HomeAway

I hope this review helps someone! Before signing up for Home away beware of the following:
1. HomeAway only allows a certain number of declines (you personally get to accept favorable or decline unfavorable guest) before they permanently freeze your account and require that you pay $599.00 to have the ability to properly screen all guest. The quality of guest that search their site for short term rentals is limited and HomeAway does a terrible job of protecting home owners from cases of Fraud, etc.
2. Once your guest is accepted, HomeAway uses a 3rd party company YapStone to make all deposits. Deposits are made on the day that your guest books and you will be responsible for funds until 30 days after guest checks out. Please see below for the importance of this statement.
3. HomeAway does a terrible job of screening their guest and worst of all, if you end up with a terrible guest that trashes your place and decides to file a false claim with their credit card company, HomeAway will withdraw ALL funds from your account and will hold them for 60 Days until dispute is complete. You are responsible for ALL Banking Fees caused by their withdrawl.
4. HomeAway's customer service is absolutely terrible and get ready you are in for a 25-60 minute phone call EVERYTIME. Most customer service reps are overseas and are very hard to understand and In the rare event you are able to speak with a customer service representative from the United States, you are let down by the lack of training that representative has received.
5. HomeAway's customer service representatives are very rude and combative. The situation you may be calling in for usually goes from bad to worst because of lack of training and their excessive need to decline your request to speak with a manager.

These are only a few of my gripes with HomeAway... STAY AWAY.

**Major Announcement from HomeAway**

"Communicating and paying through the HomeAway checkout helps to ensure you are getting the benefits from your bookings, like improving your position in search results. For travelers, it helps them have an easy and secure booking experience.

When a traveler sees multiple websites or gets different booking instructions, it can get confusing.

To help simplify the process, the links youve added to your listing will be removed since all travelers should book safely and securely through the HomeAway checkout. If you were previously using your website to show travelers pictures, process bookings, or let them know about your availability - you can do all those things and more in your dashboard"

** WOW ** All Hosts take notice~

Well you have now outdone yourself HomeAway.
First you start charging ridiculous fees to travelers (On TOP of what we hosts are paying for your services)
Now - after I pay you $500 to list my home you are going to take away MY links to my website -
Because let's face it - it has NOTHING to do with confusing the customer- but EVERYTHING to do with the fact the customer might not USE your company to book our homes.
What is icing on the cake for us is the fact that you believe we are THAT stupid.
Nice job - you just ranked right up there with AirBnb.
I am so glad that there are other listing companies coming up behind you.
Remember - History shows us that NO company is immune to failure - you just took a step in that direction.
I will be looking for a refund of the $500 that you just charged me without telling me of these changes in the works (because once again - DON'T patronize me by telling me that you just thought this one up - you have been thinking about it for awhile)

I originally booked an Airbnb with Ileana Martinez (Danny De la Parte) in Miami, Florida for Rolling Loud festival. As many places have shut down and events being postponed due to the Coronavirus, I cancelled my room. I knew that I would be getting back only 50% because I cancelled after 60 days. I cancelled and got confirmation from HomeAway app that the owner refunded me $274.61. However, I only received two different pending charges: one was in the amount of $154.24 and the other $20.37. I let owner know that all of my refund had not been pended to my account as well as my damage deposit refund. The other part of my question she answered was that the owners don't hold the damage refund HomeAway does. Ok, understandable. (I later did see HomeAway did refund the full damage deposit) However, where is the rest of the refund the OWNER is suppose to give? I had been writing Ms. Martinez and her response time was very punctual (always heard from her within hours even though she was not very helpful at all her response to almost everything I asked was call customer service) but when I began to ask her about the rest of the owner refund she stopped responding! As you can see what she refunded me is not 50% of what I've paid. After no response from Ms. Martinez, I decided to try to reach out to HomeAway customer service. I called and waited 1 hour and 8 minutes before the call disconnected. I decided to call back and yet wait again. The same thing happened. Held for over an hour and call disconnected. Never got to speak with anyone. This was first time using HomeAway and I will never use it again. It looks like I am now going to have to dispute charges through my bank. If ever visit Miami area, DO NOT BOOK IlEANA MARTINEZ (DANNY DE LA PARTE) PROPERTY ID: *******vb

