• FlipKey

FlipKey

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Overview

FlipKey has a rating of 2.08 stars from 139 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about FlipKey most frequently mention customer service, trip advisor, and cancellation fee problems. FlipKey ranks 87th among Vacation Rentals sites.

  • Service
    10
  • Value
    9
  • Shipping
    1
  • Returns
    5
  • Quality
    10
4
See all photos

What reviewers want you to know

Positive highlights

No positive highlights yet

Critical highlights

  • And the owner and their customer service both are ignoring me.
How would you rate FlipKey?
Top Positive Review

“10/10 experience, thank you FlipKey”

Elena T.
6/29/20

I just had a wonderful experience with the FlipKey customer service. I've had no issues with them in the past but today I realized I had an automatic payment coming out by bank but it was the wrong details. I was very lucky to talk to Luca, he was such a kind and polite man, talked me through exactly what I needed to do and he stayed on the phone to make sure I had it all completed. It was such a nice experience talking to him and I do hope that if I have an issue I will get the pleasure of getting his help again

Top Critical Review

“Worst support service ever”

Charles P.
1/15/23

Was renting my villa in Phuket through TripAdvisor/ Flipkey. Needed to cancel ne rental because my villa was being sold. Could not pay their cancellation fee online: their app was turning down my payment and systematically ask me to call their customer service. I tried to pay more than 12 times on different devices: mobile, ipad, computer. Same results. In the end spoke to their customer service. Asked me to give my credit card confidential code over the phone which for obvious safety reasons, I refused to do. Then asked me to make an international bank transfer: they were unable to give the proper bank details (no account number, no full name of beneficiary). In the meantime, they were not canceling the rental which mean that their client deposit was not refunded, and the client was prevented to make other arrangement. In the end, they terminated my access to the app, ending a multi year relationship with no incident so far, for the non payment of a cancellation fee which I was very willing to pay if their system add allowed me to proceed online. Useless. I would have rated them below 0 if it had been possible. Owners and renters: avoid them!

Reviews (139)

Rating

Timeframe

Other

Reviews that mention popular keywords

customer service (34)
Thumbnail of user elenat58
1 review
19 helpful votes
June 29th, 2020

I just had a wonderful experience with the FlipKey customer service. I've had no issues with them in the past but today I realized I had an automatic payment coming out by bank but it was the wrong details. I was very lucky to talk to Luca, he was such a kind and polite man, talked me through exactly what I needed to do and he stayed on the phone to make sure I had it all completed. It was such a nice experience talking to him and I do hope that if I have an issue I will get the pleasure of getting his help again

Thumbnail of user murphyv6
1 review
2 helpful votes
June 19th, 2021

I had read many bad reviews and reports on people's experience of trying to obtain a refund from FlipKey as a result of COVID-19. I just wanted to say that I completed the ‘extenuating circumstances' refund process on Saturday and within 3 hours I had confirmation from FlipKey that my refund had been approved. Today I have received the money back into my bank account - 4 days including a bank holiday! Thank you for dealing with my request so quickly and positively.

Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user chanchalk4
3 reviews
0 helpful votes
September 8th, 2021

Great deal and easy to search. Thank you for the simplicity of finding a vacation location. Just go for it.

Tip for consumers:
Go for it

Products used:
Just for vacation

Service
Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user charlesp1861
1 review
0 helpful votes
January 15th, 2023

Was renting my villa in Phuket through TripAdvisor/ Flipkey. Needed to cancel ne rental because my villa was being sold. Could not pay their cancellation fee online: their app was turning down my payment and systematically ask me to call their customer service. I tried to pay more than 12 times on different devices: mobile, ipad, computer. Same results. In the end spoke to their customer service. Asked me to give my credit card confidential code over the phone which for obvious safety reasons, I refused to do. Then asked me to make an international bank transfer: they were unable to give the proper bank details (no account number, no full name of beneficiary). In the meantime, they were not canceling the rental which mean that their client deposit was not refunded, and the client was prevented to make other arrangement.
In the end, they terminated my access to the app, ending a multi year relationship with no incident so far, for the non payment of a cancellation fee which I was very willing to pay if their system add allowed me to proceed online.
Useless. I would have rated them below 0 if it had been possible.
Owners and renters: avoid them!

Thumbnail of user tinnak1
1 review
2 helpful votes
October 11th, 2022

Don't waste your time on this site. The site appears to have available rentals, but the 24-hour time period lapses without the hosts bothering to respond. Are these real rental possibilities? It seems doubtful when the same thing keeps happening over and over again. And each time you loose 24 hours in which to find lodgings. I'm not sure what their game is, but the result is to string you along.

