Well, is your PayPal account set up with a credit card or is it directly taken out of your bank account (debit)? Not that it makes too much difference as I believe with debits you have the same rights as credit card (or at least we do).

What are you afraid of - there not actually being an apt? Apt being not as listed? The owner using your credit card fraudulently?

We have used VRBO many times and have always paid by check. We have never had a problem. Ww have always signed a contract.

We have also used vrbo several times and never had a problem.

Ditto the others, used it many times, paid by check all of them, signed contract, no problems at all.

I sympathize with your fear, tho' - the first time I used vrbo, I got so scared after sending the deposit that I figured out the email address of one of the people who'd reviewed the place, and emailed them to make sure it wasn't a phony review and the place was as stated. The person emailed me back and I felt very reassured. I guess that's only an option tho' if there are reviews and if you can track someone down from one of them!

PayPal offers protection only when purchasing items. Same goes for credit card protection.

It's a good idea to select a property that accepts credit cards or PayPal - as opposed to Western Union funds only.

We've used VRBO a couple of times and each time we got a contract and paid by check.

I had no problem paying by check once I had had a long conversation on the phone with each owner. I would suggest doing that rather than just corresponding by email.

We, also, have used VRBO many times in North America. Almost always received a phone call from owners "checking us out", always a contract, paid mostly by check with deposit mailed at booking confirmation and remainder paid on arrival. You can always ask for a reference, but of course, that could be biased, too. I think VRBO sells insurance, but I've never read what it insures as I've had no reason to pursue that.
Talk to the owners, ask as many questions as you can. Good luck. (yes, it is great to have extra space versus a hotel room, even for 2 adults, with a child more so I'm sure.

Vrbo is merely a listing website. People pay to advertise their properties. What city are you talking about renting in?

We're looking into a condo in Maui where I guess it is very common to rent condos from owners. I was considering a rental property mangament company to ease my fears, however, I don't like that they assign you a unit when you get there. So there's really no say as to what place you get.

I guess I'm just scared somebody might take our deposit and run? Although the place that I'm looking into, the owner has been very responsive, given me her cell number (I haven't called), and appears to be genuine. Her listing has been on VRBO since 2006 so it's not a new listing either.

I'm a paranoid person by nature so the thought of paying that much money (50% down, and rest 60 days prior to arrival) scares me a little.

So to the PP who mentioned that CCs and PayPal only protect you when making purchases, does that mean the condo rental is not included????

Someone above mentioned Western Union payments. When they ask for Western Union only, it's very likely a scam (even Craigslist advises against paying for anything with Western Union). I think I'd feel safer putting cash in an envelope and mailing it than I would using Western Union.

Wow, Jennifer. That was news to me that VRBO is a subsidiary of HomeAway. I'm curious how many others knew that.

I've noticed that homeaway guarantee, but I believe you must include it before your initial booking of the apartment, something I've failed to do twice until it was too late to add it. But I too have never had a problem with vrbo either.

Good to know about guarantee. Unfortunately my sister just had one of those bad experiences where the owner misrepresented the location of the property and the place wasn't clean when they got there. The owner wasn't willing to clean or compensate so my sister put a stop payment on the check.

VRBO is as reliable as the owners that post through them. The problem is that they do not allow negative posts about their properties and they confer with the homeowner before posting anything. Since the screen their reviews in an effort to protect the owners rentals, you could set yourself up for a bad experience.

If anyone had an issue with a deposit (which I did recently on an island rental that I go to regularly and never had an issue) you will never know because VRBO WILL NOT POST NEGATIVE COMMENTS. I think you should be able to post anything you feel others should know. If the homeowners have a comment to share about their side of things, they could post that also.

BEWARE of Renting through VRBO for that reason. If this is a once in a lifetime vacation, go somewhere else.

How nice of you, Pamela, to register here to trash a source that has worked very successfully for so many here so often.

When I am considering a VRBO property I always check tripadvisor and also do a google search on the property name and or address to cross check for random reviews. Almost always it will show up somewhere else on the internet.

