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Jelena Grisina has replied to your message

Property
#6901251
Reservation ID
HA-QR8RCW
Dates
Oct 28-31, 2017, 3 nights
Guests
4 adults, 0 children
Owner name
Jelena Grisina
Dear David,

I m really sorry for cancelling your reservation. I had to make it because we had another reservation (which was booked earlier) for the similar dates and your booking overlaps on other guest reservation, it seems that the calendar here on Homeaway wasn't synced with our another platform's calendar. I'm sure you will find another nice accommodation and will enjoy your stay.

Wish you all the best!
Kind regards,
Jelena

This is the email I have received from Jelena at property 6901251. Apparently the mistake is Homeaway's and not her's. The problem is that Jelena has left us stranded to find another place to stay without any offer to help us. I would be very Leary in ever booking with this person or for that matter with Homeaway if in fact it is their mistake. We are going on a cruise and are so diappionted in this entire system. If we were truly over book in the apartment, why did it take a month to realize it. Doesn't leave us much time to find a place to stay in London after the cruise. Most places are already booked. Not having much confidence in your system.

https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p729533vb#photos

Property #729533,
Reservation ID: HA-D5TTC7

The listing on Homeway specifically stated in its listing title that July 1-8 is available & our request to book was denied twice. The manager Sherry Stempien Szatkowski told me to communicate via Facebook and after delaying us replied that the owners are staying there those dates. I have filed a complaint with Homeway but don't expect them to do anything. This is poor management and should be handled more responsibly by a simple update to the availability calendar for the listing and a more accurate listing title..

Reservation HA-S5ZYQ8 made on March, 14, 2017 by Francis Lacave [protected]@hotmail.com
The condo 666926vb I rented in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico during the month of February 2018 is not any more available .
Electricity has been shut off because the owner, apparently, did not pay maintenance fees for a long time. I have been notified about this matter on Sept, 7, 2017 by e-mail from the agent : Ms Jennifer McNeil from Urbane Group .

On Sept 15, 2017 I asked her for an immediate refund of my first deposit C$ 1954.50. She wrote me, she is not able to do it ? She has to get back first the money from the owner . Do you think that is true ?
Homeaway policy states that 60 days before the beginning of vacation stay ; the deposit is 100% refundable.
Could you help me to solve this issue ?
Thank you !
Francis Lacave

Something went wrong with my booking, so I decided to call them for an assistance. They answered and said that I had issues with my credit card and that I have to contact my bank. I did and found out that I was double charged. So the booking went well, only their website showed it didn't. I called them again willing to hear their suggestions because before this I wanted to book the same apartment, but it was already booked and probably by me. But they didn't help me at all, this issue was too hard for them to resolve.
too bad you don't care...

I booked a room in Germany for my future trip in October with a free cancellation within two weeks. I decided to look through other offers and maybe to find something better, more convenient and cheaper. And it worked well. So I canceled the reservation without worrying. But the problem is that I didn't get a refund. The HomeAway service didn't help me at all and said that I I want my money I should contact the owner to approve the refund, and refused to help me. Don't know what to do and how to get my refund, I lost a decent amount of money because of their policies that are not focused on consumers' protection. So please be careful dealing with them.

On 5/28/2017, I accepted a rental for property #6846747. The reservation number is HA-5GRHJS.
The guest Kea Maria Reitzig paid for the rental and I was informed from your agency that on 8/21/2017 I would receive the amount of 114, 53 euros.
Ms. Reitzig is my guest since 8/18/17 and is leaving on 8/23/17. However, I have not received yet any notification about payment disburse.
You are kindly requested to look into your files and proceed to the required actions.

