HomeAwayReviews 1,751

We rented an apartment in London in June for nine days. It had glowing reviews and the owner is a professional photographer! Pictures do lie, photographers lie too. Also HomeAway definitely does not assist renters. The apartment we rented had many problems. The owner lived in France and no one available to help renter. We checked out a day early as it was too difficult to leave from Victoria to Heathrow. Because we checked out early we were not allowed to review the property and we didn't get our one night deposit back either. HomeAway has a warranty but they don't tell you about that. You need to read very fine print The apartment had no hot water in the kitchen, nothing to hold on to when getting into two level 3/4 "bath", a 12" step up going into bathroom, dishwasher that did not work. We had to boil water in kitchen kettle to wash dishes, wall bed with metal frame ( which cut my leg) and was difficult to close so left it down. Bathroom sink I was told if I put the plug in it would not come out! Many difficult steps which were pretty hazardous and dark to get to apartment. Listing underestimated distance from Victoria and supermarket. Never again.

I rented a Homeaway boat house with owner craig in Ventura Florida. I have attached the cover photo of the boat so that you will not be fooled if you come across it. This was the worst experience I've had. It was hell on this boat. Upon my stay I could barely move around in the boat. The coffee machine was filled with mold and mildew as you can see in the picture attached. I injured my knee very badly trying to get to the bathroom which wasnt even complete, I could not even take a shower. Even when I attempted to use the microwave it blew out the electricity of the entire boat. I contacted the boat owner and advised him of all the issues I was having and when I spoke to him he tried to give me instructions on how to repair it instead of sending someone out to correct it. I demanded a refund in which craig the boat owner promised but I am still fighting with them two months later for my refund. The property manager was very rude and inconsiderate to my complaint and I would not recommend this location nor this company to anyone. They should be ashamed of themselves. This boat was not maintained and I in turn left my stay on the first night since I didnt even have power to manuever around inside. It was disguisting.

BEWARE STAY AWAY FROM HOMEAWAY!
So me my wife and sister found a house thru homeaway in merideth New Hampshire when we arrived the house had the worst smell with dirty clothes in all closets and dressers trash everywhere water not working correctly old food in freezer and refrigerator. Bug infested throughout the place. We quickly gathered are stuff and left we Emailed him to let him kno we had already left and about how the house seemed like a slob lives there and left for couple days so we could stay. He called my cell and quickly started to freak out on the phone about the email we sent him he threatened and used sexually nasty words towards my wife and sister so I responded to the harsh words that he did not like and hung up on me. Then 10 min later I recieved a call from the merideth police department saying that the owner of this property said I threatened him. Not what happened it was complete opposite of what was said and who said it. So now the next day my wife calls HOMEAWAY to let them know about what had happened and we wanted a full refund they told us to call our bank that the owner wasnt refunding us anything including a 300 dollar damage deposit. Very rude and not interested in what we had to say about the incident at all. They advertise mental cases to rent out dirty unfit house for people to go on vacation. So I am leaving this review to warn anyone who is thinking about using HOMEAWAY. We usually go thru PINKHAM and has never had a problem like this ever.

Every time we book with HomeAway we find some new way they have come up with to get more money from the renters. This past trip we took in June went well, great house etc., then the owner sends us a message saying they are sending $1,380.00 of our $1,500.00 deposit back to us and the $120 deduction is for utilities. We were surprised as these new fees were not listed with all the other fees. The kicker in my book is that they take money for fees from your security deposit, that does not seem right to me. When we protested with the owner she informed us that HomeAway told them to do it this way. Thanks, Keith

I have been advertising the homes I manage on VRBO and Homeaway for over 10 years. I also own a bed and breakfast Inn. Since Expedia bought them, as well as BedandBreakfast.com the bookings from these resources have plummeted over 90%, especially in the last 6 months. Finding my properties on their sites needs a degree. Their fees to renters are exorbitant too. I don't find AirBnB much better because of restrictions I have to impose by law, and not being able to speak to guests or show the property. Property owners and managers need an alternative to these site to advertise my properties. I am looking for suggestions - anyone out there?

I received NOT ONE call or email saying my paid in full trip was canceled. We are to leave tomorrow and I can't find a phone number or absolutely no way to contact these people. I've tried to contact them without luck for 2 months. I'm so mad right now I can't hardly get threw this review. Trust me I will find the owner of this beach house and contact them personally. They will not get away with this bc my 4 children and grandchildren are devastated. That means this momma is on the war path.

Buyer Beware! No booking with Home Away is guaranteed. You are likely to be let down at the last moment - just when you are getting ready to go on vacation. They do not honour their terms of business re trying to get alternative accommodation up to the first seven days of your vacation. See response sent to me.

Dear David,

Thank you for contacting Vrbo.com Customer Support.

My name is Yusra and I am the Team Lead for the Traveller Care Team.

We received your complaint that you send over to us regarding the property that you booked and paid for. We understand the owner cancelled your booking due to not being able to accommodate you.

We do apologise for the inconvenience this situation has caused you. We are an advertising platform and it is purely the owners responsibility to honor the agreement between yourself and the owner.

Has the owner refunded the funds you paid?

Unfortunately, we cannot compensate for any losses that you have occurred as per our terms and conditions.

We will log this as a formal complaint on the owners account as they did cancel the booking closer to the check in date which will negatively impact your listing.

We do always recommend all our travellers to take out travel insurance to cover these type of issues.

I'm more than happy to give you a call to discuss the above. Please let me know when it's a suitable time so I can call you or alternatively, if you prefer to be assisted via Email. Please reply back to this e-mail and I will be at your disposal.

