A man says he rented a home from Vrbo vacation rentals and arrived to find out that the home’s gas was cut off, which meant his family had to stay in the home without heat, hot water, or the ability to cook.
TikToker Jesse Young posted about the experience on April 9, saying that he didn’t receive a response from the owner of the home when he messaged them, and that because he discovered that the home was without gas on a weekend, the home’s gas provider wouldn’t be able to turn the gas back on. He also says in his TikTok that Vrbo initially didn’t refund him because he had been in the home for “more than 12 hours.”
“So now I’m out almost $800 and what should have been a memorable weekend has turned into an absolute nightmare because it’s thirty nine degrees in Atlanta this weekend,” Young says in his TikTok, which has almost 700,000 views.
@jesseyoung34 #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #vrbo #adoption #vacationnightmare #viral ♬ original sound – Jesse Young
In a follow-up video, Young says that he’s been contacted by a producer of the Judge Steve Harvey show and may appear on the show with the home’s host.
Young also updated his followers showing them screenshots of emails between himself and Vrbo; the company provided him with a refund for his stay, but Young wanted them to also refund him for the food he brought to the house to cook and then had to dispose of, and give him a free stay when he next uses Vrbo. Vrbo declined to do the latter.
“I will never use Vrbo again,” Young wrote to the company in his final email to them. “You had a chance to make this completely right and you chose not to.”
@jesseyoung34 #greenscreen #foryou #foryoupage #vrbo #vacationnightmare #vrbonightmare #neverusevrbo #vacationrentalbyowner #badbusiness #poorcustomerservice @Vrbo ♬ original sound – Jesse Young
In another TikTok, Young also shows a screenshot of the property (with the address blurred out).
Many comments on Young’s original video tagged Vrbo and/or suggested that the TikToker cancel the payment for his stay on his credit card. On his video about his emails to Vrbo, some commenters didn’t necessarily agree with Young.
“If you got your money back, there’s no reason for them to comp a next stay,” @maggiejbl commented. “That’s 2 stays for free.”
“I think you were being greedy and also threatening which isn’t cool,” @davesauce wrote. “You need to find the host and make them pay.”
Others agreed with Young’s requests of the company, and many thought there was even more that Vrbo could do.
“Are they going to terminate the listing and punish the host??????” @uuuuhhhhhhh commented. Young responded saying no.
“Use that $788 towards lawyers and sue them,” @saramrsmiller wrote. “This is unbelievable.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Vrbo via email, and Young through Instagram direct message.
Source: https://www.dailydot.com/irl/vrbo-rental-gas-cut-off/