disgruntled o.

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.