Airbnb Guest Stories

87 Comments

1. This is not as bad as some others, but just this morning I was feeding a cat on the street near the Airbnb. The owner has spies and one of them tipped him off. I went in to get the cat some water and when I came back the owner had the plate of paper cat food in his hand and started ranting about how feeding cats is forbidden! This is on an island with many cats, and they are beloved. I just stood there in disbelief. Now I know I’m going to get a negative review for not following unstated house rules. The previous evening he went off on me for leaving the exterior light on during the day. I didn’t even know it was on. He also got testy that I haven’t been to his cafe yet. After this morning, I’m not going!

   Something like this has happened with a previous host, but not as bad. I left him a good review and right after that he left me a terrible review. The lesson I learned is to not leave a review until AFTER the host does. Otherwise you play all your cards and they say anything. Also, check your star rating because sometimes they’ll leave a nice review but hit you with low stars. Guests can only check their star rating with the help of another host. If you have a friend who is a host, make an ‘insta booking’ reservation for far in the future. Then you can email them to check your star rating prior to leaving a review for a host.

   It’s like war out there. Some of these hosts take pleasure in wrecking your rating.

2. I had a unit in a building in toronto the had many air bnbs when I looked online i couldn’t break my lease so I turned it into air bnb I was getting many booking but when a guest who had a fake picture and was very suspicious couldn’t find my lockbox wich was weird because it had pictures and many directions as 12 previous guest never had an issue he went to my condo board office and asked them they immediately targeted my unit I had my lock box amd key cut off and my bookings I had made couldn’t access my unit I contacted air bnb let them know thus listing needs to be canceled as new building policy’s were being enforced for covid 19 no air bnb but they stopped it for 30 days n reactivated I was getting calls not even knowing it was being booked and had very angry guest I already have up the unit. Later found out all the other air bnbs in my building were stil going strong im younger with tattoos maybe don’t fit the businessman description I feel rules aren’t enforced to everyone wich makes it very hard on both sides and liability limited

3. I’m done with Airbnb. I was a client for many years. I just stayed in a place in Hamstead NC wherethe host charged top dollar for a molding single wide trailer and then left me a bad review for not cleaning enough. The house was so moldy, I don’t know how it could ever be clean. In I followed the check out instructions, tidying and cleaning as instructed. Apparently they expect me to pay $300 for one night, including cleaning fee, and then I’m supposed to do a deep clean of their decrepit trailer. In the many years of staying with Airbnb I never received anything other than a glowing review. The nastiness from the host has absolutely turned me off Airbnb for good. Totally ruined my vacation.

4. I’m shocked to see so many negative comments about Airbnb from the people! I have never used this platform, although I was intended to. The reason is obvious – negative experience with the platform itself even before I have booked any accommodation. I have planned to visit Frankfurt Main with my husband and my friend told me about this renting platform and she sent me an invitation link by email so I could create my account and get a bonus for our trip. I’ve done it and got the coupon. After some time when I tried to book a the place, it turned out that I can not use the coupon, because my profile was not verified. So I attached the copy of my ID and selfie for the verification and it was confirmed in the email from Airbnb, but I was still unable to use the coupon. I contacted the customer support and was told, that they will look into it. Then I received some message about their policies and coupon suggesting, that it’s a fraud. I don’t know what fraud, I just followed the steps given on the site when creating the account. The amount was not high, just enough for us to repay the train ticket for one way, but I got so much frustrated, that I decided to ask them to delete my account. I decided that it’s not worth to spoil my holidays with a company, which is not trustworthy from the very beginning and not giving something that was promised. We have booked the trip with other platform, it was more expensive, but also our experience was positive. Now, when reading all the stories I think that it was my very good decision – to remove the account immediately instead of booking with them.

5. All it takes is one rotten apple and I will never use Air BNB again. The Company doesn’t hold Hosts accountable and there are too many loop holes for con artist Hosts to take advantage of people by making there own rules and regulations which are different for all Hosts.. What a joke, its a poor mans way to get a room and support rip off artists to take money from their customers!!!

6. Airbnb is pretty good. They have refunded me for the last booking but yesterday booking which i have made was not confirmed and money deducted from my account. Please suggest where to go now. Support are not helping me.

7. Airbnb is nice when it’s nice but when it’s not it’s realy bad. I have been using it for the past few years because it’s cheaper then hotels. I had good experiences until it started getting worse. The biggest problem with Airbnb is that you as a paying guest is being reviewed by people you are paying money to. I got fake review from a guy because I have refused to go out on a date with him. Another time I got a very exaggerated review about a mess I supposedly left in a house . There was no mess but some host despite of charging cleaning fee expect you to leave their home absolutely spotless. And I really mean ABSOLUTELY, as if you have never stayed there. One dirty cup in a kitchen, an armchair moved few centimeters left and you can get a bad review. When you go on holidays or stressful business trip the last thing you want is reading reviews about yourself from busisness/people you are paying money to. You as a customer should review service providers not the other way around! I am done with Airbnb. It’s cheaper but not worth the stress .

   • Myself and daughter used an airbnb for a long time, when in between places. It was a little over a year ago and the worst experience of my life. For the months of July and August, after the couple who ran it told me my sister wasn’t allowed to stay past a certain time, I was being drugged and raped. I have a couple memories but most was a blur. Sadly, it was not just me, but my then 2 year old daughter who was assaulted. We are just picking up the pieces. No one believed me for a long time. Some still claim not to. Including my parents which is incredibly hurtful. The place is still running but they are being investigated by dcf, and I’m hoping it will go further. (They have a 6 year old daughter and I’m certain they have done this to others)

8. I have used airbnb a lot in the past and generally advice against it. I have numerous stories of sexualt assault, fishy hosts (I mean come on who in their right mind rents out rooms in their own house?) and cheap guests (guess why the reviews are so overly good – they would do anything to save a couple of bucks for next time, even if the place was in fact a rodent infested hellhole). Have had 2 superhosts who were outright sexual predators. Reported one of them to airbnb, and they never took his account down, although he confessed to them. I find airbnb really shady, in spite of there wholesome image. Like facebook, you cannot trust them to protect you. They just want to make money!

   • Nightmare booking via Air b n b …their inability to push through a refund…it is just a booking system and a bad one at that…booked into guesthouse…wasnt happy with the room…no windows and mosquito in the room….wanted to cancel after 1st night but wasnt allowed to by host…awful treatment by the host. Wanted to leave…eventual got a refund from the guy who had called the police…thankfully they took my side and forced him to pay me back money…non the less it was an awful experience and I complained to air b n b …of which they never took it seriously…I will not use their platform again…there are better booking platforms out there and I’d rather have peace of mind and not just keep expecting dirt cheap accommodation. Also If another guest has come through at a higher price then you they will give that guest preference over the cheaper booking…I will never use them again …awful company, awful ethics, unfair booking platform, doesn’t work in favour as a Guest …only seems to be for the host…

9. Cancelled my reservation with no reason, months after I made it. It was paid for and confirmed. What kind of mickey mouse is that?

10. Hope you all learned your lesson about AirBnB. Let’s not forget when you use STRs, there’s a good chance you are disturbing a residential neighborhood. The neighbors do not want you there, as much as you don’t want an STR next to your own home. If it’s a ‘nice quiet neighborhood that feels like home’, then it probably is, and you are disintegrating a community. Stop being so selfish and get a clue. Yes, AirBnB corporate sucks, but they owe you nothing and they know it. Stop supporting this P.O.S. business. Don’t be an STR zombie!!!

    • Why assume we homeowners wouldn’t want short term rentals in our neighborhood? That’s pretty elitist. I have no problems with my neighbors opting to AirBnB. Why should I?

