Made a reservation base on the listing and photos but when I arrive, the actual place was fifthly, the floors were sticky, dirty walls, moldy bathrooms, dirty kitchen and personal belonging scarttered every where. We contacted Homeaway but no response. https://www.travelmob.com/p*******?utm_campaign=reminder_for_upcoming_reservation&utm_medium=email&utm_source=travelmob

I booked a June stay in a Paris apartment in April 2018, and paid for trip protection when booking. Thereafter, HomeAway cancelled the insurance without notifying me or getting my approval; it had nothing to do with my credit, they simply cancelled it through some glitch of their own and didn't tell me until I called to make a claim--My husband had bypass surgery earlier this month and we had to cancel our plans. When I called HomeAway, they told me it had been cancelled a week after I bought it (I had a purchase confirmation email). I had received no notice and never agreed to its cancellation. They blamed, in sequence: the insurance company; then my credit card company, claiming the card company had cancelled it -- I called Capital One and they confirmed the purchase had been approved, and called, on my behalf back to HomeAway and also to HomeAway's purchase processor, VacationRentPay. VacationRentPayconfirmed that it was HA which had cancelled the policy. I spent the last entire day on the phone on this and after all day, even with the attestation of the card company, they continue to assert that the cancellation was due to the credit card company, and that they have no liability. I will be reporting this to the Better Business Bureau, but in the meantime I want to warn travelers. I have used HA and VRBO previously with no problems, but this is such a rotten way to deal with a customer I will not be willing to do so in the future. It is a large loss to us, one I assumed I had protected myself from. I did nothing other than follow their instructions but they are unwilling to compensate me. I haven't given up yet but it is clear they want to continue stonewalling. Be wary.

You can see from all the negative reviews, this is a company an owner should not deal with unless you enjoy heartache and pain. We've had our property listed with them for 12 years and now that Expedia owns them, it is no longer a "rent by owner" friendly site. We just listed our homes with CarolinaVacationHomeRentals.com and will use Facebook to drive business to our listing on the Carolina Vacations Home Rentals web page. Take a look, it's got everything you need for advertising your place. And guess what... You can actually deal with your rental clients again with a personal touch.

Don't use Homeaway/VRBO they are ripping you off! Renters, if you are looking for properties ALWAYS inquire first. Ask questions look for the place on google then try and get a hold of the owner direct. It's very possible if you take the time to search this on google. Check out my website, you too can get your own website! If you know someone who wants to stay in Pompano Beach, Go to www.pompanobeachfrontvacationrentals.com I have my own website for my rentals now. I have had less and less rentals through Homeaway! I advise all owners to get their own website and for renters to search rentals by owner. Let's show this greedy company that we don't need them. As soon as my subscriptions expire, I'm done with Homeaway!

I have been a traveler and an owner with HOMEAWAY. They are very deceptive and needs to be investigated. Their fees are way higher then AIRbnb and it is presented in a very deceptive way.

A traveler requested a refund because they didnt realize how far my listing was located from her final destination. Homeaway contacted me after 1.5 weeks and advised me to cancel and I would not face any penalties.

Please see below:

Hello Elane,

Homeaway sent me an email and gave me the option to cancel without any penalties. They should have been did that! Anyway I processed the refund

You
2 days ago
Payment Refunded
Details

2 days ago
Reservation Cancelled

You
2 days ago
Payment 2 cancelled
Details

You
5 days ago
Payment 2 overdue
Details

You
6 days ago
Replied
Homeaway support looked through my emails already and they informed me that there is no record of this matter being addressed. I am not going to cancel on my end and face a penalty as I was advised by Homeaway support.
As a matter of fact they informed me that you have the capability to cancel.
You are right, this is ridiculous! You should have planned better! Now I have to deal with my calendar being blocked for you faulty reservation, and now I cannot get another booking for those dates.
Maybe Homeaway owes you, but I do not.

Elena
7 days ago
Replied
I have all of my emails stored and saved. That is my proof that I have contacted them.

You or HomeAway has $231.00 of mines for something I was trying to cancel before it was even accepted on your end.

I've CC'd the support center in this email so they can see how ridiculous this is becoming.

Why is is so difficult to cancel this and get my money reimbursed to me?

You
1 week ago
Replied
Hello Elena,
I contacted customer service to obtain guidance on how to cancel this without being penalized. I was informed that I would be penalized if I cancelled on my end. I was instructed that you have to cancel the reservation. I was also informed that there is no record of you addressing this matter with homeaway.
Please let me know what else I can so to resolve this situation.
Thanks MM

Elena
1 week ago
Replied
Hello,
I received guidance from Customer Support at HomaAway.com. They have informed me that YOU can easily do a cancellation and submit a refund in your end. They also informed me that they do not have the capability to do that, but YOU do.

