HomeAway

I've tried booking on this site for my daughter's wedding for 3 months, a good 6 months before the wedding. Availablity calendars for homes are not kept up to date and I have yet found a property where the owner has the courtesy to respond. The only way to contact an owner is through the home away website and with no response, you're hung out in limbo. When asking customer service for assistance, their response is to email the owner through each home's link to email the owner. Doesn't do you any good if the owners won't respond. This site is awful and has caused a lot of stress trying to find a home for the family to share during our celebration. BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE, I WOULD SAY DON'T USE HOME AWAY.

I'm a renter, not an owner. Over the past 5 years I've rented 4 times from different owners on the same Caribbean island. First 3 homes were great and the ads and reviews accurately reflected what we found when we arrived. But the 4th rental was a disaster. I have gone back to the owners ad, with the beautiful pictures and the 5 star reviews, and can actually laugh now at how inaccurate it was, but I was not laughing when we checked in, after spending $6000 on airfare for 10 of us and 4 months planning a big family get together. What a dump. After my return I wrote a bad review, now the owner is threatening to sue me to get me to retract it. No wonder all the properties have only 4 and 5 star reviews. What renter is going to defend a lawsuit just so their critical review can be published? I will never trust the pictures and reviews on the site ever again.

I would give it 0 stars if i could! False advertisement through and through! Pictures of rentals have nothing to do with actual accomodations. When you confrom homeaway - they are not responsible for anything, supposedly you enter into agreement with individual renters. $2000 poorer, never actually stayed at the dump, advertised as "luxury 2 bedroom apartment in Meat Packing district in NY", and cant even sue the company because it no longer exists...
STAY AWAY!

As an owner of a suite on the main floor of my home, I've advertised on HomeAway, VRBO, and FlipKey for 3 years. In the first year HomeAway provided few inquiries, with the others providing more, but in the second year HomeAway improved. As a result, I decided to re-subscribe as they were offering a "bundled" price. I asked about the price for the bundle when the advertising started, but it took them months to get it to me - saying repeatedly they hadn't determined it yet. WHAT? How long should it take a company to come up with a price for a special advertised package? 6 months later I was given the price, and in the meanwhile I let my membership on both VRBO and HA lapse. After 4 months of a lapsed membership I purchased the "Classic Bundle". Five weeks later I had received no inquiries. A previous HA renter called to book again and mentioned that she couldn't find my listing and wondered if I had stopped renting my suite. I immediately went online and went through every page and alas, could not find my listing either.

I called HA "customer support". It took them 20 minutes to find out that it wasn't on the site. No apologies, just "I have sent the tech department your problem and it should be fixed in a few days." "A few days?", I asked "yes, ma'am its a Friday and there's lots of other things they need to do. It should be fine in a few days. I marked it as a priority."

Knowing there was little I could do to make it happen sooner I asked " And once its fixed what sort of compensation will I be given to make up for the lost potential revenue?" "We can offer you an extra 4 weeks" she said. "FOUR weeks? Its been 5 weeks since I renewed it." "Well ma'am, we don't know when it went down, it could've been just a few days ago."

Now I was angry and said "Excuse me, I keep very clear records of my inquiries and bookings. Last year for the same period I received 15 inquiries from HomeAway. This year I have received NONE. In the last 6 weeks I've had 29 inquiries from FlipKey. It seems to me that it never was renewed. In fact, my account says that it expired 8 months ago. If it was ever up and running, why would it say that?" "Ok ma'am, we can give you 5 weeks. It should be fine in a few days. There's nothing more I can offer you."

A week went by and I checked the site. No listing. I called again and spoke with a different person. He was more understanding, but couldn't offer anything more. "Its marked a priority. I'm sure the tech department is doing everything they can. Yes, ma'am I understand your frustration. I'm sorry I can't do anymore than that. Others have been calling with the same complaint, I'm sure the company will offer some sort of compensation. You'll get an e-mail when its fixed."

Almost 2 weeks later I received an e-mail telling me the problem had been sorted out and my site was live. I went online and found the listing. I called to find out what compensation I would receive. The person (another one again) told me that I was offered 5 weeks, it was on my file. I said "excuse me, that was 3 weeks ago. Its now been 8 weeks since I paid and have had no listing. Not only has HA had my $$ but I've lost potential revenue. Surely you can offer me something that won't cost you, like raising my placement, extending my listing beyond the 5 weeks. I'd like to speak to your supervisor." "I'm sorry ma'am, she'll have to call you back." I'm still waiting for that call.

I know for certain that I will not renew again on HA. FlipKey has been awesome, VRBO is okay - and I know its owned by the same company, but I need more than one website to advertise on. If anyone can recommend something else, please do.

Home Away, INC, Homeaway.com and VRBO.com are websites that advertise 'Vacation Rentals' which are really just homes, condo's, etc... that are individually owned and rented out for short periods of time to vacationers.

We actually have a 'vacation rental' next door to us, in a neighborhood of $500,000 to $1M homes. It is against the CC&R for this neighborhood, and against city laws that regulate against transient, short term rentals.

We now live next door to a what has become a hotel, with groups of 20-25 people at a time rotating every couple of days.