11. I had an unfortunate experience with a host Briyah in NYC, who was apparently just out to make money by charging for ridiculous things. Claiming a single sheet costs $60 to replace! Furthermore, she was such a nag, always around to criticize and comment on every little thing I did. (Full kitchen use was permitted in the profile, but I ended up not using it much, because of her terrible attitude. Right before I was about to leave, she asked me if I had used a dishwasher before – how rude and entitled – and you really think you had to say that right before the guest is about to leave – what purpose does that accomplish?) The best day of my stay was when I wasn’t there at all. Though she had this awful and critical personality, she wrote that I chose to “keep to myself.” I didn’t think I was staying there to babysit this person. It’s obvious she is very insecure, kept telling me her place is booked all the time, when I saw it is not on the calendar. Briyah also told me another guest saw a mouse in the room. This place is a wreck, and she is an insecure host, who takes out her issues on her guests (really, really uncomfortable to have to hear when I was there.)

    • Same thing at Mentor on the Lake, OH! Diane was the host! Its like we must have stayed at the same place! Nag Nag Nag! Stayed in her room with her dog and 2 cats waiting for you to do anything wrong so she can tell you about it out her door! Constant accusations. God forbid you leave a light on in your room when you leave to go use the bathroom. She accused us of using her “roommates” shower gel and said she was going to charge for it. We both had our own toiletries, I don’t even remember seeing shower gel. Paper notes taped all over everything telling you what not to do and to clean up… well then don’t charge a cleaning fee is what I think. The house was a trainwreck, broken blinds, falling down crap of a place, hoarder in the rest of the house. There was a couch in the room with a blanket cover over it. Lifted the cover, disgusting filthy covered in animal hair. She made one room look nice and put it on Airbnb. Tip to all… don’t rent unless you see a pic of the whole house. Yikes. We left a day early, it was unbearable. You weren’t a guest in her house, you were an impediment to be nagged.

12. Don’t rent your place on Airbnb. We used to rent two rooms we have untill one day we had a guest called “Caroline” who was so rude to the other guest called “Molly” and fight with her at 11:30 pm at night. The second day we received a message from the victim guest “Molly” about what happened and when we asked Caroline about what happened last night she was so rude to us as well. We are a family husband and wife and infant. Since Caroline was rude to both me and my wife in addition to the last night guest (who actually cancelled her stay and left) we asked Caroline to leave. She refused and went to work. I texted her at noon asking her to leave when she comes back and that we will refund her the entire day. When she came back at 11:00 pm I asked her again. She yelled at us and refused again. We had no choice but to call the police. The police arrived and escorted her out. Such a terrible experience. However, it didn’t end here. Caroline falsely reported that there is a camera or a recorder in her room. Airbnb shut down our account and believed her without investigation or even thinking logically about it. If there is camera or recorder why did she stay at all or even want to continue to stay. If I see a recording device in my room what is the first thing I will do? I will certainly take a picture for this device and share it with Airbnb or at least I will not stay for a minute. Airbnb trust and safety don’t think. They contacted us and we told them the story and even sent a video for the entire room and asked them to contact “Molly” to get more information. I don’t know what they did but certainly they didn’t contact “Molly” or judge the situation correctly. Anyway it is a terrible experience and we will not bring people into our house anymore. Not worth it.

13. I am here to share my experience i had with airbnb today. Firstly, my reservation was cancelled and I found out that it was cancelled only the day i was landed in Japan. The day before my departure, i had checked my airbnb apps and the status was still confirmed. I didn’t expected that it was cancelled nor did the host (Host name – Wakana) upon my arrival which it showed cancelled after checking with the host. Here is where the problem starts to get worse. I did not know that there is a policy that forbids 3rd party to book on behalf of someone (My reservation was booked by my brother), please note that my Japan trips i had also booked 2 different places and the other hosts have no issues with the booking which my brother booked on my behalf.
    My brother had called and checked with the airbnb support and was told that the reservation was cancelled by them reason because of the typhoon. The only mean of informing to us was just an email indicated that the amount was refunded. Yes, here everyone would had thought that why no one checked the email. The reason is simple as everything was done and communicated in airbnb apps. In the apps it was still confirmed and the host has not message or inform in regards to the cancel.
    So because of this predicament, we are desperate to find another place to stay as it was already late at night, my brother not knowingly nor did I about the 3rd party booking and proceed to find another place to stay on the day itself. This is where my brother’s RM5.2k (approx USD1.2K) had been down the drain as the booking done without knowing that the host rejected and insisted that we had violated the airbnb rules. The host asked us to cancelled the booking on our own (My brother was very suspicious of the host unwilling-to-help behaviour) and read the cancellation policy, needless to say once my brother clicked cancel it would be more reason for the host to use it against us, which indicates that it is the guest who cancelled the booking. We did asked the host to refund us back the amount since we had not even stayed and explained our predicament to the host. But the host chose not to refund at all knowing our predicament and i have never even set foot at his home.
    Also, we did checked up with the airbnb support and all they can do is to try to convince the host to refund the money back to us, and still the host does not want to. If you are wondering who is the host, THE host name in AIRBNB is YUKARI MIKI (yukarie56d951t4jkvo888@host.airbnb.com and +81-90-6543-4228).
    Please do not hate me for posting this, all my intention is to let known what i faced using airbnb and how the policy could be a loophole that could cause you to waste your money. Once you booked the money will be immediately debitted to the host, which i really find it ridiculous, it should be debitted or charged after the stay. Refund policy was not even protected or in the stand of the customer, especially with my case where there should be a policy or a mean to get my refund back.
    All in all, there is definitely a way to at least get my brother to stay in the place, may be by getting me to create an account and book it again, but the host and airbnb supports do not even bothered to assist, but would rather see my brother’s money down the drain. I would not use airbnb anymore and i would strongly suggest to use another platform.

14. Below I will relay the correspondence I received after the request of a refund. I would like to clarify I paid $900 so I am NOT requesting a full refund but $774 dollars instead. Also, since this correspondence I have reached out to air bnb a second time to report this person as I have never experienced such a terrible person let alone someone in the service industry. Also, I have seen that since I went to the cottage, so one week later, someone else has left an almost exact review as mine. I suggest you remove Johnny as a host until they have a cottage that is livable or you will continue to have unhappy customers which is unfortunate because I have used Air Bnb many times and have never experienced this and have found the actual site/employees extremely helpful. It isn’t about the money at this point, it is ensuring no one experiences a weekend like I, my guests, and others who have written reviews (if he doesn’t cancel on you right before) again.

    From an Unknown Number – Saturday July 28, 2018

    Hi Jamie I am part of the hosting for the air bnb at Go Home Lake. I received your request for a full refund due to the condition of the cottage and amenities not provided. I would like to know the specifics that you were not satisfied with. From my knowledge there was no complaints of this matter brought to us during the whole duration of the stay, which I find odd considering we could have rectified this situation. We do not provide free stays, if there was a problem that warranted a complete refund then clearly the cottage was not fit to stay at for 2 nights and 3 days (which you did). Also to my understanding extra space was offered to you free of charge which you had no problem taking advantage of. Please understand this message in no way shape or form is meant to be malicious but as air bnb hosts we have seen many guest who have tried to take advantage of the system.

    Myself – I am not trying to take advantage of the system whatsoever. That cottage was disgusting and not what was advertised. I planned that weekend 5 months in advance … I was not leaving in the middle after driving 3+ hours. There was nothing you could have done to get rid of the mice or the dirt or ensure your hot tub or wifi or any basic amenities were there in the middle of the weekend. I sent a message to air bnb and to Johnny and posted a public review so if you can’t tell what was wrong by looking inside that cottage… that is unbelievable to me. I am a kind person and would never “take advantage” I stressed the entire weekend. So thanks for your accusatory and malicious message. I am hurt and disappointed and it wouldn’t have mattered Johnny didn’t answer my messages once in five months of planning. So until you would like to take responsibility for any of that false advertising I will be ensuring my review is public because now I am hurt.

    Myself – I’ll settle for 500 just to get this over with, I can’t get that weekend back as much as I want to. We tried to not let it ruin our long awaited weekend but it was terrible. I would advise moving forward Clean the place, take off that you have a hot tub and wifi, put mouse traps in there, fix the screens and tell people to bring every basic amenity ever.

