HomeAwayReviews 1,751

I am a rental house owner.
HomeAway deactivated our listings last Friday afternoon without any warning. In an e-mail after the fact, HomeAway stated that our listing "contains messaging directing travelers to pay offline to avoid our online secure booking checkout system in violation of our content guidelines." That statement was incorrect on two facts: we only advised travelers that there were options available; and once I was able to find a working link to their "content guidelines" I found no such restriction. (I did print out the guidelines in case they try to alter them later.) Nevertheless we deleted the wording immediately and asked for our listing to be reactiavted. However, their "special team" that handles such cases conveniently does not work on weekends, so our listhings have been missing all weekend and as of now (Wednesday late afternoon) only one has been re-activated. Every time we call they inform us that they can't estimate when our case will be reviewed. It is extremely frustrating.

We have been among their top 5% earners for 9 years now and introduced many guests to their site, this is how we are rewarded? We have demanded a refund of our subscription for the time lost, but that is probably a hopeless cause. I have also suggested that they make their services optional, like HA's trip insurance used to be. I let them know that we've had several guests state that although they have been using VRBO for years (one since the 90s), they will be looking elsewhere in the future; there is a deep-seated animosity to the Ticketmaster business model. If travelers truly value their services, they will opt-in. But again, this seems a lost cause.

We feel that HomeAway/Expedia doesn't care about owners any more because basically they feel they don't need to. It is time for us to find other websites with some owner focus. We are joining HomeEscape dot com which is a new site operated by some HomeAway refugees. It is free but not well known, so we plan to let as many people as we can know about it. Please spread the word and let us know if you know any other options.

I have two homes that I have had listed with Home Away/VRBO for about five years. Now, the are changing our guest an obscene fee in order to book with us. I might understand a 1%-2% fee, but a fee that in many cases is in the range of 8%-9%. Can someone explain the difference in operating costs that Home Away incurs on a two-week booking, compared with a three day booking? There is none and yet the fee is significant for the longer stay. Home away attempted to justify this fee by saying it was needed to upgrade their marketing services for owners. Well, as an owner I have seen nothing in added marketing services. What I have seen is, a significant decline in inquires and bookings. I will explore what my options are before renewing with Home Away/VRBO. They are also going to eliminate the ability of guests to deal directly with owners by the end of this year, so the guests will have no choice but to pay this obscene fee. This trap will also require to owners to pay a fee to VRBO for collecting the payment from the guests. Not only is this a greedy action on the part of Home Away/VRBO resulting in added expenses for both owners and guest and reduced business, but it also result in much more work for me as an owner. Another example of Corporate Greed run amuck.

136 6th St--San Francisco--Don't let the location fooI you! I booked this apartment through Travel Mob (subsidiary of HomeAway) and although the inside pictures looked fine, outside the apartment was a mess. I found myself in the middle of a drug distribution neighborhood with noise throughout the day and night. Obviously, a haven for homeless, I had to step over a guy passed out and sleeping on the stoop to get through the steel door necessary to gain entry. The building was old and musty smelling and the windows didn't lock. This is not a place to stay if you value your safety and privacy and by no means ever take your children.

Johan Feinstein
Chelsea Apartment NYC
" Bright corner hotel-residence above Highline park"

Hi Homeaway renters,
Has anyone else been unable to contact this "owner" about their booking and is finding it impossible to get a satisfactory response from HA?

Over 4 weeks ago we raised our concerns with HA. They have now suspended this listing but instead of pursuing the matter have suggested that we phone HA Trust and Security office in the USA, despite the fact that we are UK based.

HA have indicated to us that we are not the only people with bookings against this property, so others may be similarly affected.
Any advice/guidance gratefully received.
Cheers & thanks in advance
Susan France

I am a property manager and i had more than 10 properties listed on homeaway website. Yesterday i received an email from them saying that my pay per booking listings have been removed. I was very surprised and i called the customer service who was unable to answer to my questions about the reason of the email that i received. She only told me that her colleque would call me later. No one called me then! Today i've contacted them again and again the same story. Then someone called me finally and told me that i cancelled a booking and this was the reason. It is a BIG LIE! I said that it wasn't true and it was unfair what they did. Can you imagine what she said to me? " If you want to advertise your properties buy an annual subscription please"!

This is the second time I've used Homeaway and it will be the last time. On both accounts the property owners had to directly send me the rental info by email. The second time Homeaway claimed that I needed the app to get this info for the place i rented and they keep pushing this stupid app, so I tried to download the app many times and could never get access to it. They NEVER sent me my rental information for my second rental at all. NEVER. I had to call the property owner to get it. They get two stars instead of one because I was able to contact the property owner easily and quickly and i immediately got the info on the apartment i rented out for my vacation. I've seen so many bad reviews for Homeaway that it alarmed me and sure enough my second time I didn't get the info I needed for my stay from them and had to call the property owner for it. Their app is useless if you don't have a mobile phone, which I don't! Why do I need a ridiculous app to get what I paied for? Just send the info through email! Ridiculous!

The owners of small vacation rentals have a few places to turn in the market to advertise online. HomeAway VRBO, Expedia-whatever you want to call it knows this and are exporting it to the max. They manipulate the listings and do not deliver what they promise-which is booking inquiries and listings.The subscription costs have gone up, new fees are being pushed onto prospective renters and the service and quality of the online interface have gone down tremendously. Without quality properties such as mine to advertise on their website, they would not be a player in this market. I only wish there was somewhere else to turn.