Visit help.vrbo.com for answers to frequently asked questions.

Best regards,

Yusra
Vrbo.com Customer Support Lead

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'HomeAway, is the world's worst leader in the vacation rental industry. It is the worst place to book beach houses, cabins and condos with more than two million places to stay in 190 countries. The site makes it very difficult to find and book the perfect vacation rental for any getaway, often for less than the cost of traditional hotel accommodations. HomeAway is part of the Expedia Group family of brands.'

My family just had the worst experience ever with this booking site. To be frank the site is useless as the owners have full control to do whatever they want. HomeAway accepted our deposit to book a luxury property in Costa Rica and subsequently called 2 days later to inform us that they had to cancel the booking. Obviously we had planned our trip around the property and were left looking for another property. The story gets better as they offered a full refund however because they bill in US currency following conversion to Canadian funds it actually cost me out of my own pocket $47.56 to not be able to book a property through HomeAway. Following multiple calls to the property manager, and customer care I was told that HomeAway can't do anything. Nothing was even offered as a concession to alleviate the impact associated with conversion from US dollars to Canadian. Not even a discount or coupon for future business was offered.

Although I am only 1 customer I caution all people using this site from other countries other than the US to beware so that you don't experience a similar situation. HomeAway does not accept responsibility for their owners or take accountability for their mistakes. This is one customer that will NEVER use this site again and will let everyone I know about my experience and the lack of support provided from HomeAway.

I rented my house for Spring Break on Homeaway. The guests arrived and didn't want to stay. They blasted the AC and left doors open before they canceled with Homeaway. I was told that the guest didn't deserve a refund and I was still in good standing with Homeaway so I thought the matter was resolved. A few weeks later a company called Yapstone began trying to debit my checking account. I contacted them and was informed that they had reimbursed the unhappy guests and were charging me a "chargeback". They made 3 attempts to charge my account then began harassing my self and my children at work to collect. I had an upcoming reservation that Homeaway prevented me from canceling and they kept the earnings. I wrote it off and unlisted my property. Today, almost 2 months later I received another harassing phone call from Yapstone over the amount. These companies are the Worst. Never again, they have ruined the home sharing industry. Mary C

I booked a rental through Homeaway back in April for visiting family in Aug. That day their system was down, it took hours and I finally dealt with owner by phone and email. Very frustrating. Today I was trying to cancel the reservation (a month in advance) because my sister is very sick awaiting brain surgery and can't fly. It took almost a half an hour via Chat since my account was deleted and then he or she just stopped talking to me. Left me high and dry with no resolution. I had to result to calling owner and leaving a voice message. I will never use this site again, high charges, terrible customer service, large portions of two days wasted on this site just one massive disappointment.

This site lists fraudulent properties and knowingly sells uninhabitable rental accommodation. Trying to get a refund is unlikely due to unfair clauses. Will never book with them again and urge others to rethink before parting with their money- fine if everything goes ok, but if there's a problem or you need help then you're doomed. And to add salt to the wound, they don't let travellers leave bad reviews, so you never get to share the truth

$775.00 of our $1500. 00 refund was withheld for a " chipped table" that we did not chip. The homeowner claimed we did it and decided to replace her "chipped table" with a brand new one with our money. Never do a refundable deposit. When I called home away to ask for help on this, they referred me to my credit card company Chase. Chase contacted home away and home away sent them to vacation rentals. You might ask who and what is vacation rentals. Well, it is the third party that you never hear about that processes your money. Home away says they only post rentals for home owners, they don't deal with the money. Interesting because my credit card statement says home away. So, I call vacation rentals, the number home away gave me, and vacation rentals forwarded me back to home away. It's truly unbelievable. The only way you will get your money back is to go through your credit card company and you may not then. I hope this review stops people from booking with and dealing with the run around like I have. They do not protect you. Rent through some where else!

I have been using Home Away/VRBO for years and never had a bad experience. This year I rented a home in Pigeon Forge for our family vacation. One of the children was hospitalized the day before we were to leave for the rental. I made the choice to cancel the rental and stay home to help with the other small child and the other family members. The home owners were kind and did everything to help us. CSA, Home Away Insurance denied the claim because the child had a problem that was not covered by the insurance. I paid for the rental and the insurance but the company refused payment because of a child. By all means rent from Home Away or VRBO but find another travel insurance.

I have used since 2004. Vrbo merged with homeaway a few years ago. Changed policy to eliminate personal contact with those that want to rent your home. They block phone numbers and emails, even upon request like I did for a longer term rental for the winter who had a pet. They want to take out fees for owner in addition to annual fee I pay of 500 then also take from the renter. If I discontinue I will likely have hard time renting because they are #1 on the search engine. It's a shame!

Be warned that that if things go wrong when booking accommodation then the so called Customer Support Department will fight you tooth and nail to avoid any refunds. I got debited the cost of an apartment after being told that my week was unavailable. It took 10 months and a lot of work to take out a small claims court action before I eventually got a full refund of my money. During this time they made a number if untruthful claims about the booking and did what they could to prevent a refund. Be Warned and if you do use them them make sure you keep all evidence and note any phone calls.

I rent out a property on Home Away and since Expida have bought it out, I have had no end of problems. The customer service is almost non exsistant and when you do manage to finally talk to someone, generally they can not help you as the system is so automated that it can't deal with Bank account changes or reflecting refunds for tax purposes if they are made to a renter who has to leave early. After my recent experence I am taking my property off the site, there are many others which work better! So if you are a property owner think twice about puting your advert on this site you may end up with more headaches than it's worth.