HomeAway

FALSE ADVERTISED HOME WHICH CHARGE A BOND, WHAT A JOKE THEN HOME AWAY DON'D FOLLOW UP AND RESPOND!
I BOOKED AND PAID IN FULL THEN THE SUPPOSEDLY OWNER WHICH IS A REAL ESTATE AGENT THEN SENDS YOU AN EMAIL TO GIVE CREDIT CARD DETAILS TO PAY A $1000 BOND. I HAVE USED THIS SITE SINCE IT WAS STAYZ AND HAVE NEVER PAID A BOND. WHEN YOU CONTACT HOMEAWAY THEY ACT LIKE THEY CARE ASKING FOR MORE INFORMATION THEN DO NOT REPLY! WHAT A JOKE! I WAS CHARGED A 50% CANCELATION FEE CAUSE OF THIS RUDE AND WRONGLY ADVERTISED PROPERLY AND STILL WAITING FOR HOMEAWAY TO GET BACK TO TWO WEEKS LATER. I WILL NEVER USE THIS SITE AGAIN AND WILL TELL ALL MY FAMILY, FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES TO USE AIRBNB INSTEAD!

I have a property listed on Homeaway and they are the worst company I have ever dealt with. Apart from their website being the worst I have ever used (as a property owner), they take two weeks to pay after the guest check-in date when their policy states they will release the booking fees one day after check-in, then their policy states their bank takes 5 to 7 days to transfer the money! They blame the banks however why is this so when Australian banks process transfers overnight? In reality it takes 10 days for Homeaway to release the booking fees and then in addition they hide behind the time it takes their bank to transfer the money; "5-7 days". This is all just lies, rather Homeaway are holding onto the monies of all owners around the world for ~14 days to collect the interest on hundreds of millions of dollars. That equates to millions in interest payments to Homeaway at the expense of the rightful owners of that money, the property owners. Guests that I have spoken with expect the owner would receive the money upon check-in. In summary Homeaway are thieves! As a property owner I urge people to use tripadvisor or airbnb, we have no such payment delays with them! Most owners list their properties on all these websites and Homeaway will not improve unless they lose market share.

I booked a vacation through this company to stay at property #******* for a week. This was booked one week prior to me arriving at the beach house. I had unfortunate events arise and was forced to cancel my trip. I had purchased the trip insurance through Home Away. So I emailed the property owner and he quickly sent me a refund for my 300 dollar deposit and let me know he had a 60 day prior cancellation policy and he was keeping the remainder of my money. He did not send me documentation of this policy until 4 days after accepting my reservation and money.

I have been working with Home Away for 2 weeks now to sort out why my trip insurance is not covering this and how it is acceptable to let me know after taking my money that I would have needed to cancel my trip almost 2 months before making it to qualify. I have heard nothing back from customer service. I was told an email covering that they said I was getting a refund would be sent after our call and have nothing to show. I have sent in emails waited on hold and still 2 weeks later no refund no communication.

I would not recommend this company for any travel reservations as you are not covered with insurance and will never be able to get any one to return your call or email you if you have any issues.

This company is the worst! They refuse to honour the cancellation policy of a 100% refund within 60 days of check-in. They have completely absolved themselves of responsibility in my dispute with PAUL'S LONDON APARTMENTS even though I tried to cancel 3 months prior to check-in. They say the cancelation policy on file is not the same as the one I signed, even though right on their website it states FULL REFUND! The property owner PAUL'S LONDON APARTMENTS refuses to even acknowledge my request for a refund. He will not respond to calls or emails. Homeaway did however cancel my reservation without my permission but neither Homeaway or Paul's will refund the $4000 I paid for this apartment. If anyone is in a similar situation please let me know.

Stay away from homeaway. I have used their service for years and never had a problem until recently. Just had a terrible experience with renting a property with their service. Basically the owner took a portion of my security deposit and made up reasons for the charges that were outrageous. I complained to the owner with no response and I complained to homeaway. They claim to have looked into it. Homeaway sent me an email basically siding with what the owner said with no proof or itemized list of costs for supposed damages/fees. I paid fees for homeaway's service, cleaning fees to the owner and then got charged a portion of my security deposit. The owner charged me ridiculous fees for extra toilet paper, supposed broken shower curtain liner, more cleaning fees and trash fees with no previous agreement to pay extra fees for toilet paper and trash. They charged me a lot for this. I posted a review with my experience and my honest opinion on the house and they have not posted it. They do not protect the traveler, but they'll take your money and claim to.

I rented a house from HomeAway and it was just a disgusting mess. HomeAway would claim no responsibility and would not call the homeowner and help to resolve the issue. HomeAway would not get involved to have my money returned to me. Why then would I use this site. The homeowner has no reason to return my money if they're not getting any pressure from HomeAway. HomeAway doesn't seem to care what kind of properties they have on their website. YOU SHOULD NOT USE THIS SERVICE.

