Wanted to leave a positive comment about HE’s member support and a deposit case from a recent exchange; for members that have experienced a claim. For some people the deposit amount is trivial compared to the savings made by swapping but I am sure that all of us like to feel we behaved respectfully and honesty so having a deposit withheld is somewhat upsetting.
I was most impressed with the way the case was handled and felt HE were fair and listened to my version of events and considered everything I evidenced. The resolution was fast, 2-3 weeks. I learned several lessons that might be useful to other exchangers.
If you are worried about potential of damage, (and what newbie isn’t?), then take a lot of before and after pictures or HD video and make sure it is correctly dated. Best time to do this would be right after cleaning your home. This also applies when you arrive at a new property. If there is damage, marks in carpet, furniture, sinks, shower, film them before unpacking. Not unlike when you hire a car and inspect the panels for scratches. This will go a long way to helping them reach a fair and equitable decision.
Car swaps are a totally private arrangement and HE won’t consider these in an arbitration. So make sure to privately agree, full to full, empty to empty etc. I only swap older cars, reliable old cars, which if they are slightly damaged I don’t care or complain. Also, make sure you can prove you were not driving if the exchanger gets a speed camera or parking ticket.
While it is tempting to use WhatsApp and similar chat systems to discuss the exchange it is a really good idea to write down any key agreed procedures or standards on the HE messaging system prior to swapping. Then they can read those messages. Submitting a What’s app chat is not as easy though if you can do it they will take it into account.
I won’t mention the name of the HE Member Support employee, (they can look it up) but I’d like to pass on my thanks for a super professional job.
Thank you for taking the time to offer this feedback and for sharing some very helpful advice with members. I will pass on your gratitude to the member support team
NOTE: For anyone commenting on this post please be aware of out community guidelines that personal cases where a host or guest can be identified should not be discussed for member privacy reasons.
Hi Melissa, sorry again but I DO NOT know what else to do. The Guest made an awful review after you team contacted me by call a few days ago and assured me it will all be ok. I have sent the screenshots to the Support AND SOS Teams over 2 hours ago and nobody has replied. I see that the review left by the Guest IS STILL there and no reply from your team. It’s so hard to believe that this has escalated to this point and that the team is still as unresponsive. PLEASE HELP. I would like to delete my profile immediately and get my money back from the platform as this has been an awful and super stressful situation.
I’d appreciate that SOMEONE would reply, please.
Thanks
I am so sorry you are having this experience.
To give you some sort of answer: the SOS is for emergencies, if a swap falls through last minute, if circumstances at the home are very bad, etc. A bad review is bad for you, but not a matter of that much urgency.
If you feel a review is wrong, you can always leave a comment to the review.
If you want your account deleted, you can. Not sure about getting your money back …
I hope someone from the support has contacted you in the meantime.
A bad review is not an emergency. It’s not good for you but nothing as compared as all last minute cancellations that needs to be treated every day. Please wait for the staff answer in the next few days. If you used the site, you won’t be refunded.
Hi, thanks, no, no response. If the Guest hadn’t threatened my security and my property, I wouldn’t be AS concerned and annoyed that the Support and SOS teams haven’t been as responsive as they should and promised to be. After telling me this case is their priority, I waited over 10 days for their response until one of the ambassadors (I think) reached out and asked them to reply. I got a phone call from one of the Support members who apologised deeply and promised to follow up ASAP, and then the review happened with no follow up. I have NOT heard from absolutely anyone in mote than 2 days. The lack of accountability and professionalism has been surprising. I was assured this was NOT how the site works, and even offered a year of premium for free, I still have not heard from anyone, review is still there, they still haven’t followed up on the safety issue with the Guest. So yes, I am pretty pissed off, scared and disappointed.
Thanks Trenke, thats a very nice and human comment. I still haven’t heard from anyone. The biggest issue to me is safety, The ME team knows how aggressive that man has been, why not reply? I just want to leave the platform at this stage, but not without receiving answers. Thank you again.
I’m very sorry Erika that you are having these issues, however you do need to contact member support. I have no access to your case file and cannot assist in this matter. I have again forwarded your comments to the correct team who will be in touch. Please note however that SOS is for urgent emergencies such as people who are due to travel in 24 hours and have nowhere to stay etc. This will be handled by the team as soon as possible but you will need to be a little bit patient. As I have mentioned previously I will have to remove any comments from the Forum that discus personal cases. Each case has 2 sides and we cannot allow just one side to be discussed, it would not be fair to all members.
Hi! Just a quick update to let you know that the team finally got back to me. It seems like this case has been a special one, unfortunately, not in a good way. Somehow I got lucky and got the most (or only?) abusive member of HomeExchange, which isn’t great as I have no one else to compare it to. Anyway! The team has apologised for the unresponsiveness, offered to reimburse my membership fee, and encouraged me to give the platform another chance as I have earned points from offering my home.
I am really hoping this experience is left behind and that I can get to see what kind of community you’re building here.
I can’t say I’m super optimistic, but let’s see!
Thanks Trenke for the kind support, and Melissa for being the communication bridge, something that I still believe needs addressing as a platform.
Lastly, I’ll say that it’s very disappointing to see that there are no other forums (FB groups, etc) available for members to discuss openly and uncensored issues such as this. I was surprised that my initial post was not allowed to be posted: I have not named names or being rude, desperate, but not rude.
Thanks and I hope nobody has the same experiences as me! Having an abusive Guest being part of this community should NOT be allowed for the safety of everyone.
I am happy that the issue is more or less resolved. I can assure you that at least I have never had a real problem in all the years I am a member (since 2016, HE counts the number of swaps as 51, but it counts a mutual swap as 2). I hope and expect your further experiences will be much better. I encourage you for future swaps to only contact members who have at least a couple of years experience, good reviews and a good response rate. If you’re flexible with dates and locations, I am sure you will find great fits!
I am glad to hear that you have now had this issue resolved. I am always happy to help, and I can contact member services to chase cases, however this Forum is not intended as a replacement for member services. They are always the best team to contact when there are personal cases to resolve.
The reason why we do not allow personal cases in the Forum or the Facebook Groups is for the privacy of all members. One persons account of an event might be different to another persons. Although you did not mention the name or account of the other member, it would not be too difficult for someone to find this information themselves.
It is of course allowed for you to talk about general concerns or issues, but not specific cases relating to another member.
I would NEVER had to reach for help in the Forum IF HomeExchange Support and/or SOS teams had been responsive. A wait of 10 days is NOT normal for a case that involves security threats to property and individuals. I understand my TERRIBLE experience with waiting times and/or responses for resolution is the reason I was offered the refund of my membership fee.
I insist that if you speak of building community, you should allow for community to be built. This level of censorship in cases where no sensitive or personal information had been released, seems rather arbitrarian and authoritarian. Not providing a space here or in social media where members can freely express themselves (within reason, of course), seems contradictory to your speech.
