PROPERTY OWNER/HOST/Manager & GUEST BEWAREWe have been subscription members to VRBO for over 6 years and the customer service for the host/property owner/property manager has gone from bad to worse. This week they removed $1575 from our bank account for a guest who initiated a chargeback 3 months after he actually stayed in the property. VRBO didnt ask us for any documentation nor I suspect did they even bother to refute the chargeback, which is every merchants right- unless of course VRBO has extorted you into using them as your financial processor. Refusing to let them process your payments results in your property listings being dropped to the bottom of the search results as a penalty. On the other hand using them allows them to charge the host a processing fee, the visitor a service or convenience fee and they continue to charge 499/year to the host for the subscription. I woudl give them a negative 1if it were available

I have been a commercial owner renting 6 homes in the Black Hills of South Dakota through VRBO for three years now. This company does not treat the property owners well. The customer service is overseas and good luck getting any help or understanding what they are saying. Last week I had over $1000 removed from my bank account by VRBO because a renter never showed up during the 2020 Sturgis Bike Rally and wanted a refund. I told the renter no because I could not rent the house back out on such short notice and my company policy did not allow for it (I have a 30-day cancelation refund policy). In the end the traveler disputed the charge and won so VRBO refunded them directly from my bank account and I was out an entire week rent during the busiest time of the year. These guys are just a bunch of crooks taking advantage of the property owners who have made massive investments into this business. VRBO uses every excuse in the book to pass the blame off, See attached photo of the email from them.

-1 if that was an option. Guess, lots of people feel the same way! There correct!

Every day all day you get to see the reviews of renters good or bad on VRBO/Home Away. You do not ever get to see the reviews of owners or property managers. Why are these reviews hidden? VRBO/Home Away has made many changes over the 26 years My Co-op group has been using them. Over time they have become more difficult. Their customer service for owners and property managers has profoundly plummeted. In the past 4 years, only once have they been able to solve a problem for me. Every time I call, they either cant help or will not depending on the situation. Currently our vacation property is on the market and under contract. All rentals will have to be canceled, despite the state law protecting them from being cancelled by the new owner. They have no easy transition for guests to move from one owner to the next, nor can the new owner keep the reviews when using the same property management company. This is only the latest issue of many for property managers and owners. They have sincerely gone down hill since being purchased by Expedia. We need some real honest competition in this field.

Beware of this HEARTLESS company my fellow travelers! It will cheat you out of your money. Vrbro Homeaway has refused to refund my canceled reservation, even though I couldnt travel to France due to the Coronavirus crisis as the borders were closed! TOTAL REAP OFF! ZERO CUSTOMER CARE. It didnt EVEN matter to them that my wife has lost her job and that we cant lose that kind of cash.

How come we do not receive payements for our rentals we tried chat no results phone number 30 minutes wait for nothingVRBO has said that they have fixed the software glitch for payments. We have gotten three payments so far that were owedHide or report thisStill a glitch. Second time I received 50% of the total payment. Received the balance following week. This is 🐃💩I don’t believe this is a glitch. I think that’s what they are feeding everyone. VRBO is hurting for money. The longer they hold on to yours, the more interest they can draw in it all those weeks that it’s “glitched”. Interest is big when you’re dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars (maybe millions).

Buyer beware! I have used this service to book four trips in the last couple years. 2 out of 4 were cancelled THE DAY BEFORE THE TRIP by e-mail. No phone call. Customer service, on the current trip said, “well, we refunded your money” (or we will in 5 business days). Like that makes up for it? “The case has been sent to our re-booking team and they will send you an e-mail tomorrow to tell you if they found another place to stay”. Tomorrow? Really? Guess what, everything is booked. They can’t transfer you to the rebooking team, asked to speak to a supervisor and was on hold for 30 mins, then they hung up when the supervisor was supposed to speak to me. Ann from customer service was very rude, she hung up when we asked to speak to a supervisor also. Very poor customer service. Don’t trust your vacation to HomeAway or VRBO. You and your family might just be disappointed...Update. Called the property manager and was informed VRBO. double booked the property. That’s why our vacation was canceled. She told us it wasn’t just us. Read BBB reviews. I’ll never use them again.