I have been providing rental apartments over 8 years. This summer I decided to give a try to Homeaway (also their sub network VBRO). I received one booking last summer. Homeaway sent me an email that stating the guest made the full payment to Homeaway. So I delivered the accommodation and service. I suppose to receive the payment 1-5 business days, after the check out! But I have been told that the credit card was duplicated after waiting waiting 5 days... therefore cannot send the payment to my account... and "according to the policy, in such situation they do not take responsibility! I couldn't believe it. The renter also damaged my bed and trashed the place... I took my listing down... last month, since it is winter/low season, I want to give a try one more time... I got a booking. It's booked for 1 person but they end up 3 people in the apartment, partying and smoking... I cancelled their since smoking is zero telrorated in my apartments and subject to immediate cancellation. They have stolen our Dyson, over $250 value heater&cooler. I have reported Homeaway. I still did not receive the payment, which I have been told that; since they smoke in the apartment I have right to cancel their booking and I suppose to receive the full payment and the keep the deposit, I have not even received the deepest so far... Though, it appears to me that they are so used to this type of people, yet they attract these type of people... They simply don't care if you are a real howt and real guest... Conclusion is, if you are a true, decent host or true, decent renter you simply have no value in Homeaway's eye. They just into charging people's money and won't give a damn to anyone when a problem occurs... Stay away from them period!.

Based on the prior comments - ours is an all too familiar experience. We also wish there were a zero rating available!

Made a booking for a Chicago apartment - money paid - confirmation received.
Exchange of several friendly emails with host - all seemed fine.
2 weeks later, the host (Ryan)emailed: do you still want the place?
We replied: of course, you have our payment as the guarantee don't you?
2 days later: your booking is cancelled, your money has been refunded (we are better off than most it seems...)
Contacted Ryan: he says " yeah, I just saw that, can you explain what happened?"
Huh?!? I'm supposed to explain?
Being generous - he screwed up... he doesnt understand the system - At worst he screwed us over and took someone he knows (the subsequent booking was forna day shorter...) But we just wanted a quick explanation and - oh, I dont know - an apology? But he has never replied since
Started the complaint process to see if HomeAway could get him to remove the booking that got dropped into our slot and reinstate us
I mean, that is what any of us would do right? Call the second booking (it was for only a 4 day weekend our booking was for 5),, apologize for the screwup and put the original booking back in...
Anyway - as you can guess from the prior postings, the common theme from the HA people we have heard from is "how the location is managed is all on the host". NOT acceptable - they are the 3rd partner in these transactions and making lots of money off the process (one of the biggest booking organizations in the world) - they should insist on some standards towards the guests using their system.

We should have stayed with the tried and true BOOKING.COM which we have used for 25 years of travelling witout a hitch... buuuut my wife found this lovely looking apartment on HA for a little less money so we tried it. Mistake. By the way we have also kicked AirBNB to the curb due to their new " we gotta' know everything about you approach"
Anyway - going to Chicago? Avoid Ryans "cozy west loop apartment w/ jacuzzi on HA and VRBO...

Was recently able to spend a month in Carmel Ca. Through the rental company Sanctuary Vacation Rentals (VRBO), in Monterey Ca. To start with my home on San Carlos in Carmel called Sanctuary by the Sea was absolutely gorgeous. So well cared for. The decor was so peaceful the grounds immaculate and home all at the same time. The house manager, Candace, was always available and very concientous to every detail. The neighborhood is very beautiful and quiet. A view of
Point Lobus can be seen from the upstairs. The sound of the ocean and of Seals barking is so wonderful. There are so many activities to see and do and more restaurants to enjoy than you'll probably have time to try. Although, the kitchen in the Sancutuary by the Sea is superb if you are a person that enjoy cooking. Every attention to detail is taken. One of my favorite restaurants is Stravaganza located just a very short drive South on hwy 1 to The Carmel Crossroads shopping center. Many wonderful dishes to choose from. Italian, some Greek, and American. All prepared to perfection.(One of Doris Day's favorite places). Another located in the same shopping area is the Rio Grill, very good steaks and other fare along with a bar that serves great drinks. My other choice for the Carmel area was the Mission Ranch. The food is wonderful, along with the patio and view of sheep in the pasture. The chef prepared the dishes all from scratch. Prime Rib is a specialty. Artichokes grilled and served as a beginning are wonderful. There isn't a beach more beautiful to see or walk and swim than Carmel. Although parking can be difficult at times. Asilomar and lover's point in Pacific Grove are another great way to enjoy the ocean and tide pools. If you're looking to refresh renew or make some happy memories, Do yourself a favor call Sancutuary Vacation Rentals in Monterey or go online you will not be disappointed. Jody Gill, guest, from 7-1-2017 to 8-1-2017.