Regards,

Konstantinos Gkeleris

Homeaway is a site I will NEVER use again when planning a vacation. In October 2016 I booked a house in Myrtle Beach, SC for our family vacation in August 2017. Almost one full year ahead of time! I provided the deposit as requested and we proceeded to make the rest of our plans which also included renting a vehicle. June 2017 we received notification from Barbara(real estate agent) that the owners of the house canceled our reservation to use the house themselves. What!? Are you kidding me, who does that!? Soooo unprofessional, don't waste your time renting any homes owned by ...and they pulled this stunt during peak travel season! They had our deposit and reservation since October 2016 they could have been reputable and honored the reservation or canceled months earlier but instead they waited until peak travel season to cancel our reservation, how would we find something else!? Barbara presented another house which was acceptable to the family so we accepted the replacement and continued with our plans. During the first week of July 2017 Barbara contacted me to say that the HOA for the second house changed their rules and required a 7 night stay and would not honor our reservation of a 4 night stay. In my opinion it was Barbara's responsibility to either confirm these types of details before submitting the house to us as a replacement, negotiate on our behalf with the HOA or eat the additional cost. I found her to be very ineffective. Barbara provided a condo as a replacement. WE DIDN'T RESERVE A CONDO WE RESERVED A HOUSE! I discussed it with my family and we agreed not to work with Barbara or anyone else from this website. We were beginning to feel like the people associated with the Homeaway website were not reputable and our money would be taken(there was no problem taking our deposit) and we were worried that we would still end up without a place to stay. We then scrambled to try to find lodging within the budget we had established and we had no luck. We only had two weeks to find something in July for a trip scheduled to begin 8/3. The children were devastated when we had to change our plans because we could not find anything. The family was completely stressed out because everyone was searching a variety of websites trying to find lodging to accommodate the size of our group. Barbara agreed to provide us with a 100% refund and we have received all funds except the $43 we paid for travel insurance. Vacations are supposed to be fun and stress free, that was not the case for us because of the people we were dealing with on the Homeaway website. Our family was traveling from various states and looking forward to getting together on this trip. Thanks to the lack of integrity and professionalism with the people we came across on Homeaway we were not able to make the trip to Myrtle Beach. I will NEVER use this site AGAIN!

Your Case Description:
I have been with HomeAway/VRBO since 2010. The recent changes restricting communications between owners and potential guests are killing my rental business! During the past 30 days I have received only THREE inquiries and responded to two of them through the system by saying YES, I accept this reservation. I never received the clear text email addresses. The third potential guest was an inquiry to which I responded. I never received any responses from these guests and never received any good contact information. I cannot continue doing business this way.

I have now signed-up to list my properties on Trip Advisor and other listing sites. If Home Away continues the current policy of restricting communication, I will have no choice but to discontinue my subscriptions. I have already placed them in the non-renewal category.
I am disappointed that after 8 years of subscriptions, it looks like our relationship will not continue.

I sincerely hope that this email will be forwarded up-channel in the organization for senior management consideration.

Sincerely (but saddened)!
Signed
(an 8 year former Platinum member)

Are they paying attention? The response to my complaint is addressed to me as "Dear Robert", in the message they state:"We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and ideas with us, Elizabeth."

Dear Robert!
Thank you for contacting HomeAway Customer Support. I hope you're doing well.
I totally understand where you're coming from and I know how you feel regarding the changes and new processes. Let me assist you with this matter.

About the phone numbers being removed on site, protecting your and the travelers’ contact information prior to a confirmed booking helps build trust. It also helps us better protect you and travelers against fraudsters — who, unfortunately, are always hard at work.

In addition, once the booking is complete, the phone number will be available to the traveler within the My Trips section of their traveler account.

We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and ideas with us, Elizabeth. Many of the improvements to our products, policies and processes are made in response to customer suggestions such as yours.

Please feel free to continue to share your thoughts in the future via our Feedback tab when visiting our website. The Feedback tab is located on most of our pages on the right side of your screen. Click on the Feedback tab, type in your comments, and click Submit Feedback.

Our product managers regularly review customer feedback. Many of the improvements to our products are made as a result of input from our users. While we do our best to act quickly, some recommendations can take time to implement.

Please note that we absolutely read and consider all feedback, but we are unable to respond to individual customers. If you are in need of assistance, you will receive the fastest response by contacting Customer Support.

If in case that you still need assistance, please don't hesitate to respond to my e-mail so I can continue assisting you
Visit www.help.homeaway.com for answers to frequently asked questions.
I wish you a wonderful day!
Sincerely,
Julius
HomeAway.com Customer Support

-----------------------------------------

When I called HomeAway on 18 July 2017, after checkout from the rental on 13 July, 2017, to ask about when my refundable damage deposit would be credited to my credit card, the first lady I spoke to, (Emman, I think was her name) said, emphatically, the refund had to come from the rental owner. I read to her, an email response I had from the owner, stating he had no control over that, and refund must come from HomeAway. I asked to speak to a supervisor, for clarification. Both ladies actually stated that the condo owner was wrong, and said HomeAway would send the owner an Email of INSTRUCTION explaining the procedure to him..How insulting ! after a five(5) minute hold, no response, I called back. The second person repeatedly insisted the same policy..I think her name was Amanda...Again, I could not understand her, so I asked if someone who spoke clearer English could explain for me. ( I always ask for a spelling of the names of persons with whom I speak, by phone). This person obviously got tired of trying to spell ( I got what I think was Sayed but not sure), and she just "hung up" the phone on me. Finally, another attempt got a lady named "Joan" was much easier to understand, and she verified that my refund would, in fact, come from HomeAway and the credit to be applied to my credit card. Question here, is; are these people so poorly trained that they do not understand their own procedures? At last, a man named Oliver took control, to quell my exaspiration, and told me he would send an email outlining the credit to be made to my credit card, and I received said notice later the same day. I got a call from a man named Mark, as a followup to all my calls, to assure me the process was on-going. I found the credit on my credit card account on Monday, 24 July 2017. I just felt your management folks should know about how at least one customer was handled.

