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Trying to find a beachfront condo for summer and I've been using VRBO. I rented one and within a few hours the guy was emailing me offering a better deal if I sent him checks and not go through VRBO I asked him if he had a contract and he said no but he tells people to just take a picture of the check and his address on the envelope

I canceled this one and found another nice condo. I booked it through VRBO and this morning I got an email from the women that supposedly owns the condo. She offered me to use Paypal for friends and family or Venmo (Neither are protective for the person using these Paypal services for this type of purchase) WTF

scammers be scammin'

My g/f and I used VRBO to rent an apartment in Rome, Italy two years ago.
We booked it 6 months in advance with no issues.... HOWEVER, the same apartment was still being advertised, on Air BnB, with our dates showing as available but, with a higher price.
We figured that the renter was going to cancel our reservation if he got someone else to take the apartment at the higher price.
I emailed Air B&B and VRBO explaining the situation and said we must all work together to prevent scams.
The next day, the Air B&B listing showed the apartment as being booked.
Between the time we booked and arrived, we communicated a lot with the rental management company in Rome.
They sent us the House Rules PDF and a list of things to do and restaurants in the area.. this made us feel more confident.
We were worried that, when we finally arrived in Rome, that the apartment was going to be a fake... luckily it wasn't and we had a great time.

The g/f's family rents a house on the Jersey Shore every summer.
One listing, on VRBO, was for a beautiful and very large house that was in our price range so, we sent a request for our dates.
We received an email from someone who wanted us to wire transfer the full amount, in advance, to somewhere in India!!!
Needless to say, we reserved a different house and reported the incident to VRBO.
The listing was removed a few days later.

I have to add that we've used VRBO several times without any issues.

I’ve used VRBO many time BUT two fuckin scams in a row? Rentals were
not cheap either to attract idiots like me. LOL

I used to be on the other end and used VRBO to rent out my place. They got sold to homeaway and jacked the fees way up when they did. Might be a scam but might just be getting around the high fees they now charge.

My wife and I rented a big 1br condo in Kapalua on Maui two years ago thru VRBO. The TV cable was jacked up, so I went through all of the wi-fi settings on the Spectrum cable, fixed it, replaced the remote batteries, and let the owner know. He expressed his thanks, and I then asked him about going direct. The price went from $2800 to $2000 direct for 10 days in the Kapalua Bay Ridge Villas.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/100- ... 6416_zpid/

We've been back twice since then. You can't get a place like this for $200 per night in a hotel with this view and the amenities.

My advice would be to pay through VRBO or Homeaway the first time, then if you like it and want to go back, talk to the owner since you'll have their info. Most of them will deal since they're not getting the entire amount anyway.