Siroj B.

Recently I decide to expand and try listing my brand new apartment on HomeAway. BIG MISSTAKE! For the last few years I was listing my apartment trough AirBnB and 9Flats. So far AirBnB just phenomenal I can see who is booking, is person verified, payment collected in advance and property insured at Airbnb expense. Once I accept reservation it is booked and payed for. 9Flats operates in similar model with deference that its fees are considerably bigger and once I accept reservation the other party has 24Hours to confirm or decline. That is not the most efficient way of booking especially if you have multiple inquiries with similar dates. However I decided to try alternatives and try listing on HomeAway. First what strikes me is site design person who designed it has zero competence how to make it intuitive and user friendly. I been using it a months and still cant believe how immature that site is. Second it makes host to fill all sorts of information, yet nothing is required of guest that is trying to make a reservation. I was flooded with anonymous request that led to nowhere. No guest profiles, no reviews, no verifications makes me uneasy thinking I have to give them my house keys. Third there is property insurance up to $1500 but at the price of $59 per reservation. Once I read the fine print I doubt that it will be easy to get your claim for damage. Fourth FEES! Of $2696 that HomeAway charged my guest I received 2250. That is $387 charge plus $59 for insurance! 15.48% overall commission!?!? For what exactly? Is everything guaranteed? Fifth and the out most important no guarantees or assurances of any sort. HomeAway version of online booking is very expensive joke. In my case after reservation was made and guest arrived I was expecting to receive my money within second day aftyer check-in. Money did not showed up so I called customer service and learned that for online booking HomeAway holds money for 30 days. Ohh well I was thinking everything is payed so I can wait. Here comes the SURPRIVE! 15 days later I received email stating that payment was reversed and it is my problem to dispute that and I owe HomeAway $35 payment reversal fee. Not a pleasant situation to be in. That brings me to conclusion that is the reason why most of the HomeAway hosts resist online booking at all cost. If you taking all the risk you what to make you are getting payed. Such setup is perfect for all sorts of con artist and majority of complains indicate that to be the case. I have very little hope to get my money from HomeAway but hopefully this post will help someone else to avoid similar situation.