HomeAway

We booked a trip prior to the COVID shutdown. We asked if we could cancel and they refused any refund. Upon researching the property further, we found that it wasn't even permitted/licensed to be a short-term vacation rental. In addition, there were no permits for the modifications that were made inside. We asked to cancel based on the fact that it was legally allowed to provide the service offered and we were told by homeaway that it would be up to the homeowner to approve any refunds. The homeowner denied our refund and homeaway wouldn't help us in any way, including refunding their own portion of the service fee. I was very upset to find out that these services don't vet the properties legitimacy to provide these services. Homeaway still wouldnt' help us with any sort of refund. Do not use this service!

One of the worst companies I've ever dealt with.

We rented a property on VRBO and were refused the property when we arrived and the owners KEPT the money!

Because Homeaway doesn't hold the money there is nothing we could do except file a dispute with our credit card.

On top of that, because when we asked the property owner for our money back, we said we would remove the review and consider our transaction void, Homeaway then removed and BLOCKED us from any future chance of reviewing claiming we were trying "black mail" or "extort" the property owner.

They have ZERO customer service and favor the property owners no matter what. I will NEVER rent with them again, tell EVERYONE I know to not rent with them. Only use Airbnb as they actually HOLD the money to protect their customers.

They give WAY too much power to the property owners and cannot even fathom how they have succeeded as a business.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

Rented an apartment in Rome, Italy. They advertised a location near the center but when I finalized the booking and payment they revealed a location in the outskirts of Rome! Tried to call customer service 3 times but as soon as as I state the reason for my call They simply HANG UP on me! So I sent messages to the owner of the place explaining the problem and requesting a refund( 30 days before arrival time) they refunded only half of my money. I just called my credit card to cancel and dispute the charges and will update with the result! DO NOT RENT FROM HOMEaWAY! BUNCH OF MOBSTERS!

Renters, please forgive us non professional homeowners. Homeaway is making us look bad. It is Homeaway's responsibility to process payments and recognize duplicate payments, it is not in the power of the owner to do so, payments are handled by Homeaway et al. I have lost two $4500+ reservations due to the lack of competency in this area, they blamed me. If you are not flued to your phone this is what happens. They should never process a dup-licate payment ever. Period. Who would charge 2x as much as the quote. Should be automatic. None of the problems I have with them has ever been successfully resolved. This all is post expedia bought all websites. Going to a non expedia website. Been a nightmare. Pam orisek Dolphinwatch#*******

I am a property manager who has used HomeAway for years to assist in booking the properties we manage for our owners. In the last 1-2 weeks, I've lost 3 reservations because HomeAway leads the customer to believe they have paid the entire amount in full when the customer has only paid their booking fee. HA will not release the customers information so the we as the Lawful agent of the owner can contact the guest to finalize the booking. HA refuses t give the customers phone # or email even after they have paid HA. HomeAway says that we must mark the customers booking as Paid (when really they haven't paid us at all) which then sends the customer an auto email telling them that they've paid - in order for us as the property manager to get the information for the guest. It causes the Guest to feel that we as property managers are doing something wrong when really it is HomeAway. I've called support 3-4 times now and one agent refused to let me speak to a supervisor. I just called back now and was told the Resolution Dept was closed at 10:45 am Texas time. HomeAway feels they can "rule" everything. They are directly going against our state laws in the way they require us to handle the booking but they Could care less.

I'm sorry for guests because they Don't care, they don't deal with things quickly and they don't respond to issues. HomeAway doesn't manage or handle the properties in any way but lead guests to believe they do.

We as property managers are trying our best to advertise properties so that guests can book and have a great vacation. HomeAway is ruining it for everyone.

VRBO is claiming their new fee will cover and help them place traveler in a hotel or other accommodation in the event traveler is misled or rental is unavailable upon arrival. Impossible, many rentals happen in prime tourism areas during peak season. Regardless of intention the reality is in the event a rental is not available when a traveler arrives for VRBO/Homeaway/Expedia to claim they will help book a hotel/other accommodation is ludicrous. Many of these areas are booked months in advance regardless of hotel or home. Booked/ sold out/ no vacancy is just that. The traveler will now be out even more money because they wasted $ on a fee that is just that a fee! (and 100% non refundable per VRBO's own admittance, even when all other charges are refundable due to cancellation, traveler will not be refunded the fee!) Better off putting that fee to actual travel insurance that will legitimately cover and guarantee losses incurred on/during your trip. Otherwise it's no different than taking your hard earned money and lighting it on fire that's the equivalent value of "Book with confidence"

