Question 1

Is Travelio a scam?

Accepted Answer

Many people who have rented through Travelio say yes. The public record: 45 dated complaints from 2019 to 2026, a Trustpilot rating of 2.0 out of 5 with 81% of reviews at one star, deposits held past the company's own stated deadlines, and charges raised after check-out for damage tenants say was never theirs. One tenant paid Rp6,100,000 and received Rp2,740,000 back with no breakdown. Another was docked Rp400,000 for a key they had photographed themselves returning. Travelio is a large funded business managing roughly 15,000 units — which is why this matters. It is not one bad landlord; it is a system, and it has run unchanged for seven years.

Question 2

How long does Travelio take to return a deposit?

Accepted Answer

Travelio's stated policy is 7 days after check-out for daily bookings, returned to the original payment account. Monthly and annual tenants are commonly told a maximum of 14 working days after electricity and water are deducted. In 2021 the company publicly claimed 91% of daily deposits were returned the day after check-out. The complaints tell a different story: 18 working days with nothing returned, a full month of chasing, and cases still unresolved when the complaint was published. If your stated window has passed, that is the moment to put a demand in writing with a deadline, not to keep waiting politely.

Question 3

Travelio has not returned my deposit. What do I do?

Accepted Answer

Move fast and move in writing. Screenshot the entire in-app chat before your access lapses — it ends with your tenancy. Then send one written demand, in the app and by email the same day, stating the unit, check-out date, deposit paid, amount returned, amount outstanding, and a seven-day deadline. Ask for one specific thing: payment, or a fully itemised breakdown with dated before-and-after photographs for every deduction. If that deadline passes, file with BPKN and the LAPOR! portal, take it to your local BPSK — which hears consumer disputes without a lawyer — and publish a factual account. In every resolved case in this archive, resolution followed publication.

Question 4

Can Travelio deduct from my deposit for wall stains or wear?

Accepted Answer

Normal wear and tear is not a chargeable deduction, and a deduction you did not agree to at inspection is not a deduction — it is a claim, and claims need evidence. A published Indonesian complaint documents exactly this: a deposit cut with 'noda tembok' (wall stains) given as the reason. Demand, in writing, a dated photograph of the item before your tenancy began, a dated photograph at check-out, and the supplier invoice for the work charged. Deductions that cannot survive that itemisation very often disappear. Under Law No. 8 of 1999 you are entitled to accurate information and to compensation where a service does not match what was agreed.

Question 5

What is a Travelio 'post charge' and can they do it?

Accepted Answer

A post charge is a bill raised days or weeks after you have left and the unit has been re-let, for damage you cannot go back and inspect. Nine records in this archive describe it. Documented examples include furniture damage that pre-dated the tenancy, a mini-refrigerator repair the guest denied causing, and an electricity penalty raised after the tenant had already moved out. The problem is structural: by the time the claim arrives you have no access, no independent record, and no way to rebut it. That is precisely why dated check-in photographs and a written check-out confirmation matter more than any argument you can make afterwards.

Question 6

How do I complain about Travelio in Indonesia?

Accepted Answer

In escalating order: Travelio's own support, in writing, to build the paper trail. Then BPKN, the National Consumer Protection Agency, which receives complaints directly and creates an official record independent of the company. Then LAPOR! at lapor.go.id, the government complaint portal, which issues a reference number and routes to the responsible ministry. Then BPSK, your local Consumer Dispute Settlement Body, which hears cases through mediation or arbitration without requiring a lawyer and issues binding decisions — for a withheld deposit this is usually the strongest route available and the one most tenants never hear about. YLKI and MediaKonsumen add public pressure that private complaints do not.

Question 7

What is BPSK and can it get my deposit back?

Accepted Answer

BPSK — Badan Penyelesaian Sengketa Konsumen — is Indonesia's Consumer Dispute Settlement Body, operating at city and regency level. It hears consumer disputes through mediation, conciliation or arbitration, does not require you to hire a lawyer, and issues binding decisions. For a withheld rental deposit it is usually the most effective formal route available. It applies regardless of your nationality or visa status, so foreign residents can use it. Bring your written demand, the payment proof, the dated photographs, and the full message history. The paper trail you built when chasing the deposit is exactly what BPSK will work from.

Question 8

Is Travelio safe to rent from?

Accepted Answer

Your rent buys a place to live; your deposit is the part at risk. The record shows 45 dated complaints across seven years concentrated on deposits withheld, deductions applied without agreement, and charges raised after you have gone. If you do rent, treat the deposit as money you may have to fight for: photograph and video every room with visible timestamps on move-in day, get the condition acknowledged in writing in the app chat, screenshot that chat immediately, and refuse to let check-out happen without a dated written statement that the unit was returned in acceptable condition. Those four steps are worth more than any argument afterwards.

Question 9

Travelio cancelled my booking. What are my rights?

Accepted Answer

Documented cases include a booking cancelled unilaterally, without confirmation, only hours before arrival — leaving the guest to find somewhere at no notice. Under Law No. 8 of 1999 you are entitled to compensation where a service does not match what was agreed, and a cancellation by the provider is exactly that. Demand a full refund to the original payment method in writing, not a voucher: reviewers report being offered discount credit instead of their money back, which is not a refund and locks you into transacting with them again. Set a deadline, then escalate to BPKN and BPSK if it passes.