DISGUSTED with homeaway and their customers service reps, Precious to be specific. I am a property owner and a guest checked out without paying for an extra charge that was billed to her by homeaway. Now homeaway is telling me that I am responsible for collecting my money even though the bill is from homeaway. They will not take care of property owners like Airbnb. This company is only good at collecting their fees and once they have done that youre on your own. Word of advice to anyone, book with AIRBNB, superior customer service for both property owner and renter.

They are definitely not a company that gives clear information. I’ve been proven guilty by Home Away and VRBO about a traveler who has been on my property before his time.Overview read two people were coming to my home. I’ve had travelers who’ve stated two people but noticed that all three bedrooms were in use.Travelers break the home rule. For example I have travelers who brought cats into my home that I’m deathly allergic to. They totally denied that they brought Cat into my house. There is a big difference on concrete floors when it’s cat hair versus dog hair, cat litter box granules all over the floor and kept her on bed skirts. No return call from Home Away about this incident. No return call from Home Away about the guns that somebody brought into my home. No return call from Home Away about extra Travelers to have a crash at my house.I find it’s just best to agree with Home Away and Page they’re flying to their traveler. I’m glad they’re located in Austin so that I can actually go down to their office and wait to speak to somebody.

This is great place to book vacation rentals from. If you want to have a hassle free experience then this is the place to be. I strongly recommend this.

Absolutely Horrible but they have owners by the Balls. The property was purchased by Expedia. No customer service. After 3 weeks of my property not being listed and $499 for the year paid, I still can not get a supervisor call back even though I have a case #. 99.9% of customer service is in the Philippines and handled by entry level people who hopefully are making a living wage, but I am not even sure on that.It seems there are mostly Very Bad Reviews, but not one solution. As I said, this company has us by the BALLS if we want to use this rental platform.I have been renting out for 20 years and the service is worse and worse.Good luck and be prepared for a very challenging experience.If there are any 5 star reviews, these people got paid for their review or are employees.

Home Away treats their property owner clients like scum. When a property owner calls with issues, they automatically route these calls to the longest wait time. As a matter of fact, I have been on hold so long I was able to write this review and have lunch at the same time! Home owners BEWARE, Home Away is now HomeMafia. They have taken TOTAL control of all property listing, bookings, and correspondence. They use their sophisticated algorithms to punish property owners or reward those clients that make them the most money. In addition, they have now imposed a whopping 10% booking fee on the (total). Thats rent, cleaning fees, security deposits, etc -- not just on rent. So much more expensive for travels than they used to be. Big business has no loyalty and Home Away is no exception!!

Have been on a two month trip to Italy and now realize that HomeAway does not help when things go badly. Worse, the owner does not have to let you review their property once they know that you are not satisfied.No quality control whatsoever!Will NOT use again.

As an owner and person who lists on VRBO/Homeaway...I cant say enough about the poor service and how difficult it is to even get the basic level of service. I also list on AirBnB and its a way better platform for both an owner and renter. Please dont use VRBO and let them see how consumers vote with their dollars.

DO NOT TRUST HOME AWAY!HomeAways traveler protection is non-existent and has fake customer service. In short, if you book a place, it can be cancelled on you without reasonable cause at any time.I booked a place on Salt Spring Island for a busy summer weekend over half a year in advance, only to have the owners cancel my reservation a few months later, saying they have to do some work on the cottage. Meanwhile, the day before my reservation and the day after my reservation were both available for booking. When questioned why work on the cottage needs to be scheduled on a busy summer weekend, the owners ignored all communication thereafter. After extensive phone calls and emails with HomeAway, they simply pushed me around and ignored this issue altogether. After all the time I wasted, they provided NO FOLLOW-UP and NO EXPLANATION, let alone any compensation.

I am a property owner and VRBO allowed a review to be posted to my site that was damaging and inaccurate. Ive been dealing with this for 2 1/2 months now. I called a couple of times and asked them not to post the false review, they said they would review it, but then posted it anyway. Then 21 days ago I sent the documentation providing proof that the information in the review was false and requested it to be removed again. I have been calling for the last 3 weeks and following up and am told these are reviewed on a first come first serve bases. The post has not been removed, there has been no response from VRBO, no timeline for the review process has been provided and I cant get to the production team or to their manager despite my best efforts. The process has been time consuming and challenging to say the least and I dont see where there are protections in place for situations like this atleast not timely ones.

WORST COMPANY EVER! Place I stayed in Bahamas was like a dirty jail with barking dogs. Then the Owner would not cancel on line as he didnt know how then didnt want to be rated badly. He said he would let us out of it then refund which he did. But then we had to find during spring break an upcharged place. Then VRBO is still trying to charge us the fees to stay those extra days for their booking. They never answered the phone when we tried to call to cancel the 1st day, no answer ever!

