Being directed to pay host separately from VRBO is extremely ridiculous and I will never use VRBO again because of this.

Had a very frustrating experience with Vrbo today which has now been validated by multiple other posts here. I booked a home with 0 reviews, which I was leery about already. Though the place and listing seemed legit. Upon booking, I received a message from the host stating that my payment had been refunded and that I needed to pay them directly. They sent me a link to my email that directed me to Square to pay them for the rental. To me, this seemed like CLASSIC scam artistry. I mean - why does Vrbo exist if I am to pay someone outside of the Vrbo platform. Plus, Vrbo's website emphasizes only using the Vrbo site to pay for rentals. I went back and forth with the host a bit and continued to be sketched out, so I canceled within the 24 hour range so that I could get a full refund. The host has still not confirmed the cancellation.

I contacted Vrbo chat support and was given the explanation that many others have received from what I see here - that paying the host outside of Vrbo is completely normal, safe, and necessary. I was appalled that this was the case considering the Vrbo site says no such thing, anywhere. So, I went into Karen mode (unfortunately) and asked to speak to a supervisor. This supervisor on the phone was extremely RUDE and explained the whole thing in a similarly confusing way. She also said my booking was canceled, which it continues to show it is still awaiting cancellation confirmation from host.

I continued to be suspicious, so I called the customer service line and reached another agent. This agent seemed slightly more intelligent, but gave me essentially the same response. I know these poor CSRs have nothing to do with this absolutely inept policy, so I refrained from telling them how ridiculous it is.

Especially with the sophistication of scams nowadays, I would assume this sort of thing would never happen. I'm in shock that Vrbo operates this way and will never use their platform again. I mean seriously - wtf?!