I have used VRBO for both domestic and international rentals and have had nothing but good experiences. If you are ok with not being able to get a refund if your plans change, and do not need someone on site to help you then it is a GREAT way to go on a vacation.

We have never had a problem with VRBO and we have been renting condos for years. You can purchase trip insurance if you are worried. You also want to check the landlord's cancellation policy before you book. I have purchased trip cancellation insurance if there is a strict cancellation policy.

See www.insuremytrip.com to compare policies. We usually use Travelgard.

I have rented with VRBO 4 or 5 times and never had a problem. On 2 occasions the place far far exceeded my expectations. However, there is some risk with VRBO and i have always thought exactly the way pam mentions it. I think it would be great if it were like ebay and listed positive and negative remarks. I must say though, I have been screwed over by hotels several times not living up to things or having hidden charges. Or not even having my reservation at all.

I currently have a rental with VRBO just outside of Glacier for a few days in July. Now you have me nervous. Not so much for the money, but for the fact that lodging would be extremely hard to find should this not pan out.

My nieghbor(a lawyer)rented a VRBO unit is Seattle only to find that the day he arrived the bank had forclosed on the property. The owner did find another spot and everything ended up fine.

I have used vrbo probably in excess of 100 times, including this past weekend. The one problem I did have (basically misrepresentation of a property by leaving out a lot of information - including a gravity fed water system that didn't work.) & vrbo helped me get a full refund when the owner & I could not agree.

We have used vrbo.com in Athens, Munich, Vienna, Paris, and South Hampton in Europe and the Big Island,Kaui, San Fran, and Whitefish in the USA and finally, in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Santiago, Chile. Never had a problem. Some places we paid with Pay Pal, some by check and some in cash when we arrived. Some accept credit cards. Some asked for a deposit and some didn't. Never had a problem. I think HomeAway.com now owns vrbo.com. It's important to review features you really want - ask if there is an elevator or a "good" internet connection, for example. You can even use google earth/maps to get a good look and idea of neighborhood.

I am getting nervous. I am in the process of renting a condo through vrbo.com, and just made my final payment through paypal. It is a verified email address that I paid to, and everything seems to match up, however since I made the payment two days ago I have not received email confirmation from the owner, or the packet that was promised to be sent with the passkey info, parking pass, etc. I have not previously spoken with her on the phone. I tried to call today and just got a machine. I guess she could just be out of town, but I have a lot of money riding on this and am extremely worried about it.

I wouldn't worry. If she took your money and ran, she would never be able to list her condo on VRBO again. We have rented properties for at least 15 years on VRBO and never had a problem. We did buy insurance on our last rental. The fee was non refundable and the insurance was very inexpensive.

Leave a message on her machine. Most owners are pretty good at returning messages

I've found that true owners often respond much slower than rental agencies. I wouldn't start worrying unless a whole week went by. And in my experience, I usually don't get the passkey info or parking pass until about a week before my rental begins. Like others, I've rented thru VRBO lots of times without a problem.

B_Goolsby - Maybe the owner is away on vacation? Relax, I agree owners can be slow to respond but they always have in my experiences.

mclaurie - Thank you! It's kind of like asking: "Are the cars listed for sale in the Miami Herald classified well maintained?"

VRBO is just a place where owners can list their properties - every owner (and house) is different!

B Goolsby,
I had a VRBO rental in Croatia where I sent the check and the owner went on a 2 week vacation before the check arrived. She told her son to watch her email & contact her renters, but he didnt get back to me until a few days before I was set to leave...whew

Thank you all very much for your replies. And LindainOhio, that's really good to know - thank you. Update: I sent her another email today and she responded, saying she thought she had emailed the packet already, would be home in about 2 hours, and would send it asap. It has been 4 hours since then, and I still haven't received, but maybe she is just really busy. So I will give her today and if I still haven't received it tomorrow, contact her again. The (kind of) strange thing was that she still never would actually call me. Is that odd? I guess email is fine, as long as it's legit, but wouldn't it have been easier to call me rather than keep replying to email after email?

