We booked in May for July 14th-17th stay at this place. Check-in time is 4 pm. Owner was slow to reply but I was patient, warned by a previous review. He later sent a VRBO message that he will give me his instruction before 48 hrs of arrival. I said great, but that never happened.
Anyways, on July 14th, I messaged the owner that we will be checking in late, about dinner time, as we were still in Penticton. To my surprise, he texted back to say that our accommodation had been cancelled! I couldn't believe what I just read. He cancelled on July 14th itself at 4:34 pm!!! Literally last minute! I paid VRBO in full. I had my wife and child with me and we were roofless in Kelowna! I mean who does that? I've never experienced this in my over 20 years' travel experience. Btw, the owner at first said in the VRBO message that his toilet overflowed and therefore, he cannot accept tenants. Just left us to fend for ourselves. Did the toilet really overflow? Then why did he say that VRBO double booked? Why lie??? Apparently, the other family who had booked on the same date arrived by 4 pm and because they were already there, we got tossed out! Here's your refund. Go find another place. Bye. Who does that??? If airlines overbooked, they find you seats or compensate you for the terrible inconveniences. The owner just sent a sorry for the inconvenience text and left us stranded. I told my network of friends and family and they were all shocked & upset for us! Owner didn't even tell us to call VRBO for assistance. Nothing! I stayed calm & started calling hotels. My friends said call VRBO! The "Contact Us" page was useless so I googled. Spoke to a VRBO agent based in the Philippines. She said their policy is, they will pay for your 1st night but not at another VRBO. She mentioned hostels & motels. Since the rep was not local, she was clueless of hostels & motels here. And oh, she also said that we are on our own after the first night as the owner already refunded our money. Needless to say, to book last minute in Kelowna will cost you an arm and a leg! I informed the agent too that refunds don't kick in until after days, even weeks.
This was our first time with VRBO and what a disastrous experience! This should never happen to anyone ever especially if you have kids traveling with you. I would escalate this to management and the travel industry in general. Customer relation is paramount!