A phone call to protest the unilateral decision by the Homeaway, Vacation Rentals, VRBO vacation rental listing company to impose up to a 9% fee on our guests said it all. Well sir,
Another service charges up to 12%! I responded by noting they don't charge us as owners up to $1,000 per property to list with them and secondly, we don't advertise with that company because we feel they are heavy handed in the charges to the traveler. With Homeaway's suite of listing sites, we have seen a precipitous drop in inquires since the decision was made to simply IMPOSE these fees on our travelers. The net effect is we are paying more for less! If you are considering listing your property with these folks, know that the historical success of listing here has been adversely affected by the company's ill advised money grab. And we know other property owners who are experiencing the same drop off. We are not unique.

We used VRBO.com/Homeaway several times. This last time made me decide to never use them again. We put money down and continuously gave our deposits on time (even early) on a vacation home that we booked 1 year in advance. One week before our trip was to begin the owner called and said there was a major sewer back up. He refunded our money via check (we had paid him through paypal the whole time, but whatever). My husband talked with him a few times after that and his story was changing big time. We ended up finding out that he lied and rented it to someone else for more money. All of the places were booked ( I mean, this was for Spring Break, it is crazy in that location, that is why we booked one YEAR prior!) We had to stay 40 minutes away and spend double. I strongly advise not using vrbo/homeaway. They protect the owners but not the renters. And, they offer insurance only on refunding your money, not ruining your vacation.

Expedia has purchased VRBO and HomeAway. Last year as a new owner I had 1500 to 1900 visits in Mar and Apr 2015 and filled my summer. So I decided to increase bookings for off season by paying and ad fee of $590 to increase view. This would place me higher. What a bust. Their strategic match has cost me views. I went from 1500 views Mar 2015 to 271 for 2016. I am currently 12 days into April and have 45 compared to 1900 last year for the month. Now I have only 2 bookings from them for the entire summer. There new fee structure is cheaper. Last year they took 10% off my rent for a fee. Now they shifted it to the renter. So I reduced my rate to offset. But leave it to the big companies to take over and mess it up. I am reading on hear that many people are only getting a percentage of views they had from last year. I am getting 1/7 of last year and paying a $590 subscription fee on top. Boy was I suckered. Tried to book more, and now getting 2 bookings. I had to go to a realtor to start filling weeks. I got more emails to join them for their conference then inquiries.

I am disappointed with Homeaway because those places that they announce are only a hook. I tried to book them but they do not respect that price which is on their website. Their excuse is that those prices belong to the low season... why Homeaway asks them to update... Is it not what that website is for?... i have a nasty surprise about hidden fees and extra taxes and they also began asking for an insurance as much as 1500 or buy one... this place becomes insane.

I have been a rental property owner advertising with HomeAway and VRBO for many many years. Now they are charging my guests, most of whom are repeat renters, a very high fee just to book my cabin. Mind you I pay them $499 annually. Now they're charging my guess as much as 10% for bookings. Their service is terrible, plan to wait on hold at least 10 minutes and many times much longer. Their customer service people are not empowered to help. So what are my guests getting for that ridiculous fees? I don't know but it's not right. Greedy!

My negative review of a property has not been posted even though I have complied with everything asked of me. The property had rodents and was not clean. The homeowner promised a refund in a text message but never followed through. Our attempts at contact with the homeowner then became termed as "stalking." After disputing one half of the charge through our credit card, the homeowner informed our credit card company that everything had been worked out/a refund had been issued -- who knows what -- and we were left with no refund. We attempted to rid the place of what we thought was one mouse but came to find there were many. It was a horrible way to spend a long-awaited vacation with family and friends and paying for a rental home with was definitely not as it was represented! I never care to book through HomeAway or VRBO again.

Stayed in a Homeaway site in palacious texas, It was so dirty that we had to spend two days cleaning up, I have traveled extensively in third world countries. Their sense of cleanly ness and service greatly exceeds HomeAways client. Tried to write a review of the site and they refused to print the review. Only facts were given and no PC incorrectness in the review. Since they refused to accept the review on their site, it is an indication of their desire to control negative data. Stay away from HomeAway, I intend to.

None of my passwords or usernames work anymore... I have Global Bundle packages and even though VRBO bought everyone else you cannot access or transfer your user names or accounts. You can no longer screen your renters... they book it for you. TERRIBLE!
I am now inundated with 2 day rental requests and it is not legal to rent for less than a week in our condo building. They also try to stick my renters with a service fee to book my condos. I don't want to charge my renters more money for VRBO!

Tried 3 times to book properties with HomeAway in the last couple of days. First was advertised as available, booked then declined as already booked. Second was booked, accepted and paid, then cancelled as already booked. Third was booked but owner didn't respond within 24 hours so booking lapsed, nevertheless 2 further payments were made against my credit card. I'm currently trying to get refunds for all the payments and also will hopefully remove my payment details from their system ( uk call *******3841). In the meantime I'd advise to steer well clear of this company - at best they can be described as incompetent idiots, at worst crooked scammers. BEWARE!

I was looking for a condo to rent for an upcoming vacation and I discovered HomeAway and VRBO wanted to charge me a 9% "SERVICE FEE" during checkout on their site, plus charging exorbitant fees for the owner. Our son used VRBO as an owner and was charged $1000/year for merely listing the property on their site. Now HomeAway/VRBO also gouges the renter. For charging BOTH the owner and renter ridiculous fees, they merely provide a "bulletin board" for the property. I will be boycotting HomeAway/VRBO, and I will include Expedia in the same boycott, since they now own HomeAway/VRBO. Contact owners directly, and DON'T pay for rentals on any HomeAway/VRBO website (where they "hide" their fee as a SERVICE FEE).