HomeAway

Another terrible experience – Had one booking in Melbourne and the host cancelled our booking a month out before the Australian GP because her current tenants wanted to stay. Fair enough, got the refund and found another booking. This booking however - cancelled by the host THE DAY BEFORE the Grand Prix started. Family holiday is ruined. Thousands of dollars in flights… Read more

cancelled, kids devastated. No refund a week later. VRBO are not co-operating at all, and want to investigate the case. Unfortunately I think its a few thousand dollars down the drain. Will never ever use anything through VRBO again. Book directly through a real estate or a hotel.

So bad do not BOOK!!! – If I had read these reviews , I would never have booked, we booked a place and paid over $300 deposit, then 8 hours later it was cancelled. They said that we would get a full refund, that was a week ago I am still waiting for it !!!! So angry, I will be going to consumer affairs tomorrow. Show details

Very poor customer service!!! Not helpful – I booked accomodation in June. It had to be cancelled because of covid. I contacted Homeaway and they said to contact the owner for refunds. I had to re booked on another date as the owner said that they don’t give refunds. This new date was $290 cheaper but the owner says that they can’t refund the $290 because Homeaway charges commission. Contacted Homeaway numerous times but this issue has not been resolved! Homeaway is Not helpful Show details

Great Ocean Road Resort – Apartment 7 was spotless, the furnishings and decor were beautiful. The location for beach walks and the town centre are perfect. We will definitely be back. Thanks so much Kylie Show details

A lot better now – I am an owner who was letting out my resort holiday unit on Stayz until it was taken over by American Homeaway. It wasn't great to start with, but having got over teething problems it now seems very good. I have just read reviews that complain about slow return of bond money. I have only had one query about this from guests, but will enquire… Read more

further. Homeaway's standard procedure is to wait a week for me to respond if there has been a problem, and then if they haven't heard from me, they process the refund. So it should not take more than two weeks for money to reappear for their standard system. I will write to them to suggest they change their system so that if the owner ticks a box to say all is well on departure, their refund system is activated immediately instead of waiting to see if the owner makes a complaint.

Easy to use, definitely would recommend – Had not used HomeAway before but found it very easy to use, manage the booking and see messages from property owner. Would recommend to others.

Stay at Home instead - you'll have a better experience – My experience is as follows - make up your own mind. For me, I won't be using them again. FYI: Homeaway also trade under Stayz and Vrbo Made a booking in February for a weekend in June 2021. Received confirmation via email and the service fee of EUR 19.80 was deducted from my credit card with balance due 22 May. I was told this would be… Read more

automatically deducted. No problems. It was for an apartment which looked lovely in the photos. Got an address, though no apartment number or check-in details. I noted these are often provided after final payment so no problem.

Around 1 June I thought I should request the info to access the property. Sent a message to the owner. No response. Sent a second message 24 hours later. No response. Checked my credit card and saw the balance had not been deducted in May. Checked the Stayz website which notes I can call them 24/7 if I get no response from the owner. Get a voice message thanking me for my call, then transfer to another voicemessage which says something like "we can't transfer you to an agent, please hang up". Hmmm. Try again, multiple times. Same result. So much for emergency 24/7 contact. Locate a number for the property owner from my original booking. Number is invalid. Winner, winner.

It gets to the day before and I can't get in touch with either the owner or Stayz. Repeated phone calls to Stayz over several hours and at different times of the day make no difference. In desperation send an email to Stayz asking to either cancel or refund the deposit paid. Cancel my trip.

Get a response to my email at 4:25am the day after my booking. This tells me Stayz/Homeaway/Vrbo didn't actually take any money (despite the fact it's called a service fee on my original receipt, and it was taken by Vrbo) and I should contact the property owner for a refund.

I figure I'll try calling one last time. And wow, I get through. First guy I speak to (Raf) tells me I've already had somebody look at this and give me an answer. I point out the problems with the response and, as Raf refuses to help me further, ask to speak to a supervisor. I explain their website makes a lot of misleading claims, such as having access to 24/7 phone assistance in an emergency and that, as a traveller, I have payment guarantee. He tells me there is no supervisor available for this type of call. Instead he puts me through to another area.

Now, to be fair, Maria is the one bright light in this story. She is pleasant and courteous. She advises that the reservation has been successfully cancelled and so Vrbo will automatically refund the service fee within 14 days.

In summary, would I use them again? Never. Had I actually had to travel and not had the flexibility to cancel then I would have been stuck in Sydney with no accommodation. In my experience, their claims they provide 24/7 assistance to travellers in an emergency is just false. And that's not based on one attempt - these are repeated attempts over several days. So don't risk it, unless you enjoy living life on the edge without any support when you take a trip. You just can't rely on them.