Beautiful Equip Kitchen and home! Recently, I was hired to cook for a family of 22. It was a great experience. Top Private Chef

I have successfully booked with HomeAway many times and spent thousands of dollars in the past five years. Yesterday, I had a very different experience. After confirming availability and pricing with the owner, I went on my app and attempted to book. I was never told about an optional protection plan that HomeAway has now added. Again, I made a reservation with them last month and this has NEVER happened. I had two choices, pay $59 or pay a $1,500 deposit. (the small print under the amount said, no guarantee of refund.) I was not interested in this, so I called customer service. I had to call three times just to speak directly to a supervisor, who explained that this was an owners problem and they couldnt do anything. Fine. I emailed the owner, and she quickly adjusted the quote for me. Again, I went onto the app, filled out all my information and hit submit payment. Shockingly, I received a message saying, Were sorry, we cannot process your reservation at this time. Please try again in a few minutes. I tried 3 more times in 45 minutes, and then called customer service. This is now the FOURTH time Ive had to call. The representative was NOT helpful. She told me that it must be my form of payment and I would have to contact the owner (AGAIN) and see if they could accept a check or something else. Even after suggesting that the issue was a technical problem with their app, she insisted I contact the owner to resolve the issue. I emailed the owner and told her the situation. Hours later, after receiving another quote from the owner, I experienced the SAME error message as earlier. I called customer service TWO more times. Each time I asked to speak to a supervisor, they would put me on hold for TEN minutes and then the call would DISCONNECT! It happened twice in a row, obviously, on purpose. I was able to make a reservation after using a desktop computer, which proved that this was a technical issue, not a problem with my form of payment. I was so disappointed by this whole experience that I called again today, shared my story directly to a supervisor and asked for a credit for the service charge. I had plenty of justification for a refund since the only thing they provided me was a full day of aggravation and access to contact the owner directly. I had to do all the emailing and phone calls myself to make this reservation actually happen. NONE of the representatives could not provide ANY support or resolve ANY issues. That is CERTAINLY NOT worth $89. Disturbingly, the supervisor explained that HomeAway does not have a way to issue credits, refunds or discounts. However, their marketing states that they have a Book with Confidence Guarantee that claims they get you a place to stay if the owner isnt honest, double books or misrepresents the property you booked. Im wondering, if they dont offer credits, refunds or discounts, how they would be able to take care of that situation? I will no longer be using the HomeAway company for my vacations. I am truly appalled at the experience I had.

VRBO touts its reliability and guarantee but its like Swiss cheese. Travelers beware. I booked a home in Twin Lakes, CO in February for a June stay. Paid for it too. Got an email saying Your reservation is confirmed!. Shortly after that the owner tried to back out but I complained to his manager, Twin Lake Property Management so it was re-confirmed. Nearly 3 months go by and out of the blue Twin Lakes emails me saying I just talked to the homeowners and they unfortunately are going to need to be in their home those dates. As the property manager I apologize immensely. Lisa. No explanation or even the courtesy of a call from the unprofessional owners. And VRBO does nothing! We will see what a Texas court does with VBRO, the owners and Twin Lakes Property Management.

An awful hellish company! Owners/Hosts do not use it!

We rented a home from Homeaway, and it was nice - a 4*. I suspect that the owners of the home knew they wouldnt be getting their usual 5*, and somehow managed to withhold the link that, as renters, we are suppose to receive by email. When I contacted HomeAway and requested that link, they referred me back to the owners. Really - the home owners actually decide who writes reviews of their home? There is a purpose to the reviews, and that is to inform potential renters. What HomeAway does is help fudge or skew these reviews. Thats very dishonest.

Absolute horrible customer service. We listed a vacation property and have bookings in February we still have not been given the money for. I have called a dozen times to get this worked out, with zero progress made.

