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1.2 256 Reviews

HomeAway Complaints Summary

9 Resolved
247 Unresolved
Our verdict: If considering services from HomeAway with a critical resolution rate, extra caution is advised. Examine detailed customer feedback to understand the severity and nature of unresolved issues. Be prepared for the possibility of unsatisfactory responses and have contingency plans, including seeking assistance from consumer advocacy groups if necessary.
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HomeAway reviews & complaints 256

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7:10 pm EDT

HomeAway they refuse to reimburse the supposedly small percentage of people who have been victimized

Similar to some others on this site, we were scammed and Homeaway refuses to accept any liability. My sister-in-law booked what we thought was a great long weekend. Nearly a month later, Homeaway sent a "sympathetic" email about how the home owner's email had been hacked, but how they are not responsible. My sister-in-law checked with the owner and sure enough they had no idea who she was (i.e. our money is gone and we have no place to stay).

Based on the info we've since dug up, this has been a problem for a couple of years, but other than a few "look out for phishing" notices on their site, they won't do anything about it. When my sister-in-law emailed the homeowners to reserve our spot, she had no reason to think the people who responded were scammers. This wasn't one of those Nigerian prince deals. This was a seemingly legitimate transaction. Homeaway is a big company with a ton of money, but they refuse to reimburse the supposedly small percentage of people who have been victimized. Nice customer service, Homeaway. Real nice.

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6:23 pm EST
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HomeAway fraud

I have made several calls to Homeaway regarding fraudulent activity on one of our listings and they have failed to respond. Whenever I call, they say that the person from the "security" department is unavailable and that they will call me back. This has yet to happen. Homeaway is providing its property owners an unsafe place to do business yet they charge the owners to list the property with them. We are now victims of a scam done on the Homeaway site and we have not been able to get any help from these people at all.

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9:32 pm EDT
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HomeAway dishonest practices

Homeaway's business contract states that a listing can be cancelled by phone.
Called last year to cancel my listing with Homeaway as I had sold the business. Was told that there were no refunds for the six months remaining for which I had paid. I accepted that as their policy.
Six months later they charged my credit card again, for over $300. I called and reminded them that I had cancelled six months earlier. They claimed that they had not received my call.
They kept saying that I would have been notified by email. I had sold the emails with the company, as they were legally the new owners, along with the website that went with the company... [protected]@... and [protected]@...
I told them I had sold the business six months before and had nothing to be advertising. They refused to refund my money even though the advertising was for the following year on a business I no longer owned and for which I had cancelled the listing.

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5:53 pm EDT
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HomeAway abetting vacation rental internet scam

I booked HomeAway.com listing #363323 " Jungle & Beach Estate" by KRIS GREVEN & partner SHAW WEN thru Homeaway.com website which banner itself as the "world's most trusted vacation rental website". Very far from reality. I paid deposit of the rental - 50% of $3, 050 - the deposit amount I found to be very unfair and unreasonable to renters but then the website doesn't police this as well. About 2 months after making the deposit here comes the advise that the property was taken back by the owners DICKSON GIL and ERICA GIL without regard to renters who paid deposits already. Evil modus operandi.. a) lease the property... b) collect deposits.. c) make it appear there is problem with the lease... e) blame the partner and owners (who for all we know may belong to scam ring as well) and run with the money. Great... just great... I wish there is justice somewhere.

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CarpeDiem8932
, US
Oct 22, 2011 11:57 pm EDT

PLEASE READ : REBUTTAL BY PROPERTY OWNERS:

My husband and I are the actual property owners of the home in question. I was alerted by a vacation renter that there were several nasty posts about us and our home on the web. I looked online I found many posts - all written by the same disgruntled person.