Thumbnail of user jessicab1406
1 review
15 helpful votes
July 21st, 2020

I have read positive and negative comments on this site. All I can tell you is that Flipkey is for the person who would like to save money and experience something other than a hotel and it also is good for the person renting who has the extra space and can earn some income. It may not perfect, as hotels/motels are not either. But if you are adventurous and want a place for less than you would usually pay for a hotel/motel, then Flipkey is for you. Do Not expect the Ritz Carlton if you are paying a minimal rate. This company is an A in my book.

Thumbnail of user akaciac
1 review
20 helpful votes
July 17th, 2020

I've been trying to receive keys from flipkey to view an apartment the owner is trying to rent. This is now going on the second week and still no keys. I gave flipkey $2,4000 for 1st months rent and last rent and then the security deposit. This is definitely a scam, I emailed them a thousand times asking if they already shipped the packagae and if there is a tracking number. No response at all but its fine i will be filing a law suit because they have messed with the wrong person.

Thumbnail of user marinac81
1 review
2 helpful votes
August 2nd, 2020

Not always satisfied with a room or apartment, but they are always willing to return you money even if policies are strict and they see appropriate testament.

People here were amazing. I have traveled with Flipkey like 20 times, last time in July and I love it when I can make a choice If I wanna be alone and have privacy like the entire home apt or I want somebody to tell me insights about the area around. People there are kind and sometimes even make you breakfast.;)

Pictures are usually the same, the reality is and price is the best on the market.
Go here rather than any other similar website.

Thumbnail of user janicec1192
1 review
1 helpful vote
July 11th, 2022
Verified purchase

I will never book with FLIPKEY. We had to cancel nearly 5 weeks in advance due to my daughter being too sick to travel due to contracting Covid. We are receiving $0 back, despite your extremely misleading and disingenuous message on your site about being "flexible with travelers due to Covid". We couldn't even get the owner to defer our trip to a future date. He said "only if I can rent it out for your dates". Completely unacceptable. Every other reputable rental company is modifying their cancellation policies if covid-related.
The owner DID rent it for 2 of the 5 nights. Heard nothing from him about getting even a partial refund, even though he promised to if he rented the place. He is ignoring my messages. We lost over $1000 because my daughter got Covid and is still sick. I filed a complaint and didn't hear back from FLIPKEY. It has so far been 5 days.
Why even bother having this "Covid" message so prominently on every page of the website if it means absolutely nothing. I will continue to fight this and try to get my money back. This is the worst booking company I have ever encountered. I used to own a rental condo for 16 years and would never have treated someone this way with a family illness or emergency. Keeping $1100 of someone's money like this is greedy.

Service
Returns
Thumbnail of user alexanderr207
1 review
11 helpful votes
July 23rd, 2020

Not saying Flipkey is perfect, but compared to other rental websites, Flipkey is way better.

We have used Flipkey for a long period of time, in June was our latest experience with a booking in New York. The best of all is with the least amount of trouble. And even when there's a problem we could always solve it with help from FlipKey smoothly and professionally. Plus, there has never been any payment issue. As a result, we are very confident using FlipKey to rent our properties in the future.

Why is Flipkey the best? Our guess is because Flipkey handles everything from the beginning to the end with a proven system. Their customer service representatives, at least the ones we talked with so far, speak perfect English, are professional and a pleasure to deal with.
I recommend Flipkey!

Thumbnail of user albertj109
1 review
14 helpful votes
July 19th, 2020

Giving FlipKey 5 stars because I am impressed by how quickly they responded to 2 queries that I sent them recently regarding cancellation of my booking and request for full cash refund because of my flight being cancelled thanks to COVID-19. I imagined that it would be a headache because of the stories I had heard with other hotel and travel agents e.g. extremely slow or no replies at all. However, within 2 days of submitting my request for full cash refund together with the required documentation, I received FlipKey's reply that I would be receiving full cash refund. The first time round when I contacted FlipKey to ask some questions, I received a helpful and pleasant reply in less than one day. Thank you and great job FlipKey! :)

Thumbnail of user davidp2750
1 review
2 helpful votes
March 3rd, 2021

Booked a house in Florida with flipkey. It was confirmed and deposit paid. A few days later a change was issued by the owner at three times the agreed upon amount of money. Tried to say house was not ready then said flipkey must have screwed up the amount asked for and last stated that the rates were not set for when I wanted the rental. Smells a lot like a scam and when I did not bite he cancelled the rental. I will see if my deposit is returned promptly. But not real happy as there is no way to contact flip key listed on their site. Won't use flipkey again.