I inquired about a rental property in March 2019 and received an email back from someone posing as the property owner. Because I received the email back from the VRBO system, I did not speculate that I was in contact with a scammer. A few days later I sent payment to the individual, still believing I was in contact with the actual property owner. A few days after that, I received an email from the VRBO trust and security team letting me know there was a security concern on one of the properties I inquired about. I called the toll free number that same day and spoke with one of the customer service reps. This representative was unable to locate the concern, and told me there was nothing to worry about. After discovering fake emails on his account, the real property owner spoke with VRBO customer service on the same morning I received the email from them about the security concern.Why would customer service tell me there was no concern when the property owner reported that same morning that his account had been compromised? I would consider that 100% negligence on their part.Now, my family and I have lost a considerable amount of money and VRBO is unwilling to help. Apparently this organization does not need to provide a secure website experience or care if their customer service reps are negligent in their job duties. If customer service would have done their job that day, I would have had a much better chance of catching this individual and recovering the funds we lost.I hope your experience with this organization is much better than mine.

HomeAway just scammed us! Renters go elsewhere. When we didnt agree to the terms and the strange request to pay an owner over the phone by check Charmaine insisted that we agreed and told us she was going to charge our card anyway. Outrageous! So, instead of going on vacation thanks to HomeAway-we are getting new credit cards and booking elsewhere. Our credit card company even noticed HomeAway charged our card immediately $1.00 by the time we hung up the phone and agreed it was a fishy transaction. Never, ever, again will I have anything to do with this company or its subsidiaries.

I initiated a reservation for what appeared to be a beachfront residence and 2 hours later, began receiving emails from the owner of the property. I decided to contact the owner to review the rental agreement and to confirm some details about the property. I uncovered that my family and I would have to cross a busy street to reach the beach, which for us did not work. The owner was only defensive and tried to terminate the call, stating that she had to pick up her daughter and couldnt talk. She stated that there was a no refund policy and hung up.I contacted Home Away and received conflicting information from three different associates, one stating that the property information was misleading and a complaint would be filed, another stating that the property information was accurate and I had no recourse, and a third stating that I would have my funds applied to another property and not to worry. As I type this after two hours of deliberation and hold music, I sit with no resolution, no refund, and a weekend looming without a vacation. It would appear as though I have donated $1,200 to a property owner for no reason, having initiated a reservation that lasted a couple of hours, based on misleading and ambiguous information.The challenge with Home Away is that they have no policies in place to protect the paying client. NONE. Stay away-use another service.

If youre looking for the outstanding two bedroom apartment in Austin its there at 2004 Cody Circle (Listing #954772) just off south Lamar street. Well maintained, hospitable owners, convenient to good restaurants, music venues, and Amys Ice Cream, this was our location for one month in Feb/Mar 13. It was a delightful experience.

This review is for the condo located at:3750 Bayside WalkSan Diego, CA 92109United StatesUnit #11Where to begin? This place is awful. First there is no air conditioning and it is miserably hot. The unit is dingy and dirty with many lights out. There is no ice maker. There is no washer or dryer inside the unit. There are only 2 bathrooms in the unit. The master bath is essentially part of the master bedroom with *no* door. If you like going to the bathroom in front of your spouse or girlfriend this is the place for you. The laundry faculty is not within the gated building and is terrifyingly dangerous especially at night. The northern security door lock is messed up and take about 2min of turning to actually open. The parking is miserable even with the garage. 3 times Ive had to ask people to move out of the way in order to park in MY garage. The location *feels* dangerous especially at night. The noise is terrible. All night long there are noises from the beach, trash trucks, it goes on and on. Ive been to San Diego many times and will never be back to this location again.7/4/2014

Worst company on the planetThey do not have any customer service at all!!!!

Their customer service is SO terrible, they dont even deserve 1 star. The one they do well at is consistency: from their website to phone service to emails, is a TOTAL lack of problem solving and addressing customer issues. I tried for over two months, to post a listing, provided requested documentation, tried SEVERAL different ways to set up an account and one day I would be approved, the next denied. IMPOSSIBLE to work with. I suggest AirBnB. I was able to set up a listing with my international vacation rental business in 30 minutes. Disgusted.

I have used Home Away/VRBO for many years and although there have been a few glitches I have been satisfied with their service. Lately however I have noticed that their service fee has increased a great deal and their customer service has become useless. I recently tried to book a lodge in Colorado and after several failed attempts, I called Home Away and they told me that due to incompatible software I would have to go directly to the manager of the property....so I did. Low and behold I was told that there was no software incompatibility and they had been having a great deal of trouble with Home Away as well. Then I discovered that Home Away charged me a 392.00 service fee...for basically NOTHING!!! I am furious and seem to have no recourse in having that fee returned...therefore I will do my best to let others know and beware of their terrible business practices! Never again will I deal with this company!!!!

