HomeAway

I have been trying to list my property for over a year with Home Away without success. I have been rejected twice by the Madrid office, even when I supplied all the information required including passport, title deeds etc etc. There is always a problem with TRUST AND SECURITY department, which they will not explain to me, so I am not sure if its the property (totally licenced by the authorities for Tourist use... under my name) or the PERSON ie myself. Needless to say my property has been listed on Booking, Wimdu, Airbnb, TUi, for over a year and I have no criminal record nor debts
I was refeerred to the TEXAS computer centre, which I called at least 3 times (free of charge) where they told me that they either had resolved the problem ( they hadnt) or the solution was to simply register with a NEW Email address, which I did several times, without success
Yesterday, a year later, I got a call from the UK office asking if I wanted to list, which I said I did and they charged me by credit card and hours later blocked my account
I have spoken to them today and they dont want to refund the money

By now we have all caught onto HomeAway/VRBO/Expedia's schemes. This has been in the works for years as any of us know who have been forced to do things with the sites due to "customers wanting it". It never mattered what "us" as homeowners wanted. I was even told once that as a homeowner I was not a customer (shocking), but now I get it. We have choices and I have spent time looking at them. I have 5 rentals with HomeAway/VRBO for now. I have put one rental on Trip/Advisor...$400 for the year and they don't charge you extra for their other sites. They don't charge the customers any fees when you have an annual subscription and you bill your customers directly (site has good functionality). I am testing another property on AirBNB (site not as good, but workable)where I have chosen no annual fee and they charge me 3% fee on booked reservations and they also charge the renter. In the end we have all been disrespected by HomeAway/VRBO and even if changing I lose some functionality and may even end up having the new companies charge the fee to my customers... I feel good knowing I have enough self respect to leave a company that clearly does not value us as home owners. The fact that they don't communicate to us until a month after they put the fee in place and still make the fee look confusing proves that out. Another item they forget to mention in the communication yesterday is that only about 55% of the properties on HomeAway/VRBO are having the fees charged to customers. The other 45% have not signed up for online booking/online payments, thus no customer fees are being charged. Remove the online booking/online payment function (if you can) while you decide what is best for you.

Did you know that property owners can spam customers they do not want to communicate with on the HomeAway app so it removes all the communication between the 2 parties? This happened just a couple weeks ago when I found out LAIVIS in OGELSBY IL from HomeAway customer service. Btw, LAIVIS in OGELSBY wrote a description contain mis-information thus resulting in a deceitful ad on the internet.
I have contacted my the FTC and the BBB to complain
About Home Away and property owner, LAIVIS from
OGELSBY, Il.
This case is not about the owners deadline-it us about
LAIVIS from OGELSBY writing fraud filed
Information in his description causing us to
Rent from him, like bait and switch, and LAIVIS owes us
$1270. 00.
Please advise as to next steps.
Thank you

Contacted HomeAway today. Still no refund from owner.
The homeowner is wrong to keep our money ($1200) for
A trip we never took and for being extremely rude.
What is the next step in this company after a Property Complaint?
Is there a corporate level?
Thank you.

I rented a villa in Dakar, the pictures looked gorgeous, I paid around 700$ for 5 nights, I arrived their I found that the property was significantly misrepresented; construction was going on in the house, I found that there is no AC in a 90 degree day, no wifi, no hot water, no towels, mosquitos all over the house, bed bugs, no pressure in the shower water, no cable, no TV (all these things were advertised in the site). I left and went to a hotel, I called HomeAway for a refund, they said they cannot refund because they are just a like a middleman between me and the owner, (their website says the following "The Book with Confidence Guarantee provides travelers with following benefits:
Comprehensive payment protection that protects your full rental payment against listing fraud, phishing, property significantly misrepresented and more"
They wouldn't refund me, they said they will try to contact the owner and try to ask him if he is willing to refund me, and it's up to the owner to decide. Even though the charge on my card was made by home-away. Based on this experience I'm going to stay away from HomeAway.

