HomeAway

bakerbird

Hi -
I am hoping for a bit of advice if possible?

We booked a villa in Spain for 2 weeks back in Jan using Homeaway.co.uk . I paid the 1st transaction but using our joint c/c and was slapped with a huge currency exchange cost (although I didn't know at the time).
Roll on to July and I pay the 2nd installment (also charged) which prompts the owner to email me.
He demands another 160 euro for cleaning which wasn't in the contract and the upshot is that, with 2 days to go, we get an 'owner cancellation' and the promise of our money back.

Luckily I manage to find alternative accommodation.

Now they are going through the process of giving us the money back. Firstly it was without the 'service charge' amount, which I then queried and that will be coming back (apparently) and they have sent me the documents to complete to get the remaining amount back.

The issue I have is with the bank charges and the fact I am out of pocket over 100 GBP. As the bank paying the remaining amount if US, that will incur a charge (although I'm planning on paying this back into Revolut - any thoughts??).

Does anyone know if there is a way of getting compensation to offeset these bank charges, maybe using travel insurance? Homeaway won't pay it back.

The lesson learnt here - don't book with HomeAway for a property abroad EVER AGAIN!

CM66

Honestly no - you chose to use that card!


Next time make sure you pay on one of the many cards that are 0% currency exchange to avoid the same thing

MEM62

bakerbird wrote: »

The lesson learnt here - don't book with HomeAway for a property abroad EVER AGAIN!

Hardy their fault.

You selected the payment method and you have an agreement with your CC company in respect of charges. Nothing to do with HomeAway or the villa owner. Now you have reach the point of the booking is being cancelled you are being refunded. The booking company and/or villa owner are only obliged to refund what they have charged you and are not liable for your bank charges any more than you are liable for theirs.

bakerbird

CM66 wrote: »

Honestly no - you chose to use that card!


Next time make sure you pay on one of the many cards that are 0% currency exchange to avoid the same thing

I didn't expect the charge as it was a UK site. They didn't say the was going to be any conversion at all. Otherwise I would probably have used Revolut.

bradders1983

He asked you for 160 Euros, was this not a clue the transaction was not occurring in pounds?

leylandsunaddict

bakerbird wrote: »

I didn't expect the charge as it was a UK site. They didn't say the was going to be any conversion at all. Otherwise I would probably have used Revolut.

It doesn't matter where the site is based. It does tell you when you're booking if you'll be paying in a different currency. If the payment was going into a Spanish account it would be charged in euros. Which property was it?

peachyprice

bakerbird wrote: »

I didn't expect the charge as it was a UK site. They didn't say the was going to be any conversion at all. Otherwise I would probably have used Revolut.

Homeaway don't take the payment, the property owner IN SPAIN does.

Why didn't you change the card after the first payment incurred charges?

headpin

Homeaway are one of the more reliable booking sites for properties abroad. Their site will normally show up the cost of the rental, the service charges, deposit, cleaning costs, etc applicable to the booking. It also indicates the currency that the charges will be taken in. You normally pay around 50% when booking and the balance around 6 weeks out.Deposit returned upon return if all ok.

The method you chose to make payment is your choice. You should have used a 0% currency charges/loading card such as Halifax Clarity. Refunds will always be back to same card and may then again incur conversion costs. You will always get hit for any exchange rate fluctuation between original and refund payments, but could work to your advantage nowadays.