Joanne Gonnerman and her boyfriend wanted to vacation in the North Carolina mountains last fall, so she booked a place on Vrbo.
But Hurricane Helene hit about a week before the reservation started.
The town she was going to visit issued a State of Emergency. Roads in the area closed, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation “urge[d] people to avoid travel in western North Carolina].”
“I said, ‘I don’t think this is going to be realistic for us. We probably should cancel,” Gonnerman said.
It was disappointing, but she said she thought she’d at least get her money back. After all, Vrbo has an “Extenuating Circumstances Policy” which applies “[w]hen broad scale travel disruptions prevent or legally prohibit Vrbo travelers from completing their reservations.”
But the company said no. According to emails Gonnerman shared, the company said the storm didn’t damage the host’s property, so they could have stayed there, but chose not to.
“National news covered Hurricane Helene and what happened to western North Carolina,” she said. ”It wasn’t an unknown or just a personal request. It seemed like the country understood what had happened to our state.”
Gonnerman pushed back for months, but says she couldn’t get it resolved.
“One of my other big concerns is if my partner, Dave, and I are struggling with this, how many other people are being affected?” she said.
Two days after we reached out to Vrbo by email, Gonnerman said the business reversed course and promised a full refund.
The company emailed saying it still believed her booking “did not fall under” Vrbo’s refund policy, that it was at the host’s discretion.
But Vrbo also emailed that, when Gonnerman spoke with customer service, the representative “may have” given her “conflicting information.” So the business was giving all $1,100 back as a “courtesy.”
Vrbo’s full statement:
Thanks again for reaching out about Ms. Gonnerman’s experience. We’ve reviewed the situation and confirmed that her booking did not fall under Vrbo’s extenuating circumstances policy that was activated during Hurricane Helene. For reservations in non-covered counties or that fall outside of the date range of policy coverage, the host’s cancellation policy still applies. In these situations, Vrbo encourages the guest and host to work together to find a solution that benefits both parties, such as a refund or credit for a future stay. However, we recognize that when Ms. Gonnerman spoke to our customer service team, she may have received conflicting information. As such, we will be providing a full refund for her booking as a courtesy. This update has also been shared with Ms. Gonnerman.
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The takeaway here: Vrbo has an “Extenuating Circumstances Policy.” But the company can be strict about which addresses — or dates — qualify. And, a lot of times, it lets the ‘host’ decide whether to give you money back, not the ‘company’ itself. So know that going in.
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