As a consumer We were excited to book our first property in az last December which was mostly fine. However I Tried to book another property this year, we had many issues and the hidden service fee! Had to cancel because property was sold. We were then just put into another property we didnt want without even a phone call asking us about the change. We declined and asked for a refund which was over 50 days prior to our arrival date. And this was there fault not ours. We have still not received the security deposit for our rental, and apparently the service fee is a separate refund ! Buyer beware proceed with caution. Hope this helps. Looking for another company.

We are still waiting for a damage deposit to be returned. Ive paid $500 for a damage deposit in late July. We checked out Aug.3 and Aug. 10 the money should have automatically released. However there is a technical problem. Ive called three times. I think my money is in bank limbo while their tech support works on it. Customer service is very friendly but not really able to help except to document it and read from their script. We loved the unit we stayed in but I wont book through Home Away or VRBO again.

The customer service is horrible. The representatives are not fluid in English and it is near to impossible to get a representative from the USA.I have been waiting 30 days for a supervisor call back as my property is not visible. I paid a substantial amount of money for this listing. I call every day. This is absolutely the worst. I wish they were not purchased by Expedia.

Was verbally abused by a host. In the process of reporting this person to Vrbo. I hope they take my situation seriously. If not I will never use vrbo again. We will see.

I have been doing business with Home Away through VRBO as a customer both as a renter and now as an owner since 2000. As a renter I never had bad service because as a renter any complaints you have would be with the individual home owner, not HomeAway (remember that when reviewing any company). However, the scathing review I’m about to give is for the corporation as a whole. Owners.....heed my warning before listing your property with HomeAway.I hired a property management company to manage my property that stands outside of the US in the Caribbean. Although my house sustained no damage, the area was hard hit and rentals slowed down for about 8 months. Just when rentals started to pick up my property management quit and shut down the property management company altogether. The payments for my house were controlled by the property management company. I lost my house with other listing services and changing the property management payments information was as easy as entering the new information on the owner dashboard.But at HomeAway, (through Yapstone, their payment provider which is a joke!) I’ve been dealing with this issue for 2 months now. We have $1700 due to us that they can’t send anywhere because they keep asking for a new bank account from the property management company. They refuse To take the owners’ word that changes are valid, even with proof of ownsfership certificationFrom HomeAway supervision. I am HomeAway’s client and HomeAway is Yapstone’s client. You’d think they’d was to make everyone happy over such a small thing.Their solution to this issue is to shut down my listing and have me get new listings with new payment information and all existing reservations and past reviews will be gone. The $1700 they owe me is forever gone. Frankly at this point, the money has lost its value because of all the time I’ve put into this. I’m heartbroken because VRBO has chosen to align itself with an extremely poorly run company and they have forever lost a client.

Everyone Beware! I had been dealing with Homeaway since 2013 and quite happy, but since they were purchased by Expedia they have completely gone downhill - only focusing on how they could best extract an extra $ from either the homeowner or the traveler. They cancelled my 5 listings without notice or justification, leaving 30+ guests stranded with no recourse for the money paid to them as part of their hassle free booking process. I am on google to look up the address to serve legal paperwork... Couldnt believe they had a rating over 2-stars here, everywhere else it is barely 1-star - I think their average must get brought up by people who are happy with where they stay which has nothing to do with how well this company is run.

The absolute worst company to deal with. The companys leadership has lead this team of misfits down a dark and troublesome path. As a property owner I would NOT recommend this company for anything. Its unfortunate a leader in the Vacation Rental By Owner industry has fallen from grace.

I went through VRBO the spring of 2018 and set up a rental for the winter of 2018 thorough spring of 2019.As the check in date and final payment came due the owner and I communicated about payment and he was not sure how I was to make the payment. I called VRBO and was told, pay pal, bank check or personal check since the owner had cancelled the subscription.Further conversation with the owner brought to light that the owner said VRBO cancelled his subscription and he would no longer be able to rent the property and it was in his lawyers hands as his credit rating was affected by this cancellation, he also attached an email to him from VRBO indicating they were ending his subscription due to a safety issue and he, the owner was not to notify me of the cancellation. I was made aware on Dec 3 when reading a copy of the email. I was never notified by VRBO.I began calling VRBO (Home away) to get an answer and have gotten a run around since Dec 3, and no rental option by rebooking, in fact I was told I could not deal directly with rebooking and they would call or email me. So I have been dealing with customer service reps who read the same thing off their card, re verify my Information which has not changed and the information would be documented and someone would get back to me.Dara Khosrowshahi, you ought to be ashamed of yourself for your company not being able to focus solving problems for users and property owners and putting stock holders first.

