Home Away (owners direct) nightmare Post Reply

[catboo1]

Hi,
Thought some of you may be interested to hear about our experience on a holiday rental through Home Away (formerly owners direct).
We booked a villa in the south of France, only to arrive and find it wasn’t as advertised. They had put up very old photos when the property was in newer and cleaner condition with lovely wide angle shots. Lots of things were broken including the fridge. Everything we touched seem to break down. Things got worse on day two as the pool light fittings popped out and my children were swimming in there, obviously this is a safely issue with live cables floating in water! We rang Home Away, who at first seemed to take our concerns seriously. They passed the issue onto their legal department as my husband said he had concerns that this property wasn’t fit for rental and he felt sure none of the safety certificates would be up to date.
However I then received a letter from them saying that they always encourage owners and renters to do their best to resolve disputes between themselves. However what if the owner refuses to address the issue? As was the case for us. They simply didn’t respond.

To quote Home away ‘we are merely an online forum who put owners and renters together. We cannot take responsibility for any issues that may arrise’

We returned from an evening out to find the gate was not opening and that there had been a power cut at the villa. My young children were exhausted and we had no way of entering the property. We ended up in a hotel. The owner addressed the electricals the next day, it worked for 48 hours, only to go wrong yet again.
During this time I contacted Home Away twice. No response at all.
We paid £350 per night for this house. Not cheap. It was supposed to be a special two week holiday away for our family. I feel very let down by HA and wonder if Air bnb would treat renters in a similar way, taking no responsibility whatsoever for properties they take on their website.
Needless to say, it has put us off ever using them again for rentals abroad.

[Vicky11]

I feel so sorry for your such an awful experience. I have heard few bad experiences from my friends. These days companies like Home Away, Airb&B etc are all in for their profit from the commission they get when we book. I hope you write in higher up the ladder to get a answer. They can’t just push you away like this.

[catboo1]

Thanks for your reply Vicky11. That’s a good suggestion, I hadn’t thought about taking it higher up.. I’m just so shocked that after three emails to their legal dept, they haven’t bothered to even respond! Even when I said we had to go to a hotel. Also it’s so difficult to speak to someone when you have a problem. As you say, they take their commission and just leave you from there.. it’s really put me off renting through these kind of sites again.

[storm35]

Oh wow catboo1 I am so sorry to hear all that on your holiday, that is just awful. I just wanted to comment that I have rented from Air BNB many times and have always been extremely happy. They are very hot on leaving reviews, you get a text the day you leave asking you to place one and they send you reminders until you do. I just filled one in today and it asked me a lot of multiple choice questions down to whether towels were provided (which is what the listing promises). Together with this, the owner is similarly encouraged to write a review about the renter so both sides develop a reputation on the site if you like. I dont think owners direct do this. I'm sorry it doesnt help with your current issue, but I just wanted to comment that so far I trust Air BNB because of the online reviews, and they do seem to make an effort with transparency. Good luck.

[catboo1]

Thanks misty32. I haven’t left a review yet. It’s the same as Air bnb I think, in that you both have a profile and leave each other a review. The thing I’m worried about is that obviously I want to leave a review for other travellers, however there’s the risk that the owner respond with making up something unpleasant my side? The joke is I actually left the villa immaculate, despite feeling bitter that they didn’t even apologise for the upset. I made sure everything was clean and tidy. I’m waiting for a response back from the senior dept at Home Away (that’s if they ever get back to me)...

[storm35]

Hi catboo1, yeah I can see what you mean about the review. If you had the support of the site it would make it easier, I understand. The whole thing is so unfair on you - I'm so sorry and thanks for highlighting it to us. I will definitely avoid owners direct in the future. 

[catboo1]

I finally had a reply from home away. But still they don’t take any responsibility. I have attached the letter to this thread.
It reads like a fairly standard reply. Not at all personal to my situation. Also the owner could easily fabricate something about us! I have sent photos of the state of the house as well as the electrics hanging off the wall. The serious hazard the house is for children and the broken fridge etc, etc. But the letter doesn’t acknowledge any of it!

[chorister]

I am sure this is not a very helpful response when the experience is so recent and so raw, but this is an increasing issue with these sites which simply connect people, taking registration fees and / or a bit of commission on the way.  They cannot possibly verify each property, or tell if one side or the other is telling the truth or exaggerating.  It would be a bit like expecting say ATG tickets to be responsible for a disappointing evening at the theatre.

There is a huge upside to our connected world, but a downside too.  I know from personal experience that mansion blocks and blocks of flats are increasingly banning Airbnb, because in those cases the renters so often behave so badly.

Ultimately if we want a third party to take responsibility, then we have to deal with third parties that can inspect properties etc - and pay for that.  We often use Alastair Sawday, because if you speak to them then there always seems to be someone who does actually know the property.

