HomeAway Questions & Answers

I was scammed by Homeaway when they wouldnt refund my $250 deposit. They said that was not up to Homeaway, even though my bank statement clearly showed my $3,000 was deposited into a Homeaway account. Even Homeaways website states that they process all bookings and transactions. After 5 weeks from returning from my vacation, I called the homeowner, and they accessed Homeaways computer and manually refunded my $250 with no problem. They said that their account with Homeaway was set up so that the traveler would automatically get their $250 deposit after 7 days. (They set up the 7-day rule in case there were damages to be taken out.) The homeowner can apparently over-ride the Homeaway computer to get your refund back to you. My advice is FIRST to contact the homeowner since Homeaways customer service people dont seem to be properly trained. Homeaway always tells people that its the homeowners fault, so you are saving yourself time and effort. Besides, the homeowner should be able to access your account through Homeaways system and do a manual over-ride. Pull up your account in Homeaway and see if you can email or call the homeowner about this. However, you need to know that your money is deposited to Homeaway, not the homeowner, so if there is fraud, Homeaway IS responsible. If the homeowner cant help you, which may be the case since they dont actually have your money, then there are other options: 1. Go online to the Better Business Bureau, 2. Go online to your state Department of Consumer Affairs and 3. Go online to the state where you vacationed we went to NC so we went to the NCDOJ -NC Dept of Justice (or the state where your offense occurred.) These websites all have consumer complaint forms that you can complete online. Since theft is a crime, 4. I would call the sheriffs department and find out what your rights are and what steps can be taken. I would not just sit there and do nothing. There are too many complaints about Homeaway from other customers because no one is holding them accountable. The only thing that will get their attention is when it affects their "almighty dollar". They should be held accountable for quality service. God bless you and hope this information helps you. BOOKING: A note from another traveler: Communication between Owners and Guests is restricted through HA, since it wants to control that process through its online portal. Be aware that HA listings are sometimes highjacked by others. You might Google a property by name to find it on other sites, or an owner operated web site. A legitimate VRBO/HA listing owner will make themselves available, will answer your questions, will assist you with special requests/information about the area, and SHARES your desire that there is a true match between your requirements and their rental property

Because they want to double dip- charge the owner AND charge the traveler too. Owners are peed as he11 about it but nothing can be done., GREED.

It is not a hotel with 100 same rooms. If there is no payment, then the potential renter may not be serious and owner is stuck holding the date for someone who was not serious about booking; or if potential renter does not pay a deposit and thus reserve the dates, someone else may do it.

You can either pay the difference yourself, or ask your guests to pay the difference. Personally, I'd pay it for the guest.

STAY AWAY FROM USING HOME AWAY, VRBO and EXPEDIA group. The annual fee to list is $499.00. This gets you on the bottom of the metric list. Even as a premier partner(given because of my reviews) my home was listed at 97 out of 130 in the area. For $499.00 you get an impossible app to navigate, poor customer service that agrees the app is"not my favorite" no ability to speak to potential renter directly unless they book. Renters have no ability to know the address where they are potentially booking and I can't give them that information until after they book. Then after booking the company holds onto the money until after the booking is complete sometimes for more than a year. They charge the renter the full amount at the time of booking and give the owner nothing unless our given the "privilege" to pay an additional 3% of the entire rent.

Broan Sharples from Austin, Texas is co-founder and CEO of Homeaway

Try calling VRBO to obtain the home owners phone number. They may be on pay per booking so that may be why it's not listed on the site or they may have requested it not to be disclosed. You can also try emailing them through the site. Even though it's masked if you reply through the website the email will get to the owners. I had a guest contact me by phone when they had an issue with booking. They received my phone number from the company. I also notice it gives me the customers phone number in the emails I receive from them. I'm not sure if they are entering it or whether it's automatically sending it to me. For me as a home owner I would rather deal directly with the customer because VRBO has horrible customer service. I personally want to go over and above for my customers to make their stay in my home the best.

Legally speaking, HomeAway is not just vehicle for advertising properties a they claim. Homeaway inhibits correspondence between owners and renters, filters reviews, has a clear financial interest in the transaction doing through and processes payments. Those factors make it a party to the transaction. When it process the payments, a bailment is created as a matter of law and HomeAway is the bailee, which makes them responsible for the disposition of the money. By filtering reviews and not taking action against owners who double book, unreasonably refuse to refund deposits and place false and misleading information on their website, it is facilitating crimes. Indeed, by filtering reviews, it is arguably participating in the crimes. None of this going to stop until folks start reporting HomeAway to the AG offices of Texas, the state in which the property is located and your home state.

A rental is generally legitimate if it is posted on HOMEAWAY. You can look at reviews for a better idea of the place you are booking.

Not sure what you mean by "safest way to book."