As a vacation rental property owner, this is the worst rental hosting company in my experience. Worst, worst, worst. They are not disbursing payments and do not communicate why.

I rented a condo for a ski vacation in Newry, Maine through the VRBO website. As part of the reservation process the site pushed a $59 damage insurance policy. Being a very responsible, mature traveler who would never damage somebodys property, I declined the coverage. If you decline the coverage, they force you to pay an exorbitant damage security deposit of $1800. I was surprised to learn that after 9 days from checking out and very positive communications form the unit owner, my deposit had still not been returned. I searched the VRBO website and could not find a telephone number, had to Google it. The customer service department is not located in the US and they will not tell you what country they are in. I was placed on hold forever when I asked for a supervisor and had to hang up and call again. Bully practices to get an extra $59 from ever traveler and then they hold your money ransom and benefit from keeping it in their account for two weeks. Poor business practices and poor customer service.

Whoever decided that HomeAway was a good choice was sadly mistaken!I signed up, assuming that the parent organization “EXPEDIA” would insure that this subsidiary would be nothing less than polished in its CUSTOMER SERVICE!!Boy!!! Was that a MISTAKE!Not only do they drop the ball on simple background checking and updating for the individuals that decide to offer up their residence or facility as a rental, but they leave outdated and incomplete data for people searching for the ideal rental.When you call you are treated with ignorant representatives that fail to do their job and route you in absurd circles to get your problem unresolved!Hey!! HERE’S A THOUGHT – TRAIN and HIRE QUALITY PEOPLE THAT CARE! You know WHY? BECAUSE IT’S THE BEDROCK OF A SUCCESSFUL COMPANY!!

Beware of renting through HomeAway. If there is a problem you are on your own, left on hold and there is nothing you can do

As a property owner and owner of a company that manages other properties at the beach, HomeAway/VRBO has declined in quality of service and site functionality from mediocre to horrific. They are absolutely the worst third-party listing service at this point and that bar was very, very low. Their greedy policies and unwillingness or inability to address any issues is mind-boggling, while we spent months jumping through hoops to get our properties listed (recreated because they couldnt move them to their new forced pay per booking system). They wont respond to emails because, and I quote, we stopped taking email support questions because we have too many to respond to. Our story is long, but reading some of the other reviews, I guess I dont have to go into detail. Home owners and guests -- just stay away from HomeAway/VRBO. They are truly the worst.

NO WONDER VRBO has a 1 star rating with consumer affairs and others. VRBO website is a friction-filled mess of really poor page and information integration. Quite difficult to plan a trip due to an illogical arrangement of (very) weak maps, links and housing options vis-a-vis where you want to go on your trip. HEY VRBO! PLANNING A TRIP IS STRESSFUL so when a client like me CANCELS a reservation in the allotted time to qualify for a full refund, why not make the process 100% clear, SIMPLE and verifiable? And why not STOP sending me breathless emails about my upcoming trip and how much fun Im going to have? I need to know that YOU know that I have cancelled and thats it. Sending me emails about my upcoming trip complete with my arrival and departure dates and coffee shops I dont want to miss AFTER I supposedly cancelled just stresses me out and makes me think you do not know whats going on. Obviously you do not because I see you have fought for and earned a 1 star rating.

HomeAway is the best! Ive worked here for six years and I wouldnt change a thing. We work hard and play hard.

