HomeAway
Reviews and Complaints

Property
#7062809
Reservation ID
HA-552677
Dates
Jun 21-26, 2018, 5 nights
Guests
3 adults, 1 child
Owner name
Wendy or Ben

Hello,
My complaint is that I booked the above property and due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to cancel. I cancelled with plenty of notice and well before the 90 days. It stated a 100% refund if cancelled before 90 days. I paid $912.00 and was refunded $836.00. I was told the $76.00 was for some fee imposed by Home Away. I looked on their site and they said there was a $20 fee for paper handling. So..Ok...but they kept $76.00. I asked the property owners what it was for...and they sent the following:
Hello, Richard,

I have only received $777.00-$23.31(payment process fee charged to me) =$756.69 in total from your reservation. I have also credited you back the Insurance of charge of $59.00 which is charged by insurance company via Homeaway. So, I have lost $82.31 in order to cancel your reservation. The other service fees are charged by Homeaway and you may talk to them about their refund policy.
Best Regards

Wendy and Ben

So...it seems in addition to my $76.00...the owners also lost an additional $82.31. Please tell me this isn't a common practice with Home Away...because if it is, I will likely never use this service again. It's one thing to cancel within a month...this was within 4 months. I was going to rebook the trip at a later date...but after this experience...not a chance. I'm still trying to figure out why the owners would list their property on Home Away if this is what happens when someone cancels? They must lose a ton of money. Please give me some kind of explanation...then show it to me in your Cancellation Policy. As you saw from the response of the property owner...it wasn't them imposing the fee. Thanks,
Rick Kostanski

Rental in disrepair. No smoke detector, no railing on basement stairs, broken glass table on deck, broken and shabby curtains. Electrical outlets, door locks covered with tape. Range hood filthy hanging from 1 screw, no knob to turn on. Dirty dishes and pans, no sliverware rack in dish washer. Dirty cupboards and drawers
No keyless entry as promised by owner. Door would stick could not get in.had to get owner. Was giving entry code after being there for over two weeks, after the owners neighbor was pounding on the doors. Told the owner about the little to no water pressure. She keep saying she would fix anything but never did, except for the hot water heater that broke while my mom was taking a shower. Lisa said "at your service" and here to help more times than I can count. She said she would fix the entry door she tried a few days before we left. Never fixed the shower. Never fixed the bed with box springs coming out.
She did come the day after the futon fell apart while sitting on it and my husband fixed it. He told lisa it needed another part that was missing, she said it was good enough.
Snow storm while we were there.had to go wake owner up to help clear driveway to get out to appointment. Owner stated she would do snow removal while we were renting.
Had to go wake up owner when things broke.
She locked my husband and 85 year old mother out in the freezing Cold while I was at work.
I asked her about the smoke detector and she said she knew and had gotten one before our stay but never put it in. She still did not put it in.
I was tired of asking and bringing the disrepair to her attention.lisa just keep saying at your service.but did little or nothing .
I asked the owner after we left one day early for a part refund for all the disrepair, inconveniences, and safety issues we had to be subject to during our stay. She refused to even refund anything. She said I should have told her about the problems as they happened so she could fix them. I did tell her and she said she was at our service, then did little or nothing. The closets were filled with her clothing and belongings leaving little space for our things. Not to mention no dressers or bed side tables. The listing says hotel standards. I paid over $2500 for three weeks. I don't think I should have to call and ask for a clean safe place every day. We could have stayed in a hotel and had breakfast cooked for us every day for less.
Shame on homeowner to collect funds under false and unsafe conditions.

On Friday March 9, 2018 I sent a message asking to book the Lake Song Cabin from June 30, 2018 - July 7, 2018 for 6 adults and 1 child. I asked for the payment to be split into two payments - one now and one in one week. I received a message from Audia Ricker telling me I was preapproved for the booking for total price of $1040.86 including all fees and taxes and a message from Chuck once I have booked reservation he would contact me to set up payments. I booked and was sent travel itinerary but no payment information ever came. I sent numerous messages that day requesting the payment information. With no response with payment information. Then that night at like 5am the reservation was cancelled. When I awoke the Saturday March 10, 2018 I looked to see if payment information had been sent and found my reservation had been cancelled at 5am. I contacted Chuck who states to re book the reservation. I attempted to re book however the quote was now $1895 for the same dates and number of guests. I emailed him about this and he said sorry he had no control over the rate change that the reservation must have been cancelled because he updated last night but he did not know. He states he could not change the current rate. All of these messages were sent through Home Away app.

