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Save/ShareHomeAway has been taking great strides in becoming the go-to source for vacation rentals, having bought VRBO.com (Vacation Rentals by Owner) last year and having expanded its websites (including HomeAway.com, VacationRentals.com, CyberRentals.com, A1Vacations.com, GreatRentals.com, TripHomes.com), to list between 80,000 to 240,000 properties, depending on how you count. Yesterday, the company announced a guarantee that makes renting a vacation condo less risky.
First, some background: What HomeAway wants to do is be like Craigslist—bringing together buyers and sellers in a way that makes it easier for everyone involved. The company attempts to vet its classified listings, but some fraudsters may get through. So the company has rolled out a new guarantee. If a listing on one of its sites turns out to be fraudulent, the company will offer you a refund of up to $5,000 in rental fees. (Find details on HomeAway's website.)
In another recent improvement, the company has introduced user-reviews to its site, so folks who have rented a house, villa, or apartment can rate the property in several different categories—including how accurate the initial posting was, and how true-to-life the photographs were. We thought it was very clever to make sure that only proven renters can post ratings. Second, the company hopes to soon introduce technology that will facilitate payments—so you can use your credit card, or PayPal, to pay for the rental (versus having to deal directly with the owner, or worse, bank transfers).
Most travelers get nervous at the thought of renting someone else's house; there are just so many variables. What HomeAway appears to be doing is overlaying the trust that any good brand can instill, so that travelers will believe that they're in capable hands. It's an effort that's certainly worth keeping an eye on.
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Thank You! We recently reserved a condo on Grand Cayman using cyberrentals.com. Things got a little fishy when we found that the owner lived in Canada and processed their credit card payments with a company that uses an off shore bank. After doing some research we are pretty confident that they are legit but it would have been nice to have this guarantee beforehand. Thank you for informing us of this great new feature.
Posted By Angie on September 28, 2007, 2:27 PM
We almost exclusively use rental vacation homes from 2 -7 days when we go places and have recently added our weekender to one of the sites and we have never had a bad experience on either end. So much more room for everyone, nicely appointed with lots of extras like movies, bikes,lots of local advice usually, and you can rent some pretty nice places for the same price or less than a hotel room, esp. if you rent by the week and your not stuck with being in a boring hotel. We are now looking to go to Hawaii and there are some AWESOME homes available there!
Posted By luke speckman on September 29, 2007, 7:11 PM
We have been renting vacation homes, condo's etc. for years and so far have been lucky not to run into major problems but I really am glad to see a guarantee. I wonder if the guarantee will be offered if the owner is renting a house in Hawaii and the county (ie:Maui) enforces the no short term rentals in residental zones. Does anyone have any idea how the recent crackdown on illegal rentals will affect vacationers? What happens if an owner calls you one week before your vacation and informs you they wil be refunding your money and you must now scramble for lodging? Several cities are currently enforcing the no rentals in residental zones or buildings. This includes NYC and mand many others.
Posted By travelmystic on October 21, 2007, 2:26 PM
I am new to all of this, and it must have been mentioned before but here goes; what about a class action suit.
Surely there must be a large and growing number of capable people whose rights are being attacked.
I think we've got the numbers.
Posted By denise chegash on November 13, 2007, 11:00 PM