I rented a property in the Algarve for 8 days in February 2019. I advised the property owner that I might have to cancel because my husband was unexpectedly seriously ill. Ultimately I did have to cancel and I acknowledge it was too late for a full refund in terms of the cancellation policy. The property owner was not at all cooperative in helping me cancel the reservation.
In the end the reservation was cancelled and the property owner re-listed it and was successful in re- renting it for the whole period of time.
I expected a refund or at minimum a partial refund. HomeAway has no provision for such a situation i. E. reimbursing a client in the event the owner suffers no financial loss.
HomeAway was not helpful at all.
Ultimately I reported the matter to the Better Business Bureau. HomeAway responded to them and stated that although they do not mediate such matters they try to get the parties to settle.
HomeAway took no responsibility at all and states that they are not a "party" to this matter despite all email communication going to them and all payments made to them. D
The property owner never attempted to settle. In fact she basically rarely responded to me at all.
The property owner has been unjustly enriched. She has received twice the financial benefit. Legally, unjust enrichment would normally result in, in a case like this, the owner being required to refund my money.
HomeAway has no policy or guidelines to remedy such a situation. They should revise their policy guidelines to address situations where the owner successfully re-rents a property no matter the cancellation policy.
It should be noted that a "policy" is just that: A POLICY. It is not a binding contract. As such, it should be seen as a guideline that can be revised, or expanded. It is not cast in stone.

I recommend looking for a more reputable vacation rental company. If anything goes wrong with your reservation you will get no help from the company or, as in this case, the property owner.

I recently booked a 4 nights stay in San Jose California, I received an e-mail from the owner that the cottage has no cooling and no screens on windows to cool down the home and that my stay may not be very comfortable. The owner stated that I could still stay but would likely not be very comfortable because the fan he does have will not cool down the home. She suggested I go elsewhere, what the owner did not communicate is that he would refund my $675.40 that has already been paid in full. The owners refund policy is full with 60 days in advance, 1/2 with 30 days in advance but nothing about refunding when the place he is renting is not fit to stay in. I called home away three times, they kept saying that I had to ask the homeowner myself for the refund I asked what their role was and she said we process the payment, keep our portion and then give the rest to the homeowner. So I asked if they were going to help me get the refund back since the owner notified me that the home would not be comfortable due to lack of cooling and they said not really that I would have to do it myself. At this point I have been deceived by Homeaway and the homeowner because he is the only that has offered a place that is not livable. If I don't get my money back so I can go elsewhere I will have to stay at this un-inhabitable place, deal with an owner that does not want me there and I quite frankly fear for my safety but I will have nowhere else to go since my stay is right around the corner. At this point I'm still waiting to see if the owner will refund my full amount or if I'm out the money... this is a great financial hardship for me because I was going to visit mom that is gravely ill.

I would like to offer feedback on our experience with HomeAway and why we feel we cannot trust it and will not book through it again or recommend it to other travelers.
Other travel sites allow an easy and honest means for reviewing a stay. HomeAway does not. It is not an easy process to find out how to review a property and if the owner is responsible for and does not supply the review link, it is impossible. This was our experience. No review link was supplied in our correspondence. The property was not as advertised. It is in need of cleaning and maintenance that could not have been rectified during our stay given the low standards. We would have liked to have given our honest comments regarding this property to alert other travelers. Even if post communication with the owners could have resulted in compensation, it wouldn't have improved our stay. The standards and cleanliness of this property are clearly very low (I have photos) and travelers should be alerted.
Our impression of HomeAway is that it seriously lacks attention to the protection and comfort of travelers.
HomeAway Response:
We appreciate you taking the time and effort to let us know about this situation.

We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and ideas with us. Many of the improvements to our products, policies, and processes are made in response to customer suggestions such as yours.

On the other hand, the review link is sent to the email address of the person who booked the property. As such, kindly advised to have the review sent. Also, a complaint can also be filed about this case, it will also be best if the person who booked the property can reach out to us or the owner regarding the complaint so the incident will be referenced to the correct reservation and property owners.

These people have literally stolen $300 from us. We rented a condo through their service, paid in full. We went on our vacation, returned home... and waited for our deposit to be returned. The owner returned our deposit expeditiously to a credit card on file with HOMEAWAY/VRBO that was no longer valid. It happens. So, we called Homeaway and were simply told it would be returned when they received the rejected payment back from the bank.
So, we waited... and waited...
We called our bank - the issuer of the cancelled card - and were told by them our $300 deposit was RETURNED to HOMEAWAY/VRBO's payment processing company. So, we call "India" again. Of course, they have no record of our calls and no clue where our money has gone. I have a letter from the condo owner stating the deposit was debited from her HOMEAWAY/VRBO account. I have a letter verifying CHASE bank rejected the payment (because the credit card was no longer active) over a month ago, and SENT IT BACK to HOMEAWAY/VRBO. I have spoken to about 10 different foreign reps who have done nothing but pass the buck, give me erroneous info. And waste my time! The bottom line is this: You have $300 of my money. YOUR payment processing department lost our refund! THEY have my cash... and since it is impossible to speak with anyone at your company that has a clue, I will be leaving this review everywhere online, contacting the BBB and filing a complaint in small claims court. Your reps refuse to connect me with someone who can 1) speak English and 2) help me instead of passing the buck! These companies sure as hell take it quick enough... but when they are in the wrong, they drag their heels and could care less about making it right for their customers! I have used this service for years - never again! I suppose this is an example of how "great" we are making America... for industry... but to hell with the customer. There is no oversight so they can literally steal from people and the consumer is left with no other recourse but to waste more time and money dragging them into small claims court! Thanks for nothing