    Unknown Number – Your unwillingness to leave because of the long drive up does not warrent for you to fully use a service and then ask to not pay for it. As for the mice, I think you mean the chipmunk population that enter the house if doors arent closed. And are you referring to the dirt that you guys left behind and we cleaned up? The hot tub situation could have been sorted if you had asked us to open it for you guys while you guys were here. As with the wifi, no one asked for the password. You can not complain about us not complying if you guys did not request anything. Are you looking at the wrong listing ? Because the cottage on the pictures is the cottage you stayed at.
    Telling me that you are kind and hurt does not help to resolve the situation and frankly does not matter. Also kind people do not have to state that they are kind they also work to resolve problems. Furthermore I stated that it was not a malcious message, your reaction and interpretation shows us that you have an understanding messages. Why are you not taking the responsibility of poor communication? We were here during your whole stay. As for you guys losing your weekend, we can not get this weekend back to provied to cooperative guests as well.

    Myself – I am a teacher, I am smart and I know the difference between a chipmunk and a mouse [this was absolutely a mouse 100% I was up close to it trying to get in the bathtub away from all the screams]. We did not leave a mess, we left it nicer than we got to it! And we asked the young boy that fixed the hot water many questions and he could answer nothing. As for not resolving … I’m asking for less than I deserve and you have offered nothing except name calling and acting terribly.
    Dont text me back I don’t need any more name calling. I’ll contact air bnb for some actual service.

    Unknown Number – Ok I am a human, since we are just stating things now. “I am smart” is another statement that is irrelevant and which you have not done a good job at proving. Firstly saying what you want is not considered resolving. Secondly the only name I have called you is Jamie. Thirdly “don’t text me back” once again shows us that you are unwilling to communicate and cooperate which is the root of this current situation. All that I have stated are facts. Facts are irrefutable. Your inability to come up with an factual rebuttal along with using your feelings and perception to attempt to reason does not help to resolve anything.
    The only question you asked Johnny was about a possible discount. Which he replied with probably not.

    But I will respect your wish for no more direct contact while waiting for air bnbs response.

    Myself – I have contacted air bnb and will be posting all of your absolutely disgusting comments on all of your listings to ensure no one has to deal with you again.

15. Hi Juan,
    The extra charges of a government on the purchasing of property in the form of general country tax can be eliminate easily with in a seven days according to the rules and regulations of a government,If you write an application with the authentic reasons for a elimination of property tax and also attached a legal documents of a property tax pairs after that submitted in the government office by the tax layers which is helpful for you to approved the claim of your property tax in the seven days without any allegations of a government on the application of your property tax ,Remember don’t write any irreverent reasons in the applications of property tax you want to submit in the office of government and also don’t attached any illegal or extra document of property which increase the chances to refuse or neglect your claim application ,So keep it in your mind all the instructions and requirements given to you by the tax layer after concerning this kind of matter according to the current policy of government .
    Thanks

16. Our host (a former police officer) had his bother who lived close by spy on us repeatedly throughout the first evening. It first started when he sat at the end of a nearby road with a friend observing us for about 45 minutes from his truck, as we tried to relax on the patio after driving all day (how do you relax on vacation when you feel like you are under surveillance). The truck then pulled into the driveway and sat there for about 20 minutes while the driver was on the phone. At about 8 pm, the host’s brother and friend randomly showed up with a 36 pack of toilet paper and cleaning supplies indicating that they needed to replenish supplies in the house. I assume this was an attempt to see what was going on inside the house after we’d been there fore a few hours (ummm…. dinner and a couple beers was going on, pretty normal vacation type stuff). Our reason for staying at the this house was to attend a local music festival close by. My assumption is the host thought we were “the wrong types” because we were going to a festival. I guess we shouldn’t have told him. In actually fact we are just 4 middle ages guys (three of us landlords ironically) who wanted a nice quiet place to stay at night after a couple days of taking in some music. Regardless we left the place spotless, as I always to at my AirB&B stays and we left it at that. This year we have chosen to stay a few miles away at another house. I assume all will be OK, like my other stays have been elsewhere.

17. Wow reading these stories will make you a complete skeptic and not trust anyone. Unfortunately, I too got played by the HOST’s property manager, she was dishonest and fabricated a lie. I cannot stress how important it is to TELL THE TRUTH ALWAYS!! These hosts and even guests are not your friends!! IF you have an issue don’t just address it with the host, address it with Airbnb IMMEDIATELY. Take pictures, always, there is nothing like concrete evidence.

    What’s scary about the opportunity to NOT edit your reviews after someone has submitted a review about you, doesn’t make the review honest/accurate. We could be looking at reviews that are not all the way truthful because someone, like me, privately messaged the issues and gave a decent review. I’ve expressed my concern to Airbnb, and I am still awaiting a resolution. The HOST representative was able to QUICKLY cover her (you know what) to submit a review while she knew I was traveling and basically called me liar about the issues we had because she probably ASSUMED I would slam her for her POOR customer service. She dropped the ball, and she KNEW IT!

    ISSUES I told her privately before her BIG LIE, & NOW TO AIRBNB & THE PUBLIC:

    We paid over $1560 for this listing…

    -Check-In was at 3PM- House Keepers didn’t leave the home until after 4pm (still washing and drying sheets/towels), she said they were late because of church, there were no toiletries (mainly paper towels, bar soap-in which we brought our personal bars, and no hand soap at the guest room sink), the House Keepers had to leave and go get them. The House Keepers sat outside & in wash room because by this time, it was after 4pm and we needed to get into the house and unpack to get to where we needed to be Sunday.

    -The guy, in which we had no clue, someone was living there, had a used creased white dress shirt sitting on the rack (cuffs flipped) with other loose hangers in the mastersbedroom, his clothes was in the closet (fine), but where did you want your guest to place their stuff? My sister and her better-half had to place their belongs near their beds.

    -We also discovered some mail sitting on his dresser-mastersbedroom, we are total strangers and so are other guests who have been visiting, cannot believe they allowed that.. So my mom asked one of the House Keepers are they gonna put it away? There was also mail in the kitchen where he had a bottle of Beefeater gin. I don’t care if someone is living there and is traveling/away, you don’t leave their personal documents out, we felt like we were invading someone’s personal space.

    -In the listing, they stated there was a microwave, NONE (false advertisement).. we used the convection (for toasting mainly) oven/oven, but you can’t assume everything goes in it or someone knows how to operate it.

    -She displayed poor customer service when we asked her how to operate the TV, she told us to take the masterbedroom “Trial and error” (really wow?) and she told my sister basically to enjoy the Mardi Gras Parades. Little did she know we had been out all morning long and my mom needed some rest. There was only Netflix, which is fine but you basically had to use your phone to control the livingroom TV (apps only). Can’t assume everyone was doing Mardi Gras 24/7.

    -The towel rack fell after trying to place one on there near the sink in the guest bathroom

    -The stained black-ink “wash rags” in which she claims I found it and merged with fresh ones was found with clean face towels folded, there was also another big towel with the same marks on them. (I mean good grief NOBODY has time to play games with YOU woman, we too old for that!)

    -The house code was literally four buttons in a row, then you could literally walk in the house (not cool for security purposes)

    -There were blood-like stains on pillow cases and pillows

    -The streets in the neighborhoods were super tore up, big pot holes and lots of construction to get there, very dangerous if you are not familiar with the area and are not careful

    -Molded food in the fridge drawer as well as expired bread on the counter

    -& now, the fact she has lied on me

    The lengths people will go through just because THEY has the HOSTS dropped the ball.

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19. I must say that during a period I used airbnb a lot, but will never do it again. Have several horror stories, including a superhost who sexually assaulted me. Plus reviews CANNOT be trusted on airbnb, Plus airbnb does NOT protect guests to any greater extent.
    I am sure there are nice people renting our on airbnb but my experience is that this business attracts fishy people who want to make an extra buck fast. If you have a decent salary, chose a hotel or hostel instead!

    • Hi Sophia, I’m an investigative reporter working on a story about AirBnB’s lack of safety measures for guests. If you are interested in talking further about this, you can reach me at mb4652@columbia.edu

20. avoid this man at all costs.
    https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/101208
    After booking a trip he refused to answer, so I spent call after call and a long time waiting on hold as the reps tried to contact him. A day prior to my planned trip I had to cancel in fear of what might happen. I gave him a thumbs down and then, mind you this is two weeks after I made attempts to clarity information, he replied once I gave him thumbs down with: “I understand you are interested in off the grid living” OMG… WTF???? I asked to review my experience and airbnb did not grant me the opportunity, I think it is the right of others to know what to expect, I waisted 2 weeks thinking I was going on a trip, only to be the victim of this covert narcissist at last.