I'm not quite sure how this company gets an A- rating with 84 negative reviews. I have been a Homeaway customer, advertising my vacation properties with them since it was just VRBO in 2006. It had been a good value not too long ago, but lately the company has adopted practices that I consider highly irregular. They have "evolved" according to the rep with whom I spoke, to no longer just be an 'advertising' vehicle. They are now a 'booking' vehicle. Apparently they now have a 'system' which determines whether an owner is not responsive enough to requests for bookings. If the system registers a non-responsive owner, the listing becomes 'hidden'--IT DOESN'T SHOW AT ALL ON THE SITE!I I have filed a complaint with BBB on this and I’m going to the AZ Attorney General. Homeaway cannot charge me for a year of advertising and then remove my ad as a result of a system rating, which, by the way is highly flawed. I’m shopping other vacation rental advertising venues and very sad to see a good business that once was VRBO go down the tubes with bad management.

Dear Sir
The hot plate in my apartment is not working so I have contacted the host, they did not reply to my email and so I had to phone them which cost me money as I have a UK mobile. Kevin from the customer service told me he has ordered a new one from Amazon and will arrive next day by 5pm. I asked him for compensation and he replied he will get back to me.I have since not heard from them and no compensation has been offered as I have not been able to cook since I arrived on Monday arrival at 17th July and today is Wednesday 19th July 6pm. I have had no reply from my emails.
Details of Host: www.LUXbnb.com
customer service: Charlotte Perry/kevin Harrocks :[protected]@LUXbnb.com
Property details: Apartment 7 Dupont Place, 1905 19th St NW, Washington DC2009
Request $150 compensation for eating out for 3 days

For years I have been with Homeaway/vrbo. Now they have decided all people will need to sign up for on line billing. This is their way of tacking on a fee 5-12% is what they will tell you but everywhere I look it is 13% for my weekend guest. What do you get for your 13% a 1 million dollar insurance policy. Really? All home owners in my area are required to carry that amount with their homeowners policy. So we get nothing. They keep the money, deposits and then send it on to you after deducting 2.5% or maybe higher from your money. I do not want a property manager and at 13% I am pretty sure I can live without this web site. The employer kept insisting the traveler pays. No I pay in the long run. The worst thing they do is not allow contact with the people until you have accepted the booking. I need to know who is in my 5, 800 sq ft home before I take their money. This is exploitation on a mass scale. I started from scratch 9 years ago and I can do it again!

I tried to set up a vacation rental home for my client over two months ago with Home Away. Initially, I tried signing up as my business which is located in Panama. However, the payment information I entered would not work. So, I tried to use my USA banking information and that would not work either. After that, I tried to set up as a personal listing using my personal banking and eventually that wouldn't work either. All along the way, I spoke with several people on the phone who were unable to solve any of the issues on the phone call after call. They was told time and again, to wait a couple of days and it would be resolved. FAIL! Finally, I set up the account using my husbands name, provided all the documentation requested for the banking side, and from my client as well. The property was FINALLY approved and I received an email notifying me the property listing was live. I tried to go on the site, to make edits to the listing only to find out the account was taken offline. I spoke to two people on the phone, expressed my state of discontent and was told the listing would go live in two days...MORE waiting. Then today, I received yet another email requiring MORE documents to prove the account is mine and under my business name. First of all, it's a business in Panama, I doubt you all have the ability to verify the ID# which I sent to you on two different occasions, I don't used paper checks and it's in the business name. I sure as hell am not going to my bank which is two hours away to wait another week or two to get letters for you to verify the account. Lastly, they requested the state the business is in which is in Panama but we do banking in both countries.
The inability to solve the issues over the phone every single time shows the ineptitude of the company to work together, solve simple problems, and basic customer service. I only hung in for over two months because I have clients to serve and needed the listing for them and for our business to try and rent out the properties more. However, the company proved to be so unequivocally impossible to work with, that I simply had to abandon the cause in the end. Now, I don't have the listings that I need and my business will suffer as a result as well as my relations with my clients.
I am beyond upset over the dealings with this company and believe others should also know. As such, i am going to file as many complaints as possible to let people know my utter dissatisfaction.

