My wife (plus our 2 small children) reserved this townhouse about 2 weeks out from our trip. This was a work trip for me, while my wife and kids hung out and went swimming at the pool.
We use VRBO very frequently and have never received anything less than a 5 star guest rating. With that being said, allow me to walk through my experience.
About a week before our trip I got a 'late payment' notice which has never happened. I scrambled to make the payment and urgently followed up with the owner - Patrick. He quickly responded all was good and he was good and paid. The day of our departure I still had not received any update on access. At that moment I reached out and was told from Patrick he would do everything to help get us in his unit and that if he was made aware the unit was ready early he would personally let me know. I assumed all was good, and was given the access code.
We landed around 6PM (keep in mind 2 small children) and went directly to the townhouse. As we zigzagged through the area my wife and I were growing more and more uncomfortable with the amount of homeless folks in the area. Upon arrival at the unit, there were 2 cars already in the driveway. I immediately called Patrick's "host" Trina (he had given me her number earlier in case I had issues.)
When Trina answered and I explained what was happening - I could hear panic in her voice and knew at that moment we were doublebooked. I waited a few minutes for Trina to call back and also called Patrick to make sure they understood the magnitude of the error. They both offered me a similar property (no pool) around the corner. We declined. Through texts, VRBO messaging and phone calls - Patrick never apologized one time and kept assuring me VRBO made the mistake not him. This was the most frustrating part. After hours on the phone VRBO assured us this was on the property owner and not them. Several hours of chaos ensued for us afterward trying to find a hotel. By 11:00PM our kids were finally in bed at a nearby hotel.
Patrick refunded me all of my money except the property damage protection which I asked to get back but assume he won't respond. In addition VRBO paid for my hotel while we figured out a new plan and assured us Patrick would be reprimanded for not managing his guest reservations better.
No idea how nice the inside is, however the property owner is a true business man and doesn't have much concern for his customers.