Ten years since Marilyn has been using the Homelidays site, now Abritel-HomeAway, to rent her house in the Var in the summer. But this year, this owner is very worried: 7,000 euros in rentals have still not been paid to her by the platform.
“I am awaiting payment for the week of July 18 and that of July 25 for my house in Castellet as well as the current rental of my apartment in Tignes (Savoie), explains Marilyn. I contacted Abritel and I have already had the right to three different explanations: first, it is the people teleworking because of the Covid who had fallen behind in payments, then the financial partner who had changed, this who postponed everything, and finally since last week, I was told about a computer problem! "
Changing explanations that leave this real estate professional skeptical. “Vacationers have been settling for months. Where is the money ? wonders Marilyn. In general, we are paid two days after the start of the stay and according to its general conditions of use, the site has seven working days after arrival to pay us. "
Worried and advancing costs for the maintenance of her house, the 50-year-old owner has decided not to rent it out until she has been paid by Abritel for previous stays. Even if it means refusing access to his villa for 12 people with swimming pool to customers who have already booked in August.
And Marilyn is not the only one to make this threat. "I'm not going to continue to donate my house without receiving any rent," indignant another owner on the Trustpilot page dedicated to HomeAway. “No more owner payments since July 18, 2020! Unable to reach Abritel by phone or chat…. Should we file a complaint? What to do with upcoming reservations? »Asks Corinne as well.
On the online review site, alarming testimonials have been accumulating for several days. “Abritel no longer pays! "," Owners, run away! "," Homelidays late payments "warn most of the last posted notices. Some are organizing to create a collective to go to court. All of them bear witness to the same sudden interruption in their transfers. “For six years, I was very satisfied, notes Monique. But since the arrival of my first tenants, July 18, big concern, no settlement. The runners-up still got nothing, the runners-up will be there on Saturday… ”
"A technical problem", according to the platform
"Abritel owes me more than 4000 euros since June 19", testifies another opinion. “I am still awaiting payment, however, made since February and the end of May by tenants who have stayed in my house, and this despite several reminders to customer service who can only say: You will be paid within five to seven days ... since June 23. Find the error, ”adds Nathalie. And other owners openly talk about their fear of the platform's bankruptcy, which would leave them all in the dark.
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Contacted by our newspaper, Abritel-HomeAway denies any financial difficulty and does indeed mention a "technical problem". "Due to the special situation this year, resulting in a greater concentration of bookings made over a short period of time, the number of transactions concerned has increased considerably, which has created a congestion of payment systems," explains the platform. . According to her, the problem is now "solved".
“The vast majority of payments were able to be triggered at the end of last week,” says the site. Given the delay of five to seven working days for payments to appear in owners' accounts, those affected will quickly see that the situation is back to normal. "
