HomeAwayReviews 1,751

We recently rented a home in Holland Michigan 327 Big Bay from Michelle - for late Sept. Since my daughter is getting married in August, it was important to get the details of our "Girl's Weekend" finalized. Guess what? Unbeknown to us, the property we had rented was for sale and we received a notification from the owner that she was canceling our reservation because they sold their property! Really, why didn't you tell us, we wouldn't have booked with you. Ok, I have received my deposit back, but now I have to start all over just weeks before my Daughter's wedding. I contacted HomeAway thinking they would help me somehow, maybe find another location at a similar rate. NOPE! They could care less. Just give me your $$ and I'll send you a complaint form to a property that really won't be rented again. I would think that HomeAway would at least be a bit more compassionate. I won't use them again, and to think I was going to list a property with them soon. NO WAY. Just make sure the web page that you are using actually cares about you, the RENTER!

Looked at a few properties. One we were interesepted in, got online to rent and price had gone up almost $700 in a day. But the daily rate was still the lower price. So I sent email to property, never got a response. But when I got online found that the daily rate had been raised since my email. Guess that was my response. Does not appear to have good customer service. A little afraid to use now. Really wanted to rent a place through them. Will look for something else

I canceled my reservation 15 days in advance which according to the owners policy would've qualified me for a full refund instead he gave me half my money back and kept $250. I also paid for the cancellation insurance and hobo way claims they don't see that I paid for it even though I paid the extra $35 And they are not doing anything to assist the refund or give me direct access to the owner that ripped me off. I hate this company. They've stonewalled and evaded.

We made a reservation for a flat in London in March. Last week, after we made our final payment we received a call and email saying that there was a problem with our eservatiojn and it was not available for the dates we wanted. Supposedly a refund was sent (we have received no refund yet). We found another place and booked (our trip is next week, so we were in a panic.) Our reservation was accepted; our money was taken. Two hours later our reservation was cancelled and supposedly a refund was in the works. Not yet. We decided to go with Air B&B. After reading about Home Away online, I read that the company is now charging a fee for every booking. So, they'll let you book, charge a fee (to the owners), take your money, and cancel the booking, and who knows if/when we'll get our money -- probably not before we're set to travel. Stay away from home way.

I requested several times different prices of condos in Playa Del Carmen and I have never received such disrespect in all my life. One Manager, Daniel Forte was unreal. He accused me of using my country as leverage and that the only country in the world that is the greatest is United States. I just stated where I lived and that I was interested in renting this year and the following year. His replies were that I was wasting his time and other fellow employees as by sending emails on several locations. He said it is "right" to be disrespectful! I have dealt with a lot of Managers but this one I will never rent or recommend him to anyone especially if you are from Canada! He hates Canadians! Hopefully he doesn't hate all people that don't live in the United States. I would never rent from Home Away!

Very disgusted with HomeAway and would not do business with them again. They received a deposit from a customer wishing to rent our beautiful farmhouse for their honeymoon. They received TWO payments from them and did not send us one red cent. They said they would hold onto the money, even the nonrefundable portion of our deposit. Why? It's our money. We are perfectly capable of holding onto our own money. We are in business, we are adults, why do they insist on holding onto our funds as though we were children?

They are not holding it in case the tenant cancels, oh, no, because they are holding even the nonrefundable portion, the portion that belongs to us no matter what. They have no explanation when we asked, it's just their policy. It's to force us to buy from them.

They get a percentage which they take out, but why not forward the rest of our money to us? So they hold our money hostage UNLESS we pay for a subscription with their company. EVEN though they are already paid by the person renting. I'm not even sure it this is legal to withhold our own money from us. If we want our money we have to wait until last minute, even if we would be using our deposit to tweak the place to make it perfect for our guests. Shame on HomeAway, we withdrew our ad and will NEVER do business with these scammers again.

I have a very bad opinion of this company. I reserved a home and paid upfront for the reservation. The owner cancelled the day I was supposed to travel. I then had to find a hotel, which I did, but when I asked for my refund - that is when it got tricky. They refunded part of my refund and not the other half. I tried to contact people and then got the runaround. Finally, contacted the owner and said if I do not get my money back I will take her to small claims court. She then called someone and they told her it would take 7-10 days but they would refund my money. 7-10 days and more passed and still no refund. I finally ended up calling my bank and putting in a fraud charge on this company. My bank is reviewing it and that will take another 5-7 days. I love online companies but it is always a good idea to have a person working also instead of having customers run around and try to get through automation. I will never use this company again. They took my money in less than 2 seconds for the home but the refund is working into the 31st day and still no money. Bad business.