My husband and I and our home have been the focus of these posts, recorded on various complaint boards by a Ms. Kris Greven AKA Krista Friedman. She has posted these in an attempt to slander us, cause as much damage as possible and to ruin our online reputation for a vacation rental home which we operate. Some of these posts were made by Ms. Greven acting as herself, some were made by Ms. Greven pretending to be various persons posting complaints. All of the allegations made by Ms. Greven are false and have absolutely no merit. She has posted false allegations for the pure purpose of spite and anger. I am reposting this identical rebuttal on each and every untrue complaint I find so as to shed light on the truth about the person who wrote the complaints. It had been my desire to move forward and not to be forced into putting any more energy into this bad situation. But if the poster of these untruths persists, than so must I.

I wish to respond to the allegations made by Ms. Greven so that persons considering renting our vacation rental property will have a clearer picture of how we became the focus of Ms. Greven’s angry attacks. If you read through these allegations carefully, you will see a glimpse into to person who wrote them; unstable and out for revenge for wrongs that she feels were done to her. Please take note of the time that most of these posts were written; most composed in the middle of the night. It will give you insight into Ms. Greven’s history and the source of much of her wild instability.

Ms. Greven has a long term history of being implicated in vacation rental fraud. Long before she became involved with us and our property in February of 2011. This can be researched by simply putting her name (s) into Google. I provide this information in hopes that anyone who is considering a vacation rental with us will read this and do some additional research.

I also will provide my contact information at the end of this rebuttal. We have nothing to hide and would be very happy to personally answer any questions. More importantly, we can and will provide references of guests who stayed with us, many of whom were defrauded by Ms. Greven. We aided them and did what we could to help as many as we could. I cannot describe here the complexity of the situation but here is a brief a summary as I can provide.

THE HISTORY:

My husband and I decided to lease our Las Vegas home in February on 2011. We ran an add in Craig’s List and were approached by Ms. Greven about running a vacation rental from our home. She stated that she was a property manager for an investor who wanted to lease our home for that purpose. We ended up leasing our home on a 6 month lease with an option to renew. The lease was legally assumed by this investor who’s name I will not give. NO WHERE on ANY document was any reference to Kris Greven as being a partner or party of the lease. The legal lease holder, had brought Ms. Greven on board as a property manager. Although Ms. Greven always professed to us to be his silent “partner”, her name was never on any paperwork nor did the legal lease holder indicate to us that she was anything other than a vacation rental manager.

Ms. Greven ran the property for the investor who we only met the day he viewed the house, the day he signed the lease and finally on the day he signed the early termination of that lease. We did not ask any questions. The rent was paid on time and the legal lease holder upheld his end of the arrangements.

Three months into the lease the legal lease holder came to find out that Ms. Greven was allegedly siphoning vacation rental profits into her own bank account. My husband and I did not become aware of the situation until the lease holder approached us and asked for a early termination of the lease and explained what had happened. He had been financially “wiped out” by Ms. Greven and said he had no means by which to pay us our rents.

Upon hearing the lease holders story we began some research of our own. Things began to come to light about Ms. Greven’s shady past; not limited to using the our home as a venue for “massage parties” (which we discovered and stopped), de-frauding vacation rental guests out of security deposits, taking deposits for vacation rentals far beyond the date of the end of the lease and depositing these deposits into her personal account (which was later seized and closed by the bank for fraud) and keeping those deposits. She was using OUR HOME to commit these acts.

Within the same week, we were approached by someone who had been allegedly defrauded by Ms. Greven. This person provided proof to us of an extensive arrest record of Ms. Greven for fraud and methamphetamine use. We confirmed these arrests as true as proven by public record. In addition we did our own research on the web with her aliases and discovered a past littered with vacation rental fraud.

We ultimately filed a restraining order against Ms. Greven and she was banned from the property. The lease with the legal lease holder was legally terminated and we faithfully and legally followed through with every detail of that lease termination, including refunds of all deposits to vacation renters who had contracts with the legal lease holder as well as housing vacation renters that held legal contracts with the legal lease holder who wished to continue with their contracts. We also signed contracts for the legal allocation of all assets left in the home.