[catboo1]

Thanks chorister. That’s very true. I suppose in this instance it was because of safety issues and essentially a property being advertised which isn’t suitable for children especially and a villa which should not be as advertised at all. I felt the forum have a duty of care in investigating the situation, to protect other travellers. I have my doubts they will look into it at all. Despite my photos and evidence given forward. This just seems wrong and does put me off taking a risk on other similar rentals when you’re taking young children.
Thanks for your suggestion I will give that company a try

[sloaney donkey]

I replied to an advert for a villa in Tuscany for one week. Terms were €1000 up front by bank transfer and €800 on arrival. Looked like a solid and trustworthy website.

Two weeks before the booking was due to start, I got called aggressively by the agent saying they needed the €800 because they had someone else willing to pay €5000 and my booking would be cancelled if I didn't stump up. I pushed back and after 1hr they went away. Funny old call.

I turned up with my husband two weeks later at the villa to find there was just a burned out shell of an old petrol station. I told the taxi driver he had taken me to the wrong place and he laughed. He said that all the taxi drivers know this as the con for British tourists. I went to the neighbouring property and they corroborated the story.

So the taxi driver has left the meter running and he offers to take me back to the airport. With a big smile on his face on the way back. I am sure he was in on this fraud.

Be careful .... as I have seen suspicious-looking adverts in Nappy Valley. They copy other people's pictures and set up websites. Some even have trip advisor reviews. You turn up and find the same villa is let with three other families, is a private residence or has burned down.

The police and bank said the money had gone to Tunisia, where this industry is very prevalent.

Golden rule:- do your checks and don't get done up the good old ***** like me !

[catboo1]

Poor you sloaney Pony, that is a complete horror story! I’m so sorry for you going through that ordeal. It makes our experience seem pretty tame in comparison!
I have left a review on the website and strangely it hasn’t come up on the Home away review Page. I did notice that suddenly lots of positive reviews have appeared on the page where the villa is listed, which weren’t there before we went! Very strange

[Spenner]

Some years ago I booked a holiday cottage through these people, paying a £900 deposit upfront. Then it transpired the owner's email had been hacked and the money had gone to the hackers' bank account, which was immediately emptied and closed. No one would take any responsibility - not the owner, Owners Direct, Barclays (who had allowed the fraudsters to open a bank account and therefore should have been able to trace them or identify where the money had gone). The police investigated and came up with nothing. As it was such a small sum of money (not to us) no-one was that bothered about tracing it or taking it further. I've never booked through them again. Travel agents are legally obliged to look after you - these sites are not.

[Gullsands]

Really sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with the villa in France, catboo1 - so disappointing for you.  I just wanted to add a slightly different perspective to the discussion because I let our holiday home on the Isle of Wight through HomeAway - have been doing so very successfully for about 6 or 7 years now.  I have also rented houses through OD before and been happy about it, but never had any major problems with the rented properties.

The first thing to say is that I can't stand them as an organisation, particularly since they took over Owners Direct and became much more draconian about their booking systems for the owner. 

However, although I don't like HA for other reasons, I don't think they are actually responsible for dealing with the problems you encountered with the villa - it is absolutely down to the owner or lettings manager of the property to sort problems out.  Speaking from the property owner's point of view, I make a lot of effort to deal personally with our guests from beginning to end - it's a matter of personal and professional pride to me that they have a relaxed and happy time in our beloved holiday home and, if ever they have a query or problem (fortunately very rare), it is definitely me who they contact, and me who sorts it out.  I'm glad to say we have a lot of very happy customers who often come back to the house because they love it so much, and HomeAway works very well in terms of putting us and them in touch in the first place.

I don't think I'm atypical in this as a holiday home owner, most of whom would fully expect you to come to them with any problems.  HomeAway and AirB&B - and other similar organisations - are really nothing other than a booking platform run using algorithms which are designed solely to get the booking processed and the money in to them!  It's a really efficient way to book a holiday home but it's not a travel agent and it won't work for you if you want, say, to ask about local restaurants or complain about something which is broken or malfunctioning - that is down to the owner/manager, whose contact details you will have received from HA when you booked.

Please don't be put off using HomeAway again it does work very well as a booking platform - why not try out Seaview on the Isle of Wight another time!! - but just make sure you have the owner's contact details when you go, so that you can get them on the case straightaway if something isn't working properly during your stay.

 

[catboo1]

Thanks OrchardEnd. However we contacted the owner immediately as this properly has serious safely issues. They didn’t do anything or even attempt to. I know what you mean about HA being nothing more than a platform between owner and renter, however I do feel if there is scam going on, they should at least remove the villa from their website to protect others? If a small child gets hurt, who’s to blame when they have been put on notice by ourselves?
I wish we had been dealing with you and your lovely sounding rental!!