21. If you are going to Paris , you want to use the AIRBNB service and you want to book this accomodation.

    https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/19629139

    I would like to give you the advice.
    – Do Not give the host or Co-woker 200 euro Cash for safely deposite. They will try to say it is in the contract.
    – Walk around the apartment , look everything in the details, such as door, chairs, tables, curtains, toilets . Please take pictures if possible and sign on the piece of paper.
    – On the day return the key to the Host , look around with the host , if you are unlucky , they will make up the story, but if they do it , Do not pay them anything. Tell them to contact AIRBNB. If they do not make up a story , ask them to sign on the piece of paper to declare everything has been checked.
    – Finally , Cancel you Credit card relates to the Airbnb payments , the Airbnb still has a chance to collect your money from the Safety Deposit.

    – Remember the Airbnb is just a website service, they do not have to protect Guests and Hosts. They only stand on the money side. Do not expect you will get help from them, please forget about their insurance. We all know if we claim for insurance , how much we have to pay for next year. If the Airbnb uses insurance to protect us , will the insurance company take Airbnb as their customers? We all drop to the AIRBNB trap.

    Thank you for your times to read my email .

22. UNSAFE HOUSE and all Airbnb cared about was a possible bad review (not that one of their listings was unsafe)!!

    We chose a very cute little renovated house in San Antonio for a family week-end to celebrate my daughter’s white coat ceremony. Airbnb, unfortunately, did not give address until after we paid ($140 a night for a total of 3 nights = $440.00). The address was 123 Bank street. The house looked exactly like it did online, BUT many houses on the street had bars on doors and windows (ours did not!). There was a school across the street and when my elderly mother, daughter and I arrived around midnight, there was about 20/30 males loitering at the school directly across the street. In addition, there was not a dead bolt on the back door. We immediately left, stayed elsewhere and asked for a refund. Owner said no. Daughter explained how it was dangerous and said that our reviews would have to reflect that. Owner said she would refund two nights (ASSuming that would make us not write an honest review, I guess?). She refunded $60 and said we would get the rest when review was passed. In review, we put that it was a great little house, but that women should not stay there alone. After our review, the owner wrote and said we would not get refund, because we threatened with a bad review (Airbnb called it extortion)!! That’s how they got out of refunding us a penny!!

23. We booked a flat in Haarlem, the Netherlands, for our 10-day holiday in July 2017. Our hosts were a young couple and we picked the flat for its location, off the main city centre and walking distance. Also for the freedom to cook our meals. We had a very brief introduction as to how the kitchen and the washing machine worked and the owners quickly disappeared. They left behind 4 cupboards stuffed with their stuff which explained the very stuffiness of the place. Opening the garden door was the only way to get oxygen into the flat. The bedroom was at the front of the building and some renovations didn’t allow opening the window here. There was a hatch joining the living room and the bedroom which was the only way of ventilating the room. The place was full of cats hair, also the 7 chairs. We had to hoover twice to start with and spent arrival day cleaning the place. Plus every other day to try to get rid of the stuffiness. The bathroom had a disgusting smell, probably clogged pipes, which we could not get rid off. Using the washing machine gave way to the same unbearable experience. Cleanliness was nearly impossible. We had to live out of our suitcases because there was no storage space and opening cupboards was a health hazard: bundles of cloth and shoes and things piling up to the ceiling. The same applied to the kitchen, where the tiny fridge was taken by the owners’ food. The kitchen was so messy that cooking was impossible so we had to buy ready salads at the supermarket or fish at the local Fish stand, and sit in the garden. The last 2 days were dramatic since it rained and we could not sit in the garden. It escapes me how people can live like that, let alone rent it out to strangers to earn a huge amount of money. First and last time AirB&B. We checked the conditions and saw that there is no control over the quality of the rentals and nobody can be held responsible. That means a commission for nothing. Part of the insult consists of adding 35 € to the total as “cleaning fee” to end up having to clean somebody else’s rubbish yourself. NEVER AGAIN.

24. The phone number in airbnb’s website to call in case you need assistance does not work, which goes to support what is said here over and over that they do not want to be bothered. Some type of consumer protection service should exist for people not to be hurt by this, in the way described by many here. And Airbnb should be liable when they do not care about customers. In countries like the US people get 2 weeks vacation a year. It is unfair that you come across a bad rental experience and have to go through this type of experience while a big company like airbnb is making lots of money from what they refer to as guests.

25. My bf and I went to Japan for the first time. This was our dream trip and everything went great.. until we reached our last airbnb location.. She advertised the place with the word “clean” in her title. Great reviews overall with maybe two people who complained about cleanliness. I disregarded because everybody’s standard of cleanliness is different. I like my place clean, but not OCD about it. Anyway, first, it’s a freakin’ puzzle to find the keys (find the 35th bench at this park and find the red bike. there should be a lock. Once you get the key, go straight, under the bridge, etc. etc. – I just want the keys! there are a billion red bikes too!) Second, the host said she would be there – wasn’t there – that’s fine, as along as we can get it. Third, we get in the room and there is hair everywhere, and dust in all four corners with something that looked like breadcrumbs. Hair on the pillows. The bathroom was THE WORST! There was a dead squished cockroach, pee and hair all over the toilet which we had to clean, hair and dust all over the bathroom. When we contacted the host she had the nerve to tell us, “this is not a hotel, if you wanted a clean place, you shouldn’t stay at airbnb.” Excuse me??! If you posted a freakin picture of a dead cockroach I wouldn’t have stayed there! We packed our stuff, told the host to either clean the place or refund us – we will NOT be staying there tonight. We walked a good 20min to get to a near by hotel.
    Called airbnb and they were incredibly helpful. They were so apologetic and gave us a huge discount to find a new airbnb – which we did right away for the next day. We we so tired and angry at this point, but airbnb customer service made everything ok!

    This host has since deleted that room, however, she has a new listing and this place already has negative reviews on how dirty it is. AVOID this place if you go to Japan!! She seems like a sweet girl, but man.. was she a complete opposite!

    Her name is Yuki, Airbnb name says You &Tokyo. Currently has a listing “Enjoy new Tokyo, explore old Tokyo” in Toshima-ku, Tōkyō-to, Japan.

    Link here: https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/20151773

26. Although we have had terrific experiences through/with airbnb in Virginia and North Carolina, our experiences in Florida have definitely fallen below expectations. My husband had to travel to the Daytona Beach area for business, booked a nice-looking apartment–all was wonderful except the horrible neighborhood. Airbnb really should provide addresses or at least street names so that potential renters can Google Earth what they are getting themselves into before making the reservation. My husband was really worried about leaving his car parked on the street, which was required, so he found a streetlight to park under so that the local methheads would likely not bother the vehicle.

    Shortly thereafter, I had to take a trip to Florida–this time, Ormond Beach. A woman was renting rooms in her house. She had great reviews. But when I got there, I couldn’t imagine who would give this worn-down, filthy, nasty place more than one star. What was creepy is the woman (the host) was MIA. She had a guy (roommate) handling everything for her, although she did not tell me this was going to be the case. I moved the dresser in front of my door before going to bed.
    The house reeked of cigarettes, although there was “no smoking;” pieces of wood were missing from interior doors as if people had forced their way into rooms; it was just nasty, and I can’t imagine anyone wanting outsiders to see their home in that kind of shape.

    When I looked up the property in the online county records (to verify that the host really existed-I was truly that nervous the first day), I saw that she had purchased the house for way too much during the housing bubble. She seems unable to afford (or care about) the upkeep. Peeling, chipping paint outside–it was really run down and misrepresented on Airbnb. So–that’s likely the situation: Airbnb is helping her (and likely many others) out of a bad financial situation.

    I was thinking of contacting Airbnb to get a refund and go get a hotel (same price) but I knew it would be a hassle.