Sadly, Ms. Greven had defrauded many people using her own name and bank account. Most of those people were contacted and lost their deposits. As Ms. Greven had no legal rights to the property and appeared on no lease, she also had no right to act as the lessor and absorb deposits from clients. ESPECIALLY as far a 6 months PAST the termination date of the original lease. Those monies were kept by her and no one has been refunded that she defrauded to this day. We ultimately worked with the bank to have the account she was using to defraud people closed and redirected people to a place where they could file a criminal complaint against her. We have spoken with the police in regards to these matters and they are also very well aware of Ms. Greven’s checkered past.

In short, we, along with many unwary vacation renters are victims of Ms. Greven’s path of destruction. We have no criminal history. We own the home and that fact can be checked on any real estate information site. We are good standing members of our community. Please, don’t take our word for it. Research it yourself.

A good start to run some research on Ms. Greven is the following link will direct you to a “Complaint Forum” post that will shed a bit of light about Ms. Greven AKA Krista Friedman. There are many more where that came from.

Kris Greven AKA Krista Friedman — Scam

In conclusion; after the termination of the lease, we (the legal owners), continued to run the home as a vacation rental to honor the legal contracts held by the legal lease holder. As part of our attorney devised lease termination contract, we finished up the contracts that had been in his name. Sadly, there were MANY that came forth that had unwittingly deposited monies into Ms. Greven’s account. We were able to accommodate some of them as well, but most were directed to the District Attorney’s Offices to file suit.

My husband and I ultimately decided to continue to run the home as a vacation rental for ourselves. It was easy for us to oversee and it made financial sense for us to do so. If you are considering renting our home but have Googled either our names or the property address and are fearful of renting, we understand. As I stated, we have nothing to hide and will gladly answer questions, provide references and talk with you about any concerns you have. It was Ms. Greven’s intention to dissuade you from wanting to rent from us with the post that proceeds my rebuttal. She is angry and this is how she feels she can best hurt us for putting a stop to her fraudulent rampage. I won’t post my phone number here. Please email me and I will promptly then provide you with any info you require and my contact phone number so I can personally answer your concerns. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I look forward to talking to you.

My email is as follows: FoiledAgainBatman@aol.com

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1:19 pm EDT
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HomeAway abetting rental scams

Booked 3 months in advance "1 Acre 'Jungle & Beach Estate" - it is a HomeAway.com listing #363323 and paid 50% hard earned deposit amounting to $1, 575 USD. It turns out the advertiser, Kris Greven, is a SCAMMER and is actually not the owner of the place. She accordingly lost the lease and cannot pay back the deposits to renters. She points to the actual owners of the property, DICKSON AND ERICA GIL, who in her email description are "are the epitome of evil and scam. They are mailicous, phony and diabolical... and... are the ones sitting on everyone's money and my property. They are the dark hearted, lying two faced cons. . They robbed all of us, and they got away with it."

I have no means of verifying these allegations so I seeked help from HOMEAWAY.COM who purportedly is the "the world's most trusted vacation rental website". Turns out to very far from truth & reality. It turns out they don't do their homework to protect renters using their website and in my personal opinion only interested in advertising revenue. What do I get? -- an email from Donna of Homeaway.com that I copy pasted below. Be aware when you are planning of booking a rental from the website.. you will get no help at all when things go wrong. Here is the website's email - I replaced my actual name with my username:

Quad_12,

We understand your frustration regarding the events you experienced with this advertiser.

Please understand that our site is a venue for advertisement; we are not involved in the transactions between travelers and advertisers. This dispute would need to be resolved with the advertiser as they are the party who took part in the transaction.

We're sorry again for your experience and that this situation was not resolved to your satisfaction. We encourage you to continue communicating with the advertiser.

