HomeAwayReviews 1,748

Since 2007 I have been with VRBO (a Homeaway site). Form many years it was by far the best vacation home rental site available and produced great results.

Not any more.

It has fallen to the bottom of my list, not just because it no longer produces the results, but because everything they do wreaks of greed. They have sneaky fees for both the renter and the owner and then when it is time for them to finally distribute the money to the owners, they delay it even further.

This is the worst company I have ever worked with; and that's saying something.

My cabin in Ruidoso was a successful, highly sought after cabin. My tenure since 2009, my 5-star rating from our guests and my willingness to pay $1500 per year to Homeaway for the platform made it work for everyone. Apparently that wasn't enough for Homeaway, they wanted to start charging the guests too. It was running beautifully until Expedia bought them out. Now it doesn't work for me or the guests, high fees, bad customer service from Homeaway, disgusting! I put in a search with all the filters to find my cabin and it was NO WHERE... did not exist! I've had less that 1/4 of the bookings of years past. Airbnb and TripAdvisor have picked up the slack but now I manage 3 booking sites to maintain my business. WORTHLESS... AVOID!

Rented a home for labor day weekend 2017 and the home was absolutely disgusting. We contacted the owner who was no help and than tried to contact homeaway. We told them we have pictures of this horrible place and they gave me a case number (*******) but couldn't help me in no other way besides by putting me in contact with the owner which whom was no help since he thinks the house is satisfactory!

We used to use home away at least 3 times a year for family getaways but that will no longer happen and I will tell everyone I know about there horrible customer service and lack of empathy!

In April2017 we booked a rental in Punta Gorda. We had so many problems with the unit, the property owner offered a free week stay for the upper unit. Didn't think it would be possible for it to be worse, but it was much, much worse. Have left 2 voice messages & 1 text message and not one single reply. We had to book with a hotel for just our peace of mind. Not wanting to bring home unwanted bugs back home with us. So do not rent a unit at 1781 Jamaica Way, with Janet Paula with Century 21.

My family and I spent 7 nights at 2809 Pier Pointe Drive Emeral isle NC. Listing at HomeAway.Com was *******. The condo was breathtaking. Very clean and well decorated. Ocean views right from the backporch. Everything you need is already there for your use. The owner is very responsive if something happens and you need help. I highly recommend this condo to anyone that wants to have a relaxing vacation really close to the ocean.

I've booked three different trips through Home Away. One of them was fanstastic - great property and ethical renters. The other two have been a living nightmare. The renters from our other two trips were just downright liars, thieves and scammers. They both took our deposits with absolutely no proof of damage or any receipts that proved they had services rendered. They both claimed dirty footprints were left on the walls. I don't know about you but I use magic eraser and that solves the problem. These people have to have the entire room repainted and then charge us for it. They also each tried to charge us $50+ because we left a few dirty dishes in the sink. We settled the last dispute we had in 2015 only because we left a horrible and truthful review about the renter. His business suffered so greatly because of our review he decided to give us our money back. The people we are dealing with now have not responded and we have filed complaints with HomeAway, the BBB and reported fraud to our bank. HomeAway allows people to rent their properties on their website who are extremely unethical and do not engage in best business practices. If I damage something or break a rule I will gladly own up to it and pay what is fair. But when renters make up lies, take my money and show me absolutely no proof (pictures, receipts etc.) I have a hard time coming back to this site ever again. There are too many other ways of renting properties. The amount of time it's taken me to file complaints, close down accounts because of fraud and deal with the incompetencies and bad business represented on this site has been frustrating. Good-bye HomeAway!

HomeAway claims that they allow a year for renters to review the properties they rent, but that's not true. We rented a house in New Hampshire from HomeAway. It had some positives but many serious problems, including safety issues, maintenance and cleanliness. We waited to receive our deposit back before rating, and we tried to file the rating exactly 1 month after leaving the property. HomeAway said we were too late to rate it. Again, they advertise 1 year. The property was disappointing and HomeAway even more disappointing. Maybe that's how they keep the ratings high.

My fiance and I, plus two of our friends were trying to book a place in Texas for a weekend during our honeymoon. The first place we found was listed for a price and we booked it. I received a call the next day that there was a "glitch" in the website and that the price was about 4x as much as the price that it originally was. So we tried to find another place. I should have stopped there. I tried to book another place and when they tried to charge me, my bank stopped the charge from going through, except I got no call from my bank about it, only from someone who worked at the place we were trying to book, not the actual owner of the place. It all seems really shady and not well coordinated, and unsafe. I am really displeased and am done wasting my time trying to book places through here.

Rented a cabin in MN. The cabin was great but the processes was a nightmare. We got over charged for additional guests even though it says It accommodates 14 guests. Anything over 8 was charged an additional $50/ guests. Even though we anticipated 14 girls only 9 came. We still got charged the additional guests charge and emailed the owner and customer service about asking for a refund which was completely ignored. It also took 24 days for our $1000 damage deposit to be refunded. The entire set up and run around was extremely frustrating. And my advice if youre going to book threw Home Away do yourself a favor and just say you have the min guests!