I was told that I was getting 100 percent refund for cancellation and you charged 400 in fees ? – I was told I was getting 100 percent refund but you charged $400 fees ! Could you please explain why this is the case? I would appreciate an explanation .This is the last time i will use homeaway service Show details

Overcharge and no responsibility – Booked a listed property on Homeaway.com.au, but overcharged than the confirmation. They admit there are some issued with the system, but won't take the responsibility of refund and ask us to contact the property management company instead. Raised this complaint to Consumer Affairs Victoria, even just small money. No worthy of trust any more. Show details

If I could give zero stars – Currently taking these thugs to QCAT in Brisbane. They do nothing to protect consumers from property owners who take their money and cancel contracts illegally. Do not book with them Show details

Landlords - NEVER USE HomeAway – I had a booking held for guest for 9 months. They cancelled for convenience and HomeAway charged their full fees and only refunded 25% of the booking amount despite a 50% cancellation fee. I was out of pocket over 75% of the booking. HomeAway customer service was appalling. Lacking understanding of basic maths and showed no interest in engaging. … Read more

The service comparison and guest response rate on Airbnb is far superior. No wonder there are so many complaints here. How they remain in business is hard to comprehend. We have removed our property from their platform.

Fees Charged despite CV19 cancellation – Our trip had to be cancelled due to CV19. We came to an amicable cancellation fee with the owner. Despite what Stayz and Homeaway website says about being sympathetic they charged us full platform fees and the owner additional fees which is based on original reservation length which for us was quite long (>$300). It's no wonder more people move to… Read more

AirBnB and hope more owners follow.

I tried to reason with HomeAway and Stayz due to CV19 and their customer service was horrible and refused with no empathy or sympathy to the situation.

With COVID continuing to be unpredictable, I'd avoid Stayz at all costs.

Warning - No Refund if you cant use accommodation due to COVID restrictictions – HomeAway state that its the property owners discretion if they refund you or not. Recent Qld Govt L ockdown and couldn't get across to Stradbroke Island . Booking not able to be cancelled or taken or rescheduled and $2200 kept by the owner as it "wasn't their fault" and only one night credit offered if we wanted to book at another time. You have to be kidding.

Horrible Horrible horrible – Property was NOT what we booked!!! Dirty / Construction Site outlook/spa not working/wifi not working. Contacted HomeAway !!! 2 days later we got a reply! I feel we were scammed. I have requested a refund !!!! heard nothing. Do not go with this company!!! Show details

Not so "Full" refund – Booked accommodation well in advance, had to cancel because of Covid. Made the cancellation within the "free cancellation" window and I was whacked with bank transfer and currency exchange fees, even though I paid with the local currency while booking. "Free Cancellation" is in NO WAY free, be wary of that before you commit your money! I will not be using HomeAway again. Show details

Do Not Use This Service – As close to a high level, well organised scam as you will ever encounter. Philippine call staff in a tin shed with roosters crowing in the background who have absolutely no regard for guests once funds have been received. The emphasis is all on the property owner - ‘it is at their discretion’. There is no policy in place for property going into… Read more

Covid lockdown, i.e. Sydney northern beaches. Once they have your money - There is no protection for you losing your money. Be aware - do not hand over funds to these people.

Horrible service – I have been using Stayz for years now to book my trips, only this is the first time I’ve had to cancel and they are the absolute worst! I have been waiting almost two months for my refund, called yesterday and they promised they will process the same day with emails. Nothing! They have no right to with hold my funds!! Will be contacting Fair Trading this is absolutely ridiculous.  Show details

Absolutely terrible, Avoid at all cost. Go with Air Bnb – Zero system support or communication about a trip. Wouldn't accept property review which contained very extreme safety risks for children such as exposed electrics and fallen blinds with screws lying around. Took zero responsibility and chose to ignore our advice. Show details

Hopeless as is the sister co Stayz.com.au – Hopeless site and very biased business model. I have booked and had confirmation of 3 properties and took over 6 weeks to get $2k back. Don't trust Homeaway or stayz Show details

SHOCKER. If I could give less than one star I would – Terrible service, Terrible site horrendous feedback process non-existent feedback process I wish I had read the reviews first tried to send an email no response call back Centre in Manila obviously totally over it Show details

Do not book – disgusting took my money then said they x2 booked only refund $427 but took $510 Then ignored my calls (property) and company got abusive with me because I couldn't understand them (poor volume speaking away from phone and thick accent) Still no refund Show details