We rented through HomeAway in Europe from a UK owner. We paid the rental and the 200BP security deposit. Now we can't get the deposit back. The homeowner says that HomeAway has the money. HomeAway US says HomeAway UK has the money, but no refund has been authorized. The home owner says she authorized repayment. Bottom line, someone was paid, but no one has my money for a refund.

And forget calling Customer Service; seldom have I talked with a group that cared little and were willing to do less, like send an email to the owner or the UK division. Based on accents, I would guess the call center is in India, but 3 calls there made clear that it wasn't their problem, it was MY PROBLEM, so they wouldn't be doing anything.

I have recently returned from a 3-month trip using HomeAway rentals exclusively. I travel several months out of every year. I will no longer use HomeAway, VRBO, or even Expedia, their corporate owner, of whom I also used to be a regular customer. That 200BP "theft" will cost them a lot more on my lost business alone.

Hasta luego, HomeAway, soon to be Home Alone, as I will certainly tell everyone I know not to use or trust them.

I have been with VacationRentals.com since inception, since I have
Rented out my Beach House for over 20 years. Back in the good 'ole days,
The site would connect travelers and owners for me paying a $300 fee
For my website. It was fantastic! Then the buy out began while
homeaway.com gobbled up most of the travel sites for vacation rentals,
Hence getting money hungry. I am being forced into making my guests pay
With a credit card on the site, so homeaway.com can GET MORE MONEY from
Me. I am NOT comfortable with this. Since our house is in Sandbridge,
Virginia Beach and 2/10 of a mile from the ocean, it is very
Popular. Many people want to have under-age parties here and I'm am
Fighting to rent to families in our quiet community. They are trying to
Force me to do "Instant booking" which I can't do since it would result
In double bookings and who knows how many people destroying my home. I
Want to TALK to my guests before they book and answer any questions they
May have. Just this week, I was informed that my guests CAN NO LONGER
Use my Paypal or send me a check. Homeaway demands ALL of the money up
Front so they can make more money. However, they still have this as an
Option on the website, which has lead to huge problems of confusion from
My guests. This has lead to them not trusting me or the homeaway.com
Site. Only recently, they are releasing the money to me after a booking,
Instead of holding the money up to a year before I receive it. I pay a
Yearly fee to homeaway to advertise and then they charge my travelers
What ever they feel like charging (up to almost $500) just to TALK to
Me. They do not deserve this "traveler's fee" since they do nothing to
Support me. My hands are tied. They are a conglomerate, and I have to
Follow their ever changing rules, which I am not informed of as an
Owner.

I tried to book a property on homeaway.co.uk, only to discover their payment system did not properly work. After a last minute arrangement (of which customer support were utterly useless), I arrived at the property to discover that during the day, it was incredibly noisy and major problems.

I wanted to write a review on the property such the property owner would either experience a drop in customers, OR, that they would go on to fix the issues and remedy the experience so others did not have to suffer the noise I had experienced.

The noise consisted of construction works that lasted for hours (from 9am to as late as 7pm), door slams that could be heard from three floors up, a collection of cooing pigeons in a roof nook (who would start cooing at 7am onwards and despite efforts to scare them off, they would return), and finally... the property owner herself who, I kid you not, *stood outside my door talking loudly on a bluetooth device - to which I opened the door on her and caught her by surprise (after this, she stopped hanging outside my door).

She would talk loudly, for hours on end. It could be heard from several rooms away. I have never in my life encountered anyone who spoke so loudly. She was not old. She was not deaf. She was just inconsiderate.

I visited the HomeAway site for reviewing a property, to which the blurb falsely states that if I book a property, I will be given a 'review link' to submit a review on. Nope: no such link. It also states that, if I don't receive a review link, the property owner can 'CHOOSE' to give me the opportunity to leave a review. The bias selection process in the reviews is staggering.

