HomeAwayReviews 1,748

We booked for the end of May 2017 but had to cancel reservation 75 days in advance due to family illness. We paid down $376.68 that was the Damage deposit and Service Fee. I understood between 60 to 90 day cancellation there was $100 charge +3% merchant charge. Apparently from what I read after the fact if I am refunded partial payment from property owner the Service Fee will no be refunded. If I am refunded all payments then service fee is refunded... Not Sure who's scamming who but I cancelled 75 days in advance enough time to reschedule property during peak time and I had to pay $231.68 for a 75 day in advance cancellation. I know property owner is not a full fault here but I will never use Homeaway.com or VRBO.com again. I will find property owner and /or property manager and deal with them directly. I never read anywhere during booking that Homeaway would not refund there fees...

No matter what your complaints, it will take forever to solve your problems. Once your money was in the their hands consider it's gone. You have to solve your problems on the spot, if you leave you lost. We stay at 2326 Naomi st. Houston TX. *******. On the day we check in, we found out some minor problems( shortage of supplies, garage door control not function properly, no light inside, whistling noise and cold windfrom window as a result of poor management. On the next day, there was no water, we contact the owner, but none of our requests were fullfilled. The closets were all full of owner clothes and shoes... ect... i m not sure this is legitimate. A day later the owner texted us and said he lost the music instrument from Turkey of 750.00 U. S but we are from Viet Nam? Then he contact homeaway not to return our deposit the amount of 300 without any investigated and they even try to charge a full price. But Homeaway did not listen to our complaints or respond to us. All they did was to ensure they withdraw your money. Now it seemed that the owner and Homeaway employees had planned to scam us. They kicking back and forth until you get tired and give up then they took your deposit. This is a very serious crimes but it still goes on, no one stop it. Nobody can help and no other can give you a satisfied solutions. You have to be alert and be smart, or you screwed. I dont even want to rate this site but if you not click you cant submiitted

First off, what ever your read on the website is not true as it relates to availability. I had over 20 tries of renting a condo in Palm Springs area that the site said where available only to find out they were not. So what you see is a fiction novel.

My true horror story is that I rented a condo that showed available. It had a payment schedule that stated basically 1/3 1/3 and a final 1/3 would be required over the course of 10 months. I was booking a rental 1 year in advance. As I monitored the transaction the entire rental amount was charged to my account within 20 minutes. I called the phone number on my emailed receipt and was told "oh that was a mistake" we will cancel the transaction". (It was not an in significant amount by the way.) They also said we cannot take this reservation because it's only for a week. So they not only took the full charged amount in monies but also would not rent me the place. Be warned, stay away from this fiasco!

DO NOT USE HOME AWAY THEY WILL RUIN YOUR DREAMS OF A GREAT HOLIDAY! AVOID AT ALL COST!
THEY HAVE MUCKED US ABOUT SO MUCH THEY REALLY DONT CARE. IF THE REQUEST OVER THE PHONE BECOMES COMPIICATED THEY JUST SAY THE VILLA HAS BEEN LET. THEY ALSO GAVE ME THE OWNERS PHONE NUMBER IN CYPRUS ASKING ME TO PHONE THEM AND CHECK IF THE VILLA WAS AVAILABLE THEN RING THEM BACK AND LET THEM KNOW SO THEY COULD THEN TAKE THE £70.00 FROM ME FOR THERE PART IN THE BOOKING? WHAT AN ABSOLUTE SHAMBLES!

Have been disappointed with this site and service from the beginning. It´s night and day from the other sites (especially airbnb) If you can avoid it, do!

Homeaway has ruined our vacation experience. We found two seperate house through 2 seperate homeowners. The first home confirmed our reservation, then deducted over $1000 from our account. An hour after confirming, the homeowner decided she was going to renovate the home, and cancelled our reservation. Over 4 hours on the phone and 2 days later, we have still not been refunded. We then found another house. We requested to rent it, the homeowner responded it was unavailable and denied our reservation. Yet they still charged our account for the house. Now we have been going back and forth between the bank and homeaway all day trying to get our money back for a reservation that was never made. Beware or this company.

We were unfortunate enough to count on reviews for a particular rental by a woman named "Vera" in Rome, not thinking that so many 5 star reviews could be fabricated. As it turned out, once we booked and the owner received our 50%, the pinned map point and the real address/location were 2 very different streets. We even got the HomeAway app instant email that said "thank you for booking cerchi" (the street name) but when the owner sent us the street address it was a few blocks away and not something we would have booked.

Now, we are stuck with having my credit card company go after the deposit as the owner will not cooperate and HomeAway claims no responsibility. The owner has now even changed the "pinned" location to a wide circle on the map instead of the pin she had before. She has good reason to not place the pin where it belongs. We can't be the only ones surprised by this ruse but there is no way to comment on a rental until AFTER you have stayed there. So there is no warning unsuspecting travelers buying into this rental with no recourse until it is too late.

Too bad Homeaway doesn't want to help right this wrong. They claim they have nothing to do with receiving payment which is a lie. We might as well have taken our chances with Craigslist.

I reserved a place through Homeaway in Spain and a full amount of over 1700 euros was charged on my credit card, with a promise that if I cancelled the reservation within 90 days from the date of the stay, that I would get a FULL REFUND. Let me just say that this did not happen. I cancelled a reservation 120 days before the stay date 5 days after I had booked it, expecting the ' in writing' promise of a full refund... and I waited... and waited... after two months, had to fight and spend hours on the phone with HomeAway and the owner of the property to get a portion of my money back with over 120 euros missing. HomeAway had the audacity to charge fees for the transaction of over 120 euros! To me and in my books, that is theft... I will never use HomeAway or VBR again and my friends certainly won't either after hearing about my experience... HomeAway is absolutely rubbish... There was no 0s hence the overall rating of 1 which they do not deserve.

Our family of six thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Pica Flora rental property. The scenery was beautiful. It was very peaceful and homey. Great for adults who appreciate no t. V. There is wifi for those so inclined. The plants and wildlife are bountiful. Restful areas throughout the property to sit and read or take in the views. It is like a home. Comfy. Many items in the kitchen to use... showing a loved and cared for Homeawayfromhome. Leiticia, the property manager is readily available and will meet you in town to take you to the home. We had a wonderful stay.

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".