HomeAwayReviews 1,748

We rented a house to stay in on HomeAway and the owner did not refund our $500 despite promising over 3 months they would. HomeAway has used the same tactics on us that the guy who rented us the house did. Delay after Delay after delay and still after 4 months we haven't received our deposit back. When i wrote a review on Homeaway about not getting our money back they refused to post it because they said it had nothing to do with the property. I have no doubt that this is a scam organization and make the bulk of the money scamming clients. Maybe the NJ attorney general needs to look into them. After coming to this site and seeing over 200 1 star reviews this has to be a crooked site.

We had a property owner cancel our reservation 2 days (on Christmas) before we were supposed to check-in. We were stranded for 3 days AND the owner has not refunded our $270 deposit. The property owner will not respond and HOMEAWAY says the owner is the only one who can initiate a refund. This makes NO SENSE as HOMEAWAY is the one I have my credit card info to. THEY ARE the merchant - they should have perfect ability to initiate refunds. They are doing nothing to remedy the issue. I will NEVER use HOMEAWAY again.

Over the Christmas period I rented a house through HomeAway in Melbourne. The house was basic but clean and adequate for our purposes. However, the management of the booking was very unprofessional.
After having paid for early and late check in full several months before the booking, i was advised by email with less than 24 hours notice that this would not be honoured because they had made a clerical error on their booking calendar. I had 10 guests travelling in from all over Australia who were very inconvenienced by this unprofessional service.
The money paid was refunded but the experience was very poor and i won't be using this company again, nor recommending it.

The home we rented was not what was advertised. The "yard" was not fenced. There were rats, the air didn't work well and we had to change all smoke detectors that were ringing. This was also done without a ladder, not easy! The BBQ also was not usable. The owner is keeping over $300us in deposits stating our dog peed all over the rug. Our dog is fully housebroken and was never left alone. She said the rug is soaking however she contacted us 4 days after we left. I encourage everyone to look elsewhere and take pictures and video as proof of what the home looks like when leaving.

We booked a place for 3 weeks. Had to leave because of fleas after 2.
HomeAway censored my negative review of the property by saying it was a complaint not a review. I was asked to make a complaint. I did that and guess what- nothing happened.
The owners refunded some money but refused to give a breakdown of how it was calculated. HomeAway did... you guest it... nothing...
They add Zero value.
They block negative reviews so you are unlikely to get the full picture...
You are better off finding somewhere privately.

I rented a house from HomeAway and it was just a disgusting mess. HomeAway would claim no responsibility and would not call the homeowner and help to resolve the issue. HomeAway would not get involved to have my money returned to me. Why then would I use this site. The homeowner has no reason to return my money if they're not getting any pressure from HomeAway. HomeAway doesn't seem to care what kind of properties they have on their website. YOU SHOULD NOT USE THIS SERVICE.

Now Homeaway, Owners Direct, Flip key, and VRBO are all the same company and they are one of the main advertisers on Trip Advisor, they now dominate in all web searches. What renters who book through them need to realise (and they don't make that clear) is that they do not guarantee the quality of the accommodation or intervene if there is an issue, all they are doing is guaranteeing they will refund your money if the place doesn't exist. There are other ways of doing that... ask the owners, they should not be offended! For doing this Homeaway etc. charge the renters and the owners of the property a hefty fee, they take up to 20% for doing nothing! The trouble is if as an owner you choose to go the old route and pay an annual fee to advertise on their sites, you are pushed to the bottom of the list, not promoted and are wasting your money since all the do is give propriety to those they get a % fee for. Also be aware sometimes a different fee is charged depending if you ask for a quote rather than ask to book... make a booking request and you are likely to be charged more. The company refuses to explain to us as owners why! They are not in the slightest bit interested in the owners nor renters once they get their fee. Most people who own a rental property are honest, so if you see somewhere you think you would want to rent and if it is "Pay on line" then I would recommend googling the place, type of home etc. to see if you can find the same property on an alternative site that doesn't charge the fee or even if you can find the owners own website - that way your holiday will be cheaper..

Homeaway have taken over all their competition and think they can do whaever they want.
Their only only objective is profit for Homeaway.
They have alienated all the owners who advertise with their controlling policies- They clearly have no idea what it is like to own a vacation home.
Many owners are jumping ship and finding alternative ways of advertising their holiday homes without bullying, controlling Homeaway.
Owners hate them now (and I don't use the word lightly)

I have a listing with Homeaway. I have emailed Homeway several times about my concerns. The only time I obtain a response is after I call them. The listings are arranged by a fee structure where the top ones are charged more. Also, when they want you to use their services Homeaway charges a fee. If the owner does not use their services they charge owners more for the annual fee. They make money either way. Homeaway seems to want to nickel and dime the owners on every little thing.
The good thing is potential renters who are willing to look through the whole list to find a quality rental. For renters, always contact the owners directly.

The booking process was easy and went without a hitch. However, when it came to refunding my security deposit, it took 5 weeks and innumerable emails back and forth between me, Homeaway and the "owner/manager". The onsite manager was present when we left and there were no problems. I don't know if it was Homeaway's fault but they seemed ineffectual in resolving it. Their responses consisted of "we have contacted the owner and told him to refund the money". The owner insisted that he had approved the refund. Is there a systemic problem with Homeaway's process? If they hold all security deposits for over 5 weeks, that's a nice little interest earner for them!

I have rented on Homeaway as a tenant and have been VERY happy with the rental experience. Now I have just started listing a furnished apartment on Homeaway and have only just taken a booking from my first tenant. I hope I can still keep my rating 5 stars down the road both as tenant and landlord. I will certainly update my review if that changes because transparency is very important with the boom of this new temporary/furnished rental trend. Be warned, scammers will infiltrate!
I am considering as a landlord using my own rental application to learn more about the tenant when I use Homeaway -- and I definitely do use a lease. I also am going to learn more about the landlords moving forward when I rent as a tenant -- ask lots of questions. I will look up on the local tax rolls to be sure that this person truly owns the property. With the new Airbnb trend I will need to be sure it is not an illegal sublease (which is becoming very commonplace). So even though -- so far -- I have had great experiences with Homeaway, I can see there is need moving forward to be a lot more cautious. The key is to do your own research, get your own verification from the other person -- get last names, ask for their website, ask if they have a Facebook and linkedin, ask for a driver's license picture (for goodness sake bouncers at a bar ask for that, certainly you don't need to be shy about that). And I mean both tenants and landlords should do this! Don't be shy! I don't want some bad actors to ruin my experience in renting vacation/temporary homes -- this is a much needed service for me that I enjoy and appreciate. Just be smart!

I booked a reservation based on their cancellation policy but when attempting to cancel because of a change of plans the cancellation policy was not honored and a refund not issued. Homeaway did nothing despite their 100% refund policy but refer me to the owner.