They further instructed me that if you do not comply, I am to contact them once again to let them know the status and to take further action.

Once again, please cancel this and reimburse me in full for what I had already paid.

Thank you kindly

You
2 weeks ago
Replied
Hello,

The pre-approval came in before showing you already paid. Please contact homeaway about this. I am willing to give you a full refund as I do understand there was a misunderstanding. Again homeaway is strict with the owners. I had to cancel once before because of a mix up in dates and they advised me that next time it happens my listing would be banned

Elena
2 weeks ago
Replied
Ok, I cannot make changes to the travel arrangements on my end or I will be penalized and pay a large fee and lose money with the car rental company that I'm switching cars with me as well as changing my daighter flight times so she is not stranded at the airport.

I am going so o contact the Home Away.com people as well as my bank to get this settled. I need to outright cancel this reservation. I will not be staying at that location, I sent a message with ample time requesting that you decline my request, yet you went ahead and approved a request.

I am demanding a refund of the $231.00. You should have declined my request, not accept it.

Elena
2 weeks ago
Replied
Ok thank you for responding. I received all the confirmations via email that your unit rental is confirmed with me. Let me see how I can change the arrival times on my end of things. It's because we are driving from Chicago. I have a training course I need to take in Chicago next week, and I figured since I was all the way out there, I'd change it into a little reunion with my other daughter in NC, and come out and meet her halfway in the NJ/NYC area.

But it's ok, I have faith it will all work out. Maybe I will leave Chicago earlier on the 15th instead and stop overnight, and continue on early morning on the 16th until we get there to the NJ area.

Thank you again-I will figure it out. I will also send you the final payment by the due date of 3/13.

Elena

You
2 weeks ago
Replied
Hello,

I do understand. If i cancel it on my end I will be penalized. Homeaway should take care of it or advise us what to do.

Thx

You
2 weeks ago
Payment request sent
Details
Quote sent Details
Payment request sent - 2 payments Details

You responded within 17 hours.

You
2 weeks ago
Reservation Request Accepted
Dear Elena Fragas,

I have confirmed your reservation at property ******* for Mar 16,2017 - Mar 20,2017.

As a reminder, your payment has been processed and will appear as PAY*HOMEAWAY on your statement.
I will be in contact with you prior to your arrival with access instructions.

Please let me know if you have any questions regarding your upcoming stay.

Sincerely,
Moses merisier

Elena
2 weeks ago
Replied
Hello, I apologize, I need to cancel this request. Because I am traveling from Chicago the week prior for a business trip - and driving- I did not realize that the drive time from Chicago would be 12 hours to Irvington NJ! I did not realize this when I requested booking. Please decline or cancel my request. This will not work at all for I need to get my daughter and her baby from the airport. My travel plans have changed. I do hope you understand.

Thank you in advance! I already contacted homeaway and explained and they informed me that I was to send you a message here on the website.

Elena
2 weeks ago
Reservation Request
Hi! My name is Elena, and I. L be traveling from Hawaii with my granddaughter and my daughter. We are meeting one of my other daughters and her two children (a 6yr old and an infant) in the Jersey/NYC area. We haven't seen her for almost 6 years since she moved! We are so excited to be traveling to the area-it is a first time for all of us! We do hope you consider accepting the request to rent.

Thank you!
Elena

This was the email from Homeaway that advised me to cancel without facing any penalties:

This is a courtesy email from HomeAway Customer Support. We received notification from a booked guest of yours, Elena Fragas, ResID: HA-YK0P2P. She relayed to us that she needed to cancel and that you agreed to give a full refund, but you were worried about getting penalized for canceling the reservation. Rest assured, you will not get penalized for canceling a reservation that has already been accepted. The traveler cannot cancel the reservation and HomeAway Customer Support cannot cancel on her behalf. Only the property owner can cancel a booked reservation. I've included instructions below on how to cancel a reservation and how to give a full refund. If you have further questions, feel free to reach out to us at: *******145. We are available 24/7.

THE WEBSITE SAYS $69 NITE FOR CONDO IN WAIKIKI, WHEN I CALLED THE OWNER SHE SAYS ITS $99! GLAD I READ THE REVIEWS NOW!

THIS WEBSITE IS ONLY A MONEY SEEKER!

