Stayz Avis 

My son and his friends booked accommodation through Stayz in Bali last December. On arrival the host was uncontactable. By late that night and still no contact, they were forced to find alternate accommodation for the night. For the entirety of their 8 night stay they were unable to contact host and get the accommodation they had paid for. On return to Australia there has been multiple calls to Stayz who are refusing to give them a refund and are now hanging up on them when they call. Stayz are in breach of their own policy and code of conduct, as well as, Australian Consumer Law. These hard working boys are out of pocket, which is so unfair and have now had to engage a lawyer. This is disgraceful! DO NOT USE STAYZ - absolute SCAM

Beware of this appalling site if you want to keep your sanity. It is a shocking site. I booked accommodation in Rome and firstly had to wait 24 hours to see if the host ok'd it. Then when they did they said that the amount listed for the unit was not correct and said it would cost another $1000 extra . False advertising?????? Bonkers to that so trying to cancel is like taking a hike up Mt Everest. Another thing is that if you book you then have to register with VRBO before you can check your booking. Surely this cannot be legal!!!! I travel twice yearly overseas as well as extensive travel within Australia and have NEVER experienced this sort of idiocy before. First and last time on this deplorable site. Actually it is more than terrible. It literally took me hours to navigate around this fiasco of a site. Ended up on their chat line and hopefully (I still don't know) it will be resolved as they also went around and around the mulberry bush and did not answer my questions. I had to keep pushing for an answer but they seemed to skirt around it. Dreadful! They say that you have time to cancel BUT upon booking you have to deposit a substantial amount first (Well over $1000 in my case). If you want to keep your sanity then go to another easier site to navigate. I cannot give it a low enough score. Even one star is too many. Stay away is my advice and I will tell all and sundry as well.

Do not book with this company! They are cowboys! I booked a property months before my travel date to Melbourne from Sydney, a day before I was due to travel it was cancelled because the owner said that Stayz hadn’t taken down their listing as requested. I then booked somewhere else and couldn’t get in touch with the owner to get check in details and after numerous phone calls to Stayz, they told me to keep trying to phone the owner (this was a Chinese number) which is ridiculous! I was at the airport on the day of check in phoning Stayz and they told me that I would have to book somewhere myself and claim the money back through their booking with confidence scheme they have. I emailed them straight away and have had no response. They take your money and provide nothing!

WE HAD A CONFIRMED AND PAID FOR BOOKING IN ADELAIDE LAST WEEK AND WERE DRIVING IN FROM MELBOURNE TO FIND WE HAD BEEN BOOTED OFF THE BOOKING. THE ONLY EXPLAINATION IS THIS MOB GOT A BETTER PRICE OR LONGER BOOKING DUE TO THE GATHER ROUND. WE WERE VERY LUCKY TO FIND AN ALTERNATIVE. DO NOT BOOK WITH STAYZ AS IT IS NOT A FIRM BOOKING ND YOU COULD BE TURFED OUT ON THE STREET IF THEY GET A BETTER OFFER.
GRAEME WALKER

I always used Stayz as a consumer and the site did the job.

As a host I want to support Stayz and keep the market competitive but the host experience is terrible.

I get 10x booking via Airbnb and all have been seamless. My first booking with stayz was not positive; the guest did not pay the final payment before the booking and I wasn’t alerted to this. Stayz also sent the keys to my property to the guest, which I think is criminal.
I called support and they indicated they will send an email requesting payment again but still hasn’t been paid. The property was left filthy and I’ve paid a cleaning fee, yet most of the booking cost hasn’t been paid. I’m now left wondering what happens if they don’t ever pay?

Stayz won’t be around long, they are trying to match airbnb on the consumer side, at the expense of the host experiment. They will continue to loose supply eventually and then we will have a monopoly on our hands with Airbnb.

I really wanted to support Stayz but if you don’t support your hosts there is not much more I can do.

My experience with a property booked through STAYZ in Melbourne was terrible. I would like to make a complaint about my experience. However each time I call Stayz they say they can do nothing.

The host debited $300 from my bank card without my authorisation and has not refunded the money. This is on top of the cost of the appartment for two nights.

No where does it say there is a $300 security deposit. I was not told verbally and its not in writing anywhere. Plus I have checked out..so I ask why they have not returned the money?

I trusted STAYZ with my card details and now one of their hosts has stolen money from me.

I feel that STAYZ has a responsibility to make sure our card information is secure and now I have been scammed.

If it was a security deposit it should have been disclosed prior to booking. It also should have been released back to me after I checked out.