In Oct 17 I booked and PAYED for a vacation in Hilo over the Christmas Holidays; unfortunately we could not get flights to match the property rental times so I called and talked to a lady next day (apparently there is no record of this) and I destroyed the information as I believed it to be over, then charges show up on credit card. Then again I call and get someone they say I never called and too late to have a refund, Talk to property owner, who says he will refund only 150.00 of the 1448.13 as there is no time to rent it out but "lets see if it rents I will maybe give you some back". We watched and talked to the owner and apparently there were 5 days that the property was available but not rented, now he refuses to give any money back and has a so sad attitude! Property # is 870003 in Hilo area. I would like our money back as we got absolutely NOTHING from the owner in regards to staying there at his property and from HomeAway either. Do you think it is fair that because we couldn't get flights that we should still have to pay? Where were we to sleep? I will hope that cooler heads prevail and refund our money and if not, I will surely make it known that neither the home owner and HomeAway are reputable to conduct ANY business with.

I am a homeowner with homeaway. I just want to say they have the rudest customer service they I have ever dealt with. They don't return calls and pass the buck when you ask why wasn't my call returned. Homeaway is not the same since it was sold. The only respond if it means money in their pocket... Excuse me I mean additional money. It's such a rip off that we pay a yearly fee but with each booking they milk the customers for additional money. I think they have gotten too big for their pants. I can't wait for something better to come along because I will drop then in a hot second.

This site is a gateway to fraud. We looked up a property and made a inquiry. The "owner" responded that it was available and to wire the money because... We did so and he acknowledged receipt but the promised confirmation never showed up. Then we were contacted by the bank who informed us the account was suspicious and they suspected bank fraud. We contacted the "owner" who played games. We then contacted the homeaway "investigative team". There are simply no words to describe the [censor], insipid responses from the [censor] with whom I was forced to deal with for over an hour. Their conclusion was that the site was fine and it was our fault for following his instructions. Despite knowing that "michael rosvold" in lahaina is a fake and a thief the site remains up and ready to defraud another unwitting customer of thousands of dollars. Doubtless there are tens of thousands of phony listings on their site. I drove by their "world headquarters" in austin. It appears to be a former gas station. This company is a joke. Do not deal with them!
Edit

One Nov 27, 2017 I booked property #4440918 in Orlando Florida for the week of March 18-28. Deposit was made through American Express to LightMaker Property Management, Kissimmee Fl. On Dec 23 I received a email from HomeAway stating the property may no longer be available to rent. The listing has been suspended and is not currently active on their websites. Checking on my own I noticed LightMakers website was no longer active and the phone number listed was no longer in service. I called HomeAway to inquire and was transferred to Trust and Security. I was given several alternative numbers to try to contact someone associated with this home. Only to find out the phone numbers were not associated in any way to this property. Again is spoke to a rep from Trust and Security...he told me to stop all future payments to LightMaker Properties and he downloaded a request for reimbursement..However this form cannot be submitted until I receive a denial of refund from American Express...I have heard nothing from HomeAway on the investigation of this property..All communication has been initiated by me. On Jan 17 I spoke to a female rep who said they had no info on the property and gave me another number to call..She also suggested that I send an email to the property through the HomeAway website. I heard back from the email sent only to find out that LightMaker had sold the company to Sunshine Holiday Villas. My reservation was still active and they expected the balance due.. I explained that I stopped all payments based on the email and conversations held with HomeAway. At no time did I receive any notice of change of the business ownership and apparently HomeAway was also unaware of the change as well. I do expect a complete refund of my deposit of $868.48
I booked my reservation through the HomeAway website. I don't understand why I have had to do all the work at getting my money refunded to me? I'm getting no help from HomeAway on this matter.

After being denied access to my rental by the property by the owner I was told by homeaway to go to the Renaissance hotel in fort lauderdale plantation. I was told that this would be no cost to me and homeaway would pay the hotel directly. Homeaways third party vendor sent virtual credit cards which were declined. I was told by Homeaways traveler care that it was due to an error by homeaway as they had entered the incorrect dates for the itinerary. I was assured it was taken care of by traveler care multiple times but the hotel never received payment. They still are unpaid. I currently owe almost $800 which I do not have. I am now being told by the hotel that I will have a fraudulent claim filed against my personal credit card that was taken at check in for "incidental deposit". Ive been told to pay the bill by another homeaway traveler care representative and I would be reimbursed. Unfortunately I dont have the money so I will have detrimental affects to my credit as well as my bank. I am appalled at the traveler care team with homeaway.com. I have asked to speak to a supervisor numerous times and been told they can not let me speak to a manager. Not only did they put me in a hotel that costs $400 a room per night compared to hotels in the area priced between $100-$200 a night, they gave fraudulent card numbers and yet I am the one suffering MAJOR damages and repercussions.

