Brian S.

I made a reservation through HomeAway for a VRBO in Wisconsin for a family reunion. I put a deposit down on the house in December 2016 and thought that all was well. As the time approached for the reunion I tried to find the property on the website and it had disappeared. I called HomeAway customer service, a phone center somewhere in Eastern Europe, and they verified the owner had taken the house off the list but told me my reservation was OK. They gave me two phone numbers to contact the owner on which I left numerous messages. I also tried to contact the owner through Facebook and his business e-mail. No response. I did a little research and found out he had put the property on the market and tried to sell it. I decided to cancel my reservation. I found out that the only formal way to cancel the reservation was to contact HomeAway and have them notify the owner. But the reservation is only cancelled when the owner responds and acknowledges the cancellation which he has not done to date. Just got the automated message to make the final payment and still no success in cancelling the reservation. So understand when HomeAway guarantees the return of your deposit if you cancel 30 prior to the start date, that it is not really a guarantee. You are still at the mercy of the owner. And the only person you talk to for customer service is some person who works at a phone center in Eastern Europe.