I have shared my experience online and everyone thinks it is dodgy.

STAYZ will not help me get my $300 back. STAYZ cannot explain how their host was legally able to do this? I gave STAYZ my card details how is the host able to just debit my card extra without asking?

STAYZ tell me that the appartment is nanaged through a property management company so they cannot help BUT no where on the advertised property does it state that this. So how was I to know?. STAYZ even admitted they cannot see any info regarding this. STAYZ also acknowledged there is no information about the security deposit, but they still cannot help. So now I have lost $300.

Please Beware People. I will never ever use STAYZ again.

Complete scam, they take your money, cancel close to booking date and don’t refund. I didn’t think businesses could get away with scamming on this level in this country but here they are.

I have stayed at many apartments on the Gold Coast. From start to finish this has been the most amazing experience. Booking was easy and the follow up from the property manager (Chloe) was awesome. We take a break every month to escape the business of Real Estate. We still make calls and have Zooms but truth is with this apartment I could spend all day in it! The decor is good the rooms well presented and the views are magnificent! Everything you need is within walking distance from restaurants to Woolworths its all here. There is a tram station nearby so getting to where you need to be is easy. The apartment is a home from home. It has everything you need to make your stay complete. There is a mirror but if you need a make up mirror then bring one with you. It is rare with so much to see outside the apartment that you could stay indoors and marvel at the views! We loved it so much we will become a normal return client. Thank you it was incredible!! Views are truly magnificent.

Attempted to book accommodation with Stayz twice.
On first, occasion owner came back saying some of days advertised were not available and amended booking dates. This was not suitable so did not proceed with booking.
On second occasion booking went through and payments processed (over $20K AUD) and then cancelled. Reasons given:
"Reason:
Dates booked on another platform
Message from host:
The reason for cancelling is that the owner thought the dates were for NEXT year and not THIS year."
I have $20K pending transaction against my credit card messing up my credit limit which I may have to wait 5 days to have sorted out according to Vibrio platform which impacted our ability to book alternate accommodation.
I discovered this morning that on Stayz that the property is STILL available to request a booking for the same dates that were cancelled for us.
The Vibrio chat platform was not working when I attempted to complain to Stayz directly!

Response to Stayz: The answer provided confirms Stayz do nothing to check the availability of properties advertised on THEIR site.
While the refund was promptly initiated on the Stayz side, it took 6 days to be processed back to my credit card with the impact and inconvenience on my credit limit referred to previously.

Got to the place we'd booked in Eden for ten nights and there were many issues including:
The stay had to be cancelled by me because of various reasons, including but not limited to:

Fly screens with holes in them that allowed insects in
a condemned back balcony with a back door that could be opened by a child.
A window that wouldn't close properly in bedroom one, so you could hear the Neighbours conversations.
A portable air conditioner that couldn't safely be used. (we have photos of everything)

We got there late at night so had no choice but to stay the one night but left very early the next morning.

I got some money back, however, am still significantly out of pocket, then the Host left me a bad review, despite us cleaning the place of the ants that were there and sweeping the floors, washing down the benches, scrubbing the tiles in the bathroom as well as many other things. I asked stays to take down the review and they said, "we have found that you were the one who initiated the cancellation of the reservation, and the host is not responsible for the issue."

What a joke, I had to cancel it was not as advertised, however because I invoked my consumer rights then Stayz refuse to act.

Not to mention now out of pocket $1800 because I had to book another place at very short notice, due to not wanting to stay in a dangerous situation.

I booked through Stayz looking for peace of mind if things go wrong. next time I'll book directly with an owner, it will be cheaper and less chance of issues.

So their customer service response was once again a joke:

“ After investigating the evidence you have shared, we are unable to find health and safety violations of this property.”

Obviously their standards are very very low !

I also sent images of how I’d left the place, and was told:

“Unfortunately, due to our content guidelines we are unable to remove the review left by the host. If you are concerned on the effect this may have on future bookings, you can create a new Vrbo account.”

So the “host” can provide an unsafe place to stay, you provide multiple images showing how bad it was, and further images showing after you’d cleaned it and the “host” can leave a fraudulent review and Stayz will do nothing about it.

Stayz did refund our booking fees, however I’m still substantially out of pocket.

Honestly back to hotels for us, at least if something goes wrong they will fix it. Stayz do not care.

