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How to make sure your online home rental is what it should be

Planning on taking a summer trip with the intention of using HomeAway? Before you do, make sure you're getting exactly what you're paying for.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Do you have plans to take a trip this summer? If you’re not going to use a hotel, maybe you’ll use HomeAway.

A Charlotte woman says the property she rented was misrepresented and then she couldn’t leave a bad review. So what did she do when she felt taken advantage of? She called NBC Charlotte’s Bill McGinty for help.

When the beach calls, the possibilities of where to stay seem endless. What you don’t want to do is get sandbagged by a renter who misrepresented the condo or house.

“It looked beautiful,” said Lynda Carlson. “I went to the site, the reviews were great and the photos were amazing.”

Carlson, who owns Attitudes hair salon near Matthews, rented a condo at North Topsail Beach for some stylists who were there for a wedding. The ad on HomeAway called the place “refined beach living,” and promised a “beachfront, super clean, freshly remodeled and painted for the discerning tastes of guests.”

But she says that’s not what she got and definitely not what she paid for, saying, “it was a dump. It was worse than a dump.” The photo of the bathroom from the ad shows an intact bathroom, but what Lynda says they actually got were holes in the ceiling, mildew in the tub, and they say the place smelled of stale smoke.

A photo from the advertisement also shows a beachfront view the ad raves about it, but what they actually got was water breaking on sandbags right below the balcony, not a beachfront view. Ticked off, Carlson emailed the owner, who did give her a partial refund. And when she tried to leave a review — a bad one — she says she ran into “issues.”

"I sent it in and it was rejected," Carlson said. "They said I couldn't post it again, [they] said I only had one chance."

NBC Charlotte emailed the property owner about his out of date photos and advertising and emailed HomeAway about Lynda’s inability to leave a bad review. There were plenty of good ones listed and only one not-so-good that likewise complained about the lack of beach in front.

We received an immediate response from the owner who said he can’t do anything about erosion on north topsail beach and stood by his partial refund citing many happy guests over the years. He said the holes in the ceiling were to fix a leak in the unit above.

As for HomeAway, they wrote back saying:

We regret that Ms. Carlson and her guests had a negative experience. The review she provided was in violation of our content guidelines – we provided an explanation of why her review was rejected and invited her to resubmit. We take complaints very seriously and have followed up with the owner accordingly. If a traveler feels that a property is not as advertised, they should contact our 24/7 customer service team immediately.

Carlson said she later learned it was because she listed the rates and has now been offered another shot to give a review.

Reporter footnote: I too had a bad experience with a rental in Florida. I learned these situations are best handled while you’re there, demand repairs immediately. Take photos, and video and document everything. I cannot stress this enough, it’s important to be reasonable…but not a doormat. As for those reviews you read online, be skeptical. From that point on, when I rent, I always ask to speak with the owner, I ask plenty of questions, and I always ask how old those online photos I am looking at — really.

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