HomeAway has a rating of 1.1 stars from 1,751 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers dissatisfied with HomeAway most frequently mention customer service, credit card and property owner. HomeAway ranks 152nd among Vacation Rentals sites.
One of the worst companies I've ever dealt with.
We rented a property on VRBO and were refused the property when we arrived and the owners KEPT the money!
Because Homeaway doesn't hold the money there is nothing we could do except file a dispute with our credit card.
On top of that, because when we asked the property owner for our money back, we said we would remove the review and consider our transaction void, Homeaway then removed and BLOCKED us from any future chance of reviewing claiming we were trying "black mail" or "extort" the property owner.
They have ZERO customer service and favor the property owners no matter what. I will NEVER rent with them again, tell EVERYONE I know to not rent with them. Only use Airbnb as they actually HOLD the money to protect their customers.
They give WAY too much power to the property owners and cannot even fathom how they have succeeded as a business.
AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
If you book a place out of the US beware currency is different and exchange rates vary day to day, You may be charged more than expected on credit card. For refunds you may get back less than you paid.
Ok ive just come back from a holiday booked through homeaway. Now the add looked great, an facilities suited my type of holiday, but...
The apartment I got was completely different. I complained to the owner through numerous emails of annoyance, got moved to the correct apartment after 4 days. All the facilities advertised were missing, washing machine, satellite TV, oven, towels, fridge, sun beds on roof terrace... ironing board, I could go on... the holiday all in all was horrific. The owner. Now I'm going to mention his name, as it is on the advert, if this gets taken off because, so be it. Alan Maddock. Owns property ******* in la Santa Lanzarote
On homeaway, it is all fake. He even tried to tell me it wasn't his but his sisters who is dying of cancer... a lie, this was after I told him I was emitting a bad review. As who would write a bad review of a dying women's business?. It said on the site it was his.!
Anyway, homeaway should make sure owners do not lie in the add listing, I've complained to homeaway. Have said they will post my review, and contact the owner with my complaints. Also they will deal with his account... nothing!. Heard nothing from either
I have just noticed, a very nice review written by one of his friends... on his homeaway page!. I looked at his Facebook page has her and him looking cosy on a profile picture. So now getting friends to put nice reviews up is another no no!
Again, dishonesty I'm sure. So all in all I won't be booking through this company again, as you could get lured over to a country with a fake add, and god knows where all this could lead!
An owner canceled three days before a major professional conference putting our company in a terrible situation. Homeaway was absolutely no help whatsoever. Entirely focused on owners with no protection for renters. Very disappointing.
We rented a house to stay in on HomeAway and the owner did not refund our $500 despite promising over 3 months they would. HomeAway has used the same tactics on us that the guy who rented us the house did. Delay after Delay after delay and still after 4 months we haven't received our deposit back. When i wrote a review on Homeaway about not getting our money back they refused to post it because they said it had nothing to do with the property. I have no doubt that this is a scam organization and make the bulk of the money scamming clients. Maybe the NJ attorney general needs to look into them. After coming to this site and seeing over 200 1 star reviews this has to be a crooked site.
We had a property owner cancel our reservation 2 days (on Christmas) before we were supposed to check-in. We were stranded for 3 days AND the owner has not refunded our $270 deposit. The property owner will not respond and HOMEAWAY says the owner is the only one who can initiate a refund. This makes NO SENSE as HOMEAWAY is the one I have my credit card info to. THEY ARE the merchant - they should have perfect ability to initiate refunds. They are doing nothing to remedy the issue. I will NEVER use HOMEAWAY again.
We reserved and made a deposit on #******* in April 2015 for vacation in February 2016. Our reservation was revoked, with no reason given, 5 weeks prior to our rental. Our deposit was refunded but that did not alleviate the problem -- no vacation rental 5 weeks before our winter vacation!
I wished I read this website before we booked vacation thru HomeAway. Just don't do it, find a better site that will stand behind you. We booked thru HomeAway for this Christmas week and ended up stranded on a Sunday evening in Angel Fire. We had to pay for another property thru the resort and can't get anyone neither the owner or HomeAway to get us our money back.
Rented a home which HomeAway site claimed was in one location (on their map), but the property was in a completely different location. HomeAway makes it super hard to figure out where the house is - since they won't reveal the address or let you talk to the owner after its booked. By then its too late! Futhermore - they just don't care about helping renters or customers. Scum bags. A black eye on our city of Austin.
Over the Christmas period I rented a house through HomeAway in Melbourne. The house was basic but clean and adequate for our purposes. However, the management of the booking was very unprofessional.
After having paid for early and late check in full several months before the booking, i was advised by email with less than 24 hours notice that this would not be honoured because they had made a clerical error on their booking calendar. I had 10 guests travelling in from all over Australia who were very inconvenienced by this unprofessional service.
The money paid was refunded but the experience was very poor and i won't be using this company again, nor recommending it.
The home we rented was not what was advertised. The "yard" was not fenced. There were rats, the air didn't work well and we had to change all smoke detectors that were ringing. This was also done without a ladder, not easy! The BBQ also was not usable. The owner is keeping over $300us in deposits stating our dog peed all over the rug. Our dog is fully housebroken and was never left alone. She said the rug is soaking however she contacted us 4 days after we left. I encourage everyone to look elsewhere and take pictures and video as proof of what the home looks like when leaving.
We booked a place for 3 weeks. Had to leave because of fleas after 2.
HomeAway censored my negative review of the property by saying it was a complaint not a review. I was asked to make a complaint. I did that and guess what- nothing happened.
The owners refunded some money but refused to give a breakdown of how it was calculated. HomeAway did... you guest it... nothing...
