Owner did not include all fees on the vrbo payment page. The cleaning fee which is typically included on the vrbo payment page was not included by this owner, but was disclosed in a contract which she sent to me after a non-refundable reservation payment had already been processed. Further, there was an envelope left on the counter in the kitchen of the condo with instructions to leave cash or a personal check for the cleaning fee amount. I have never encountered this in any other vrbo rental, and I have booked numerous times. The owner also encouraged me to book directly with her next time to avoid the service fee. I would question whether this falls within the Terms of Service agreement she has with vrbo. At any rate, I will certainly avoid any of her properties in the future.
When we arrived, none of the three toilets in the unit were working, there was mold in two of the toilet bowls, the towels were rags, and the sheets on the beds were very thin and worn. The pots and pans in the kitchen need to be replaced. The owner did come over and get the toilets at least working some, but they still need attention. She seemed surprised by the condition of the towels and did bring over a few new towels, but they were dollar store quality.
I was the family member who made the reservation (I’ve done this for years for both my family as well as for my husband’s family), so I’ve had lots of experience with bookings, and this was by far the most disappointing experience we’ve had. We were raised to treat people the way you want to be treated, and I feel like we were deceived by this owner. In order to appear competitive with her price, she did not disclose all fees on the payment page. I had sent a copy of the email payment page to my siblings, so they were expecting to pay their share of that amount. I had to inform them that the owner had added another fee after the fact which increased our overall lodging cost by 22%.