Expedia bought HomeAway for 3.9 Billon dollars in cash/stock last year. This per transaction fee is how Expedia does business today. Unfortunately, HomeAway has lost sight of WHY they started in the first place.

Owner rented homes shouldn't be treated like Major Hotel chains. But, since HomeAway/VRBO/Vacationrentals.com all started, the market has grown. First HomeAway bought up the completion and raised the Annual subscription fees. And now unfortunately, Expedia wants to start making lots of money off the little guy.

Most of us only have one property, unlike major hotel chains and it's going to be impossible for owners to absorb the additional costs, so they decided to use the "Expedia" model and push the fee onto the Traveller.

"The Expedia-HomeAway combination would displace Booking.com as the worlds largest lodging seller in terms of numbers of hotels, vacation rentals and apartments etc. Expedia Inc. would offer at least 1.3 million properties although Expedia and HomeAway officials spoke of 1.5 million compared with Booking. Coms 821,400.

In tandem with the acquisition announcement, HomeAway revealed it will change its business model midway through 2016 and will add a booking fee for consumers. Until now, unlike Airbnb, HomeAway charged fees to hosts but not to guests.

Expedia Inc., which has over the last year acquired Travelocity, Orbitz Worldwide, and Australias Wotif, obviously wasnt done with its acquisition spree as it competes with the likes of the Priceline Groups Booking. Com and Airbnb in hotels and vacation rentals with Priceline, and apartments and increasingly vacation rentals in the case of Airbnb."

#StopHomeAwayFee

I rented a house from Home-away. The reservation was HA-81CV7D As soon as we checked in the house wasn't as described. She listed it as 3 bedrooms but the main level smelled like urine and the bedrooms had pipes that were leaking from the previous tenant. The septic system was messed up and whenever you flushed a toilet everything came out into the bedrooms and into the house. We were not able to stay in the house due to the smell of urine and feces. We had children in the house and this was very unsafe. We called the house owner she never even met us she was in Europe. We contacted Homeaway to make sure that a refund was made since they have a policy that the tenant has to check in and everything has to be fine in order for them not disburse the money to the owner. Homeaway basically said they will contact the owner. No one spoke to her since, she never responded. They said no managers are available and said someone would call me the next day. We left the house and couldn't stay there. The next day no one called me. Whenever you call someone outside the US picked up and said no manager was there. I got no refund, no response. They clearly state that if the house is not what it was suppose to be that they don't give the owner the money. After a month of fighting with them I finally send emails to the CEOs which I found on their management site. No one responds for days until finally a very rude assistant customer service exec calls me back and says the CEO of the company doesn't care and will not refund me but make a complaint about the owner and its between me and the owner. This is horrible service and negligence to me someone who paid over 10k for the rental. Where is my security? I purchased a security for 99 dollars to protect me. They told me yesterday they closed the case? The owner has not responded I have no refund. Instead she stole my jewelry that was left in the house the first day and doesn't respond. I have also contacted the Texas State Attorney General office, FTC, and consumer affairs. Seems like nothing is helping.

I attempted to book the Sieber House on Lake Rescue for 2 weeks this summer 2017 but was inexplicably declined. I found the house on homeway.com, where my dates were (and still are) available. I sent an inquiry to the property manager, Kristen Merrow at Lilypad Properties, who was quick to reply and answer my questions. She indicated the dates looked to be available but wanted to confirm with the homeowner. She included an invoice for the rental in her response. I heard nothing for 10 days. I sent two emails which were followed by another two weeks without a reply. Seeing that the home was still available, I went ahead and booked the reservation on the Homeaway site, only to finally receive an email from Kristen that my reservation was declined. I asked for an explanation but again, did not receive a reply. After filing a complaint with Homeaway, Kristen called me to claim that she did try to contact me outside of the homeaway system to recommend some other homes. She claims the house is booked for the entire summer but it still shows as available on the Homeaway site for my dates and most of the summer.

I hope the property owners are able to read this review and see how unprofessionally their property manager handled this situation. I put a lot of time and effort into planning my vacations and rely on sites like Homeaway to make the search and rental process secure and trouble-free. If homeowners are going to rent their homes, they (or those who manage the property) should provide accurate information on the rental and respond to the renter in a reasonable amount of time. Neither happened in this case and that is wrong.

