HomeAway

Villa rental - property ******* - Houlgate, Normandy
We rented this villa in June 2014, and the pictures are very deceptive.
The whole building looks like a DIY project underway, with peeling wallpaper, dodgy electrics etc. When we made an honest review, and we have the pictures to back it up, the owner posted an extremely long rant about us being vandals and thieves.
The original reponse was removed by Homeaway, but was then replaced by one stating that we stole her towels, and only posted the 2 star review because she made us pay for them. Absolute lies, but homeway refuse to act.
Whenever a genuine review is posted (usually 1or 2 stars) there is a immediate gushing 5 star review to counter it, all written in the same tone and obviously by the same person.
Stay away from the Normandy Villa in Houlgate. Unless you want the owner to slander you.

I have 2 complaints on the property I wanted to stay at on my vacation. The place stunk and we left complaint # ******* and ******* with homeaway. From reading these reviews, I guess I can count on not getting my money back. What a way to do business.
The property was #******* on 2600 paula drive, Dunedin florida. Dead bugs, broken cabinet, stinky, no tv, filthy placemats on the table. No reply from phone messages, texts and emails from the owner Diana Pergamo. RIPOFF

Johan Feinstein
Chelsea Apartment NYC
" Bright corner hotel-residence above Highline park"

Hi Homeaway renters,
Has anyone else been unable to contact this "owner" about their booking and is finding it impossible to get a satisfactory response from HA?

Over 4 weeks ago we raised our concerns with HA. They have now suspended this listing but instead of pursuing the matter have suggested that we phone HA Trust and Security office in the USA, despite the fact that we are UK based.

HA have indicated to us that we are not the only people with bookings against this property, so others may be similarly affected.
Any advice/guidance gratefully received.
Cheers & thanks in advance
Susan France

I listed my short 10 wk summer seasonal condos last year as a pay as you book listing. Now this year they want 499.00 per listing! They won't allow me the pay as you book because I did not reply (thought it was auto reply) to 3 inquiries looking for 70 - 90 nite stays last year, I only rent by the week! Now they will only "let me" list with them if I send them 998.00 for 2 listings for 10 weeks each. I was on the phone today with them for over an hour, These people don't care and this is a horrible horrible company, STAY AWAY FROM HOME AWAY!

Paid for a vacation rental home ( *******) at Timberline ski resort in Davis, WV in December 2016 for 2/3/2017 check in. Received email confirmation of payment. After reaching out to home owner and Home Away several times with no response from Home Owner, she phoned at 7:45 pm on 2/2 to cancel our reservations due "to busted water pipes" that she "found out about couple of weeks ago!" When we apprised Home Away of the situation, they were of no help telling us that would do nothing until home owner initiated a refund or we could travel to Davis tomorrow and at check-in call them and claim "Stranded traveler status." Fortunately home owner did process a refund later that night and then Home Away offered to "help" by suggesting other properties that we could rent at several hundred dollars more a day! Found same properties that Home Away suggested from a local realtor for $90 less.
Guess I learned what Home Aways definition of Payment Protections Service is?

I am owner and used homeaway and vrob for years. It is now no longer a site focused on renting but focused on money only. They are now charging both owners up front and per rental along with charging the renter. The searching is much more difficult due to the wide area they give even though you give a particular city or lake. No phone # or email for renter or owner for renter to ask questions they may have. Since Expidia has changed the whole formate my rental inquiries have dropped significantly. They claimed all these changes would bring more inquiries but this has not been case for me or apparently many others.

Property id #******* We stayed at Cannelle Canard's beautiful villa recently to celebrate our friend Lynsey's 40th birthday. The villa is set in it's own grounds above the town of Deshaies (home of the British TV series 'Death in Paradise' It is quiet and secluded with spectacular views over the bay. It's spacious rooms and expansive outside area facilitate a more than relaxed holiday. The little town (10 minutes walk away) has numerous restaurants and bars some of which offer delicious food"

I booked a condo in US for November 2019, VRBO and owner accepted my payment. When I call the owner for access to the property he told me that property has been rented till March! My vacation has ruined because of VRBO and their property owner. VRBO has no control over property owners / managers. It has been 2 weeks now I am trying to get my money back but no real action has been taken. Very bad experience so far. Bad call center & customer service. Don't use VRBO or HOME AWAY!

I have been a commercial owner renting 6 homes in the Black Hills of South Dakota through VRBO for three years now. This company does not treat the property owners well. The customer service is overseas and good luck getting any help or understanding what they are saying. Last week I had over $1000 removed from my bank account by VRBO because a renter never showed up during the 2020 Sturgis Bike Rally and wanted a refund. I told the renter no because I could not rent the house back out on such short notice and my company policy did not allow for it (I have a 30-day cancelation refund policy). In the end the traveler disputed the charge and won so VRBO refunded them directly from my bank account and I was out an entire week rent during the busiest time of the year. These guys are just a bunch of crooks taking advantage of the property owners who have made massive investments into this business. VRBO uses every excuse in the book to pass the blame off, See attached photo of the email from them.

