Today would’ve been the first time I’ve ever used Airbnb. Instead, my birthday celebration and bridal shower were ruined. The last minute cancellation by my host could’ve been handled a lot better by the Airbnb Account manager. They had no integrity and should be banned. They canceled my Instant Book reservation after telling me they were double booked because of spring break and then I found that the same property that left eight women traveling from six parts of the US stranded reposted on the Airbnb website at least five additional times under different descriptions and different names.
After discovering this with several Airbnb staff, this host was charged a $100 penalty while I missed my flight waiting on the promise of help by Airbnb’s customer service team. The olive branch given by Airbnb was expediting my refund which I won’t revive for at least three to five business days and $350 to cover my airline ticket. Honestly that’s not enough to make up for ruining one of the most precious moments I will have in my life, the celebration of my marriage. This will now be the memory I will tell about the bridal shower I never had. I’ll make sure to add the costs of lost plane tickets for my bridesmaids and those who made there flight to the story.
Due to me waiting for a promised call at 9:00 AM EST that never took place I was not able to inform them of the lack of resolution by Airbnb so they would not get on their flight. By the time I finally received a call from a supervisor to provide an update on if additional funds had been approved to secure lodging it was past 12:00 PM, three hours past the time they promised to call me. It took my third time requesting a call back to actually speak to someone and by that time I’d missed my flight.
I am in the process of receiving my funds back (which would happen anyway since the host cancelled) with an additional credit of $350 after I finally got in touch with someone in customer service 3 1/2 hours past the promised time (after requesting a call back via the site). That does not make up for the ineffectiveness of Airbnb to resolve my issue, nor the airfare my guests lost, nor the costs incurred for the guests who made their flights and had to pay for another to return because Airbnb could not step up and assist someone who is a first time user with their platform.
Eight women who made plans to celebrate my life event since November 2017 were displaced and I’m still waiting on my phone call from the account rep in California as promised by Airbnb. Help me understand how I should feel as a first time customer using Airbnb?