They add Zero value.
They block negative reviews so you are unlikely to get the full picture...
You are better off finding somewhere privately.
I rented a house from HomeAway and it was just a disgusting mess. HomeAway would claim no responsibility and would not call the homeowner and help to resolve the issue. HomeAway would not get involved to have my money returned to me. Why then would I use this site. The homeowner has no reason to return my money if they're not getting any pressure from HomeAway. HomeAway doesn't seem to care what kind of properties they have on their website. YOU SHOULD NOT USE THIS SERVICE.
Now Homeaway, Owners Direct, Flip key, and VRBO are all the same company and they are one of the main advertisers on Trip Advisor, they now dominate in all web searches. What renters who book through them need to realise (and they don't make that clear) is that they do not guarantee the quality of the accommodation or intervene if there is an issue, all they are doing is guaranteeing they will refund your money if the place doesn't exist. There are other ways of doing that... ask the owners, they should not be offended! For doing this Homeaway etc. charge the renters and the owners of the property a hefty fee, they take up to 20% for doing nothing! The trouble is if as an owner you choose to go the old route and pay an annual fee to advertise on their sites, you are pushed to the bottom of the list, not promoted and are wasting your money since all the do is give propriety to those they get a % fee for. Also be aware sometimes a different fee is charged depending if you ask for a quote rather than ask to book... make a booking request and you are likely to be charged more. The company refuses to explain to us as owners why! They are not in the slightest bit interested in the owners nor renters once they get their fee. Most people who own a rental property are honest, so if you see somewhere you think you would want to rent and if it is "Pay on line" then I would recommend googling the place, type of home etc. to see if you can find the same property on an alternative site that doesn't charge the fee or even if you can find the owners own website - that way your holiday will be cheaper..
Guests paid with fake credit card, trashed my flat and all is homeaway faults.
Homeaway knew the payment card is fake and they asked me to do nothing, neither kick guests out of my flat till they have trashed it, as they assured i will have my money.
All they did is taking their commission and left me with nothing
Bastard.
My advice use Airbnb.
Homeaway have taken over all their competition and think they can do whaever they want.
Their only only objective is profit for Homeaway.
They have alienated all the owners who advertise with their controlling policies- They clearly have no idea what it is like to own a vacation home.
Many owners are jumping ship and finding alternative ways of advertising their holiday homes without bullying, controlling Homeaway.
Owners hate them now (and I don't use the word lightly)
Never serve any problem, it is a joke to customer.
Horrible! First time using it and the lack of response of owners when requesting information is terrible. How exactly they are renting properties here if they don't even have the courtesy to email and less to update their calendars. How they pretend that you book the property without asking questions.
I have a listing with Homeaway. I have emailed Homeway several times about my concerns. The only time I obtain a response is after I call them. The listings are arranged by a fee structure where the top ones are charged more. Also, when they want you to use their services Homeaway charges a fee. If the owner does not use their services they charge owners more for the annual fee. They make money either way. Homeaway seems to want to nickel and dime the owners on every little thing.
The good thing is potential renters who are willing to look through the whole list to find a quality rental. For renters, always contact the owners directly.
I had a rental owner keep my deposit money for no reason at all. HomeAway didn't do anything about my complaint and denied my review when I tried to warn future tenants that the home owner will keep their deposit.
Answer: Homeaway is charging a fee for paying through them. They said it was to improve marketing and because renters like to pay through them. As some one who is listed through Homeaway I find this practice destructive both to the owners and renters. I encourage all potential renters to contact the owners directly and pay us directly. Owners already pay a fee. If the owners want to be listed in higher tier you have to pay more. To me they are just trying to find ways to make more money at both the owners and renters expense without improved service for either.
Answer: Go elsewhere. Sadly what started as a very good site many years ago has evolved into an unethical monopoly that has a sole interest. Profit. They do not care about owners or travelers. They exist to remove you from your money, and will say one thing and do another. They have lost the faith and trust of both, and it is well-deserved. Anyone coming on board with any of HomeAway's companies as a traveler or host would be foolish considering their underhandedness.
Answer: That's a toss up... Kinda like eBay with sellers and no feedback... In general... I don't trust Home away anymore than I can throw em... cuz they are gonna side with their rentors and not you...
Answer: No, they won't. Worst agency I ever dealt with. Warn all you friends. They should be put out of business.
Answer: HomeEscape.com is relatively new but with the new Expedia Service charges on HomeAway/VRBO, the homeowners are moving over to HomeEscape in droves. Over the next year as the HomeAway subscriptions expire many of the homeowners will not renew with HomeAway if HomeEscape turns into a good alternative. In general we (homeowners) are pretty upset that Expedia is going to make over 4Billion in added income from our customers just in the first year of the fee, if folks continue to book through them. Many of us will feel pressure to lower our rental income but if you only knew our expenses you would know this is not really a big money maker for us - personally, these fees will actually put us well into the red. So, for our guests and ourselves, HomeAway will no longer be a site we do business with once our subscription expires. And, though we used to rent through them at least once a year, we're done with that as of now.
Answer: This was my first and last experience using a similar service. I have been traveling for years, staying at hotels, with no problems. Given my experience with homeaway, I will only use reputable hotels from now on.
Answer: If I were you I would run as far as you can from these people!
Answer: I don't think our guests are aware of the rip-off yet. Look what it took for us to figure out what they are doing.
Answer: Avoid them at all cost! They're criminals!
Answer: Trust me, Homeaway does NOT assist you contrary to what you might think of them as sort of a back-up if there are problems. It's the worst agency I've ever dealt with.