My first time dealing VRBO, I booked an apt in Brooklyn back in Jan 2018. In April, I received an email from them telling me to pay for the rest of my booking and I did so immediately. On my way to NY from San Jose CA, I call the property owner during my layover in Chicago. Thats when I found he had taken his property down from the VRBO site 7 weeks earlier!!! He then cancelled, refunded my money and I called VRBO to file a complaint and figure where I would stay until the mess was straightened out. It got worse. Im trying not freak out during the rest of my flight, Im a 60-yr. old woman with health issues traveling to NY alone, with no friends or relatives there. After landing 2 hours later at La Guardia Airport, I proceed to pick up my rental car, with nowhere to go I just put a Brooklyn address in Google maps and called VRBO back to deal with this during the 45+ minute ride. The rep asked me what I needed during my stay and he thought it was appropriate to suggest (jokingly?) that he could book me a box in an ally way or door way. I did not find it funny, but he was serious!!! He booked me into a hotel that also serves as HOMELESS SHELTER!!! As I pulled onto the street, there were dope fiends everywhere, during my stay, there was a lot of police activity at the hotel, and men standing around waiting to see which room I was going in. I paid an extra $27 per night to park in the hotel lot, it was not safe for me to walk the street at night. So, I basically lost two of my vacation days, dealing with the mess!!! The VRBO reps said they would find me another apt to rent, on day two I gave up on them and found one myself. I extended my vacation by a day to try and make up for time lost. My vacation cost me much more than I had planned and I did not get to do some of things I wanted to. VRBO does not give a flip about its customers, or as much as I hate to say it, I think they enjoy frustrating their Black customers. I was misled and flat out lied to several times during this incident, they also accused me of wanting them to pay for my vacation!!! I had to remind them that I had already paid. duh!!! NEVER AGAIN.

My Paris vacation was not what Id hoped for. Our apartment was pretty but had no heat and rarely had hot water. My deposit was wrongfully held, $457.00 for one damaged curtain. Homeway promised to help, made me jump through lots of hoops, and then summarily denied my claim after I did all the things Homeaway requested. My recommendation is DO NOT BOOK WITH HOMEAWAY!!!

Not reliable communication nor support. I lost communication with one of the home owners that i had booked of months in advance for a foreign country vacation and it was an odeal for them to assist me.

I have just learned that Home Away just started charging guests a sliding scale service fee of 4 -10% (not to exceed $499) for each booking. That constitutes the absolute biggest sin in the business world - greed. We homeowners are already faced with huge expenses to the point that it is almost impossible to make a profit. Home Away is truly an example of a company that is no better than a bully. We cant exist without them, they know it, and they dont care one whiff about how their greed and lack of concern hurts us. I hope and pray that either a new company or an existing company will capture the bulk of Home Aways business so that the most important cog in the wheel, the home owners, will no longer be step children to a heartless company.

VRBO (part of the HomeAway family!) left me and my family in a bind to find a place to stay on Thanksgiving weekend in 2016 after we were kicked out of our vacation rental by a psychotic homeowner. To get refunded for the deposit and the time we were shorted, I had to take it up with my credit card company and consult a lawyer. Their whole book with confidence guarantee is a joke. After that experience, I could never book with confidence with VRBO/HomeAway again, knowing Id need a plan B ready in case the homeowner turns out to be a complete flake. Glad my credit card company saw fit to refund everything because VRBO/HomeAway did NOTHING to help resolve the situation.

Went to NYC to see Springstein on Broadway (fabulous by the way!) in December and had not one but two seperate bad experiences when renting apartments through homeaway. First one (#796247 on homeaway site) cancelled on us a week before the reservation citing building issues. I understand emergencies could cause a cancellation but we never received a refund of the 50% prepayment of the rent that we sent in to hold our reservation. Tried to make contact with the apt owner several times but never got a response. Contacted homeaway who referral us back to the apartment owner and provided no assistance. Ended up having to address the issue throughour credit card company. We were able to secure a second NYC reservation (#625187 on homeaway site). The stay was fine but might as well add $300 to the rental. According to rental terms, It is fully refundable on day of departure but we departed 3 weeks ago and have not received our deposit. The owner even had the nerve to send me an email on December 26th telling me she sent our deposit back (apt. was left in excellent condition) and now would like me to review the apt. favorably. Told her I never received my deposit, and haven’t heard a word from her since. Not sure what recourse I have. Probably will have to get help from my credit card company again. Don’t understand what is happening in NYC or with homeaway. We have used them all over the world in the past and never had an issue. Unfortunately, will now probably not use them again.

Terrible customer service. I have been a customer for 10 years advertising my vacation rental with them. I asked them for help removing a false review. I had email proof the reviewer was lying . They were rude and nasty to me. They said it doesnt matter if the review is a lie, they wont help me. I will be looking for other websites to give my advertising money to. Dont use them!

This company puts itself out there as a company that handles all of the issues with the property and transaction, but when you ask them for help they kick up their feet and tell you its not their problem. I have complaints with The State of Connecticut Attorney Generals Office and the Texas / Austin BBB. Stay Away from Home Away if you value your money, vacation, time, and sanity.