Lorenzo Quintero is managing the property #801073 in New Orleans, LA. He has been the most disrespectful and Lorenzo Quintero is managing the property #801073 in New Orleans, LA. He has been the most disrespectful and ridiculously catty human (male/female) that I've ever encountered & exchanged dialogue with. I inquired about his property. Upon response I noticed that the refundable deposit was higher than expected & the occupancy limit was much lower than expected with no flexibility to increase. In my experience after years of visiting Nola I've never known this to be the norm in neighboring communities with much more attractive properties. His response was extremely defensive and caught me off guard. I responded respectfully and stated that there was no need for defense, I have extensive experience as a renter as well and was only sharing my opinion/ possibly helpful feedback that could potentially help future occupants with similar inquiries. He then began to message back and forth with disrespectful accusations about my character and calling me classless, unsuccessful and insinuated that my attitude and I as an occupant weren't pleasant. As if I disrespected him by asking a question and sharing an opinion. Once I started to get slightly upset and gave him a small dose of his own very feminine medicine he became sarcastic and threatened to share the messages with others in hopes that my "true colors" would show before given the opportunity to rent with others. I've NEVER had a negative experience with any other homeowner (9 yrs worth) & didn't anticipate such a ruckus with this person, but nonetheless a ruckus was served. I am extremely disappointed with his unprofessionalism & plan to share this experience with anyone interested in renting in the great city with an awful being tainting the cities aura.

I have had absolutely no help getting my refund back from VRBO and HomeAway.
I made a reservation for a house with my old bank and old debit card. I canceled the reservation on November 15th and asked for a full refund back. I changed banks however and need my money back into a separate account. I have called VRBO and HomeAway many times and they have been no help what so ever. Terrible customer service and act like they don't know what they are doing over there. My case number is [protected] and I would like this issue to be resolved. Like I said before, Terrible terrible customer service and the worst customer service I have ever dealt with and I will never do business with them ever again.

We stayed in a home in Phoenix Arizona. We go there Dec 1, in the afternoon and left on Dec 3, at 12 pm. We did be she has asked us before we needed to leave, such as take out the trash, wash sheets, and sweep the floor. We paid the clean flee so we didn't need to do that. The next day we got a call around 11 saying we damaged a closet door and the kitchen sink. She called us yelling saying we damaged her property. Her name is Manbir. She said she was going to send us the pictures of the damages and she never did. All I want is our money back. I would have thought this company would have been more professional. My mother has the pictures of how we left the place nice and clean. We left on a dirty towel because we didn't have time to wash it since we had a 6-hour drive to get home and also turn in our rental car. She left us a number that didn't work and that was for I am guessing the property manager or something but that number didn't work. And weeks before we tried calling the property owner but she wouldn't answer. I thought this was going to be a fun trip but the looks of it we didn't get our money back because "we damaged the property" I want my money back because we didn't do anything wrong! we only did what was told and we hardly touch was in the house! we took our own plastic plates and cups so we wouldn't touch anything. we used 2 of her pots and her coffee maker and we brought our own coffee. I will say that we will never use HomeAway again.

I was charged by VRBO HomeAway for a reservation on 11-29, On the same day they placed a hold on my account for the same amount which is still on hold.

I have spoken with Bank of America several times and they state the Merchant has to drop the hold. The Merchant says to call the Bank because they only see the charge, not the hold.

In the meantime 5 days later and 7 phone calls later of 30 minutes or more each time, I still don't have my money.

The burden always falls back on the consumer to resolve the issues of these big corporations. What about my legal rights? ITS MY MONEY!