HomeAway, VRBO, Vacation Rental By Owner all owned by the same company. They have changed their business model so many times I as a property owner can't keep up. They once turned away all business from my property because of a "glitch" I lost $40,000 in rentals and they couldn't care less. Now they charge both the property owner and the renter insane fee's, you can't get anyone on the phone that speaks english or knows what's going on. HORRIBLE COMPANY. USE AirBnb instead.

On April 9 I booked a rental and paid the full charge. Almost immediately I got a message from the property owner that he had withdrawn his listing and didn't understand why it appeared on the VRBO/Homeaway site. It is May 1 and I have yet to get my money refunded. Homeaway uses a call center in the Phillipines, where I was transferred around to various departments to no avail. Then started emails from Homeaway from a host of representatives with first names only, from all sorts of departments. To date I've received around thirty emails, which are filled with useless explanations and lies: that the funds were paid directly to the property owner, which he refutes logically saying that Homeaway doesn't release the funds to him until the traveller has checked in. Homeaway emails claim that they are a marketplace so not accountable. I pointed out that is only stated in their Terms of Service, which no one reads, and that they present and function as an Agency. They are perpetrating a deception and a fraud. I have filed complaints with Attorneys General of three states and with the Better Business Bureau. This shameless scam operation is a division of Expedia Group. Stay away from VRBO/Homeaway!

Our bad experience with Book a Batch apparently a trading name for HomeAway Australia began with my mistake listing and incorrect email address. I realised my mistake immediately but could find no obvious way to fix my mistake on their website. Finally I got through to HomeAway who corrected my error with the holiday home owner and I waited and waited. 6 weeks later I emailed HomeAway Australia and was informed by the holiday home owner that there was a double booking. Our long planned holiday with the grandchildren was off. We expressed our disappointment and dismay to HomeAway Australia and the holiday home owner. Thankfully the holiday home owner has fixed the problem and our holiday is back on. HomeAway Australia's response is to blame everybody and take no responsibility for their part. We also find that their charges are far more that what the holiday home owner has instructed and charges. What happens to the difference? Yes another case of Caveat Emptor. Beware Danger stay away these guys are as dodgy as hell!

I have listed my vacation rentals for years on Homeaway, but they have totally changed since they were bought by Expedia. In addition to charging me for my listing, they started also charging guests to book through them. When I offered guests alternative booking options, they cancelled all of my listings without notice and left me without any way to communicate with guests. Unbelievably bad customer service as well. When I called to find out why my listing was cancelled, the rep told me to "read my emails", when I asked what could be done about this they said I could "send an email" but he advised they have no obligation to respond. When I asked about a refund for the $2000+ paid to list my properties, they said I wouldn't be getting one. When I asked who I could escalate the matter to - they gave me the EMAIL address for their legal department, but advised they would only respond if I hired an attorney.

My advice to guests looking to use their sites: Homeaway, VRBO among others is to find an alternative. Their rental guarantee is meaningless as is their trip/travel insurance. I have dealt with many guests who have been cheated on both fronts. The rental guarantee is simply a ploy so they can collect their "Service Fee".

Based in Ireland I have happily used HW for many years but couldn't possibly sign up to this'Forced' new homeaway payments system. After sending them lots of emails trying to get straight answers regarding charges it seems they will be charging me nearly 80% more! And that for exactly the same service. I get nothing extra. In fact am penalised for not living in America. None of this is done to improve anything for guests or owners so don't be taken in by any of their PR guff! (At one point I was told to 'reach out to our homehelp people' when what they meant was. Phone them'. Talk about violating the English language). This is about a company preparing to sell to the highest bidder and making sure they look as attractive as possible before they put it up for sale. Shareholders gain but mugs like the average traveller or person trying to make a little money doing an honest days work end up taking the hit. How do you stop this? You probably can't, but I'll be protesting in my own small way by parting company and using a rival company. What a sad place the world can be sometimes. But there you go. Homeaway... it was good while it lasted.

I was going to write that the customer service couldn't get worse, then decided that was misleading. There is no customer service. We have been members for 4 years, gold level (they just increased the cost from $700 to $750 for guaranteed placement) for 3- long enough to know without a doubt that they make many, many mistakes (at the owner's expense) and couldn't care less. For instance (and I could provide many other "instances"): I found my house listed on page 5 after doing a search using the parameters our house falls under. I called and asked why we were bumped from page 1. She said "up your subscription level".
I said "We're gold. These are all platinum above us? In our small town?"
"No. Its a seniority issue."
"We've been here longer than almost all of these other listings."
"You don't have enough reviews."
"We have more than almost all of these listings."
"You dont have enough pictures"
"We have as many as you allow... are you even looking at our account? We are listed after basic level, brand new, non-reviewed houses with just a few pictures THAT DON"T EVEN FIT THE SEARCH CRITERIA!"
"Yes maam."
"Then why dont your responses make sense? Let me talk to a manager."
"Theres no one here like that. I'm sorry maam, I've done all i could."
That's HomeAway for ya!