Homeaway offered zero assistance and wouldn't even let me post this review on their site because, get this, I never stayed at the house... right morons... that's why I'm writing the review

In a nutshell this company is sub-par to Airbnb in every way. They deliver a product with no review system, they charge 3-4x more than Airbnb and their customer service is the worse. I am a super host on Airbnb and love it. Homeaway basically sent me an offesnive email accusing me of using their site to generate leads and book on another site. There only 'proof' was a low conversion rate. Which of course is due to them not providing any info on potential guests.
They threatened me with account closure if I didnt sign up for their annual subscription. Wonder how this sales tactic is working for them.
Why on earth would I want to rent to someone I know nothing about, and pay this company 10% when I can rent using Airbnb to vetted guests with reviews for 3%.

This company is a joke. Let's see if they are around in 5 years.
THEIR EMAIL:
Subject: WARNING: Your pay-per-booking listing is in danger of being removed

Your pay-per-booking listing is in jeopardy of being removed
Weve noticed that your conversion rate is unusually low. This means the number of bookings youve processed through HomeAway Payments is significantly lower than expected based on the number of inquiries and booking requests youve received. This puts your performance in the bottom ten percent of all customers.

While this could be due to a low-quality listing that doesn't offer travelers the information that they need, it can also indicate you arent processing all bookings through HomeAway Payments.

Collecting payments outside of HomeAway Payments is a violation of our pay-per-booking terms of service.
We will remove anyone who repeatedly violates these terms. Accounts that are removed from our sites may lose the ability to advertise on our sites through pay-per-booking or subscription methods.
What to do
To keep your listings on the site, please consider the following actions:

Raise your conversion rate

Improve your listing quality to get better qualified inquiries and confirm more bookings.

See how to convert better

Convert to an annual subscription

Subscription listings can process bookings using methods other than HomeAway Payments.

Purchase a subscription
Thanks for continuing to be a valued customer.

I have a vacation rental property that I started renting out starting in 2011. Initially, I paid $349/yr subscription to list my property and everything worked out well. Around 2013, they changed their payment processing policy to start collecting a fee on top of the subscription cost, so I decided to cancel the annual subscription and incur a higher fee. (ie instead of x%, I was now paying X+20%). I wasn't happy about the exorbitant fees to both the host and the guest, but I was willing to play along and see if the business model would stand up to the competition. Just recently, they outsourced their payment processing to Yapstone and discovered two things. First, the two business units, Homeaway and Yaotstone, are not fully integrated. I discovered this when the payment processing had no idea of the series of events that occurred with the booking website. Here is a real example, a guest cancels, they refund the guest by taking funds out of my checking account. At the same time, the guest cancels their credit card, there is a chargeback and they again withdraw the funds from my account the second time. It would be great if they rectified the issue over the phone, but instead need 14-45 days to investigate and in the mean time, the dates are blocked out. Secondly, they will charge you for a payment processing that fails due to the chargeback. Why am I paying a high fee for Homeaway to do the billing transaction and still be charged a penalty fee for that service when they run into issues? By the way, without paying for subscription, Homeaway requires all financial transaction to occur through them. Since there is a security deposit and and actual rent, they consider that two chargebacks and double the penalty. At the end, you end up losing money instead of making money.
Property delisted...

We were victims of a scam through a listings on HomeAway. Scammers are intercepting emails to the owners posted on the Homeaway site.

We have found that HomeAway is unresponsive and are concerned that others could suffer our same fate.

Please review our experience below and other similar situations at http://community.homeaway.com/message/*******#*******.

On Saturday, Dec 2, our daughter emailed the property owner of Homeaway to request a reservation using the link through the Homeaway.com website. A response was received that day from Holidays Agency LTD <*******@gmail.com> asking for our address and number in party information for the contract. None of the emails we received from them were signed with a name.

The afternoon of Sunday, Dec 3, our daughter replied to the email with the requested information and a response was received early Monday, Dec 4, with a rental agreement and refund information letter attached. The refund letter requested our bank account information so they could refund our deposit through bank transfer. They also told us we must respond within 72 hours to guarantee the price. The contract had an official looking seal with a Carefree Rental Guarantee logo.

On Tuesday, Dec 6, our daughter noted that the contract had the address incorrectly listed as a rental property in Rhode Island instead of Fort Lauderdale. She emailed a request for a corrected contract which was received that day.