If I could do -5 stars I would. This is an absolutely awful service. After searching for days for vacation rentals I decided to book a vacation rental through HomeAway. I sent a request - BEWARE- the request is also a hold to your card.The property owner denied the requested b/c we had only wanted to rent for 3 days and she only rents property for 1 week at a time. She said she hates the HomeAway site and is unable to put the weekly requrement in her booking information. No big deal right - well the over $500.00 that was charged to my account was a hold and holds placed on your Credit Cards are not released for 30 days. So after countless hours on hold with MasterCard and HomeAway with no resolution we will not be able to go on vacation this year as the 30 days will be up once my children are back in schoolThanks HomeAway - you ruined any chance of a summer getaway we had.

My issue is why it takes so long for a damage deposit to be refunded. The homewner has 7 days and Homeaway has 7 more after that. It only took minutes for my payment to show up on my credit card.Also so many fees! Cleaning fee, taxes, and Homeaway gets their cut. This can easily add hundreds to the cost of a vacation rental. This might be my last rental thru this site. Always had nice homes too.

Because AirBnB is full of creepy ratholes run by weirdos and molestors renting out dingy spare bedrooms full of spycams to peep at vacationing women changing clothes. While Home away rents you a complete condo or house with no creepy perv lurking around, where you can sleep easy and be confident in your safety.

Stay away! I contacted them about an apartment I booked to tell them we cant stay there because of its condition. They said they cant do anything because I didnt pay through their site, which I did. I was redirected to a third-party site that looks like their site (Evolve vacation) To make the payment, unaware it wasnt through homeaway directly. Very strange practices here. They sent me an email asking if I wanna go through with a complaint about the property, which I did but havent heard back in over 2 weeks. I was left on my own and had to find alternative accommodation. Glad theres airbnb now..

Its hard to imagine that they stay in business with he service that they provide. If they didnt buy every competitor out someone would certainly take all of the vacation rental business. I am embarrassed to have this company in my home town. I am a host and a vacationer. But so reluctantly, it makes me sick to keep paying to be treated so poorly.

If I could give a lower star I would. its one thing to charge us a percentage. I agree with that, I feel you overstepped your bounds by doing this to our vacationers. I have had to do the proverbial end run around this by having the Vacationers book directly through me, So now you have lost your 2.6% for the processing fee as well. I spoke to a CSR this afternoon and told him what I was doing and he assured me that VRBO would put a stop to that by de-listing (so to speak)our position from high ranking to lower ranking even if we are a platinum member, who spends over a 1000 per year to keep the high ranking, I have expressed this view to others in the Emerald Isle area of North Carolina. they feel the same as I do. .....GUYS and GALS of VRBO your going to shoot yourself in the foot....Im tempted to start my own VRBO of sortsVRBHO and will call it vacation rental by honest owners if your costs are to high, cut the work force, take less of a salary, cut some of the benefits,figure a way to reduce your costs in other ways, you guys took the easy way out charge the vacationers, If you decide to decrease our visibility on your site because we decided to do a end run around your site .I probably will never spend another dollar with VRBO. It wouldnt surprise me if a class action suit is filed. if you do decrease other owners visibility who are doing the same as I am. please I ask you ..is the money your charging the vacationers worth it. your going to loose clients as well.Chris DonovinWilmington, NC625536

VERY VERY POOR customer service. The Book with Confidence Guarantee is a complete joke as HomeAway / VRBO will NOT honor the stated Guarantee.

Ive never heard of this company in my life but somehow I was charged $349 to my checking account by them. Obviously a very bad organization. I hope the feds shut them down.

Beware the 5s in the ratings....looks like they are all people who live near the HomeAway office in Austin and are likely to be employees!My experience: nice website and lousy service.

I have been calling for a refund for a week now. The only refunded me one cent (.01)back to my account and every number I call they give me the run around first Celina than her supervisor Emily now her supervisor Mike Jones. I call San Diego and finally got to take with Mike. I will never use Home Away or CSA travel Protection!!!!!

Website often seems to be down or not working right. I like that they dont rip a fee to both sides like Airbnb but wish their website worked better. It is also very frustrating to have to wait 20 minutes each time to talk to someone

Terrible service. Rental collected twice - no one could help me.

Owner customer service is so poor it essentially does not exist

I have had an extremely negative experience with this company.

Horrible company to do business with

Get A HomeAway!

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