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user kristinas195
1 review
4 helpful votes
July 11th, 2020

I honestly don't know what the low reviews are for, FlipKey have done everything they possibly could during the Covid-19 pandemic. I will still not hesitate to use their services in future. Thank you FlipKey :D

Thumbnail of user chriss2382
1 review
10 helpful votes
June 25th, 2020

First time I used their services, I read these terrible reviews, I had to admit that I had second thoughts about them. After using them, I can say that it's easy to use and I haven't encountered any problems. The payment was easy, everything was smooth.
Now, I cannot understand why then anyone googles them, it pops up bad reviews, when there are websites with thousands of reviews from satisfied customers. This is the reason for leaving my review, I believe that this website's poor rates are UNFAIR.
GREAT EXPERIENCE.

Thumbnail of user philh406
1 review
6 helpful votes
June 27th, 2020

Booked an apartment in Miami, when I arrived the apartment didn't match the description, it wasn't clean and I found bugs. I contacted Flipkey and sent them pictures from the apartment, to show the problem. They provided a full refund within 24 hours, there is nothing more I could ask in this situation. I am satisfied with their services.

Thumbnail of user mohammada166
1 review
2 helpful votes
January 20th, 2019

I really like FlipKey. They are relatively invisible in the entire process. That is a good thing in that they equip you to do all of your own planning and shopping for accommodations. If anything, you can be overwhelmed by the amount of choice and diversity.

Thumbnail of user elsak4
1 review
3 helpful votes
July 14th, 2020

I can't understand all the negative ratings. All my bookings went according to plan and as described. Was a great experience. They even called the host once to check I was OK in my travels. I had to cancel one due to Venice flooding and they gave the refund instantly, with no questions.
I will definitely use again.

Thumbnail of user normann15
1 review
5 helpful votes
March 15th, 2019

Flipkey Review - perfect experience - 5 STARS. I want to tell you that i had a really good experience with Flipkey. We
Booked an apartment and we had some issues with our traveling documents
And eventually we were not able to go, the owner understood and same
Did Flikey. I got my money back and customer service has been very
Helpful. Same as the owner. Overall, an excellent experience and i
Recommend.

Thumbnail of user ethanf33
1 review
8 helpful votes
March 15th, 2019

The top app which I use while traveling. All sightseeing, useful tricks and interesting tips are included. The big advantage is the opportunity to read references about the particular place from other people. One of the best helpers in a new location.

Thumbnail of user susans285
3 reviews
17 helpful votes
June 3rd, 2020

I am a Vacation Rental Owner. My Guest was booked through FlipKey to stay at my condo on Maui. When Maui imposed a 14 day quarantine we moved her dates. Then the quarantine was continued and FlipKey said if I gave proof that I gave her a refund, they would refund both our fees. I sent her a check for the refund and she sent them a copy of the front and back of the check, they are still refusing to refund. I am taking my properties off this site. I do not like my Guests to be treated like this.

Thumbnail of user lawrencet93
1 review
14 helpful votes
July 5th, 2020

Friends recommended us try FlipKey and as such we made our first booking to stay in North California for 14 days in June. The process was straightforward and the owners we chose couldn't have been more helpful. Regrettably due to Covid-19 we are unable to travel and our flights have been cancelled. FlipKey and the hosts have been brilliant. With one click of a button we had a hassle free and immediate refund activated by FlipKey and although we were warned that it could take 10-15 days to receive our money, it was back on our bank account within 2/3 days. This included their administration charge. In addition, we received lovely communication from the owners. All being well, we fully intend to go next year and 100% would like to stay with the same hosts if their property is available. It's a hard and horrible time for many so thank you FlipKey for being so quick to resolve. Early indications suggest that it is not going to be nearly so straightforward with the airline with whom we booked flights and car hire.

Thumbnail of user dianej331
1 review
0 helpful votes
September 3rd, 2020

The most caring company I have ever engaged with. I had a negative incident with a host I stayed with, and sorted it out easily with the help of Flipkey's safety team. The folks I talked with were the best- they listened to me and made me feel comfortable. They did a great job sorting out the situation as well.

Thumbnail of user robertad135
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
April 18th, 2022

I just went through 3 properties, that indicated that my dates were available! In reality, NONE of them were available. It seems pretty easy to me to update calendars when house are booked! Will go back to VRBO!

Thumbnail of user reubens44
1 review
2 helpful votes
October 4th, 2020

Use FlipKey whenever I am looking at St. George Island... have used them twice now. Great experience, great properties, great landlords... Literally everything was as promised. All stars for me

Thumbnail of user charlesm1326
1 review
1 helpful vote
November 29th, 2020

My colleague used FlipKey for a recent accomodation booking in New York. I was surprised by the ease of use and simplicity. We found a great place at an awesome price. So the rest is all history... I joined Flipkey and will be using their services in the future.

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2.1
139 reviews
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