Regards,

Donna
US Trust & Security
HomeAway® | VRBO® | VacationRentals™

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Update by quad_12
Jul 16, 2011 1:24 pm EDT

Booked 3 months in advance "1 Acre 'Jungle & Beach Estate" - it is a HomeAway.com listing #363323 and paid 50% hard earned deposit amounting to $1, 575 USD. It turns out the advertiser, Kris Greven, is a SCAMMER and is actually not the owner of the place. She accordingly lost the lease and cannot pay back the deposits to renters. She points to the actual owners of the property, DICKSON AND ERICA GIL, who in her email description are "are the epitome of evil and scam. They are mailicous, phony and diabolical... and... are the ones sitting on everyone's money and my property. They are the dark hearted, lying two faced cons. ... They robbed all of us, and they got away with it."

I have no means of verifying these so I seeked help from HOMEAWAY.COM who purportedly is the "the world's most
trusted vacation rental website". Turns out to very far from the truth & reality. It turns out they don't do their homework to protect renters using their website and in my personal opinion only interested in advertising revenue. What do I get? -- an email from Donna of Homeaway.com that I copy pasted below. Be aware when you are planning of booking a rental from the website.. you will get no help at all. Here is the website's email - I replaced my actual name with my username:

Quad_12,

We understand your frustration regarding the events you experienced with this advertiser.

Please understand that our site is a venue for advertisement; we are not involved in the transactions between travelers and advertisers. This dispute would need to be resolved with the advertiser as they are the party who took part in the transaction.

We're sorry again for your experience and that this situation was not resolved to your satisfaction. We encourage you to continue communicating with the advertiser.

Regards,

Donna
US Trust & Security
HomeAway® | VRBO® | VacationRentals™

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nuriad
, ES
Apr 18, 2012 4:31 am EDT

Hi
homeaway is crap. I am a property owner, and I have had 2 horrid experiences in homeaway:
The first one: when my property manager in London fell really ill, and we didnt have any access to bookings, they refused to help me giving me details of all enquiries so I could contact people again. I went through a horrible experience. Eventually, I could find the password of my manager by other means, and had access to enquiries, but no help from homeaway even though I told them people could be left literally on the street if we didnt know who was coming when.
The second one : Their contact form has been hacked, someone has been replying to enquiries of different properties, mine amongst them, and they sold my fltat in London for one week to a family in france. The family had received my email on top of the scam email, but they when for the cheaper option even though it was coming from the same advert. Instead of having a security alert, they decided it was my fault, and have sent scary emails to all my retener suggesting I am a scam. But even if they thought that, they dont remove my advert!

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2:09 pm EDT

HomeAway scammed

Have used this website successfully for 10 years now. Booked my 2011 villa which looked like the best yet, early to secure it. Sent the enquiry through the website to the owner as usual, got an answer, a contract, bank details to transfer 50% deposit (2300 Euros), a phone call etc. Then, received an email mid December asking me to pay the final 50% by the end of the month. I emailed back saying that I couldn't and that in accordance with the contract, the final payment wasn't due until April. I was also asked for copies of our ID. I was suspicious and refused and asked if that meant that my booking was cancelled. No reply, gave it a couple of weeks, called the numbers I had been given, all unobtainable. Called Holiday Rentals for help. They put me in touch with the REAL owner who knew nothing about me. Had received one enquiry from me back in Sept, but one where my email address (as my contact) had been changed to someone else's email address. I have lost my money and my holiday. Owner been quite helpful. Holiday Rentals said it is not their fault and it is between me and the owner. Since then, I have left three messages and none of them have been returned. I have reported this to the police, bank etc. I have asked to speak to someone at holiday rentals who can reassure me as to using their site again - how can I be sure this wouldn't happen again to me? What can I do to protect myself? They are so uninterested in me, they have not bothered to even call me back. They may think that the users of their site are unimportant, but I would like to see what happens to the revenues if people stop using their site as they are worried about security and fraud.