Vacation Rental Owner,

I am disappointed with the HomeAway and VRBO ! I own my vacation home, take care of it, bear the liability for rentals…and HomeAway assets control and making lots of money off of my investment. In Texas, HomeAway / Expedia are facing a class action law suit over the new fees being charged to the traveler. The current effort to bar communication between the owner and guest is both controlling and leaves the homeowner with no way to screen guests to ensure suitability for their hom.

A now unhappy HomeAway subscriber / member since 2006

***Travelers beware of HomeAway +Vrbo they are for the property owners only not for the travelers. they will not protect you from scam artist ******
On June 14, 2017 at 11:10am, I submitted a $473 deposit for Galveston, Texas property #1080476 to the owner Napoleon Velasquez. I received a confirmation and was told the remaining $899.00 balance would be due by June 28, 2017 for a stay july 28, 2017. After getting home and showing my husband the property he disagreed with the space and asked that I cancel the reservation before 24hours. I submitted the cancellation at the same day June 14, 2017 at 739pm. The owner Napoleon Velasquez agreed to cancel the reservation but he advised me I would NOT receive my $473 deposit back because
***he gives no refunds under no circumstances***
I was and still am appalled that Home Away+ VRBO would allow a property owner to treat their traveler/customers this way! I have rented and referred friends and family to these websites. I could understand Mr. Velasquez keeping a convenience fee, but for him to keep the whole amount is very hurtful.
Not only did he take advantage of me and my family but I'm sure this has happen to someone else!
like this to the travelers. He got free money in less than 12hours. do not book this property owners rentals he will scam you for all your money

Following a particularly stressful period of job changes and relocation from our home of 33 years, my wife and I decided to take an in-between-jobs vacation. We found what we thought was the perfect rental through HomeAway. We contacted the owner, Todd Messer, told him we were interested in renting the unit from October 2 through October 10 and got a quote of $1400. At his suggestion, we sent him $1400 through our Paypal account on August 31st. That transaction is documented in my Paypal account.* On the same day we received confirmation of our reservation from Todd Messer.**

On October 2nd, after a 900 mile drive, pulling a trailer full of kayaks, I picked up Marie at the Charleston airport and drove through the pouring rain, to 1648 Tern Marsh Road. The Charleston area was beginning an historic, three day rain storm, totaling 18" by the time it finished.

At 7:00, we arrived, wet and tired, at 1648 Tern Marsh Road. To our amazement, the apartment was occupied by three or four workmen and was undergoing major rehabilitation. We immediately called
Todd Messer. He said he would compensate us for a night at a hotel or we could stay in the the second floor unit. (The second floor unit was available because the previous renters had left early, it had not been cleaned and had new renters coming in the next day). I told him that, as the owner of a small rental building who has rehabbed many apartments, there was no way the unit would be ready the next day or much before the middle of our rental period. We told him we wanted our $1400 returned to our Paypal account and went to try and find somewhere to stay.

After several hours, we found a place available for two nights, at a cost of an additional $318 plus tax. While there, we found a small condominium and rented it for remained of our vacation. It cost and additional $1310.40.
I drove to 1628 Teal Marsh Road the next day, took many photographs and spoke to the workman. The pictures, taken a full day after our rental was to begin, show a man in the tub working on the toilet, . They show a freshly mudded ceiling with bare wires hanging down, piles of furniture covered with tarps and building supplies and tools scattered around the unit. The workman was very apologetic and told me he had no idea when it would be ready. Clearly, it was uninhabitable.

Just as clearly, Todd Messer had not lived up to his contractual commitment. To this day, we cannot understand what his plan was. There was a full blown renovation going on, something he either knew about when he took my money, or planned after he took my money. In either case, he has acted dishonorably and fraudulently.

We spoke to Mr. Messer several times and he initially said he would return our money if we assure him that that would end the matter. In response to that request, I sent him a text stating we would pursue no legal action if he returned our $1400. After much delay, as we were leaving Folly Beach, he said that he would not return our money but would give us a free rental the next time we were in the Charleston area. Essentially, the person who had taken our money and not lived up to our rental agreement said our only recourse was to trust him, this time he would keep his word.

Clearly, he believed we would have no recourse and that he will have been able to both generate income and renovate his unit all in the same week. There was obviously no thought given to the fact that I drove 9 hours and my wife flew in from NYC to a place that I could not use -- knowing that we would not have any contingency in place!