Question 10

I own a property Travelio manages. What are the risks?

Accepted Answer

Nine records in this archive were filed by landlords, not tenants, going back to 2019. Documented complaints include repair costs charged to owners for damage they say was not theirs, occupancy guarantees that went unmet, unverified water-bill refunds, a monthly tenancy handed over without an owner-signed management agreement, one owner who could not retrieve the keys to their own apartment after terminating the arrangement, and another who had to publish a second complaint because the first changed nothing. Owners hold leverage tenants do not: the inventory itself. A managed-rental platform that loses units loses its business, and that is the pressure point.

Question 11

What should I photograph before moving into a Travelio unit?

Accepted Answer

Everything, with visible timestamps, on the day you get the keys. Walls at close range — stains are the single most commonly disputed deduction. Floors, skirting, and any existing scuffs. Every appliance, switched on and working, including the refrigerator and air conditioning. Furniture, including the underside and back of anything upholstered. The bathroom, including grout and any mould. Meter readings for electricity and water. Then video-walk the whole unit narrating the date. Send a summary to Travelio in the app chat that same day asking them to confirm the condition in writing, and screenshot their reply. That reply is the document you will need.

Question 12

Will Travelio refund to a foreign bank account?

Accepted Answer

This is where foreign residents most often get stuck. Tenants report refunds blocked because the bank account named for the refund did not match the name on the booking — a condition raised only at the refund stage, and not applied when the same payment was accepted in the first place. One related account describes a refund refused because the person who booked and the guest who arrived were different people. Protect yourself at the moment you pay: document the payment route, keep the transfer receipt showing the account name, and ask in writing at booking which account the deposit will be returned to. Get the answer in the app chat, not on a call.

Question 13

Are the negative Travelio reviews real?

Accepted Answer

Check them yourself — that is the point of this site. Every complaint here carries a date and a link to its original source, most of them on MediaKonsumen, a long-running Indonesian consumer letters publication with four full pages of Travelio complaints, and on Trustpilot, where the company holds 2.0 out of 5 from 69 reviews with 81% at one star. Nothing on this site is invented or paraphrased into something stronger than its source supports. We also publish the entries that are not damning, including two formal company responses and three complaints that were resolved — because a record that hides those is not a record.

Question 14

Travelio charged me after I moved out. Is that allowed?

Accepted Answer

They can raise a claim; what they cannot reasonably do is charge you for it without evidence you can test. Demand the itemisation: a dated photograph from before your tenancy, a dated photograph at check-out, and the supplier invoice. Documented cases include a guest billed for a mini-refrigerator repair they denied causing, furniture damage that pre-dated the tenancy, and an electricity penalty raised weeks after departure. One tenant spent a month contesting 'missing items' despite Travelio's own staff having signed off on the unit at move-out — which is exactly why that sign-off is worth insisting on before you hand back the keys.

Question 15

Travelio offered a voucher instead of my refund. Do I have to accept?

Accepted Answer

No. Money owed to you is money, not credit toward another booking with the same company. Reviewers report being offered discount vouchers in place of a cash refund — that is not a refund, and accepting it locks you into transacting with them again while extinguishing your claim. Reply in writing that you require the refund to the original payment method, cite the amount and the date it was due, and set a deadline. If they hold the position, that written exchange becomes useful evidence at BPSK, because it shows the money was acknowledged as owed and simply not paid in a form you could use.

Question 16

Travelio says it is 'waiting for billing confirmation'. Is that legitimate?

Accepted Answer

Building managements typically issue utility statements on a fixed day each month, which is why complainants have challenged this explanation as open-ended. It appears in three separate records here, including one tenant still unpaid after 18 working days who pointed out the building issued statements on the 5th of every month. Reply asking for three specifics in writing: the date the statement is expected, the name of the contact at the building, and a committed payment date once it arrives. An explanation that never resolves into a date is not an explanation — and once you have asked for those three things in writing, its absence is itself evidence.

Question 17

What are the alternatives to Travelio for renting in Jakarta?

Accepted Answer

This site does not recommend or take money from any rental platform, and will not pretend to rank competitors it has not researched. What it can tell you is what to demand of whoever you rent from, because the failure mode documented here is not unique to one company. Insist on: a dated, signed condition report at move-in, countersigned by the agent; a written deposit-return deadline in the contract with a named consequence for missing it; an itemisation clause requiring photographic evidence for any deduction; and a named contact rather than a support queue. A landlord or platform that refuses all four in writing is telling you something.

Question 18

Is it safe to post a negative review about a company in Indonesia?

Accepted Answer

Post what you can evidence, and frame it as your own experience. Indonesia's Electronic Information and Transactions Law has been used against consumers who posted complaints online — the Prita Mulyasari case is the standing precedent — so accuracy is your protection rather than a limitation. Stick to dated facts, amounts, and documents you actually hold. Describe your own experience as your own experience. Do not state as settled fact something you cannot evidence. Keep the originals. A precise, sourced account is both safer and considerably more damaging to a company than an insult, because it cannot be dismissed as an emotional outburst.

Questions people actually ask about Travelio