelated. You should have started with "We rented with John Smith in Fairbanks, Alaska and it was a nightmare."

To tie your experience to VRBO makes as much sense as saying "I bought a defective bike through Craigslist - will never buy through them again". Craigslist didn't sell you the bike - an INDIVIDUAL did."

In a way I agree with you, except:

The percentage of those that have a horror story or some other problems with vrbo is much higher than with someone getting a hotel room or using a condotel.

Many of the vrbo listings are illegal rentals.

If there is a problem, it is often difficult to reach the owner.

If the unit is dirty or some other problem, you are likely stuck with that unit. They can't get a different room unless it is a management group that has several units.

The advantages of getting a unit through vrbo are the price and often the location.

If one can overlook the chance that there may be some problems with vrbo compared to the advantages, then vrbo is for you.

If you want more of a problem free vacation, stick with hotels or condotels. But you'll pay for them.

"Many of the vrbo listings are illegal rentals."

What is your definitiion of "many". I have only ever heard of one or two such problems out of the thousands of listings there.

"What is your definitiion of "many". I have only ever heard of one or two such problems out of the thousands of listings there."

For example, other than hotels & condotels, Oahu has less than 200 legal rental units. Yet there are over 1000 different units listed on vrbo, craig's list, etc.

Almost all the units in or near Kailua are illegal.

Most B&B's on Oahu are illegal.

There are communities on Kauai, Oahu & I believe Maui that want the city/county to crack down on these illegal rental units. Included would be fines of hundreds of $$ a day.

By the way, the issue with the illegal rentals is that you need a certain license to be able to rent out your unit for less than 30 days.

What is illegal in Hawaii may very well be legal in different states as all states have their own laws.

If you want more info including a list of legal rentals:

On this link, use the search: illegal rentals

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g29222-i37-Oahu_Hawaii.html

NeoPatrick on Sep 20, 08 at 1:30pm I'm not sure that the free insurance has been there on VRBO for very long. But on the top tool bar it says "Rent with Confidence". Click that and do the free "Home Away" insurance. You have to register it BEFORE you actually send deposit payment to the owner, though.



I couldn't find this link for free Home Away insurance. Can someone please attach a link for it and provide instructions on how to find it? Thanks!

Tina, this thread is over 3 years old but This is what you are looking for:

http://www.homeaway.com/guarantee/home.html