Stayed in a Homeaway site in palacious texas, It was so dirty that we had to spend two days cleaning up, I have traveled extensively in third world countries. Their sense of cleanly ness and service greatly exceeds HomeAways client. Tried to write a review of the site and they refused to print the review. Only facts were given and no PC incorrectness in the review. Since they refused to accept the review on their site, it is an indication of their desire to control negative data. Stay away from HomeAway, I intend to.

Me and my friends tried to book 2 condo on South Padre island. We call them and made the reservation. They told us they were going to charge us $123 for the fees. They ended up charging us $4500 on my card. This is absolutely not acceptable. I will never ever book something through them again, it's a shame! They aren't competent and make huge mistakes. They were supposed to refun the money in 24h. Not true. They refund me 4 days later. I had to live for 4 days with absolutely no money on my card. Please do not book anything through them. Beware!

HomeAway Is A Rip Off
HomeAway Is A Rip Off. HomeAway and their property owner advertisers use false advertising, bait and switch methods and do not refund 100% of the booking fee as promised. I booked a house in La Paz Mexico. The listing stated there was a pool. After booking, I checked Google maps and I couldn't see a pool on the property. I contacted the property owner and she said there was not pool but she had another house that did at $1000 more plus utilities for the month. There was no choice but to cancel. I had booked on the Canadian site, in Canadian $s, with a Canadian credit card. They refunded in US $s which lost me $250 in exchange rates. This was entirely HomeAway's fault, responsibility and error, I should not be penalized, I have contacted HomeAway several times and they are telling me this is not their problem.

I have spent more than 100 hours between my credit card company and HomeAway for an issue with a reservation (October 2017, Boston, MA).

To summarize:
- Booked a 3 night reservation
- Owner changed reservation to 2 nights, a day before I was to fly to Boston. This prompted me to find emergency lodging
- Neither Owner nor HomeAway refunded my 3rd night
HomeAway could not even find documentation of the reservation change, and their response to my concern was "to take it up with the owner"
- Any other company (e.g. Airbnb) would have immediately dealt with and refunded the money, and PENALIZED the host.
- I am still working on getting a refund. Online customer service provided very fragmented information, and a DEAD link for filing a claim.
- Neither owner nor HomeAway is willing to take responsibility for their mistake

I am so frustrated. Homeaway service is poorly informed and rude. Their inde=ifference and lack of English skills lead to complete frustration and then they become angry when you use a word that they think is a swear word and you do not. They do not follow up when you have requested a supervisor and then after writing to the executive officers, I got a note 24 hours later that someone will get back to me in 24-48 business hours. That language... 1-2 businesss days is what is implied, but I believe they technically mean 3 days to 6 days. But must importantly, they are not paying me. I am so mad that I am working with them.

If you like getting bent over and taking it up the backside, then, by all means, book with HomeAway/VRBO! Their response to the COVID-19 pandemic is appalling and their "customer service" during this time is a joke. Instead of stepping up and giving customers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic full refunds, like their competitor Air BnB did, HomeAway/VRBO just threw their hands up in the air and said "F#$k it, we're not doing $hit. Take it up with the property manager." Guess what the property manager's response was? "F#$k that noise, I'm not doing $hit."

Money ruled over common decency. If you book with HomeAway/VRBO you will get no support from them at all. Customer service is awful, the billing department is awful, policies are asinine. I will NEVER do business with these crooks again. Head my warning, and that of many others, and stay far far away from HomeAway/VRBO!

I am a Homeaway host. They STOLE me 100 US$ on my bank account for a chargeback...
The guest were in my house since 2 nights when they wrote to me to inform about a fraud with the credit card used for the payment, that I have a guilty of fraud in my house, and that I will not be paid for the rental (more than 1800US$...)
Let's imagine how you feel when you have to go and meet robbers in your rented house...
And they had the cheek to stole me 100 US$ on my bank account as a chargeback fee!

As a home owner I am feeling pushed into accepting their increasing big brother tactics of online bookings and credit card payments which do not take into account our need to accept dollar and sterling payments to dollar and sterling accounts in the USA and UK respectively. They are now charging not only us to advertise on their website, which goes up extortionately year on year, but also the guests a 'service fee' plus credit card fees.

The only way round this is for me to email potential guests separately from the website to get them to book outside of it. This looks very unprofessional although is the only way I can save them fees.

Although I get more enquiries now through HomeAway UK than I did through VRBO - although I do not understand why this is as they're supposed to filter into each other - if I don't accept online payments I will I believe be bumped right down the listings AND have to pay an even bigger fee to advertise.

They are ripping off both homeowners and guests