I write this in hopes of it saving someone else from going through what I've just gone through.

Like many other homeowners in South Florida, I got caught up in the airbnb/vrbo.com vacation rental frenzy. It was hard to pass up when you hear of the incredible money there is to be made.

Until last week.

Late last Friday night, I received a reservation request for a week long stay, beginning the next day (saturday) and extending until Friday. It took me about 3 seconds to accept it, especially after seeing the $3000 payout that came with it. I accepted the reservation request, and Mr. Marcus Lewis paid in full by credit card to the vrbo.com website. I exchanged messages with Mr. Lewis and they confirmed they would be arriving at FLL around 530 PM the next day, putting them to my house around 645 PM.

Well the flight the Lewis' were on was apparently delayed, and by the time they did land, I had already had to leave the house because of a previous engagement. And so, as is common, I left the keys for them in the mailbox and house instructions on the kitchen table. I had even made them. Some homemade Mac and cheese which I also left on the table.

I exchanged text messages with them later that night, confirming that they had arrived safely.

Then a series of odd events, which in retrospect should have caused me greater alarm, began to occur. First, I was notified by my home security company that the camera in the living room was tampered with. Upon logging into the website, I saw that a blanket had been thrown over it. Although odd, I rationalized it as their right to privacy and decided to do nothing about it.

I was then notified that all of the door sensors in the house were deactivated from the control panel.in the home. I did think it a bit odd, but simply logged into the home security app on my phone and reactivated the sensors. Again, the prospect of $3000 seemed to provide all the excuse necessary for me to overlook these things.

A few days passed and I thought nothing of the events of that day. On Wednesday, vrbo.com released the $3000 payment to me and I was very proud of myself for using it to pay responsible things, as opposed to squandering it on toys and gadgets. Of the $3000, I used $2500 to pay my mortgage, utilities, health insurance etc.

That night I randomly checked the log on.my security website and I noticed several days of erratic and bizarre behaviors. Each and every night, for example, between the hours of Midnight and 7am, my front door open and closed - no joke - a minimum of 12 times PER HOUR!

I finally took notice and immediately called homeaway.com, the website through which Mr Lewis had originally booked his stay. I explained the situation to some nitwit customer service rep, who wound up convincing me that they were chain smokers who were politely not smoking in the house. I hung up feeling a bit embarrassed for having thought otherwise.

On Thursday I texted Mr. Lewis and asked what time he was checking out on Friday. He responded quickly, simply saying "noon".

Friday morning I got up and headed over to the house about 11, hoping to meet them before they departed. I was 6 hours too late. The last time my front door had opened and closed, prior to my arrival, was 530 am.

I walked into a home I did not recognize. I first noticed that the living room television was missing. I would later realize that all 4 48-in flat-screen tvs were in fact gone, along with my $500 Dyson vacuum (I loved that thing), all of my lawn equipment, and countless other items. The house was a disaster, with women's clothing thrown all over the place, used condoms everywhere and vomit all over the floors.
Cigarettes had been put out on my furniture (chain smokers politely not smoking in my house), dildos were hidden under mattresses and beds, and both used and new tampons were everywhere.

Strangely enough, all the door knobs on the 4 doors leading to the outside were removed... on the inside only. The back door leading to the yard had my pool skimmer wedged between the outer wall of the house and the door, not allowing the door to open.

The police were called and came out to take a report. After talking to the neighbors, who saw a lot over that week, the house was apparently used as a prostitution house, with Johns coming by at all hours of the day and night.

The alarming thing is that all indications are that people were held there against their will, with the door knobs being removed and the back door wedged shut. The thought of this both scares and saddens me.

While the police conduct their investigation, I am notified by homeaway.com that the credit card used to pay for Mr. Lewis' stay was stolen, and because of such, I am liable for a chargeback. So they deducted 3000 dollars from my account, putting it into serious overdraft, and have refused any liability in the whole ordeal.

Vrbo.com and all.of its "third parties" could care less about me, my situation or the destructiveness that my house incurred. Call after call to them yielded nothing more than a "we are merely a venue through which you can list your property" response. Even after being told that they caused over 4000 dollar worth of damage to my home (including stolen items) theyes still went ahead and deducted the 3000 dollar payment from my checking account. Heartless, insensitive and totally selfish people.

So here I sit, having been robbed, my house destroyed and with a negative balance in my checking account.

Life, sometimes, really sucks.! Beware of vrbodotcom, homeawaydotcom and any other similar site. Read the contract you agree to closely. It might save you a lot of insanity!

Do not use them -- terrible

Review removed