HomeAway does NOTHING when being told of the disturbances and violations. They do NOTHING to warn renters about the situation they will be walking into when they rent an illegal vacation rental. We have seen group after group have the police called on them, get yelled at by angry neighbors, stared down and treated like the enemy. VRBO does NOTHING to protect these renters from what will end up being a bad experience for them.

Why can't Homeway simply decide to be decent and take an active roll in getting rid of the rental properties that are causing problems in the communities, and violate laws? It's such an obvious, right, thing to do. But, instead, Brian Sharples has been quoted saying that they cannot know every law in every city. No, Brian, you dufus, you can't. But you CAN have a group of people who looks into situations brought to your attention and handle it with class and ethics. Go figure.

I think that any vacationer who rents a house in the middle of a neighborhood and brings in 20-25 people in 'LOUD. I'm on VACATION' mode is asking for trouble. They get what's coming to them, in my opinion. I feel sorry for the renters who rent in my neighborhood. They go home crying and their kids witness the WHOLE, SAD mess of a vacation.

HomeAway is destined to FAIL if they don't change.

BE WARE of 'rentals' privately owned in neighborhoods. They often do not meet firecodes, pay taxes, adhere to America Disibilties Act regulations, adhere to CC&R's for the area, adhere to local laws... And YOUR vacation will be ruined because of it. Good luck getting a refund! Once that money is out of your hands, you will have to FIGHT to get it back, regardless of the situation that you were subjected to. You can thank the greedy money grabbers at VRBO for not giving you the headsup.

Think the 'reviews' you read on the rentals are accurate? Think again. Any negative comments about the rentals are BLOCKED by the property owner. Do your homework-- or better yet, rent a LEGITIMATE hotel room

Over the last 5 years we have used homeaway.com for many beach vacations and were always delighted. We were always careful to choose rentals that were affordable - but not cheap. You get what you pay for after all. We've never had a problem dealing with the owners or management companies, making payment, receiving security deposits back or the rentals. As we began planning this year's trip we are getting the "bait and switch". Not on one property... but every single property we have inquired about -- which now numbers 54. How is it that 54 properties are no longer available for the week we plan to travel -- HOWEVER, another similar property is available at more than double the price.

I will not fault the private owners -- we've only had contact from management companies. If you are an owner allowing your property to be managed... please be aware this is happening. We will not use this site again, we no longer feel it can be trusted.

What a total rip off. Their policy is for customer to pay in full and Home Away will get to your ad when we feel like it. I paid for a platinum membership on Jan 1st with the understanding that my ad would not be posted until I had all the information in the ad. I had info in by Jan. 2nd... and called Home Away/VRBO and asked them when the ad would be posted. She said in a few days. On the evening of Jan. 8th I called Home Away/VRBO back and spoke with John G. (they wont give out their full name). I had given him my name and property owner # and he confirmed the account. John G. Said I didn't have my rates in... so I signed in and saw that I did indeed have the rates entered into the website. He said oh!... I thought you were someone else! Did he even bother to look at my account? Ok. So John G. Said he would send a note to production. When I asked when the ad would be posted, he said 3-5 business days. Ridiculous!... its already been 3-4 days past their promised posting date. Meanwhile I'm paying top dollar for the ad and he can't expedite it any more than that... nor will they offer any refund for the week that they wasted! I asked to speak with someone in management and he said he could have someone call me back in 24-48 hours. Wow... more incredibly poor customer service. I had no other option but to ask for a refund and cancel my account. We'll see how long that takes if I in fact ever get the refund. What a poor experience from Home Away and VRBO!

I was going to write that the customer service couldn't get worse, then decided that was misleading. There is no customer service. We have been members for 4 years, gold level (they just increased the cost from $700 to $750 for guaranteed placement) for 3- long enough to know without a doubt that they make many, many mistakes (at the owner's expense) and couldn't care less. For instance (and I could provide many other "instances"): I found my house listed on page 5 after doing a search using the parameters our house falls under. I called and asked why we were bumped from page 1. She said "up your subscription level".
I said "We're gold. These are all platinum above us? In our small town?"
"No. Its a seniority issue."
"We've been here longer than almost all of these other listings."
"You don't have enough reviews."
"We have more than almost all of these listings."
"You dont have enough pictures"
"We have as many as you allow... are you even looking at our account? We are listed after basic level, brand new, non-reviewed houses with just a few pictures THAT DON"T EVEN FIT THE SEARCH CRITERIA!"
"Yes maam."
"Then why dont your responses make sense? Let me talk to a manager."
"Theres no one here like that. I'm sorry maam, I've done all i could."
That's HomeAway for ya!

About homeaway – the truth

On http://fewo-direkt.blogspot.de I fount the following german report:

An owner of a vacation apartment here in Europe wrote in a blog about his experiences as landlord. And he recommended strictly to stop advertising on www.fewo-direkt.de or www.homeaway.com. Because this landlord had been victim of diffamatory reviews on this sites.

In the blog the owner also argued that the owner/customer is paying for the ad wherein he will be slandered, blackmailed.