I book and paid for a house for Easter on 2/8/2023. I messaged twice and called once to add an extra day. The host did not respond. 28/1/2024 I was sent an email to say my payment had been refunded as someone booked on another platform. I received an email shortly after to say the house is no longer being let. There is nothing left in my price range so close to Easter now. This happened to me on Xmas eve as well that they had a double booking. Not going to book with Stayz ever again

We booked a 3 bedroom apartment with views through Stayz for a recent family holiday in Melborne (from NZ)
As soon as we made the booking we were redirected to an outfit called MadeComfy and told they would be managing the booking.

This cost us dearly - to summarize our experience with MadeComfy through booking with Stayz (I would steer clear of them both)

On arrival only one set of keys for five adults
Remote control was missing for lounge aircon unit meaning we had no aircon as advertised through Stayz
Advertisement said we would have access to gym and pool area - this was not so
I wasted most of my phone roaming package and a lot of my holiday time speaking to MadeComfy staff who thanked me for reaching out but seemed unable to help
Finally we were properly acknowledged by customer experience team but this was at the end of our stay - it was too little too late.
MadeComfy in fairness did refund us 15% of the total cost but their incompetency negatively impacted a family holiday we had been saving for all year - we were paying top dollar for our stay

Feedback for Stayz and MadeComfy:

1) If remote control is lost for aircon or tv - replace it before next paying guest comes in

2) be transparent with your marketing- we were misled about facilities that would be available to us

3) if guests lose sets of keys, don’t do nothing about it and tell the next guests they have to stay a minimum of 60 days before a second set of keys can be issued - this is a lie - the truth is you never bothered to replace the lost keys

I booked accommodation through STAYZ website only to find that I have been grossly overcharged with my credit card being debited. Worst part about it is that STAYZ deny that the booking is in their system - even though I received a confirmation email from STAYZ.
STAYZ support staff were arrogant, rude and dismissive.
Do not, I repeat, do not use these scammers.

Spent 3 nights for Hubby's birthday it was very pleasant thankyou to owner Joe was very helpful. Clean apartment and very spacious thankyou highly recommend ☺️

Been trying to delete my account for weeks; it is impossible. If you log in and attempt to delete your profile via vrbo (parent company) it states you cannot delete your account unless you do it via Stayz. When you in via the Stayz app, it does not allow you to delete the account either. It’s infuriating Tried the help section. No help updated 2feb24: the response from stayz below is useless; I’ve tried this. If you would like to assist then contact me and resolve it

Had to give 1 star to write this post. The Host cancelled our reservation at 43 Hennessey Loop
Dunsborough, WA 6281 the day before we arrived as there were 3 x under 25 y/o guests. Reservation was in my name 55 y/o Mum ("Leavers" chaperone). Host said she would refund but will keep a $200 cleaning fee (thats stealing)! Host stopped communicating and kept all the money. Contacted Stayz to request full refund & complain re: age discrimination. Received msg via App saying we would get a full refund. 10 days later no refund (~$2.5K), so called their "customer service" 1800 number and spoke to a person in Phillipines who said we would get full refund and she will email dispute details, conversation ref & complaint ref to my email address. 4 days later still no communication from Stayz. We then disputed it as a fraudulent transaction on our Credit Card through Com Bank Aus, who accepted the dispute and acquired a FULL refund from Stayz on 11 Jan 2024.
~2 month wait for refund & no apology from Stayz. All one can expect from a business owned in Malaysia, platform based in Texas & "Help Centre" based in Philippines. We will never use Stayz again, "fees for no service" & dodgy hosts.

Owner of a 'forest' house/flats in Wollongong, was trying to get more money out of me after I left by lying about damage and I chatted to Stayz to say I want to make a complaint and they said they would talk to the owner and get back to me and i never heard anything back. Won't be using them again.

We booked an apartment through stayz and I am disgusted this was one of their listings. The owner outright lied about the amenities , no heating ,( it was freezing) no proper bedding for extra guests , not clean, and much much more. Spoiled our weeks holiday. I am disgusted. Never had this problem with stayz in south Australia.

Booked through stayz and received confirmation. When we had an issue (hadn't received the house address and check in info) Stayz said it was all done through an agent and they didn't even have the address of the property on file. May as well have gone direct as ended up dealing with a third party anyway. Stayz could do nothing at all to help other than say they would phone the third party which is what I was doing anyway.

My booking got canceled. this is not good enough!! How can I have any confidence or security in Travelling with you if you’re going to cancel. Ok you’ve given me plenty of notice and a refund but I paid thousands of dollars and you had my money for months. What is the point of me making a booking with you guys if you are just going to cancel it.
And you have had my money for some time now. How are you going to compensate me for this? Not impressed at all with this service. Highly disappointed actually.
** hasn’t responded to any of my messages either** app deleted!!