    Never again–at least not in the state of Florida.

27. Rented an apartment on AirBNB for 6 nights. I arrive Medellin and apartment was rented to other people. I cancel the reservation and AirBNB keeps $1,300 in penalties. Now more than a week latter and AirBNB only says they are looking into the case. Turns our the host has done this many times before and owes AirBNB $2,050 in previous cancelations and penalties for this same exact property which has been rented under a 6 month contract. The place still shows a available on AirBNB. AirBNB applied $1,028 of my cancelation penalty to the hosts debt with AirBNB and simply kept the commission. This on an apartment which was not even available for rent. O have contact them half a dozen times and host in chat admits the place was not available and they I should have a full refund. AirBNB tells the host he must submit a credit card number to process a refund to me, due to his debt on previous cancelled rentals that have nothing to do with me. Completely unfair and should be illegal. False advertising, breach of contract and essentially theft at this point.

28. Beware of these hosts in Oahu, Hawaii, Joyce Lignell and David Thielen: https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/10413701

    and beware of Airbnb’s Resolution Center, all you will get is a generic pre-written response!

    We had rented an apartment which was dirty with sticky grime, which felt and smelt like construction material that hadn’t been cleaned off properly, and felt unsafe to a pregnant woman.
    The apartment was also falsely advertised as having a full bathroom (yet it was without sink) and having a large balcony with view of the ocean (tiny balcony overlooking the parking lot and view of other buildings on all sides).
    We took detailed pictures and sent them to a case manager, whose best response was: “what, you’ve got some sand on the floor?”
    After hours spent on the phone with the case manager and the host, nothing was resolved: on the contrary, the host talked uninterruptedly without letting me get half a word in, and when I finally did he raised his voice and accused me of insulting him.
    We ended up booking a hotel instead, but were clear with the case manager that we did not want to cancel the reservation until we had obtained a refund, however we found the next day that the reservation have been cancelled regardless.

    Since then, it has been a useless back and forth of emails with Airbnb.
    To us, and according to Airbnb’s policies we are entitled to a reimbursement due to lack of cleanliness, safety and false advertisement, for all of which he submitted clear evidence. In addition, the cancellation was made against our will (or by the host), also warranting a refund.

    After almost a month, Airbnb turned down our claim (see our detailed letter below) and never responded to any of the issues we had expressly asked them to address with reference to Airbnb’s Policies, no explanation, no nothing. Simply appalling service!

    Our letter to the Resolution Center:
    Dear Sir/Madam,

    We are bringing our claim to the Resolution Center after trying to resolve an unsuccessful Airbnb experience with the hosts and mediated by case manager Allen D. to no avail.

    We are very unhappy with how our situation was addressed and handled by the case manager assigned, his attitude and demeanor towards us and our claim. We had been explaining that the studio apartment we rented was falsely advertized, the floors were extremely dirty, and smelled of new construction (please bear in mind that we are a five-month pregnant couple and health concerns are important to us). However, after sending photographic evidence of the state of the apartment we were asked dismissively: “What, there’s some sand on the floor?” which we found showing disrespect to our issue and unprofessional.

    We had asked the case manager specifically why our evidence was not strong enough to prove our room was not what was advertised, nor unfit to stay in. Therefore we ask that after your investigation you provide us with detailed responses to all the four points that we have listed below.

    The following points summarize why we feel we are entitled to a reimbursement, either from the hosts or Airbnb.

    1. The apartment was dirty. The floor was covered with sticky and dusty grime. The photos sent (attachments 1-6) clearly show that over 50% of the floor was covered with such grime, which appeared to be caulking that had not been cleaned off after remodeling of the room. Likewise, other surfaces within the room had collected a fine layer of dust. The dirt was not the kind that one finds from a day of missed dusting, but the kind one finds after construction (and we don’t feel we should explain how dangerous fine particulate matter is for our health).
    Honestly we don’t understand how the photos we sent are not enough to prove the floor was dirty, and to add to the evidence, the building manager was also sent to investigate from the host and in our presence reported to the hosts that there was residue all over the floors.

    We also claimed that the room had a chemical smell to it, which is something we cannot prove (who could?). Being pregnant, this was an important safety concern to us, and we state that it wasn’t a noxious smell that was apparent right away as you step into the apartment but it only became apparent after sitting in the room for a while, giving one a headache and dry throat.

    We have repeatedly informed the case manager that we are a five-month pregnant couple, so on top of the lack of cleanliness, which is clearly expressed in Airbnb’s policies as a minimum quality standard for a reimbursement (highlighted in the relevant sections of the policies copied below), we have raised the safety issue, also expressed in your policies.

    We also find it somewhat ironic that among all the booking fees kept, the hosts kept the cleaning fee, which would have been the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM they should have offered to reimburse especially considering we didn’t stay there and it needed another clean to begin with.

    2. The hosts were unwilling to cooperate. The policies clearly state that the hosts should have made themselves, or a representative available within 24-hours to investigate and solve the issue (highlighted in the policies below). The host repeatedly stated over the phone that he lived an hour away and could not come to assess the situation. Instead, after much time, the host had the property manager take a look at the room and report to the host. After this “investigation” NOTHING WAS RESOLVED by the host or the property manager. Instead, we spent over three hours waiting in the lobby of the condominium for the situation to be resolved.

    The host made a half-attempt at understanding and trying to resolve the situation by saying that he would come the following day to assess the situation himself and have it cleaned if needed, but he rudely retracted the offer when I informed him that I would not be available to meet him in person due to work commitments (I was in Honolulu for a conference) and that we’d need to converse over the telephone.

    The host (or Airbnb) should have at a minimum offered a reimbursement or other accommodation for the first night, in an attempt to resolve the issue within 24 hours. This never happened.

    3. The advertisement of the platform is deceiving
    The apartment bathroom that had advertised as having a full bathroom was missing the traditional sink and mirror combo in the “full bathroom”. The guests are instead required to use the kitchenette sink in the main room and it should have been part of the description on the portal that the bathroom does not have a sink and or is not a complete bathroom.
    This is another issue that we raised to the host right from the beginning, and the most the host could respond was: “this is a studio apartment, what do you expect?”
    When we had just came from a studio apartment with a complete full bathroom and had a lovely stay because everything was as advertised.
    We are resending pictures of the bathroom to show that it does not have a sink (pictures 7 and 8).

    The picture of the lanai (balcony) and relevant view on the platform (picture 9 attached) is not the picture of the actual balcony and view, which is a HUGE case of false advertisement. And was one of the main reasons my wife was drawn to choosing this air bnb. The actual balcony of apartment #602 has a view on the condominium parking lot, and is flanked by views of the condominium itself on both sides (the condominium has a tight L-shape). The ocean cannot be seen at all from the apartment’s balcony as shown in the picture posted on the platform, but only other apartments and buildings of Waikiki.
    While we did not take a picture of the balcony and view, we attach the picture posted on the portal (picture 9), which doesn’t even look like a view taken from the Waikiki Grand Hotel at all, unless maybe taken from the top floor at the complete other side of the building.

    We also include a picture of Waikiki Grand Hotel from Google Maps (figure 10): the Waikiki Grand Hotel is clearly indicated and I have marked the approximate location of apartment #602 with a red arrow (on the sixth floor, the condominium has ten floors), showing that this apartment has no view of the ocean as shown on the advertisement, and could not possibly have that view.

    These two issues violate a point that is clearly expressed under your minimum quality standards policy. A bathroom cannot be considered full without a sink, and it should have been clearly stated in the description of the room. Even more so, the picture of the view from the balcony is complete false advertisement and it should be removed or replaced with an accurate photo.

    4. We never authorized a cancellation.
    Our reservation was cancelled on the second day, however we never authorized a cancellation neither on the phone nor in writing.
    We don’t know if this was the case manager’s doing or the hosts’ wish, however, when we were asked over the phone whether we wished to cancel the reservation we clearly responded that we would not cancel UNTIL we had obtain a refund. We informed the case manager that the front desk at Waikiki Grand Hotel (within the same condominium as the Airbnb) had a room available we could rent at extra cost, and which we did use, but we NEVER authorized a cancellation with Airbnb.