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Nancy Comeaux
, US
Oct 06, 2019 1:06 pm EDT

Pl ease contact me massagenancy66@gmail.com I am an owner. Need to be paid. Had had help from agent. No resolve . Needs to be paid for clients coming in on Oct.17th. Can not write clients. I do not uze chrome google only, tablet

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Micknmina
, US
Oct 04, 2016 10:02 am EDT
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Never use them again. Nothing says 'unsatisfactory' to a company louder than zero clientele. Use AirBnB...Home Away isn't the only game in town. 2300EU is a chunk of change, too. See an attorney.

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2:38 pm EDT

HomeAway awful company, awful rental

The apartment I rented through Home Away was uninhabitable. There was black mold on the bathroom walls and floors and the apartment smelled like a sewer. The shower didn't drain. It made the entire apartment smell and closing the door to the bath did not help as the bedroom was foul smelling as well. There had been a leak in the bedroom and the wall was buckled and also smelled terrible. We we were charged for 3 days, their "minimum") and at a higher rate than the weekly rate we had agreed to. NO one should be subjected to this and also have to pay for it. This apartment is listed and reviewed as 5 stars. Because I asked for my money back from the owner after not being able to contact him for 2 days stay and said I would submit a bad review, the review I submitted will not be published and other people will be subjected to this place.

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irisbow
, US
Nov 30, 2011 8:35 pm EST

The apartment I rented through Home Away was uninhabitable. There was black mold on the bathroom walls and floors and the apartment smelled like a sewer. The shower didn't drain. It made the entire apartment smell and closing the door to the bath did not help as the bedroom was foul smelling as well. There had been a leak in the bedroom and the wall was buckled and also smelled terrible. We we were charged for 3 days, their "minimum") and at a higher rate than the weekly rate we had agreed to. NO one should be subjected to this and also have to pay for it. This apartment is listed and reviewed as 5 stars. Because I asked for my money back from the owner after not being able to contact him for 2 days stay and said I would submit a bad review, the review I submitted will not be published and other people will be subjected to this place.

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Chavah
Hntington Beach, US
Aug 08, 2011 9:47 pm EDT

HOMEAWAY ALLOWS & ENCOURAGES OWNERS TO PUT FALSE ADVERTISING ON THEIR WEBSITE & REFUSES TO PUBLISH NEGATIVE REVIEWS. I have also had a horrible problem with HomeAway.com - rented a condo where the owner harasses the renters, uses any excuse to take money from deposit, false advertising on the amenities available (sssloooow computer connection, Dish TV was always out, carpet full of cat & dog dander that caused an allergic reaction in my daughter & ruined her vacation) and I attempted to get a very negative review published! HAH HAH HAH! HomeAway.com does NOT care if the rental is as advertised and makes a renter jump through sooooo many hoops to get a negative review printed that it's almost not worth the trouble. IF they actually DO print the negative review, they allow the owner to make up all sorts of lies to discredit the reviewer! WHAT ABOUT FREE SPEECH? The rental was "Seawatch Condo in Gualala - owned by Gary Amado (who is a horrid, nasty, perfectly VILE man - you do NOT want to EVER deal with HIM!). But as long as HomeAway.com gets their advertisers money, they don't give a DAMN!

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5:57 pm EDT
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HomeAway poor customer service

They are terrible at finding renters for high end homes that are $1, 000 per night or higher, all I receive are people thinking they should get a home that is 4X more expensive for the same price as a home worth a fraction of the quality, size and expense. I called to cancel and get a refund and they refused and were quite rude.
Wayne Gorsek

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2:31 pm EDT
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HomeAway uninhabitable apartment

The apartment was uninhabitable. There was black mold on the bathroom walls and floors and the apartment smelled like a sewer. The shower didn't drain and heaven knows what I was standing in while I showered. It made the entire apartment smell and closing the door to the bath did not help as the bedroom was foul smelling as well. There had been a leak in the bedroom and the wall was buckled and also smelled terrible.The owner showed it to us and said the smell would go away once the apartment was aired out. It reeked the entire 2 days we were there despite the fact that we kept the windows wide open. We had booked the place for 9 days but we left after 2 because I was getting sick. I developed a respiratory infection and intestinal problems. My husband and I are 65 years old and don't speak Spanish--it was really difficult to make other arrangements and we were literally "out in the street." When we asked for our money back we were charged for 3 days and at a higher rate. NO one should be subjected to this and also have to pay for it. This apartment is listed and reviewed as 5 stars. Because I asked for my money back from the owner and said I would submit a bad review, the review I submitted will not be published and other people will be subjected to this place