FrankS - oh wow, I would have been freaking out!!!

Were there reviews on this vrbo, B_Goolsby? How many? My biggest fears are with units that have no reviews.

I think it is important to call and speak with the owner or manager. I can then ask specific questions and get a better "feel" of the whole situation. I have never had an issue with vrbo. I send lots of emails with questions and several phone calls to make sure I understand what I am getting.

DebitNM - There were 3 reviews, but the most recent one was from December, 2010. At the time, I wasn't aware the vrbo didn't allow negative reviews, so since they were all good I just assumed that most people don't take the time to leave reviews.

Still no email packet, as she promised today. I also left another phone message. I am remaining polite but I have a sick feeling in my stomach. Hopefully I am just a worrywart, but I really don't understand why she won't call me.

What are my options if a week goes by and she still doesn't email the info, as promised? BTW our trip is the week of July 14th.

I am not sure that you comment about vrbo not allowing negative reviews is 100% accurate. I have found similar items online as in this article that says either an owner has to allow ALL reviews, or cannot have ANY reviews.

http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/vbrocom-review.html

I wish you good luck.

Ah, sorry..........was just going off of some earlier comments. Well, that is good news if they have to allow all reviews! Thanks DebitNM.

I am happy to report that the owner emailed me all my info tonight. Yay!

Thank you all for your helpful advice.

A private condo, with kitchen, especially when kids are involved, is a much better experience than a hotel room. Eat, nap, what/when you want, take picnics, and save lots of money.
Have a wonderful time; Maui is wonderful.
We've used VRBO all over the U.S. and in Costa Rica, and never had a bad experience.

Great news B Goolsby

Have a great trip

Thank you FrankS! We can't wait!

I just used it for a place in Bequia - no worries, S.

Nice post portia - up to the point where you advertised your property, S.

When I rented from vrbo, I googled the local registry of deeds to confirm that the listing party was in fact the owner of the property.

Also, there have been scams in the Bosotn area on craigslist where someone has coopted a very real vacation listing and simply changed where to send the check - leaving both the owner and the renter screwed.

Sorry you disapprove SAnParis2. Don't click the link!

FWIW- I think portia's info is excellent but agree that the link to her rental violates Fodors rules for advertising. So it isn't a matter of a poster disapproving, it is taking what was a good contribution to the forum and then going one step too far.

If you really want to just be helpful, ask the editors to remove the post and then repost it without the link. To notify the editors, just click the yellow triangle. {Make sure you copy and paste it somewhere before you do, so you won't have to retype it}.

We had a similar situation to B_Goolsby. I was amazed recently when a good friend rented a Holland Park flat in London through HomeAway. All appeared to be quite good until 48 hours prior to departure, when she still had not received arrival instructions. Emails started to go unanswered, phone messages (although someone did answer the phone at the flat management) were not returned. In the final 24 hours, we had to find 3 hotel rooms to accomodate her family. I was stunned that HomeAway took no responsibility for helping her. She was never contacted by the management company again. It appears to have been a complete scam.

This experience soured me on HomeAway, who advertised that they "provide travelers with memorable experiences and benefits". When it went wrong, they provided nothing. They take no responsibilty for vetting the listings. We are in hopes that my friend will at least get her money back because she did pay with a credit card.

Know that whoever you rent through, you are most likely still dealing with HomeAway, Inc.

From Wiki:
"HomeAway, Inc., based in Austin, Texas,.....representing approximately 700,000 paid vacation rental home listings......The HomeAway portfolio of websites includes HomeAway.com, VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com in the United States; HomeAway.co.uk and OwnersDirect.co.uk in the United Kingdom; HomeAway.de in Germany; Abritel.fr and Homelidays.com in France; HomeAway.es and Toprural.com in Spain; AlugueTemporada.com.br in Brazil; and HomeAway.com.au in Australia. In addition, HomeAway operates BedandBreakfast.com"

As DebitNM mentioned it is against the rules - hence your post lacks credence, good advice or not.