    If the cancellation came from the hosts, then they should reimburse our payment with no question. If the cancellation was made by the case manager, then it was on his accord not ours, and had the direct consequence that we can no longer review the hosts and protect other Airbnb costumers from them. In this case we feel it is Airbnb that must reimburse us.
    The cancellation issue itself is a gross mishandling of our claim by the case manager and should be fully addressed.

    We believe the issues regarding our Airbnb experience outlined above fulfill all the conditions required for claiming a travel issue.
    At a bare minimum we feel that IF the host had had the room cleaned within 24-hours, we should qualify AT LEAST for a reimbursement of the cleaning fee ($100), service fee ($43), the first night at the Airbnb ($85), and the difference between the cost paid at Waikiki Grand Hotel and the Airbnb ($167.35- $85= $82.35), for a total of $310.35.

    The case manager explained to us that any decision taken by the Resolution Center is final, therefore we kindly ask you to fully consider all the aspects of our claim and to respond to all the points listed above.

    Sincerely,

    Dr. Dario Bilardello
    University of Minnesota

    Relevant points of Airbnb Refund Policies:
    2. The Guest Refund Policy. If you are a Guest and suffer a Travel Issue, we agree, at our discretion, to either (i) reimburse you up to the amount paid by you through the Platform, as determined by Airbnb in our discretion, depending on the nature of the Travel Issue suffered or (ii) use our reasonable efforts to find and book you another Accommodation for any unused nights left in your reservation which in our determination is reasonably comparable to the Accommodation described in your original reservation in terms of size, rooms, features and quality. All determinations of Airbnb with respect to the Guest Refund Policy, including without limitation the size of any refund, shall be final and binding on the Guests and Hosts.

    3. Conditions to Claim a Travel Issue. Only a Guest may submit a claim for a Travel Issue. If you are a Guest, in order to submit a valid claim for a Travel Issue and receive the benefits with respect to your reservation, you are required to meet each of the following conditions:
    (a) you must bring the Travel Issue to our attention in writing (airbnb.com/contact) or via telephone and provide us with information (including photographs or other evidence) about the Accommodation and the circumstances of the Travel Issue within 24 hours after the start of your reservation, and must respond to any requests by us for additional information or cooperation on the Travel Issue;
    (b) you must not have directly or indirectly caused the Travel Issue (through your action, omission or negligence); and
    (c) you must have used reasonable efforts to try to remedy the circumstances of the Travel Issue with the Host prior to making a claim for a Travel Issue.

    4. Minimum Quality Standards, Host Responsibilities and Reimbursement to Guest. If you are a Host, you are responsible for ensuring that the Accommodations you list on the Platform meet minimum quality standards regarding access, adequacy of the description on the Platform, safety, cleanliness, and do not present a Guest with Travel Issues. During the 24-hour period following the Guest’s check-in, Hosts should be available, or make a third-party available, in order to try, in good faith, to resolve Guest issues.
    If you are a Host, and if (a) Airbnb determines that a Guest has suffered a Travel Issue related to an Accommodation listed by you and (b) Airbnb either reimburses that Guest any amount up to the amount paid by the Guest through the Platform for the Accommodation or provides an alternative Accommodation to the Guest, you agree to reimburse Airbnb up to the amount paid by Airbnb within 30 days of Airbnb’s request. All determinations of Airbnb with respect to the Guest Refund Policy, including without limitation the size of any refund to the Guest, shall be final and binding on the Guests and Hosts. You also agree that in order for you to reimburse Airbnb up to the amount paid by Airbnb, Airbnb may off-set or reduce any amounts owed by Airbnb to you by this amount. If the Guest remains for part or all of the stay despite the Travel Issue, the Guest will receive a refund that will reduce the amount of the Accommodation Fees ultimately paid to you. If the Guest is relocated to an alternative Accommodation, you may lose part or all of the Accommodation Fee payment for the booking and you may be responsible for reasonable additional costs incurred to relocate the Guest to the alternative Accommodation.
    The rights of the Guests under the Guest Refund Policy supersede the cancellation policy established by a Host. If you as a Host dispute the Travel Issue you may notify us in writing (airbnb.com/contact) or via telephone and provide us with information (including photographs or other evidence) disputing the claims regarding the Travel Issue, provided you must have used reasonable and good faith efforts to try to remedy the Travel Issue with the Guest prior to disputing the Travel Issue claim. You agree that all determinations of Airbnb with respect to the Travel Issue shall be final and binding on the Guests and Hosts regardless of your submission of a dispute against such Travel Issue. In the event of one or more Travel Issues, Airbnb, in its discretion, may elect to take additional actions. These actions include, but are not limited to, negatively affecting your Listing ranking, automated reviews indicating Travel Issues, cancelling future bookings, suspending or removing the Listing of the Accommodation or imposing penalties or fees for the administrative burden associated with the Travel Issues.”

29. Airbnb is garbage. 2/3 times I’ve tried to use had my reservation canceled with less than a weeks notice. Will never use their service again. They don’t vet their renters apparently. Home Away is the way to go. Check out the reviews from previous renters and you will have a decent idea what ur getting.

30. Horrible experience with Airbnb. The customer service from airbnb is terribly slow. NEVER BOOK YOUR HOLIDAY VIA aIrbnb!
    Within one year, two times booking after the payment and confirmation ended up with the last minute cancellation due to the hosts’ mistakes.
    Last year August when we were travelling in Sicily, I got a message from the host two days before we were going to Taormina that my reservation was cancelled. Airbnb did nothing at the beginning. I had to rebook the place in midnight. It was so high season for Taormina that it was damn it very difficult to find a reasonable price accommodation in such a short notice. Later Airbnb offered an 80 euro coupon as a compensation.
    As this coupon will expire this coming August, I thought it may be smart to use it for a weekend staying somewhere. Via an instant booking, two weeks ago I reserved a camping lodge for the coming weekend. Yesterday I got the call from the host due to the double-booking of her lodge, my reservation has to be cancelled. Again no active action from Airbnb . Sent the complaint to the airbnb service. No answer at all. If you like that the unexpected change thanks to Airbnb terrible management ruins your holiday, try that hell Airbnb!

    • My family and I rented 29 Holly Avenue in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada from Laura Smith and Emmanuel Hamilton through airbnb for 2 months in the summer of 2016. The house was a mess when we moved in – garbage everywhere, really filthy and stunk real bad. They had a cockroach infestation. The house was a gut job. Everything was falling apart.. Bad neighbourhood. Basically a meth house.

      We thought we’d be good and not get bed bugs but sure enough a few days into our rental we were infested. This house is really bad off. Needs to be torn down.

31. Never using Airbnb again. STAY AWAY FROM AIRBNB!

    This guy approved my reservation around 12 pm on may 7, 2017. He asked me if I can come at 5 pm so he can wash bed sheets. He never mentioned if he needs me to send any type of ID. So I arrived there at 530 pm with my stuff. Then he started to ask for my passport upon arrival. I asked him why he needs my passport.Then I asked him if my drivers license or health care card would be fine he said no he wants to see my passport. I feel like he didn’t want to see my ID instead he wanted to make reasonable excuses in order to cancel my trip on arrival. He also asked me if he can see my credit card and take a picture of it. So I gave him my University card with photo on it and my drivers licence with home address, name and date of birth. I even told him that I can show him my health care card but he refused again. I feel like he was predetermined to cancel my trip on arrival. I feel like this was type of discrimination when he saw me at the door he didn’t want me in even though I showed him multiple ID’s. I have used airbnb for many times I never had a host who has asked for my ID upon arrival. This feels like discrimination because he wants certain type of ethnicity to come into his house. As you can see reviews on airbnb he has canceled others trip too on arrival. He was also drunk and was holding beer in his one hand. I feel host should not be in situation where he or she is drunk and is not fully capable of taking right actions at the moment. It also puts the customer in very uncomfortable situation when he or she sees that the host is already drunk. Airbnb is hell to deal with. His listing was back up again after two weeks and all the bad reviews on his listing where all deleted after two weeks. I cannot believe this. Airbnb does not care about any human being, all they care is money in and money out. STAY AWAY FROM AIRBNB!

