A TikToker posted a video on June 20 about how her VRBO host in London rented out rooms in the home she was supposed to stay in after she’d booked the entire property. As of June 21, the video has over 2.5 million views.
Noelle Simpson (@noellesimpson_) begins her video walking around the sunny streets in London, filming herself as she explains how her VRBO host pulled the rug out from under her.
“I currently am in the middle of getting scammed,” she says. “I’m in London by myself, and I rented a VRBO house about three months ago. I booked and paid for the entire property. So he came back to me about a week ago and said, ‘I actually gave you the price for one room.’”
@noellesimpson_ Documenting the ups and downs of traveling this summer 👉👈 took this before i was crying on the street lmao #london #travel #summertravel ♬ original sound – Noelle Simpson
“This place was not cheap,” she continues. “Like, I paid a lot of money for the entire property, and he wanted to charge me four times that, so he said, ‘Let me check with VRBO and see what I can do, and I will get back to you.’”
“Then he just ghosted me. He would not answer my phone calls, answer my messages, nothing. I messaged VRBO, and they said I rented the entire property, and he can’t cancel it or charge me any more than he already did,” she says.
On check-in day, Noelle messaged the host to confirm that she had rented the entire property and received a simple ‘No’ in response. Uncomfortable with the situation and displeased that she was being extorted for additional costs, Noelle chose to walk around until she could resolve the issue with VRBO.
“I’m currently walking around because I literally have nowhere to go,” she explains. “He’s doing this on the day I’m supposed to check in, and I know he’s doing it on purpose. It’s not just an individual person that owns the property. It is a company.”
The video then cuts to her sitting inside. “VRBO customer service is absolutely incredible. I just spent an hour with them on the phone, and they are literally doing everything they can,” she says, clearly relieved. Noelle’s video ended before she was rebooked.
Viewers in the comments section were outraged by the host’s behavior. Many pointed out that VRBO does not list individual rooms on its website.
“VRBO only lists whole properties they won’t allow the listing of rooms,” one user said.
“Isn’t vrbo’s whole thing that you always get the whole place?!” another commenter asked.
According to VRBO’s help website, the company is “committed to offering a private experience for guests,” so its platform “does not support shared space short term rentals.”
“A shared space, or hosted listing, is a listing where the guest might share areas inside the property with the host or other guests not in their group,” the site states.
Other commenters shared similar experiences of their VRBO accommodations falling through.
“Vrbo is a joke. We got stranded in Miami three hours before check in… Vrbo’s response? ‘It’s a surge weekend,’” one user said.
“VRBO is supposed to be whole house. this happened to us, too. only got one room & no access to rest of house,” another shared.
Viewers were also concerned for Noelle’s safety.
“Nah shared rooms is so unsafe,” one person commented.
Some even offered her a place to stay in case she got stranded.
“Hope you found somewhere to stay! I’m in London if you need a sofa!” one user offered.
The Daily Dot contacted Noelle and VRBO via email for further information.
