I booked an apartment from August 28-31 in Montreal through VRBO. When we arrived the "Unforgettable Apartment with an Amazing View" was anything but. Had to use my phone's flashlight to find the apartment because there were no lights in the hallway. Upon entering it smelt strongly of pesticide. It was visibly gross and unkept. $20/day cleaning fee? Duct tape plastered on the thresholds were tripping hazards. The picture of the flowers on the wall, are flowers stuffed into a hole in the wall. Crumbling balcony was scary. Not only because of its condition but there was a space wide enough for a child or animal to plummet 19 floors down. We left within 10 mins. Sent the host pics and explained why I wanted a refund. He was quick to reply before, but not now. I did the VRBO chatbot for help. Colossal waste of time which resulted in it saying it could not help me and to phone customer service. Another colossal waste of time. Told me I had to contact the host which I did to no avail. Customer rep phoned the host. He spoke to the host but the host hung up and the rep couldn't reach him again. So he said I had to phone the host to get my refund. I said you work for VRBO and he hung up on you, where do you think I am going to get. I said that this dishonest/unclean host is representing the company you work for, you have the power to shut him down. Rep said he could do nothing. I asked to speak to a supervisor after 30 mins and the rep said he would phone me in 1 hour. 5 hours later, surprisingly no call. The host messaged me finally and said he would give me $118 for the last 2 nights since he could not rent the first night under such short notice. Must be the new math, because $315÷3 nights=$105/night and 2 reimbursed nights is $210. I told them I would settle for that even though the first night still included a cleaning fee in the price. Checked out this host's listing again and couldn't find them a few hours later? Hope he is gone into hiding for ever, not just until the dust settles. FIRST and LAST experience with VRBO and I am on a mission to make sure noone I know has a FIRST experience!