On Wednesday, Dec 7, we did some online checking of the owner's name, Holidays Agency Ltd, etc. The owner listed on Homeaway had an international phone number and, as we were away from home, our cell phones did not have overseas calling capability. We then arranged with our bank to transfer the money as the terms of the contract requested. That afternoon we purchased the Carefree Rental Guarantee insurance online and in navigating around the Homeaway website we came across a Community message posted that same day regarding a scam that sounded frighteningly like our situation. (link above)

We immediately contacted our bank to attempt to halt the bank transfer and contacted the Homeaway help line. Within an hour our daughter received an email cautioning her about a possible scam involving the property and advising her to contact the owner again through the Homeaway website to confirm we were dealing with the correct person. The next morning Thursday, Dec 8, we received a response from the owner saying the property was already booked for those dates. Clearly we had been dealing with a scammer instead of the owner

On Monday, Dec 12, we received an email from Holidays Agency to "confirm the booking period and the payment". We responded with regrets we must cancel our reservation and requested a refund via certified check and have received no response.

Homeaway is investigating. We are out $3800 and are sadder, but wiser.

Malibu California Rental Disaster
We rented a property thru Home Away in Malibu for my birthday last year. I rented few months in advanced to celebrate with family and friends. We were schedule to stay from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon we had a total of 7 adults 2 teens and 2 kids under age of 7. My wife, a friend and I came to the house first. As we entered the house and opened the front door, we notice that the house was no kept up as it stated on the website. As we continue to enter to the house, we began to see that something was not right, but we gave the benefit of doubt. While making our rounds thru each room, we smelled a strong smell of gas, the stove was missing all the knobs and there where outlets throughout the house that were not working, so they found a solution by running construction extension cords around the house to make up for it. In any case, the gas smell was just too much and we had to call the Gas Company and the rental property. Gas company red tag the gas outlet and shut it off completely. At this point we had no gas, no hot water running on the entire house. The Home Away Company said to wait it off and that they will have a report man show up in no time. No one showed up until next mid-day. At this point no one helped to accommodate us and place us on a safer location. At the end of the day, we were 3 days with no hot water, no stove and no electricity. The most embarrassing moments of my life, mind you we paid a pretty penny for the rental. I have been strong along for a year trying to get compensated for this issue. Neither Home Away nor the renter has done anything to fix the issue. They did offer 2 days stay for free but they require for me to call the week of in order to get the property if available. For several months I have been trying to get information and neither party was helpful. I WOULD RECOMENT TO STAY AWAY FROM RENTING THROUG HOME AWAY. Worst companies that I have ever dealt with, I would not stop and will be demanding compensation one way or another. Moving forward, I will only rent through VRBO.

There will definitely be a class action lawsuit against Homeaway/VRBO -- it's very low-hanging fruit. All of us paid a rate for advertising our sites based on how high on the page the site would appear. I paid $900 last year for the "Silver" rank. Now, halfway through the contract, I'm told that sites with "Homeaway payments" will be displayed higher than the others. Interestingly, a month ago or so I suddenly began getting notices that this week or that week had been rented automatically -- even though I had never authorized automatic "Homeaway payments." It turns out that they changed me over without even notifying me! Same with everyone else. I quickly opted out, because I find a big benefit in having a personal phone conversation with everyone I rent to. Now -- about the service fee: Years ago I quit using Homeaway's credit card merchant in favor of an independent one that seems to charge a slightly lower rate. So long as you use a different CC merchant you avoid the Homeaway service fee. HOWEVER, the "instant quote" on the website INCLUDES the service charge, meaning my advertisement lists a higher rate than I actually charge. I have added mention of this in my ad, advising readers to ignore the service charge. Still, it's infuriating. When my contract ends in August I plan to drop down to the lowest level on VRBO and skip Homeaway completely (right now I'm paying for ads on both sites). I'll also explore AirBnB, as no doubt hundreds or thousands of others will be doing as well. Thanks for the chance to vent!

UPDATE 5/3/2016 -- I ended the above by stating that I planned to drop down to the lowest level and also discontinue paying for multiple sites (VRBO AND Homeaway). Now, a few days ago, we were all notified that in fact that's what Homeaway is doing for all of us when our contract expires. Everyone will be on ALL the Homeaway family sites (and in fact I believe they started doing this a long time ago, so the extra $300 I paid for multiple sites was a waste and a fraud. I could have saved $300 and still have been on all the sites.) But wait for it -- my plan to get the "classic" site at $349 has been foiled: because I have no intention of enrolling in "online booking," the classic price just went up to $499. And I'll still be at the bottom of the pile! The alternative is to enroll in online booking, save $150, and let Homeaway charge my guests a total of more than $2,000 in service fees during the year. If the vast majority of Homeaway advertisers would just say NO to online booking, Homeaway's goose would be cooked, because they are going to receive a lot less in advertising fees with their new plan. They think they will more than make up for it with the service charges, but they won't be getting a penny from my guests.