Simply put, HomeAway is not what it was when we signed up with them seven years ago. All of the other reviews left here have confirmed everything that we suspected - thank you very much for your input. We are a rental owner and our inquiries have dropped to almost nothing this year. In prior years, we were responding to inquiries several times or more a week. Now, it almost seems like a waste of time to even check to see if anyone has inquired. This lack of inquiries has also translated into a decrease in bookings. Consequently, we will NOT be renewing with HomeAway and will be looking for other sites to on which to advertise. Too bad - Homeaway used to be a simple, straight-forward way for "mom-and-pop" businesses to get wide advertising coverage without the customer needing to go through a middle man. That has all now been turned on its head - HomeAway is now just another money-grubbing big business just looking out for themselves.

If you use this company for the billing company that they are (they subcontract out but its thru them that you can take payments) then its ok. But no body there is going to take personal accountability for anything. Pass the buck. They just want and receive a pay check to occupy a chair, answer calls, emails. They act like they're such a huge company and don't know anyone outside of their department and getting a supervisor involved gets very confrontational as they are most adversarial. All they do is direct owners to their site and search for feedback option and then type in our concerns. No accountability and no one evers calls or contacts you to resolve. None have any real management watching over them so they will talk to you anyway they want to. Most are nice but some are rude and either gives out vague information. They now charge guests and have always charged owners for their serve. A bit greedy and it shows. Also, the rental agreements guests have to agree to (check a box when making an online reservation) is NOT enforceable and owners will loose any battle or dispute because the subcontractor/billing company 'vacation rents' is what they call themselves says that homeaway doesn't have the paper work properly signed. That the box guests check needs to be 'on' the agreement itself and isn't. Well then why don't they fix that? Have reported numerous times and was told that they will look into it. When asked for them to follow up with us about this topic they say they don't have a division to follow up with owners. Just be prepared when dealing with these people.

Recently tried to rent a property and "book with confidence guarantee." I received an email from the property manager requesting my credit card number, expiration date and security code; obviously did not provide it. When I contacted HomeAway for support canceling the request that hadn't been confirmed yet, she just kept repeating that I needed to work with the property manager. After explaining the issue 6 different times, another woman began yelling at me on the phone and said she would "raise" a claim for me. When I inquired about the purpose of the claim, she said it was "what she's supposed to say but she doesn't understand the process" and hung up on me. 48 hours later HomeAway charged me a $49 processing fee. Worst service in the world. Just work directly with reputable property management companies and skip this BS.

You will delight in your stay at the Painter 's Country Home, on the Ionian island of Kythira, Greece. The 400 year old farmhouse is a lovingly restored and modernized gem and was recreated by a sentimental granddaughter (now, an internationally famous Grecian artist). It is colorful, comfortable, flower draped, and, charming (especially for our group of 4 adults). The peaceful setting frames the birdsong, and the goat bells, the cicadas, and the church chimes. It is conveniently located and near the central town of Potamos with its delicious tavernas and well stocked markets. We all adored the Sunday taverna music and stayed many hours listening and watching the local villager's singing and dancing. There were many swimming beach options just a short drive away, and its an easy drive to sight see Kythira's highlights. The mythological birthplace of Aphrodite lives up to its reputation.
We highly recommend this destination!

Our condominium in Miami (Normandy isle) doesn't allow short rentals, not only because condominium regulations BUT city ordinance. A renter of one of the apartments has a posting renting the unit. I personally contacted to Home Away and a Laidy called Jessica didn't even took my complaint nor even care about somebody was posting something illegally and slamming people. I am reporting the adds to the city of Miami. Can't understand how this web site is helping scammers to defrautnpeople

I'll never use this sight again. I tried booking a condo and it told me my billing information was wrong (which was right). I submitted my information twice thinking maybe I had done something wrong. After it told me it was wrong again I stopped trying. Hours later I had a pending charge then it disappeared. I checked my email to see if I had anything pertaining to the charge on my account and there was nothing. It says it may take 24 hours for a response so I waited. After a day the charge disappeared and then a day later another charge occurred. I checked my account and still no kind of conformation email or anything saying I even tried to book a room or anything. I called customer service and couldn't understand a word they were saying. I got transferred to a billing specialist "Tristan" who was literally NO HELP! They won't stop the transactions for me or even try to fix it. All they could recommend was for me to call my bank. So thanks for all the unsolved problems HomeAway! Appreciate it!