My daughter, son, granddaughter and I rented a property in Kapaa, Kauai for the week of November 3-10/2017. The state that this place was in was filthy. We had to clean it upon our arrival. We bought paper plates, cups, plastic cutlery as the dishes there were disgusting. Has dried food on them. Pots and pans had to be cleaned so we could use them. The fridge had to be cleaned as it was so dirty. It also did not work well. We had to wash towels before using them as they stunk.
Before we could do that we had to clean washing machine. The dryer was also blocked with lint. The stove and counter tops also had to be cleaned. There was also an ant problem, they were everywhere. There also seems to be an electrical problem as bathroom lights flickered and a couple of times didn't work. Not all outlets worked either.
The bbq was disgusting so we didn't use it. That's to name a few.
I talked to the owner the one time I saw her about it and she said that the people before us left late, so she didn't have a chance to clean it and she would give us a gift card for dinner. That didn't happen and it was the last time I saw her.
We made the best of it as it was our first time on Kauai and we didn't plan on being in the rental much. Two days before we left, I sent an email to the owner Marisol bringing up these issues again and told her instead of gift card we'd just take the cleaning fee of $105. I got no response, until yesterday when she sent me a rather unpleasant email. She's had over two weeks to respond to me but didn't until the bad review I gave her was posted.
Accusing us of leaving the place filthy. I am very offended by this as it is a complete lie. And if that was the case why did she not contact me sooner? She had both my phone number and email.
Also something we noticed at all other rentals was a business license on the wall, we did not see one at this property.
My family has been using homeaway for about 4 years now and have never experienced what we did with this property or owner before.
In fact we went on to spend a week on Oahu after this and the property manager gave us a five star rating, saying we were awesome tenants and left the place so clean and thanking us for following check out requirements, we had our full deposit returned within 5 days.
Our rental last year in Waikiki was the same the owner thanked me and returned my cleaning fee because it was left so clean.

I have date stamped pictures I took of the condition of this property when we arrived. I've included 4 of them but I have others as well.
If you'd like to see the nasty email she sent me over 2 weeks later I'd be happy to do that.

Regards
S. Smith

I booked a vacation villa for a family of 8 in Phuket Thailand from 12/29/17 to Jan 04/2018. I have been unable to contact travel mob- they don't provide a phone number, the don't answer e-mails and although it says their live chat is 7 days per week, they don't respond to that either. I have sent numerous e-mails to the owner/host with no response. The only response received was after I contacted travel mob and demanded the host contact me, he did but has not responded to requests since then.

I have used VRBO, HomeAway for 16 years but will never use them again. Travel Mob is a total scam, after paying $7000 we will most likely have to change plans or pay for hotels in Phuket which will triple what has already been paid.

Travelmob says to notify them within 24 hours of any problems when you arrive - don't know how you are supposed to do that - reality is you are just out of luck and have paid significant money to a scam. DO NOT USE HOME AWAY

HomeAway is the worst company ever.
Not only they have the worst conditions for customers, but they also have incredibly high fees for almost every action you take. It's terrible. This service is for rich people. I don't wanna pay a lot of money for something that can be found for a more decent price on other websites.
HomeAway, you have many competitors and you're not better, you're worse. Stop charging so much money. I can't afford to use your service, even though I earn enough...

I bought my property as a investment as many owners do. The intent of my property was share with friends/family, personal use and some income.

So when we get "forced fed a administration or booking fee" of close to 9% that our customer pays for, that takes out a competitive edge with other rentals. We already pay $450 for web posting.

Now, Homeaway keeps our deposit to help their cash flow and we loose leverage with our guest.
I received a email that my request response rate was poor one month, well these [censor] didn't know I had 30 requests one night for Floridian's trying to escape Irma. So now its a numbers game and a complete disregard for my interests.
Be careful VRBO/Homeaway. Too much competition lurking.
Thanks, disappointed in North Carolina

Attn: Brian Sharples, CEO

Your rating: 0 of 5

RE: HomeAway.com #893070
Reservation #: HA-SGQJ3K, Aug. 18 through 24, 2017
Address: 923 Granada Ave., Nashville, TN 37210
Owner Name: Sandy Dickey, [protected]

this property should not be offered for rent by homeaway!

Dear Mr. Sharples:

Upon on arrival, there was a load of DIRTY dishes in the dishwasher. The 50-inch television was in one of the bedrooms and we moved it into the living room so the four of us could watch TV. The beds were terrible.

Access to the backyard was through a sliding door in the back bedroom. I have bruises on my legs where I hit the bed rails while trying to open the sliding door - about 18 inches between the bed rails and the sliding door. There was no other access to the backyard, due to the gate being padlocked shut. The backyard was a total DUMP! Yes, the property did have a BBQ (tabletop) that was filled with old briquettes, dirty grill, and a bent leg we tried to fix. The paint job in the living room was unfinished and the painter painted around the wall décor.