Homeaway obtained an injunction from a commercial court, the amount in dispute was set at ******* Euro ( appr 85 000 USD)

Homeaway argued that this owner - in possession of a single vacation apartment – is direct competitor to homeaway with its 200 000 and more properties and is trying to gain undue advantages at the expense of homeaway.

The Commercial Chamber follows the arguments of homeaway and sees the owner of even one vacation apartment as a competitor of homeaway.

Although we owners are addressing to the tourists, while Homeaway to us, the owners.

While we owners are suffering under false, malecious reviews homeaway tries to gag criticisme and to censure landlords.

Later then Homeaway, fewo-direkt.de tries to get the owner to remove his blog on the net and to require the landlord to write anything derogatory about homeaway and even the rentors coming through homeaway.

In return, homeaway accepts to remove a single defamatory review published on the ad of this owner. When later malecious reviews are written the owner shall declare on oath that it's wrong and homeaway will graciously remove this review. No phone or email contact for the owner, but a web form to be completed.

Homeaway and their german fewo-direkt.de site makes owners become victims of extortion and defamation. But landlords shall not report over this. Owners should even not write about tenants of Homeaway when this rentors have damaged our properties.

Visit the forum as a landlord of homeaway.com. There was a survey of landlords. About 40% of landlords do not want to advertise on homeaway.com again - because of slanderous reviews.

And about 80% of landlords are very dissatisfied with homeaway.com, but there have to continue to advertise to all about to find tenants. This poll has been removed, it seems.

This is what happened here in Europe. Homeaway arraigns owners when they review homeaway. But the owners?

I have used VRBO mainly in the past and have had wonderful vacations. Recently I used HomeAway? The owner received my money and then the manager of property notified me the day before I was to arrive that the owner had booked over me with a personal business acquaintance? I have been in email conversations with property managers and so called other business accosiates of the owner and expected full reimbursements as promised... to then receive a check for an outlandish amount and told to cash it, deduct what I am owed and then return the remaining money to? YES! I was scammed big time. The owner has a very impressive FB profile. Have yet to Hear anything from him after sending personal messages. All phone #'s do not connect. Everything before hand checked out as legit... but it wasn't! These people whoever they are... are good at what they do to string you along. I lost over $3,000 for rental... but to have cashed that check would have ended up costing me over $8,000. More. I've just recently contacted HomeAway... I have not heard back from them... but the property is no longer on there site. Renters beware!

We were going to rent a house in Orlando and after a month our plans got changed. We asked the owner for a refund on our deposit which was suppose to be 100% refunded. The owner has not given me my deposit nor has the company did anything to the owner for his actions. I scanned numerous documents to their fraud department in which nothing happened. So I'm out 300 for not even staying in the place. Never use this website! His name is Shlomo Moalam. He is not to be trusted for his word or actions!

If I could give them zero stars I would. The customer service is basically worthless. I have had multiple problems with guests writing reviews and they don't get published. My guests are getting very upset because they often submit 2 or 3 times and weeks later the review still is not posted. Reviews used to be posted in 2-4 days. Now I have had reviews 'sit in the pile' to be pushed through for 2+ weeks. When you call they basically do very little and say they will 'try ' to get the review posted but it still takes several days. Although they are usually pleasant, I am getting tired of having to call repeatedly just to get a review posted.

And if you want to talk to a supervisor, forget it. They tell you that they will 'start a case' for you but it is often days before a supervisor calls you back. I have never dealt w/ a company where a super is not on staff during regular work hours to assist w/ escalated matters.

I have used this website in the past to find lodging. I will rethink that action as after staying at a very mismanaged property/mold, etc... I tried to write in a negative review. The owner disputed this review. After several phone calls and an email requesting 3 or more types of documentation - rental agreement, picture inside the property, receipt, etc. (1 of which should be more than sufficient). I found that the "customer service" at this company is almost completely totally lacking, in specific Ron was unhelpful and rude on call. I would avoid this company and try for other companies that are showing up trying to do this process right. Beware Homeaway, VRBO, and vacation rentals.com are all the same company.

Homeaway is a scam for the home owner. They have an auto renewal policy once you sign up. I realized when I saw my credit card statement, tried canceling, even asking for it to be pro rated, and was denied by their "review board". I was told you can turn off the auto renewal under account settings, but there was nothing to turn off. Once they get you in, they count on you being oblivious to the auto renewal charges. During the last year and one half, all of our renters have come fom VRBO. Not a single one fom Homeaway. Certainly not worth the $329.

I had a terrible experience with HOMEAWAY.COM and would advise against using their service. They are quick to collect their payment but took 3 months to actively post my photos on the listing. $400+ later, I received only 7 inquires in the entire 12 months and numerous times tried to speak w a supervisor. Each time I was told that I would be called back that day. On only two of those times a supervisor called me back but it was several days later and I was never given a direct phone number having to initialize the original call spending multiple hours of my time hanging on the phone. I absolutely hate this company. I don't even hate a fly, but I do Hate Hate Hate homeaway.com. I would recommend saving your money and listing it yourself as we did way better. Or call a local property management firm and let them deal w the hassles. Avoid at all costs homeaway.com.