    Here is the link of the host.
    https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/16623800

32. We stayed at an airbnb in the Blue mountains, Australia. The place has good rating, all the reviews were positive but when we arrived we were forced to drive down a very steep driveway with overgrown trees and branches overhanging. The host failed to provide sufficient bedding for the number of guests we paid extra for. Then the hygiene standard was very low, with food scraps still stuck to the eating utensils and plates. The worst of all the towels all smelled mouldy, we found out late that night which made me feel sorry for myself. We left 1 night early, we didnt want to confront the hosts hygiene standard as it would ruin our holiday mood, so we let it go… we come to realise airbnb can never compare with a proper hotel as they have much higher hygiene standards e. g. Washing and disinfecting their towels at over 90deg c.

33. I had a horrible experience with Sofia in Tulum, Mexico. I had BOOKED/RESERVED her place for a 3-week stay a full month in advance. We were so excited to have found a nice place near the beach at a reasonable rate. It was priced fair enough that we could do some of the other fun adventures in the area…10 days before the trip I tried to connect with Sofia to ask a few questions about the place…she did not respond, as we got closer to the departure date, and a few more attempts to contact her, I started to worry…I contacted AirBNB, they looked into it and confirmed that the reservation was fine. Well, somewhere between take off in California and landing in Cancun, Sofia cancelled our reservation…she never explained why, refused to answer any questions, and NEVER contacted me again. With only one day notice, we ended up having to book at another Airbnb that was very nice, but TWICE as much $$ and nowhere near the beach, which meant LOTS of money spent on taxis and it was NOT the Maya Riviera dream vacation we had dreamed of, planned for and reserved…and, because I was still on vacation, I missed the narrow window of time to leave feedback on her profile on AirBNB.
    I suspect she got a longer stay offer or more money as it coincidently coincided with SpringBreak time in Cancun, or maybe she looked at my Facebook profile and saw my political leanings, I have no idea, but, I am so very disappointed! I spent well over $1000 more than I ever intended to, and it was not a relaxing time…it was very stressful. My plan was to rehab after a spine injury with very little money and she knew that…
    How can she just cancel for no reason???
    Stay away from Sofia in Tulum/Akumal…

34. We rent 3 bd/2/5 br near Metro, Capitol Heights closed to Washington DC.At the beginning we had asked the combo for the house we would be staying at two weeks prior to our stay, she had said that she would inform us the combo 48 hours prior to our stay. Less than 48 hours till we had still not received any notice on the combination, so we asked our second question on the combination and reminded them on the items we would require for our stay. Once we checked in at around 6 p.m. We encountered a full trash can, no wifi password, no bowls, not enough pillows, blankets, and towels. So we contacted the host, Chelsea, again to ask for the wifi password. No response. So we contacted the owner, who by the way was very kind and answered immediately, and he gave us the wifi password. The next day when everybody was ready to do laundry we found mounds of used towels and items from the previous people who had stayed at this residence and when everybody took showers, there was no hair dryer for us to use. We once again contacted the owner asking if he knew where the hair dryer was stored, he replied saying it had broke and a previous person had thrown it out. No big deal. The next morning we had all left to go to a tour of the United States Capital, and received an email saying that Chelsea had wanted to escort us out that day and wanted to refund us for the night. We were all stunned because we had planned this trip specifically for 3 nights for 4 months by now and we were not about to pack up and leave without knowing where to go. So we contacted Chelsea saying that our family was not going to leave the house and would be staying for the time we had planned. Once again no response. We contacted the owner about it and he told us that Chelsea had told him she had tried contacting us about this and is sorry for the inconvenience, and would be dealing with it immediately and that we should not worry and enjoy our vacation. However this was a huge downer for all 8 of us and our vacation was continuing on a low note. Once we came back to the house we tried the combination. The door wouldn’t open. Tried it again. No use. We continued to attempt to open the door without success. We contact Chelsea, furiously, wanting to ask her what she had done to the combinations and to demand the new combination. We email her. Text her. No answer. We contact the owner who responds about 30 minutes later, which was fine because he was still very kind and helped us get in easily. By now, we are all miserable and not ready to travel for hours the following day.

35. For any host using this site beware!!!!!! I have been using both sites for three years problems with both Airbnb and Homeaway. I would suggest you stick with Homeaway as you can vet your guest with a telephone conversation. If your house is trashed on Air BNB the policies they have on trust and safety are just empty words. Please do yourself a favor and vet your guest yourself. Since that is hard on Airbnb as you unable to communicate with your guest except via text. till after the reservation is booked and then really too late if you charge your mind as costly fines and punishment to cancel reservation. I suggest you stay away. I have had hundreds of booking on both sites 90 percent of my problems have come from Airbnb guest and the customer service is just non existent except with standard formatted emails.

36. I have had an Airbnb host in Luxembourg message me to say her room is no longer available and would I cancel it. Of course I have replied asking her to cancel it otherwise I lose my Airnbn service fee. As yet she hasn’t done so. This morning I discovered the way to do a request through “Change reservation” for her to cancel it – she will have 48 hours to do it. But it seems to me that if she doesn’t cancel it, there’s nothing I can do except cancel it myself and lose my service fee.

    Airbnb needs to have a direct email address or a complaints register to which they will respond to us and take action.

    I’ll wait for a couple of days and then come back to this site to update my comment.

37. That poor Asian woman & her friends about to check in at the Big Bear Lake resort, Calif. were very rudely racially discriminated against. Tami or whatever her name is, will be getting her arse & mouth plugged for that ! Airbnb staff, Coca Cola staff, Walmart staff etc. does not matter. Tami, keep looking out.

38. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/11892012?guests=10&adults=10&children=0&infants=0&s=AmcxMQI2

    BEWARE OF THIS AIRBNB. The host is a liar and a con man. The link above is actually a link to his partner’s listing of the home because he deleted his original listing so my group wouldn’t be able to post a bad review. JASON and ALICE (https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/63418274) are the absolute opposite of hospitable. My group went on a trip to New York and we decided to stay in Weehawken, NJ. First of all their listing LIES as it says it is the “entire house/apartment.” They told us TWO days before we flew out for our trip that there would be two other tenants. Then they said if we don’t like this we can go look somewhere else to stay and they would refund us. We couldn’t find anywhere on such short notice and therefore had to put up with this irritation. The host allowed us to checkin early but he didn’t even meet us there. Instead he left the keys under the front mat (like wow because that’s so secure). Then he didn’t even give any instructions as to which keys opened what doors. He gave us three sets of keys and most of the keys didn’t even work! It was a three story house with a basement and my group got the basement and the second story. The basement was completely unsecure because it didn’t have a door that we could lock to keep the other tenants out. The other tenants were also super noisy and inconsiderate of us! They had parties late at night and made so much noise. ALSO on the original listing it said that the washer and dryer were included. HAH. Turns out this was coin operated. During our stay it was raining for a couple days and the ceiling on the second floor started falling off and water started leaking! There was also a gas leak in the basement coming from behind a door that we couldn’t access. Now after our trip is over and we are all home, the host refuses to give us our security deposit back because he claims some forks are missing (wow didn’t realize some forks could cost $250) and he said we left the place trashy. That is a total lie because we cleaned the entire place and took pictures before we left! So far Airbnb hasn’t helped us with this problem. They seem to be taking no action and it doesn’t seem like they care at all about their customer service. They continue to let these hosts advertise this place as the “entire house” on that one listing even though we have complained and said it is a lie. The host even told us while we were in NJ that he would be cooperative in working out a refund because the place was not what he described in the listing. SO MUCH FOR THAT. The host has been so uncooperative, wrote a bad review about my friend who booked the place, and now he is trying to tell lies about our group to Airbnb so he can keep the security deposit. He even had the audacity to say he should be asking money from us because we left the place so trashy. Like excuse me but your ceiling is falling apart and there is a gas leak in your basement. We honestly left the place way cleaner than it first was considering the floors were disgusting in the kitchen (doesn’t seem like they know how to use a mop or swiffer at all).

