Not only are the photos well out of date and misleading but the owners of the property are now advertising the property under a different name from when we booked it. I would also question the validity of the reviews left for the property as they do not seem to relate to the property we stayed in.

I originally listed my holiday property with Owners Direct 11 years ago because it was a user-friendly website. Also because it was unique in that owners and travellers could easily communicate with each other which built trust. Since HomeAway took the company over the website format has become generic like any other. Except that this particular website is not user friendly. The Owners' page is very difficult to navigate and those who have tried to make booking enquires messaged me to say that they gave up the booking process as systems were unwieldy and didn't work. Consequently I have lost potential bookings due to the website being difficult to navigate.
When I lodged a complaint, I was told I was a trouble maker by a very patronising senior manager and they permanently removed my listing!! I had paid up until April 2016. So I only had my property listed for 4 of the 12 months I paid for this year.
The senior staff have clearly become as impersonal as the website.
Owners Direct have had such bad press in recent years you would think they would treat their paying owners clients better than this.

I couldn't agree more.
I originally listed my holiday property with Owners Direct because it was a user-friendly website. Also because it was unique in that owners and travellers could easily communicate with each other which built trust. Since HomeAway took the company over the website format has become generic like any other. Except that this particular website is not user friendly. The Owners' page is very difficult to navigate and those who have tried to make booking enquires messaged me to say that they gave up the booking process as systems were unwieldy and didn't work. Consequently I have lost potential bookings due to the website being difficult to navigate.
When I lodged a complaint, I was told I was a trouble maker by a very patronising senior manager and they permanently removed my listing!! I had paid up until April 2016. So I only had my property listed for 4 of the 12 months I paid for.
The senior staff have clearly become as impersonal as the website.
Owners Direct have had such bad press in recent years you would think they would treat their paying owners clients better than this.
Looking forward to listing my property with a reputable holiday rental website

I've been with OD for eight or nine years as an owner of a rental property in France. Their Customer Service has always been appalling. I have never put the phone down, after a
conversation with them, satisfied with the outcome.

I used to get about 80%of my bookings through OD so I dealt with it. Now they have their all singing and dancing website and my bookings have dropped, drastically! My page viewsare down by 50% and there's no other reason that might be. My rates haven't increased in 3 years, my photos and calendar are kept up to date, there's no more competition in my area than before, nothing.

A couple of days I ago I got an email from them complaining about my headline, which read "Rated Top Vacation Rental And Rated Excellent By Flipkey And Tripadvisor". They said I wasn't allowed to mention other websites. OK fair enough maybe, but their Admin team approved that text at least 2 years ago and probably more like 3years ago!

(A little explanation on my behalf: it seems that a holiday maker
saw my headline and checked TripAdvisor and couldn't find me. That's because unlike hotels and restaurants, holiday home owners have to pay to be reviewed on TripAdvisor, and when I realised I wasn't getting the bookings I cancelled my subscription. However, I was given the awards and TripAdvisor has never told me that they have been rescinded.)

So I emailed OD asking why it took them 3 years to find text that had been, apparently approved, by their admin, when it shouldn't have been. Their response? "It gets approved automatically, I've taken your ad off until you change it." Great service for such a longstanding and loyal client
I'm not going to change it, not quite now, maybe in a week or two, maybe not even then. It's not like I'm going to miss the bookings. Now if anyone can recommend a good holiday rental website, I'll be
moving my business elsewhere, and I know I'm not the only one jumping ship from
OD.

By the way I did a bit of a search on OD and within 20 minutes I found 4 other
holiday home owners mentioning other websites on their ads. OD have no idea
what's on their website.

I totally agree with all you have said BUT it is much much worse!!
They are simply ripping the owners of the Villas/apartments holiday homes etc etc, and they are ripping the guests off also
There so called Customer care is nothing but a joke, ( they just put the phone down on you when you complain ) there guarentee money back is a scam, they try telling guests it is not guaranteed if they pay with a credit card (we all know thats not true ) they charge if you change your mind and want your money back, they charge owners for taking a booking (even though they have already payed for the listing on the website ) if guests dont book via there website and try to book over the phone with the owners they dump the owners web page so nobody can find it, they take off there contact number so you cant ring them direct..because i complained they went one better and just removed my Villa altogether and would not put it back on, i have been totally fully booked for over 10 years, no complaints from guests UNTIL this year when Expedia to over...............next to no bookings, people couldn't contact me because i refused to comply with the online booking, they blocked the e mails............you name it they did it to stop the booking
There so called booking creditors are in Ireland YAPSTONE and there is NO security at all with them and i do mean NONE at ALL!!!!, and should you contact them there reply will be............................Its nothing to do with us!!! I would strongly advise NOT to book with them as you will be ripped off!!!