Do not fund these fraudulent hucksters who give the false appearance of an 'honest' review process, when in-actual fact they cherry pick reviews.

I own a small cottage on a lake in CT. I was interested in renting it out on a weekly basis for the months of May - October so I joined VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) in 2005 and it was a lovely experience. I paid "X" amount of dollars per year to advertise on this website. When someone was interested in renting they would submit an inquiry to my email. Based on their needs I would submit a response. This personal communication was necessary to let the consumer know what they were getting for their money and sometimes resulted in negotiating different a different price based on their individual requirements. Lately VRBO has been taken over by HomeAway. HomeAway then began to push On-Line booking down my throat. I have no interest in on-line booking and never will but because I have made this decision HomeAway has made it increasingly difficult for me to access my site. They have a pop-up for on-line booking that blocks out your site until you agree to book on-line. They have taken away all the personal communication between me and my customer and have now begun charging my customers a service fee if they book my cottage. When they notify me that my renewal is due they do not supply anything (and I mean NOTHING) indicating changes in the website. I have never signed an agreement with them and when I ask them to supply me a copy of my signed agreement they won't answer me. You only find out about their changes when you access your site and discover that they have taken over your bookings and your money. Customer service is of absolutely NO HELP. The website says they are available 24/7 but that is not true. When you call they tell you they are available Mon - Fri between normal working hours.At times when I have finally gotten through not only have they not helped with my question or problem, they have actually tricked me into agreeing to things I had no intention of agreeing to. BEWARE OWNERS, THESE PEOPLE ARE CROOKS! Google them and read their reviews. I'm not sure who hates them more, the property Owners or the renters!

I use homeaway to book a cabin in Jackson Wy. I drive 24 hours with my family and arrive there at 4:30 PM. No one sent us a code for the cabin when we get to cabin we have to go through a crappy area. So we finally find the cabin and we are extremely upset. The ad online said panoramic views, clean, and easy access. Your view is of construction site, resort, and crappy parking for the resorts trucks and equipment. It was not peaceful at all you heard the construction workers and traffic. My daughter has cystic fibrosis. When we stepped in the house the smell was terrible. I have owned a cabin and been in several but this one was terrible. It started to cause my child breathing problems. We had to give her treatments bc she she couldn't breath. The floor would give when you walked and it was not kept up. So after waiting 30 minutes to get code for the cabin on the phone we had to wait more to get it fixed. So they said they would have to send someone over to cabin so we waited hours in our van. Then she gets there and she is the owner who is so rude and disrespectful to us. Then we get one the phone to get money back and they tell us we are screwed out of the money. We told them we couldn't stay bc it would hurt our child health but they dont care. She wouldn't give money back. SO PLEASE DONT USE HOMEAWAY OR TURNKEY. THEY WILL JUST SCREW YOU AND TRY TO SEND YOUR FAMILY TO HOSPITAL IF THEY HAVE ANY LUNG ISSUES.

I am a property owner and have been advertising my lisiting since 2008 through Homeaway.com which also includes VRBO and a variety of other sites both nationally and internationally. I pay for the best type of listing they offer and until several months ago have been very happy with the results I was getting. Apparently they changed their policy and now charge the traveler a mandatory fee if they book a property through their website. Prior to this policy, I was able to offer the traveler paymnet through PayPal and I absorbed the fee that was charged. My listing always appeared on the first page of the results search for my vacation home location and many times it was number one. Since many of my clients chose not to book through Homeaway, that knocked my listing so far back in the search results that inquiries came close to a screeching halt! I called them on several occasions and the representatives attempted very lame excuses why my listing is buried but the truth is, they have grown so big, they cannot handle them all. I get it! Business is business but there are many listings that came much later than mine and they way ahead of mine. At this juncture I just want to cancel my subscription with them and advertise on a site that isn't choked with hundreds of the same type of listing. When I requested a pro-rated refund from the company, I am told they don't think I will get one, so I ask for a supervisor and, of course, none are available! What a surprise! They took my phone number, assigned a case number (I'm probably not the only one complaining about this) and someone "will get back to me". By the way, it took 15 minutes of searching my listing account to even get a telephone number to call them. If you are a property owner I strongly suggest you advertise elsewhere. If you are a traveler, DO NOT BOOK DIRECTLY THROUGH HOMEAWaY! You can book directly through the owner and not pay that ridiculous fee! I will definitely NOT renew my subscription when it expires and I hope their greed comes back to bite them in the $#*!! I would rate them -10 stars if it were an option!