We have rented our apartment for 15 years with Holiday Lettings, that became HomeAway, that became part of VRBO. Never had a problem with guests until now. Our last guest STOLE FROM US. HomeAway REFUSED TO DEDUCT FROM THEIR SECURITY DEPOSIT, leaving us severely out of pocket. HomeAway (so called) CUSTOMER SUPPORT REFUSED TO ENGAGE WITH THE GUEST ABOUT THE THEFT, they REFUSED TO ANSWER ANY OF OUR QUESTIONS about why they would not withhold the security deposit, THEY BULLIED US by cutting the 14 day period to discuss deductions down to 7 days, THEY CANCELLED OUR LISTING (that we had just paid for) and THEY REFUSE TO ACCEPT A COMPLAINT against them! All in all, the most SHOCKING AND APPALLING CASE OF CUSTOMER NEGLECT I have ever encountered.

We attempted to book a rental in Hilton Head. Our money ($2300) was immediately deducted from our account. After a day, the owner did not confirm the reservation, so we lost the rental. But Homeaway KEPT OUR MONEY held! After numerous calls, Homeway REFUSED to contact PNC bank to confirm the funds should be released. It's been days and I have no vacation booked because I do not have the funds available! They are rude, obstinate and completely unprofessional to deal with. NEVER AGAIN!

This i the worst company I have ever dealt with. You guys really do not know what you are doing. Here is a review posted by a person we have had no dealing with or had reservation with and they are able to post a review because your front line idiots say that since it was posted from a travelers account there was nothing we can do. So what I am understanding now is that anyone that we had no dealing with can post a review. This is a bunch off crap and it is very clear that Homeaway does not know how to operate a business. First you make it mandatory for owners posting on your website to use your payment system and when crooks use your site to make reservations, stay at the property and then dispute the charge that Homeaway processed Homeaway wimps out and throws the owner under the bus. Your business model is totally fake and only designed for Homeaway to make money so it basically is a tool for crooks to use because it is now very well known with all the charge backs that I see owners complaining about and Homeaway not changing its policy and protecting the home owners from these losses I will not be surprised when Homeaway's business starts to decline and it will eventually go out of business. Unless you change your policies and start guaranteeing payments to owners why should anyone trust Homeaway and the reservations they provide. It is nothing but a hassle. So good luck with your business. We will not be using your services anymore and enjoy the negative publicity.

On Friday 06/02/17, I booked a furnished Villa in the Villages, through HomeAway.com. They debited my credit card for a substantial deposit, and emailed a rental agreement to me for review and sign. I electronically signed it and sent it back, via return email. This morning, I received two calls, the first from Tiffany a receptionist at White Pelican Vacation Rentals, and second from Steve, her Manager. Tiffany advised me that the $2,000.00 rental amount, posted by HomeAway.com was incorrect, and that the homeowner wanted an additional $1,300.00 to rent the property. According to both Tiffany and Steve, HomeAway.com had made an error, and had posted the listing with the wrong rate. I told her that this was unacceptable and that I was not satisfied. She said that she would bring it to her managers's attention. Later that morning, I received a call from Steve, saying that there was an error made, and that he was exercising his right to cancel a reservation within 48 hours of it being made. There was no sympathy, there was no remorse, the was no offer to make us whole for any monies that we may have laid out. Instead there was an officious, and entirely too confident disregard for the inconvenience caused by this error. Given all these facts, I would NEVER recommend that anyone do business with HomeAway.com of with White Pelican Vacation Rentals.

Just got a charge on my AE for $153 for a reservation I made on a condo in Destin, FL. WATCH OUT FOR HOMEAWAY! They sneak that charge in really fast! It's a completely different line item on your credit card. $153 to make a reservation! That's another night we could have stayed in the condo! I won't be renting anymore condos from individuals if they use this sight. It's going to be hard having a good time on our vacation knowing we had HOMEAWAY ripping us off. I hate crooked companies like this.

Home Away somehow booked two reservations with my name and under my credit card. I only booked one reservation and I have been going back and forth between HomeAway customer support and Killington's Customer support to get the reservation I never booked cancelled and my money back that i never authorized to leave my account. I have been dealing with John Raimond from Home Away and Betty and Lisa the Manager at Killington Accommodations. There is no sense in urgency to help me get back $716.93 that was taken from me. I am outraged at the customer service I have received.

What a rip off! We rent our property through many platforms and this is BY FARE THE WORST of them all. The guests pay more commission than on any other similar platform. The company is constantly adding new fees and they never notify them on the bills. We are quitting hosting for HomeAway and VRBO and switching all to Airbnb where our guests are appreciated and we, hosts, much better and treated with the respect, for a change from HomeAway and equally lousy VRBO.