If the above issues were not enough, we had NO HOT WATER! The gas pipes running to the (Rinnai type) tankless water heater were too small to accommodate the property for dishes, laundry, and showers. This was discovered by one of our guests who retired from the gas company. I had one shower at this property with enough lukewarm water to rinse the shampoo out of my hair. Can you imagine being on vacation and having only a total of one shower at a property you paid good money for? The only other shower all of us had was at the Guest House in Memphis during our overnight stay there.

We were not provided the owner's cell number, called HomeAway, and were given case reference number [protected]. HomeAway provided us Sandy's cell phone number. After several attempts, she answered our text with instructions on how to "reset" the tankless water heater...to no avail. Sandy wanted to send a maintenance person to the property to "fix it", but we left for Memphis and did not want strangers in the house while we were not there. We want our money back from Sandy and will be contacting HomeAway to make a formal complaint.

Regards,

Linda Linck
22945 Donna Lane
Bend, OR 97701

[protected]@msn.com

I’m done doing business with your company. Just some advice, when I’m searching for a place to stay, I base my search on the top end price (use search filters) that I can afford to pay. However, the price listed on the search (after fees, etc..) almost always ends up being way higher than my top end budget. It really just becomes a waste of my time. Another issue is most properties advertise an “average per night” price that’s almost always considerably lower than the actual price . I’m starting to find Direct hotel sites and sites like hotels.com to be much more genuine and forthright with their pricing so it saves me time. I’m sorry to see such a good thing like HomeAway go from my first to last place yo shop!

Pelican Landing Key West, #PelicanLanding #Pelicanlandingkeywest was the worst customer service experiences I have ever had in my life, AND I TRAVEL FOR A LIVING. I rent multiple times a year through #homeaway and when I went to pay first I was directed and asked to fill out a manual form with my credit card information on it. Which with everything going on I was skeptical. I asked questions and was given very poor attitude like I did something wrong. I then received a charge on one card that was given to #homeaway and asked to give another. I simply asked a couple questions and was again confused but instead of trying to hear me out the manager got on the phone and told me very rudely that to just forget it and they would cancel my reservation. I said I booked this months in advance and did not want that and instead she told me it was too bad, hung up on me, and cancelled my family vacation that I go to Key West every year. I very emotionally stressed about this as I have 5 family members depending on my to have a vacation spot booked and $3k worth of airfare already booked. I will now be forced to likely pay more, get a worse location, and potentially not even by on the main island to spend our family Christmas tradition. I strongly recommend people consider a different location due to the rude management company that may have now ruined my family vacation! Extremely disappointed that #homeaway even does business with them.

We checked into the apartment in Florence, Italy on September 12, 2017 in
the afternoon.  We were shown the bathroom, which had a toilet with
gushing water (non-stop) and were advised that a plumber would be in to fix
the situation.  The owner left and we also shortly thereafter left the
apartment to sightsee.  We returned that evening and nothing had changed
with the toilet.  It constantly gushed water.  We got up the next morning
and tried to have a shower.  There was no hot water.  Also the shower
drain was totally backed up, along with the constantly gushing toilet. 
After several attempts to use the bathroom, it was abundantly clear that
the plumbing had major issues and the bathroom was NOT FUNCTIONAL at all. 
We also noticed that the kitchen floor had flooded due to the bathroom
plumbing issues.  At this time, we knew we could not stay in the apartment
and the conditions were unacceptable.  We tried to call the owner, but no
response.  Left 2-3 voicemails.  Did not hear back.  Also contacted via
email through website.  No response.  We were forced the book alternate
accommodations for remaining 2 nights through Hotels.com.  To this date,
we still have had no communication with the owner whatsoever.  We have
advised both the owner and Homeaway.com that we expect a full refund of the
monies paid due to unacceptable conditions.  Homeaway says they are unable
to refund due to the fact that we left the accommodations and the owner has
not made any type of contact with us since we checked into the apartment,
and I have left numerous voicemails, texts and emails to the owner which
have all been ignored.

I will seek legal counsel and WILL NEVER USE HOMEAWAY OR ANY OTHER AFFILIDATED COMPANY AGAIN and advise people that they should not use HOMEAWAY.