HomeAwayReviews 1,748

Booked in August 2019 for a property in Roatan, Honduras at Infinity Bay. Vacation was to occur April 8th 2020. I paid in full $2076 USD ($2838 Cdn). I contacted the owner and cancelled within my 2 week window which was advertised for a 100% guaranteed refund. After trying unsuccessfully to text and call the owner of the property "James Demoney", I contacted HomeAway. I provided them with all booking information, Credit Card information and all emails and contact attempts with property owner. They initially indicated that I should definately receive a refund however they had to do their investigation. After numerous emails and phone calls, four weeks later, I receive an email saying they would not cover due to the COVID 19. The owner James Demoney has vanished into thin air. With no other recourse, I'm taking to social media. Never again will I recommend or use VRBO or HomeAway. James Demoney you are a thief!

I will never use home away again! I was charged 853.00 even though I cancelled the reservation 10 minutes after my husband called. My husband called to book a reservation for 2/14/2020 for Valentine's day back in January 2020. He is not very technology savvy and in error he booked 3/14, I called within 10 minutes and cancelled the 3/14 reservation and tried to book for 2/14 and the property was not available. So I cancelled it completely. I got a cancellation email stating I would receive a refund on my original form of payment, yet they charged my AMEX anyway. I disputed it on my AMEX and HomeAway stated they had a no refund policy. I called HomeAway/Expedia and was told they didn't charge me but the property owner did. I have been going back and forth between HomeAway/Expedia and AMEX and my charge is still on my card because HomeAway refuses to give me a credit for a property I never went to, cancelled within 10 minutes and quit frankly even if the reservation stood I would not have been able to travel due to the COVID-19 travel ban. They are disgusting to me, they don't need the 853.00 however that makes a HUGE difference to me as my husband and I are not working, not getting unemployment because we are both self employed and we have a mortgage. Shame on HomeAway!

I'm another angry reviewer who had to cancel my trip because of Covid 19 and the no travel order. I have called customer service multiple times. The home owner won't respond to any of my messages. They have literally stolen $631 from me. I didn't have a choice about cancelling, it's a worldwide Pandemic! I will never use Home Away again. I really want to get an attorney and everyone get together and sue these crooks. What kind of people steal during a National Emergency. I'm so disgusted. DO NOT USE HOME AWAY! Don't rent from Aldophus Wilson in NOLA if he is on any other apps. He will steal your money and ignore you.

I rented a property for a family vacation in Orlando the week of June 15th and paid half of the money. We had to cancel due to the Coronavirus but cancelled weeks before the April 14 deadline in order to get our money back. I have called 3 different times and each time I am told something different. I even spoke to a supervisor (at least that what he said) that claimed the refund would take up to 3 weeks. The other representative told me it would take 30 days. I guess I will have to dispute this with my bank to get my money back. This is so wrong to take advantage of people especially at a time like this when people need their money.

We had success with previous VRBO but this time, it has been the worst of all possible worlds. Our travel plans were cancelled - everyone is staying home, around the world - and almost a month later they still haven't refunded our deposit, despite FIVE phone calls and promise after promise. Next, I'm going to my credit card company to dispute the charge. Was impressed by some of the things the company said early on; now, I know not to trust.

We booked a family home on March 14th with possibility to cancel until end of May without costs. Creditcard deducted immediately a large amount on March 14th. Contacted them several time to ask to get the amount refunded, they claim it takes longer due to Corona, but still do not have the money back. It seems they do not have the money to do so. I am now forced to file a dispute with my creditcard company to make sure Homeaway does not get the money this is really ridiculous. My advise: do not rent from Homeaway!

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.

I have rented numerous properties through HomeAway over the years, always with good experiences. I have found the company particularly stellar during the COVID19 outbreak. I had 3 separate properties rented in mid-March for a myriad of family memebers. They worked swiftly and efficiently with the home owners to resolve travel disruptions we experienced as a result of the pandemic. In one case, the homeowner was extremely gracious and issued a refund for our shortened trip which was quickly issued through HomeAway. A second property that my family had to vacate early (2 nights early) was challenging because of the property owner. The owner fell back on the 50% only cancellation fee for a current disruption. I will mention it was the Alamont Manor in Fort Myers, property #*******. The owner is from Germany and not empathetic at all to what was happening with the advancing COVID crisis. I would never rent her property again. I bought trip insurance for that specific property through HomeAway. I was forced to file a claim with CSA which took numerous (7) hours to complete. Probably not worth it for 2 nights reimbursement. Which I will probably never see. Lesson here is I'll never buy trip insurance through HomeAway again. I would have been better off without it because HomeAway would have taken care of me directly. I really felt supported by the company through all this. I'll continue to use them for my travel experiences.

I recently went to rent a house through vrbo in Sun City Arizona. The first requests, I received a dropdown "this property unavailable". I text the property mgr (only name listed) explaining what happen. I then rented another house (no dropdown) it went through immediately. The next morning, I see a $1400 charge and another listing "pending for the property with the "no availability" drop down. Along, with the actual payment for the house that I rented. The Honeaway rep claims the dropdown always occurs to tell you the property is not available because you rented it? Funny, the property I actually rented had NO drop down. The rep and the owner says there nothing they can do to expedite my refund (3 or more weeks). Now, I have TWO charges which I had not budgeted for. I think the rep was not telling the truth. I have never before had that drop down when renting from Homeaway. It was not my fault and yet, I am the one out $1400 until it is refunded. I requested it be put as a priority and the rep said not his fault. The owner says she can't do anything about it. So, I decided to write this review and leave this anyone to read before doing business with this company. Next, I will leave a review on her property

I'm extremely disappointed with the CUSTOMER service during Covid19. I have been told numerous times that Homeaway is sticking to original cancellation policies during the time of covid19. Well CEO FL just got a stay in place policy for 30 days so my Homeaway that was booked this month I legally can't even go if I wanted. The only reason I canceled was because of covid19. My event got canceled. So maybe you guys should obtain a new policy. Let me make this clear, Airbnb has definitely surpassed your customer service during this time. I will not forget this for my future bookings.
Sincerely, Jennifer Donham. Please feel free to contact me when you start taking care of your customers.

Formal policy is 5 to 7 business day wait for refunds on cancellations. Called on 8th business day to ask where my $1100 bucks is... first response was it's in process, second response was due to internal error, somehow my refund showed to be processed but didnt go through, and final response from supervisor in resolutions department was too bad, so sad you are pry looking at a few weeks delay. 30 minutes of my time I will never get back to learn that this big business has decided MY money i have marked for MY mortgage payment is part of THEIR self-imposed stimulus package that is being paid for at my expense... and how many others like me? Nothing short of criminal. I certainly dont remember approving a short term financial bailout for Homeaway and VRBO. Thieves.

We rented (what turned out to be) a dump in Narragansett, RI's Eastward Look development in June 2019. The photos were great, the place, not so--but we grinned and bore it. The owner told us that the previous tenants trashed the place and also left him holding the bag financially. When we left a week later, he decided that we had damaged the place and withheld our deposit. We'd purchased damage insurance but truthfully told the insurer that we did no damage when they notified us of the owner's claim. After 7 months of calling HomeAway/VRBO and being told to be patient, it culminated in them acknowledging that we were vindicated but that it was beyond their six month time limit to refund our deposit. They claim to have notified us prior to the six months but no such notification was received. They said "too bad". Oh yeah, they also didn't publish our review of the dump, which was a tough but honest portrayal of what we experienced. A prior experience with HomeAway had been fine but it is clear that if there is a problem with the rental or the owner (or both, as in our case), the cards are definitely stacked against you. Steer clear! They are slimy.