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11:34 am EST

HomeAway stay as far away from this company as you can

HomeAway.com and their subisidary VRBO.com are engaged in false advertising. They want guests to believe that renting direct from owners will allow the owner to reduce the fee by eliminating professional managers. But owners who use the service want to eliminate the commission and get the money themselves. Guest and owner can't both get the same money. So that is the false premise.

Several years ago HomeAway raised $450 million dollars to buya nd buildng VRBO.com, CyberRentals.com, A1Vactaions and others. This has has been a disaster for advertiers (Owners and Managers). By overloading their sites with listings, the sites become unusable. Ad rates have sky rocketed but guest inquiries and guest qualifications have plummetted.

The only goal the HomeAway managers have, is to build up the thing big enough, go public, and cash out. They are not in it personally for the long haul. They are Internet geeks who don't understand the basic business premise that they must produce economically for advertisers. Hey even teenagers working at McDonalds understand it better than that.

Stay as far away from this company as you can.

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8:30 pm EST
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HomeAway property rented

I rented a property advertised on homeaway.com. The services provided by this property owner were not as described. The property was not cleaned before arrival and the pool was not heated(heater was turned on the same day of arrival). Many other problems with Internet, Electrical, Jacuzzi 's not working. I requested a credit back of $850 and the owners gave me $250.
The property reviews that were shown by homeaway.com were Five Star's. I questioned homeaway.com's process of checking submitted reviews(they never responded). I have subsequently written 2 reviews that homeaway.com will not accept or publish. I will never rent from a homeaway client again as their only concern seems to be the property owners.

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1:47 pm EDT
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HomeAway nightmare rental

I rented what was advertised as a lovely vacation rental on homeaway.com. The site displayed beautiful photos. The fee was $1, 400.00 plus a $100.00 cleaning fee and a $500.00 security deposit. I arrived 30 minutes past check in and Corine Milne, the owner and her son were still there packing up their things.

The house was filthy, The chairs and couches were covered in cat fur.
The sink leaked, the bathrooms had not been cleaned. She was in the midst of renovating and that was never mentioned. There were large carpenter ants in the house, and a hornets' nest on the inside of the bedroom screen. Many windows could not be opened. The temps were in the high 90's all week! There were many safety issues. Many of the amenities listed were not provided. I could go on and on... According to the Board of Health the owner did not have the required Certificate of Occupancy. The Homeaway site is still featuring this woman, even though I have told them of these complaints and have sent them a slide show. The photos here just give you an idea. It seems my only option is to go to Small Claims Court. Not convenient when you live out of state.

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WTF?!
, US
Jul 18, 2010 2:21 pm EDT
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There's enough people out of work, so Cleaning companies should be geared up!

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6:49 pm EDT
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HomeAway rip off

in May 2010, I arranged to rent a vacation cabin from Roy Howard in December 2010, and made a deposit. No contract or terms were provided. Soon after I had to cancel my reservation, and requested a refund of my deposit. Howard did not reply to more than 6 email messages sent over a period of 6 weeks, including additional messages sent through the Homeaway site. Finally Homeaway was able to intervene directly and get a reply, at which time Howard announced that his policy was "no refunds" because he had done so much "work" sending a couple of emails and cashing a check. Astonishingly rude and unprofessional. He also appears to have written his own "review" of the cabin/

Avoid this rental.

Yucca Valley Vacation Rentals, Property 223493

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Update by missiw
Jun 24, 2010 6:50 pm EDT

that sucks!