Slow Refund Process and Poor Communication – I recently cancelled my booking but was unable to find a way to contact the company directly. After cancelling through their website, I was informed that the refund process would take around six weeks. In my opinion, this is a ridiculous amount of time, and it should be an automated process that should not take more than five days at most. The slow refund process and lack of communication is a poor reflection on the travel industry as a whole. Show details

Scam accomodation company – 15 minutes after getting a confirmation booking, was told the were full and could not do my accommodation as agreed. they cancelled and the refused to refund my money immediately, online and telephone states that it will be 3-4 weeks Before they can refund my money. I still have to find and fund accommodation for 3 days time and if you all them you end up in an overseas call centre. Show details

Absolute nightmare do not use this site – Booked a homestay on the victorian peninsula for November 2020 12 months in advance for a wedding. Received notice re welcome to the property etc. for November 2019. Advised the owners that they had the wrong year and they confirmed the correct dates. Have now had to cancel booking due to covid19 and the cancellation process has been a nightmare.… Read more

Finally after a week of repeated attempts my cancellation was confirmed but on checking my bank account discovered that payment in full was deducted in August 2019. If the refund isn't processed my next stop will be consumer affairs. Surely this is illegal?

Beware - Money taken when not approved or even advised of at booking – Booked a holiday home (not through this website) for a weekend and was happy with the charge for accommodation and paid for it. Then upon checking credit card, HomeAway took an extra $100 separate charge that was never explained or approved on. When called, rude service, spoke over the top of me and very vague, couldnt speak english. Wouldnt refund the charge and has since forwarded an invoice of payment..... BE CAREFUL Show details

They steal your money - stay away!!! – Booked a place - was charged $2,000 immediately. Booking was cancelled by the owner as it wasn't actually available. After no less than ten phone calls and four hours demanding action, a week later I am no closer to any sniff of my money back. This is the single worst company I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. They are criminals Show details

UPDATE: Check your credit card... Still waiting for refund after four weeks. Won't use them again – UPDATE: After calling AGAIN today I was told that when the refunds are processed they show up as being processed on the same day as the original transaction. My payment was sent to HomeAway on Oct 27, 2019. I can't see any of this on my online banking transactions because the date is so long ago. I call my credit card company and sure enough, the… Read more

refund shows as being processed on Oct 27, 2019, and the money is there. When I pull up my last statement it shows up as the first transaction and shows a transaction date of Oct 27, 2019. It took four phone calls for someone to finally tell me this. Still won't use them again.

I had booked accommodation for 21 May. I cancelled 16 April after finding out I would not be able to travel from Australia to the US. No worries. Cancellation confirmation received. Website says it takes 3 to 4 weeks to process the refund. It has now been 5 weeks. 11 May - Used live chat to be told "I was able to pull up your reservation. I can see here that your reservation was already cancelled on Apr 16, 2020 11:49:40 PM UTC and a total of $....... has already been refunded on the same day. Normally, Once refund is initiated, it will just take 5-7 business days to reflect back on your account depending on your bank's process. experiencing delayed for refunds but rest assured full refund was already processed. The delays are due to the unprecedented and unusual volume of transactions to process in the context of the covid-19. We hope that the situation will stabilize soon and appreciate your patience during this time. Delays can take 3-4 weeks. We're very sorry for the inconvenience." 20 May - Tried to use chat again, but never connected after I was told "I can't help you with this yet, so let's get someone who can." So I called and was reminded that it would take 3 to 4 weeks to process. I said it had been more than 4 weeks. I was told that holidays were excluded from those days. (There weren't any holidays during that period.) 22 May - I called again. The gentleman I spoke to said that it's taking another 7 to 14 days to process once you reach the 3 to 4 weeks. (WHAT?) He did email information showing that my "PAYMENT" had been processed 16 April and I just needed to wait for it to show up in my account.

Avoid homeaway for travel – I had a hart time getting back my bond and it took excessive emails and calls and almost 6 weeks for it to be refunded. Absolutely not using this company again -ever. Show details

This company are dodgy – This company doesn’t care about owner nor tenant, all they care about is getting the money. Due to the Coronavirus we were left to ourselves to sort it out. Trying to make contact was unbelievable and refund took months, first they split the refund to both then took months. I actually didn’t have it listed so I agreed to the booking Show details

Vendor disappointment – As a vendor I have now been waiting over a month for my refund? Tenants got there refund within a month of cancellation I feel they are keeping vendors money longer thinking we don’t need it Disgusting