HomeAway

My family, from across the USA, booked a rental property through homeaway.co-Villa-Formosa, Orlando Fl. First, there were hidden fees that I had no idea I was charged until I looked at my paypal account. Second, the place that we stayed in had black mold, the oven did not work, and water poured into the home every time it rained. The amenities listed did not work, and most of the bikes were dangerous and broken. When we tried to post a review online, we were told that the link had expired and that we could not do so. When I read there own policy to them which clearly stated that we had a full year to submit our review, they refused to resend the link and told us there was nothing we could do. The owner of the property was a scam artist who was clearly allowed to be by homeaway.com. Buyer BEWARE!

BEWARE! I just made an inquiry and did not confirm a booking! They attempted to charge my Visa $6234. 00 then $2346. 54 then $1267. 65 then $165.27 and so on. Luckily Visa sent me a fraud alert. I called Visa right away they said the blocked my card and said I should call them and gave me there number. When I called I got a complete run around I asked them what the charges were for and to stop trying to charge the Visa card. I got a run around as one would expect from a FRAUDSTER! First he could not or rather would not tell me anything. When I asked to speak to a manager he said he would take my number and have some one call me within 48 hours, no management again FRAUD! I ended up cancelling my VISA and when speaking to Visa's Fraud department I was told they have lots of problem with HomeAway that's why they flagged it. These guy should change there name to ScamAway! I will make it a personal mission to have them shut down. They kicked the wrong dog!

Booked a home, gave credit card and received confirmation number, but never received confirmation email. Had to speak to FIVE different English-as-a-second-language customer service agents who all gave me different answers. Apparently, the reservation had been cancelled without anyone ever telling me. I emailed the host twice, and never heard back. They told me to call the host directly, but the number was in the UK and I'm in the USA. Very poor customer service. Back to Airbnb for me!

Homeaway only allows reviews of their properties if the OWNER invites you. During our 2 month European vacation we rented several apartments through homeaway and had bad experiences at two. Of course the owners in both cases did not invite us to leave a review (we had no hot water in one and the other was grossly misrepresented in their ad). I contacted homeaway and they just kept repeating that I had to wait for an invite from the owners which of course never came. I also found out later that owners get to review and have the right to refuse to have listed any reviews they don't like, so even if they invite you do leave a review, they can just refuse to have it included in their listing if they don't like it. Clearly homeaway is 100% for the owner with little regard for the renter. I will never use their service again. TripAdvisor and booking.com do allow independent reviews and I urge you to use them instead.

I shared the experience of the posters above. I notified HomeAway of a property that I thought was fraudulent (luckily, I sent them no money) and haven't heard anything from their customer service. They did send out a notification to the email address that sent the original inquiry that there was a potential issue with the property. HomeAway's customer service still has not acknowledged the issue.

HomeAway is doing the absolute minimum about a problem that is extensively discussed here and on their own forums. At this point, they are not a trusted marketplace, though they take pains to appear so. At least with Craigslist you know to be careful.

We booked a property from HomeAway and were extremely dissatisfied with the condition of the property. We tried to leave a review on HomeAway about that certain property, but HomeAway refused to publish it. The review was honest and meant to serve as a warning for other people considering booking that property. They repeatedly refused to allow us to publish our negative review. Very dishonest and will never book through HomeAway again.

The per night rate is deceiving, to say the least. I was very surprised to see the added fees - after the room was booked.
The website is easy enough to use, but when you book - you are charged EXTRA fees: "service fees", "owner fees", "cleaning fees", All these extra fees INCREASE your per night charge by 40%! That is a substantial difference in what you expect to pay and what you actually pay. Leaves you with a very disappointed feeling after what should be an exciting beginning to your travel adventure. Not sure I would use this service again. Managing expectations is the key to customer happiness - this is poorly done with the 'additional fees'

I have been using Homeaway for over three years, and they have always been good up until now. For reasons unknown to ANYONE, they have become "Greedy"! They say the Service Fee is charged to the customer, your Renters, which ultimately takes money and customers away from the Owners. Homeaway is charging the Owners their standard $650.00 Annual Fee, plus gouging the Customer a high percentage of the Owners Fee. This is totally unacceptable, and I will not tolerate it. When my Contract runs out, I will not renew it! I will find another site and/or make my own website. I think everyone who is with Homeaway should leave them as soon as possible. Goodbye Homeaway! Joe

I made a reservation for a cottage for over a month in advance. No where on expedia did it say I would be charged immediately over 75% of the entire price. Then I saw my bank account drained of $441.20 by "HomeAway". I canceled within immediately and within 24 hours. It's been four business days and no credit! I can't get a hold of anyone at their customer service since they keep dropping my call. I had to cancel my debit card and dispute charges. STAY AWAY!

The following was advertised on Homeaway site by the property owner

"Oceanfront--Beach Locker-- $Nov 7 & on only $395/week$!-$$ Dec only $675/month"

The failed to meet their advertised rate, and then when insisting on the price wrote back the property was rented to a "Return" customer.

Failed to respond timely, the phone number has voice mail that is always fully, and the insisted you pay by personal, Check and not paypal as indicated on the advertised page (claiming in email that reasons being the charges are to much), or could be that Papal safeguards against bad faith acts as this. Seem peculiar you cannot pay through Homeaway. Then surprisingly the reviews of past customers have, (as she explains) mistakenly been taken down by Homeaway. Beware of this private owner at " Ocean Creek" Myrtle Beach on the site

We have been scam for the 2nd time through Home Away.

First time was a fake traveller who was not verified by Home Away and let the property.

The latest is our property has been duplicated by someone else pretending to be the owner and let it out to a young couple who paid a months rent and deposit. They turn up yesterday to look at the apartment and notified us of the scam. They called Home Away and were extremely unhelpful.

Looking at other reviews. This is a regular occurrence and clearly Home Away do not go in-depth (if any) to check or to verify owners or traveller details. We will delete our account as they clearly have zero security what so ever.

I booked and paid for my accommodation on Homeaway site and after a few hours they cancelled my booking without any reason except a general statement that the booking has been cancelled because my credit card could not be authenticated, which was completely BS because they had already charged my card and after so many attempts to contact they said that they could not do anything about it and the refund will come through within 10-15 days. Their service and attitude is so pathetic that I will never be using them. The property owner, Luara Parkin was in it as well, I suspect that after we confirmed and paid someone came along for a longer term booking so they cancelled my booking

How I can get the warranty back from Homeaway Portugal? The owner got a mail saying will be pay at the end of February, nobody contact me or pay? He has no complain at all.
I paid it 1 month before the renting time and now HomeAway is taking another month. Financial compensation? What can happen to the properties one month before or after the renting time and be my responsibility. I used the service in Hilton Head (October 2015) Portugal (February 2015) Orleans and Normandie (September 2014) April 2014 (Hilton Head) etc. etc.