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tmgetz62
Rincon, US
Jun 24, 2010 7:48 pm EDT
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Why do people think this is an acceptable practice? Where did "Any Customer Service" Go? if you do get a human to work with, they are crooked.

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1:04 pm EDT
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HomeAway rental listing services complaint

I have had my listings with homeaway for many many years...and now I am currently with 4 listings. I have asked them to change one home from a 3 bedroom to a 6 bedroom, changing one listing in their database. They will not do this unless I purchase a new listing. They were so kind to offer me $50 -- leaving me to pay an additional $279 for a new listing. I understand that they do not want to "surprise" people with the new bedroom status of my home, and would like to have a new listing -- I am in agreement, but not at the cost of $279. No exceptions have been made for what I thought was a valued, long-term customer.

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9:21 am EST
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HomeAway false listings permited

Homeaway permits false listings on their website and refuses to let travelers warn others on the comments section.
Twice I rented a unit and when I got to the place it was not the unit listed.
The first time I traveled to Vienna overnight and was tokd the unit was not available but I could have and identical flat. It was not. Had paid more for a better kitchen and furnishings. What do you do with bags in hand and no place to go? The listing was showing the owners property and renting another flat.
Second time the listing was for two different units again. The one I got was not maintained and had a dangerous stove. Many little things that did not work. I found out the owner uses the listing for more than the unit shown.
Both of these times Homeaway would not let me post comments to warn other potential renters. Homeaway policies stop accurate feedback. Homeaway did not reply when I emailed to ask I got way my comments were rejected.
Renters beware of Homeawy!

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10:05 am EDT
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HomeAway bad company

Trey Herschap has emailed a truly horrendous three page legal disclaimer. It is valid under the laws of the state of Texas. As I have never even been to Texas and am not resident in the US, it has no validity. But let us not tell him. After a month ceo Brian Sharples has replied to say that he has to leave legal matters to his staff as he does not have sufficient expertise. It might seem that his staff do not either in the international arena. He has confirmed as I thought that he read all my emails.

I will respect Trey Herschap's desire that I do not reveal whether or not Homeaway has refunded the $800 paid for my advertisement. But what I will say is that dealing with staff at the company in the UK and the US has been a truly depressing experience. They refused initially to remove an obvious libel. They refused to refund my subscription saying that I had canceled it myself. They demanded that I sign a horrible legal waiver, which could have placed all subsequent legal costs at my expense.

Potential advertisers will assess for themselves whether paying for an advertisement on a website which permits malicious and contradictory comments that are completely unfounded is a worthwhile investment. Maybe Brian Sharples should ponder this also, without recourse to his staff?

Read full review of HomeAway and 35 comments
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khaselman
, US
Mar 09, 2020 11:39 pm EDT

Homeaway, you are taxing my renters 10% in Vermont for local taxes. The actual rate is 9% for state with "NO" 1% local Killington, VT tax (that ended 3 years ago) . I complain, but you don't change this and it happens over and over.

Do you just keep the extra money?

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Sarah Malatji
, US
Sep 28, 2019 4:04 pm EDT

I made a booking online for accommodation and upon arrival I was told that there is no place reserved for me and that there is no way they could help me out.

Now at the last minute they say that they want to refund me which is not acceptable because I have no where else to sleep

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Anthony Mercer
, NZ
Sep 25, 2019 11:42 pm EDT

Pls see your Case # [protected].
Your agent agreed that the owner of property #6665906 couldn't deduct 40E, re a service already paid for in the rental, from refund of the 200E for property damage when there was No damage anyway. My Res ID: HA-11X3Q5.
My name: Anthony Mercer
My email: agmercer@xtra.co.nz

Pls advise what has happened
Asap.

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David Kane
, US
Jul 14, 2019 5:27 am EDT

Home Away allows their home owners to list properties that aren't actually available on the dates they say they are. So they are not at all responsible to customers, even allowing vendors to misrepresent their properties.

