This review was submitted before 2018 and has not been verified.
2/10 Terrible
Tyler H., CHICAGO, IL
9 June 2017
Does not understand how Homeaway works front a renter's perspective
I have never had a poor experience at a Homeaway location and I hate writing negative reviews, but I thought it was critical to do so in the case to let other travelers know what they're getting into. My review is about:
- Fees/Deposit that are not stated upfront with this property until after the owner confirms
- Extremely poor customer service on the last night of our stay regarding total payment of the house
The entire cost of the house and all fees/expenses SHOULD be included in the stated/upfront rental cost of the house. The owner has 24hrs to confirm your request at which time you are charged for the house and the cancellation policy/penalties apply. Only AFTER the owner confirmed my stay at this property did I receive a contract saying that there was a large deposit required (not stated in description) which I could pay through international wire (which is a fee) or in cash on my arrival. Fortunately we are well to do and were able to provide this money in cash on our arrival but nonetheless it made me uneasy to provide cash and is always an inconvenience to locate the owner on the last day of your trip, to do a walk through, and to get your money back.
On the last day of our stay when we asked for our deposit; the owner replied to us that we were in fact deficient in payment for the home to the tune of hundreds of eur! Keep in mind at this point we have not only paid the full cost of the house when we booked but also an additional large cash deposit upon our arrival! The reason? The owner said he did not show the money being deposited from Homeaway from my initial booking a week earlier (which he accepted). I don't need to explain to Homeaway users how ridiculous this sounds - we all know we are charged UPFRONT when booking, and regardless the renter is not liable for payment mishaps between Homeaway, the payment processor, or the owner. The owner called Homeaway to resolve (while we lost an hour out of our last day not hanging out with our friends), and the operator not only restated that I paid a week prior when he confirmed, but that he could not hold us liable for his issue. Suffice to say I did not imagine the last trip of my alpine vacation would be spent arguing with the owner of a house as to whether I had paid for a PREPAID HOUSE and begging to get my cash deposit that wasn't in the homeaway description...the reason I was accused of nonpayment was because when searching for my confirmation email he was spelling my name wrong!
Tyler H.
Stayed 4 nights in May 2017
