My Nonprofit Reviews

Elliott Advocacy succeeded where I could not: getting the dark souls at VRBO customer service to stand up and listen—and to resolve my issue.

In December 2021, a VRBO host cancelled my family’s reservation (booked and paid in full six months earlier) the night before my family’s stay. VRBO put us in a gross hotel for one of the nights, then left us on our own for the other two nights, including Christmas. I complained about the host to VRBO, and in what appeared to be a retaliatory move, that host then posted a negative review on my VRBO profile of our “stay,” despite the fact that the stay never happened. She had canceled on us!

I spent the next three weeks demanding VRBO cover the remainder of our hotel costs, and remove the fake review. I spent hours upon hours on hold with their customer service (which is worse than those of the airlines), and sent more than a dozen emails, including to Brian Keaster, VRBO’s Senior Director for Customer Support. All to no avail; VRBO was ghosting me.

Then I reached out to Elliott Advocacy. Their executive director, Michelle Couch-Friedman, went patiently through all my documentation, and was able to resolve the issue in less than a week. She recovered the money and got the fake review removed from my profile.

It’s unfortunate that even savvy and determined consumers no longer have the muscle to generate a response from vacation rental companies like VRBO. But that’s what makes
Elliott Advocacy so valuable. I can’t thank them enough.