After my 10th call with Homeaway, they ultimately refused to help in any way and even refused to publish my review of the property. This despite the fact that we notified Homeaway the day after our rental was to begin of the condition of the unit and sent them many pictures detailing the condition of Todd Messer's apartment. There advice to us was to attempt to mediate a settlement. As I noted above, Todd Messer said he would not return my $1400 unless I promised not to pursue legal action or wrte a review of the property. I agreed to these terms in order to get my $1400 back. Homeaway finally told me that they will not publish my review because of that attempted agreement. This despite the fact that they had all the information of the fraud committed by Todd Messer long before I sent the email that he had required as a prerequisite to refunding our money. Homeaway is clearly much more interested in representing their owners, regardless of the fraudulent activities of Messer. I guess we just have to chalk it up to experience. But as a regular traveller who has used Homeaway and their sister organization VRBO more than 10 times, I will look elsewhere going forward.

Hello,
I gave a deposit for my flat in Lisbon, Portugal on May 5th, 2017.

Unfortunately, I had a family matter that I needed to take care of and had to cancel this reservation with the hope that I would be able to reserve this flat latter in the summer.

I cancelled my reservation on May 20th, 2 days before the second payment was due. ( before the 14 day window) According to your policy, I am entitled to a 50% refund . I have contacted the owner several times.

The only resolution for me is my 50% refund as per your policy.

1011 W. Fifth Street, Suite 300
Austin, Texas, USA
Tel: +1.[protected]
[protected]@homeaway.com

No 8 Danika Residency, Benaulim, Goa
We have 2 concerning issues:
The description states 24 hour security guard, there is no such security in the property. Large groups of youths cause disturbances and we are fearful for our safety.
Swimming pool and the surrounding area offered are filthy, the owner has admitted it is not maintained therefore it is unsanitary for use. Again large numbers of youths appear and use the pool who are not residents.
When highlighting with them the owner we were offered a refund but 24 hours later she has refused such a refund after knowing that we had secured and paid for alternative accommodation.
We feel she is in breach of the requirements offered and the reasons we chose this property and also that she is putting guests at potential physical harm due to the lack of security and also from a health and safety aspect by not following correct hygiene requirements for use of a pool.

Hello
I have booked a property in Venice Italy on
April 3 with property owner Victoria Lowry. The owner excepted my payment in April 3 and on April 5/17, I emailed her again asking her some questions regarding the property and Airport transportation. She did not respond until two days later apologizing that she was away and did not have access to the internet. I emailed her back and have emailed her again on April 8 then another 4 times after that and haven't received any response. I am getting VERY concerned with this lack of communication. Looking over the property pictures, I recently realized that the apartment will not accommodate our family of 5 (3 adults and 2 teens ages 16 & 15 - which are taller than me!) There are only four beds and we need five so between this major problem and the other being the total lack of communication, I am requesting that we have our reservation cancelled ASAP and that I have a Full Refund given back to me asap so that I can book another property and not be stuck without any accommodations as Venice is at 93% occupancy and having a family 5 is quite challenging as it is when searching for accommodations.

Reading over the reviews left from other travelers, it seems like I am not the only one who's had a very difficult time trying to communicate with Victoria. I have rented another property in Rome and the owner has been excellent with his communication. Please rush this cancellation and issue my refund asap. Being that we dont travel until July 7/17. We have more than ample time to be within the prior to 30 day rental cancellation policy.

I also want to make note that I had contacted HomeAway via email asking for help with this and all I was given was Victoria's phone number. I emailed HomeAway back stating that I live in Canada and did not want to incur the long-distance charges to the property owner in Europe. They responded with the same answer that I needed to contact the property owner so therefore I called home away this morning and went through the whole story again asking that my refund be sent to me in the property be cancelled ASAP. I would hope that in future homeaway would be of better service to renters and and being that this is the second instance noted of travellers having a problem with this property owner in communication with her maybe her profile needs to be looked at and reassessed.

Your quick assistance with getting this reservation cancelled and getting my full refund sent back to me asap so that I can book another property is greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,
Daniela Mancuso
[protected]

The owner of the unit lives across the hall and has been excepriobally difficult to deal with throughout our 3 month rental. She has called us names, interrupted our privacy by doing unrequested renovations( i.e. Removing carpet to replace w/ wood flooring, painting), and threatened us with extra unfounded up charges for cable. Her attitude is rude and the time we wasted with back and forth texts has ruined our vacation.
The location is East Village and riddled with 8, 000 homeless, strewn in the streets and on sidewalks. The noise and traffic to Petco Park keeps us up at night when there is an event. The elevators are often out of order or at best, slow. It is a depressing and dangerous area to rent in. The unit itself has poor ambiance, missing parts to light fixtures, and very little kitchen storage.
It has been a terrible experience throughout. I will try to post her texts so u can see what u might be dealing with. Do NOT rent from her if you want to enjoy your "Home Away" experience!