Be careful on VRBO/Homeaway when booking a villa

[Dapple]

I recently booked a townhouse through Homeaway.co.uk, all seemed well until I asked the owners a question about some issues I had read about with the Wifi at the property being out of order, the same was reported by a few reviewers and I need wifi as I work during my holidays.

Days went by with no reply so I found the owners on facebook, they read my messages but ignored them. So I messaged them again via the Homeaway system, again no reply. I did a little more investigation into them and it turns out to be a very dodgy looking operation and they have been banned from AirBNB!

The owners are listed as Brannon Ogburn / Enis Qosja. They have been happy enought to take £700+ from my credit card but since then have dissapeared. Zero contact from them, have seen and ignored my messages and Homeaway keep giving them 24 hours to reply leaving me with no option but to contact my bank for a chargeback.

[ERICSMUM]

Scum 😡

[Disney Planning]

Hope you get your money back. It’s always difficult when renting.

[Loobylou_82]

Lowlifes. Good job you found out before turning up there. Is this for your holiday in 63 days time?

[YorkshireT]

I nearly got scammed on an Air BNB in LA. A reverse image search showed the photos were from an entirely different property miles away.

[Goofy3075]

I would ring your credit card provider and ask what your options are. Sounds like you qualify for Section 75.

which/consumer-rig...mer-credit-act

[Pussycat Doll]

The problem with the likes of Homeaway etc is that they do no Villa checks whatsoever. They don’t even check who owns it! As long as the person placing the advert is the same name on the bank account for payment then the advert is approved!

[prugone]

A couple of years ago we chose a house on Pine Island through Homeaway and sent a message to the owners with a few questions. Received a reply fairly quickly but from what to me seemed a strange email address, not answering our specific questions but telling me I could have a hefty discount if we paid 50% upfront (the booking was for
some 18 months in the future!). It just didn't 'smell' right so I went back on the Homeaway website and found the American owner's phone number, rang her and she knew nothing about my enquiry!
Last June we booked a house through Airbnb which was advertised as 'overlooking the 7th hole of a golf course (just outside of Sarasota). In November I thought I would 'google' the course and see what it was like. Lo and behold the course had closed through poor management in June 2018. Messaged the owner/manager to cancel the booking to be told they would keep $50 admin fee if I cancelled. Got on to Airbnb and stated my case and within a few hours had a full refund. Must say in 35 years of renting Florida property these are the only serious problems we've encountered.

[maxi0479]

On the flip side, we have booked through Homeaway & and not had any problems with our villas (yet).
It unfortunate that some slip through the net but on the whole I would suggest that the majority of adverts on there are all above board.
Its a shame that a few spoil it for the rest of the honest villa owners.

That being said, I hope you get it all sorted and find another property that suits your needs. Its a shame you have to go through all this messing around :-(