If you have read the many poor reviews on this site, the image is very clear that you do not want to do business with this company for your vacation. My experience has turned into an absolute nightmare after I cancelled a reservation that was paid-in-full. The short of it is I paid for my vacation home last year using a credit care from my bank. In the Fall of the same year another larger bank acquired my bank and issued new account and card numbers. Here is where the idiocy begins with HomeAway customer service. They attempted to refund my payment to the old credit card that no longer exists, thus my funds were not credited to my current bank or credit card (this was also confirmed by my bank). I contacted customer service (person supposedly named Lynn, likely a outsourced foreign call center) to inform them I had not yet received my refund and they continuously insisted that the refund had occurred. It took me over three and half hours on the phone (two separate calls) as well as conducting a three-way connection that included a representative from my bank to get Lynn to so-call "escalate" my issue to some other office that she claims she could not contact by phone to transfer me (very laughable). She then told me and my bank rep to phone back tomorrow for a resolution. So tomorrow came today and I phoned back. Of course I got someone else (who says his name is Mark) that I had to explain my situation to all over again; this is despite him having it all in front of him on the computer and putting me on hold to discuss it with Lynn (I heard her in the background after he came back on the phone and she was still telling him to tell me "it's being researched"). I requested to speak to a supervisor, of course there was no supervisor available. I asked the name and phone number of a supervisor, of course he could not give me that either. Mark actually said "I can't give you the personal phone number of a supervisor." Speak of the inability to comprehend! That was unbelievable, I had to explain to him that I was asking for an office number for a supervisor. My bank rep explained to me how simple and usually quick it should be for HomeAway to determine that the refund transaction was not successful. So, I will contact them again tomorrow, but this time I will have my bank rep on the line again as a witness to this stupidity. I am absolutely befuddled by the ineptness of this customer service department. I can guarantee you that I will never use HomeAway/VRBO again (this was about the third time I've used them, we vacation every year)... Airbnb Here I Come!

Signed,
Absolutely Befuddled

Homeowners need to stay well clear of HomeAway/VRBO as they are not paying out when guests stay. We are a "Premier Partner" and currently have 4 payments (everything post-COVID lockdown) still outstanding, with the first of these being from almost 6 weeks ago. The sums involved amount to over £7,000, and with another set of guests due to check-in in 2 days' time, doubtless without any payment forthcoming, we will then be owed about £10,000. The recent email from HomeAway to homeowners, setting out how they typically pay "one business day after your guest checks in" just adds insult to injury as it is clearly completely untrue.

HomeAway simply deflect and delay when we get in touch, which we have been doing constantly for weeks now. The excuse of the "technical issue causing a temporary delay in payments, which is now corrected" is just a smokescreen to cover up what seems to be a consistent strategy of non-payment to homeowners. We can only speculate, but it looks as though HomeAway has a serious cashflow problem that they are dealing with by not paying out to homeowners. This is both illegal and immoral.

We have received numerous assurances that "payment will be made soon", that are simply lies designed to buy time. The mysterious "technical department", that cannot (of course) be contacted, is said to be dealing with our case. Obviously, our issue is so complex that it has taken weeks so far, with no end in sight. The implication that is given by all the support staff who we have spoken to is that our situation is unique, but a quick search online shows how untrue this is, with tens of homeowners writing similar reviews to this one, with equally dire warnings about how HomeAway does not pay the money that they owe.

What is most disturbing is that we have 20 bookings via HomeAway that stretch more than a year in the future. The guests have booked in good faith and paid 25% upfront, obviously with the money being held by HomeAway. We have 7 bookings in the next few months where guests have paid 100% of their costs to HomeAway already. However, as there appears to be no sign that we will ever receive any payment for these stays, and there are obviously significant changeover costs for each stay, we will very soon have no choice but to cancel bookings as we simply cannot pay people to stay with us for free. Once we do this, the guests will obviously believe that it is our fault that their holidays are ruined, but we cannot operate without payment. This is entirely down to HomeAway taking our guest's money and not carrying out their legal obligation to pass this to us when they stay.

How can anyone, homeowner or guest, trust a company that behaves in this manner? Just how many scathing reviews does it take before the message gets through? Why are heads not rolling amongst their senior management for allowing this situation to get to the point where essentially all feedback gives the lowest possible rating?