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Mari Pearson
, US
Nov 19, 2018 4:58 pm EST

I do not want to see their TV commercial showing the bar soap. I've seen it so many time especially lunch/dinner time. I instantly loose my appetite.
It is gross and disgusting. No "Class".

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Josko Grljevic
, US
Oct 21, 2018 7:58 am EDT

Case number:
Your HomeAway Property Case [protected] [ ref:_00D1aZzRr._5001aKv4TO:ref ]

issue with payment disbursement for Vicky Sutcliffe HA-NLCP6X

payment to owner overdue by 30 days. Customer service incompetend and cant come back to with cause of non-payment or resolution date

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Joseph Staples
, US
Oct 15, 2018 11:57 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

We found the house badly neglected:
- Screens detached and hanging open
- Handles on back door loose and barely functional
- Several years accumulation of dirt, sand, cobwebs under furniture
- Messy yard--no grass, no maintenance, just weeds
- Part of back yard littered with trash
July 29 to August 5, 2017

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JamesGray
, US
Aug 29, 2018 10:07 am EDT

This was my experience after spending all night trying to find another place to rent after submitting payment for a rental in Waynesville, NC. I have contacted the Attorney General's Office, and the BBB. This is not right!

You are now chatting with an agent.
Agent
Thank you for contacting HomeAway. My name is Sally. How can I help you today?
Hi! I'm James Gray!
I tried to book this property for 9/1/18. As soon as I booked it, I went back to check and it said it was unavailable, so I figured I would hear from the property manager/owner. I never heard from her. After waiting 24 hours with an upcoming holiday weekend, I found it almost impossible to make a reservation. She is on many sites...and is double booking!
My Reservation # is HA-6R292P
Agent
I see. Let me check that first James.
Agent
Could you please confirm your trip dates?
9-1-18 to 9-2-18
She is doing this to many, MANY others...It's not right!
Agent
I see. I was able to check and as per checking the request got expired due to the owner failed to confirm it within 24 hours.
Yes...we called and texted her...
She has the property listed on about 3 different sites
We begged her to get back to us
Agent
Actually, it is not double booking. The owner has the option to advertised her property to a different websites.
We are complaining...we were locked in for 24 hours with an upcoming holiday weekend...
Agent
If you want I can try to look for an instant property that is open on Sept Sep 01, 2018 - Sep 02, 2018.
No...I have a reservation after looking for 4.5 hours last night without sleep
Agent
If you want to file a complaint, I can send you a complaint form.
Please
Agent
Alright. Please give me 2-3 minutes to create your complaint form.
Agent
Would that be fine?
I just want others not to have to go through this... Why does a property owner/manager need 24 hours?
Agent
We provide them 24 hours to confirm or declined a request, because for example, there are 2-3 person who wanted to reserved the property for the same dates then the owner can choose and negotiate to the possible renter.
Why isn't it first come, first serve? If that is your policy...You need to change it!
I'm fairly certain it is discrimination as well...I am going to contact the BBB and the Feds about this
Basically, what happens is she books the place...then if someone else comes along and wants more days...she goes with that one...because it is more money for her...
Agent
i'm really sorry about that. Could you please check your email? I sent the complaint form to your email.
It really bites for the customer...Please send me your form...also please tell me your President's name and address...I want to write him/her a letter.
Agent
Have you receive the form?
Yes
What's your Director's name and address?
Who is your supervisor?
Agent
I do apologize, for security purposes we are not allowed to provide the name of our president and my supervisor.

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KariM88
, US
Aug 20, 2018 9:02 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Is a scam they took my money and no one can't help or refund the money back! BIG SCAM !

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amon41
, MZ
May 14, 2018 8:12 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I'm stressed after cancelling a booking I'm being told by HOMEWAY to contact the owner to do a cancellation. When I contacted the owner he told me, he doesn't have my money. I'm being tossed between the two parties. This is very wrong . I am disappointed by HOMEWAY .

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