My family and another family booked a condo in Galveston TX a month in advance. We asked the lady if we will be able to access the property around 2-3 am in the morning and she said yes. We paid for the property after she said yes. Well we flew to Tx and the property was occupied. It was around 2:30-3:00 am in the morning when we called the property manager and she canceled our reservation stating that she never told us we could get in the property at that time. She then said she would give us a refund. We had to find another place to stay (another $1000 out of pocket) We went to get our refund and she refused. So that same day we filed a lawsuit against her in TX. We saved every email and every text this woman sent us. (She was extremely rude and condescending) We tried talking to Homeaway management and got nowhere with them. Well court day came and WE WON. The judge was appalled that she canceled our reservations when she was the one that said we could get on the property in the am. She had to pay for everything.
So PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE make sure you keep all of your correspondence.

The website wouldn't take my booking so I called the 800 number. After going thru the entire process the agent said the card "didn't go thru -try again later". I called my card company to find that two charges had been presented from HomeAway. I tried to book again on line but now the property was no longer available (probably because it had been rented to me) so I called - was transferred - was disconnected and was finally given some gibberish about the situation... and told I had no reservation. I have been wanting this property for ages... and now I think they blocked themselves with my "non-booking"! Hope the owners realize they are missing business

My search for a rental in North Carolina lead me to Master Diamond Properties. We rented a home in Brevard NC from August 7-21, When we arrived we deleted a foul smell coming fro the guest area downstairs. The Smell was MOLD. Whiteout going into all details, we complained to Jason at Diamond, his suggestion was to turn the air up to high as past renter have done, leads me to believe he knew of the issue. WE offered to leave and give the property back to rent, as the eclipse was to take place soon.He would have had no problem renting. He out and out said no deal. We left on the 15th of August with no refund. I have been sick from the mold since I arrived home. I think we should at least get our remaining day refunded to us. l I will never recommend Home Away or master Diamond Properties.

Cathy Cutler Property 130 Ogana Court Connestee Falls Brevard NC

My mother and I both booked two separate apartments through HomeAway in London with the same owner.

We are due to arrive in a couple of weeks and we discovered that both of our listings have been removed from the site. We emailed, phoned (left voicemails as nobody ever answers) and sent text messages to the owner on multiple occasions asking if the properties were still going to be available for our stay, noting we were concerned they were no longer listed.

We have received ZERO correspondence from the owner a

Nd believe the listing we booked under were fraudulent.

So, we asked HomeAway / Stayz for help given they have a Booking Guarantee. It has been nothing short of disaster. My emails are consistently ignored, I have been told 5 times someone would attempt to contact the owner, however when I follow up I am told that nobody has called. Nobody will give me information about claiming under the guarantee despite me requesting it on multiple occasions.

I am now in a situation where my mother and I are out of pocket $700 each, yet will have to book alternative accommodation at a no doubt increased rate given the limited accommodation which is left.

I am absolutely appalled at the lack of customer service and care, let alone their refusal to give me information regarding their booking guarantee which they are not honouring!

I will never book through HomeAway or any of their associated websites again

Buyer beware! As a repeated user of VRBO over the years, we recently had a horrible experience with the "new" HomeAway/VRBO. We rented an apartment in London, paid up front and when we arrived the place was completely different from what was advertised. We moved out that evening and never stayed in the unit after repeated attempts to contact the owner - he ignored us for more than 7 days. Upon returning from our vacation, we contacted HomeAway/VRBO explaining the situation, sent pictures comparing the unit we booked versus the one we were put in and after only a few days HomeAway / VRBO comes back and says that the unit was nearly the same yet without a rug, a tiny couch, no balcony with views, etc.

We will continue to pursue this but if you are considering renting from the new VRBO/HomeAway company know that they totally side with the owner and not the renter.

I do not recommend anybody to risk renting a property via HomeAway.
I booked and paid for an apartment accomodation via HomeAway for one night for my wife and I, coinciding with a concert we were attending in Cardiff. Two weeks before we were due to stay at the apartment the Property Owner sent an email to me informing me that the property was not available as it was having some work done on it.
The Property Owner duly cancelled my booking and informed me that he had not received any payment from HomeAway but would refund me from his own pocket if I could not obtain a refund from HomeAway.
HomeAway confirmed to me that they had not paid the Property Owner because he had cancelled the booking and they also confirmed that HomeAway had the funds but the Property Owner should have requested HomeAway to make a refund. Following countless emails, no response from the Property Owner, and the generic responses from HomeAway quoting their terms and conditions I still do not have a refund and it is two months since my booking was made. It is disgraceful and could be described as a scam or con.

They do not take any responsibility for the
Listings posted on their site. I booked an apartment through them. The apartment looked nothing like the pictures. Since they make you pre pay, no one could give me a refund, I was stuck in a dump for a week. And after I sent home away pictures from the place and highlighted everything fraudulent in the property listing, they still have the property listed on their site, complete with the fraudulent photos and info. They have no accountability and no respect or care for their customers. They have a guarantee posted on their website which means nothing to them. Do not trust this site.