Followinga particularly stressful period of job changes and relocation from our home of 33 years, my wife and I decided to take an in-between-jobs vacation. We found what we thought was the perfect
rental through HomeAway. We contactedthe owner, Todd Messer, told him we were interested in renting the unit fromOctober 2 through October 10 and got a quote of $1400. At his suggestion, we sent him $1400 through
our Paypal account on August 31st. That transaction is documented in my Paypal account.* On the same day we received confirmation of
our reservation from Todd Messer.** OnOctober 2nd, after a 900 mile drive, pulling a trailer full of kayaks, I picked
up Marie at the Charleston airport and drove through the pouring rain, to 1648
Tern Marsh Road. The Charleston area was
beginning an historic, three day rain storm, totaling 18" by the time it finished. At7:00, we arrived, wet and tired, at 1648 Tern Marsh Road. To our amazement, the apartment was occupied by three or four workmen and was undergoing major rehabilitation. We immediately called Todd Messer. He said he would compensate us for a night at a hotel or we could stay in the the second floor unit. (The second floor unit was available because the previous renters had left early, it had not been cleaned and had new renters coming in the next day). I told
him that, as the owner of a small rental building who has rehabbed many apartments, there was no way the unit would be ready the next day or much before the middle of our rental period. We told him we wanted our $1400 returned to
our Paypal account and went to try and find somewhere to stay. Afterseveral hours, we found a place available for two nights, at a cost of an additional $318 plus tax. While there, we found a small condominium and rented it for remained of our vacation. It cost and additional $1310.40. Idrove to 1628 Teal Marsh Road the next day, took many photographs and spoke to the workman. The pictures, taken a full day after our rental was to begin, show a man in the tub working on the toilet, . They show a freshlymudded ceiling with bare wires hanging down, piles of furniture covered with tarps and building supplies and tools scattered around the unit. The workman was very apologetic and told me he had no idea when it would be ready.

Clearly, it was uninhabitable. Justas clearly, Todd Messer had not lived up to his contractual commitment. To this day, we cannot understand what his
plan was. There was a full blown renovation going on, something he either knew
about when he took my money, or planned after he took my money. In either case, he has acted dishonorably and fraudulently. Wespoke to Mr. Messer several times and he initially said he would return our money if we assure him that that would end the matter. In response to that request, I sent him a text stating we would pursue no legal action if he returned our $1400. After much delay, as we were leaving Folly Beach, he said that he would not return our money but would give us a free rental the next time we were in the Charleston area. Essentially, the person who had taken our
money and not lived up to our rental agreement said our only recourse was to trust him, this time he would keep his word. Clearly,he believed we would have no recourse and that he will have been able to both
generate income and renovate his unit all in the same week. There was obviously no thought given to the fact that I drove 9 hours and my wife flew in from NYC to a place that I could not use -- knowing that we would not have any contingency in place! After my 10th call with Homeaway, they ultimately refused to helpin any way and even refused to publish my review of the property. This despite the fact that we notified Homeaway the day after our rental was to begin of the condition of the unit and sent them many pictures detailing the condition of Todd Messer's apartment.
There advice to us was to attempt to mediate a settlement. As I noted above, Todd Messer said he would not return my $1400 unless I promised not to pursue legal action or wrte a review of the property. I agreed to these terms in order to get my $1400 back. Homeaway finally told me that they will not publish my review because of that attempted agreement. This despite the fact that they had all the information of the fraud committed by Todd Messer long before I sent the email
that he had required as a prerequisite to refunding our money. Homeaway is clearly much more interested in
representing their owners, regardless of the fraudulent activities of Messer. I guess we just have to chalk it up to experience. But as a regular
traveller who has used Homeaway and their sister organization VRBO more than 10 times, I will look elsewhere going forward.

HomeAway UK changed their business model last year, and all payments need to be routed through them. They sell this to the traveller, on the basis that liability insurance is included; of course it is just a wheeze to increase earnings. (Our property has been on their site since 2008, and never one complaint.) My guests paid Home Away in full in January this year; they very much enjoyed their holidays in our apartment as well. However, Home Away have not paid me. Why not? Many different excuses; their technical department is busy, they do not have the correct bank details, yes it is on the way (when it is not) etc. etc. Their "customer service" department is staffed by (polite enough) people just reading from a script which is designed to stone wall, instead of dealing with the problems. It is not possible to speak or communicate with management. Has anyone similar problems or ideas how to solve this?

A check of the Terms & Conditions on their website here:

https://www.homeaway.co.uk/info/about-us/legal/traveller-terms-conditions

would seem to indicate that payments for both customers and owners is handled by

HomeAway Sàrl, of 81 Merrion Square South, Dublin 2, Ireland

The whole thing looks to be a subsidary of Expedia - cetainly in the USA. The operations of HomeAway in Europe (apart from paymnts) are managed by HomeAway UK Limited of Level 25, Portland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5BH

Only suggestion I can make is that you Contact Trading Standards

https://www.tradingstandards.uk/

Whilst we can use our expertise gathered over many years helping people on HT
Trading Standards have teeth. Think of them as the Mafia who can send
Luigi and the boys round.