    JASON AND ALICE ARE LIARS AND CHEATS. DO NOT STAY AT THIS PLACE AND WARN ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS LOOKING TO TRAVEL IN THIS AREA.

39. I went on AirBNB looking to get a place in Beverly Hills for a business trip I had to take and I received the worst ‘customer service’ possible!

    I will admit, I did try to book a day or two before my trip and I guess there’s some setting where the host can block immediate booking. Well, this woman told me she was going to see if I could book her AirBNB. She told me to wait an hour. (this lady really wasted my time, airbnb’s were going fast in this area) I waited 3 hours. I messaged her 3 times – once each hour – just for her to tell me I couldn’t book her place! I understood, I said ok and moved on. She felt the need to rub it in my face that her place was very nice, better than the pictures. Ok, I understood. I was going to be back in town in 2 weeks so I asked, TWO WEEKS IN ADVANCE, if I could book her place. I sent a request, this lady f’king ignored me!! Mind you she was replying just fine the day before. My request expired so I wrote to her again and submitted another request thinking maybe she just didn’t have time today… No, AGAIN this lady ignored me!

    Why are you going to be a host on AirBNB if you’re going to be a jerk like that?? Amy in Beverly Hills SUCKS.

    • AirBnb for business???

      I bet you have a great business then 😀

40. I’ve had an absolute nightmare with an airb&b host. Clare Gordon Puller who’s B&B is in Chichester rented me a room for 7 weeks. She agreed that I could have a guest stay and that I could organise for post to be sent to the property.

    For the last week she went on holiday, and so I did t see her before I left.

    After which I asked for a receipt as it was a professional engagement at the theatre which she understood.

    Now 6 months later, she has only contacted me after I have threatened to report her to HMRC for undeclared earnings and now making up some awful stories to avoid sending a receipt.

    Most importantly, the B&B, Woodside on South Bank in Chichester is so filthy it’s unreal. The rooms are acceptable enough, and are large but the kitchen and actual living area are so engraved with animal smell and mess that it’s enough to make one nauseous. And I like cats and dogs.

    The Cats and Dog will come into the rooms upstairs and every morning the cats had left mess downstairs.

    Honestly it’s just disgusting.

    What on earth can you do? Of course as soon as I arribed she convinced me to pay cash, which I did.

    Just a nightmare. 🙁

    Avoid Woodside, South Bank, Chichester at all costs!!!!

41. Brother in the hospital in critical care. Verification process is not responsive, now the family has to move to an expensive hotel. The verification process is flawed
    dave s

42. I stayed at a very dangerous place and AIRBNB changed my 2 star rating to a 5 star rating … all they care about is the money !!!!!!!!!!!! I’m cancelling my account and will stick with hotels in future at least they are safe.

43. Quality of service falls.
    I am extremely unhappy.
    My account is locked, because of some sort of security for me. A guest came to me through the AirBnB service, but the money remained in the blocked account. To my bank account, I could not translate. For this reason, I will have to explain to the guest that he should look for another apartment for rent.

44. We stayed at a place called one of a kind condo in missoula montana, the condo itself was nice on the outside but the i side was dirty and had garbage all over the floor we had to wash glasses before we could use them even. They sent us all over town to get keys because they were living in spokane which took a good hour. We tried to give them a kind review but then 2 weeks later they sent us a request for $150 more saying we brought a dog to their place and it pooped and left hair all over the place? None of which was true!!!! How do people get away with being so dishonest!!!!

45. That’s the thinikng of a creative mind

46. Had also a terrible experience. I booked a room in Mexico City based on the amazing reviews. The place was filthy and so noisy. I had no choice but to wash bathroom and kitchen. The host was a disaster. She left all dirty dishes on the table all day.
    Today someone knocked on the door, I didn’t open as I didn’t know the person. So they left a note to the host saying that she hasn’t paid 3 months rent, and they her landlord will take legal action. Beside all that I found our today that the place is located only a few streets away from a very dodgy area called Tepito.

47. HELP needed. ASAP.
    airbnb website offers video shooting for verification. Although, it does not sense it is done (or does not accept it, I do not know), but I just lost the reservation.
    Is there any glitch in your system????

48. Hi. Be aware about this host:
    https://www.airbnb.com.br/users/show/30689353

    I was in my honey moon and there was a flight strike in Greece days before my trip to Santorini. My flights were canceled and I had to cancel my reservation there, since I could not reach the island. I asked for a refund, and the host just did not accept any explanation nor the documents that I had sent to her. She was really unflexible and the problem was not solved yet.

    I tried all ways to explain politely that I need the money back and this was the right think to do, but it seems that the host do not think like that. I really recommend for all people avoid staying at this place, since the idea of a trip is to stay with nice and honest people and that is not the case at this place.

    • Be aware of what?

      She has a strict cancellation policy and it is clearly stated on her Airbnb.

      On your next honeymoon, please don’t use AirBnb.

49. BEWARE OF THIS HOST in NYC!
    https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15635630
    I am sharing my experience so that no one else books a strict policy booking with this host and loses their money. I accepted a lower priced invitation (1200 USD) to sleep in this hosts living room for the month of January. She encouraged me to book and pay immediately since there were other interested parties. I did. Unfortunately, 2 days later, a family emergency arose and I realized I would have to cancel the stay. I immediately contacted the host so that she could re-book with the other interested parties and reimburse me. This is when I discovered that she had imposed a strict policy on the booking. I did not even know such existed since, in my experience, normal and fair business practices are flexible bookings. The strict policy means that NO MATTER WHAT, you do not get any money back. Family illness, death, force major-doesn’t matter. The host declined to pay back the 1200 or any part there-of -even though she had ample time to find someone else and I was not due to arrive for a few days.
    As a landlord, if a tenants plans change, I try to reimburse what I can.
    I would not keep a full months rent when I have the possibility to find a new tenant. I find that such an extreme position shows lack of class and character.

    I have always had positive Airbnb experiences but the fact that they even allow such a policy makes no sense to me. There are hosts offering real private rooms (not living rooms) at similar rates and they offer flexible bookings. Most people are reasonable . Things happen in life. Unless you are prepared to throw away money on services not received I would not risk a strict booking with this host or any other hosts on AirBnB. Flexible bookings are another matter. But make sure you check!

50. Booked accommodation in Manhattan NYC with a female Latino and confirmed 24 hrs prior to departure from Australia. Seven hours late due to airline issues and when I arrived, a male was opening the door to the apartment where I was booked to stay. He closed the door as he stated that he did not know her and I was left with a flat mobile at 1240AM. I asked a complete stranger to assist me and when she rang her, she was half a klm down the street and around the corner but did not have the decency to come and meet met. ‘Where have you been? You are seven hours late and I have been waiting for you all day. I have wasted my whole day because of you’. I was taken to a substandard accommodation in disrepair – air conditioner hanging out of the wall, sink/stove/fridge with no bench space was the kitchen, bathroom tiles were never grouted, dirty and loose and the bath was porous and unhygienic. Upstairs was lacking in any form of soundproofing so every movement from an insomniac was heard and no sleep. Contacted Airbnb after my return to Australia (seven week trip) and TOO LATE TO COMPLAIN. They they asked me for photos which I was ready to send to them and they closed my case without any communication with me. Clearly there is profit to be made in NYC accommodation and they do not want to delist these profit making ventures. BEWARE OF MANHATTAN AIRBNB OPERATORS.

51. We booked a place in Omegna for 3 nights, on Lake Orta in May this year. Looked nice in thephotos but was a dump. It advertised a private beach on the lake and the photos, (apparently photo shopped) showed stairs which appeared to lead down to the lake. In fact the Private beach was several kilometers away.. the place was nothing like the ad overlooked a railway line, old and worn out dark and dank appartment..all AIRBNB would do was refund one night so we lost 2 nights fees, plus AIRBNB fees plus cleaning fees all pre paid and then had to rent a hotel. They obviously never check to see if the place being advertised is real or if it is anything like what its supposed to be and when you need them they are uncontactable. Yiu cant do a review once you cancel and you cant get your money back either..DONT USE AIRBNB, use reliable and genuine sites who do give a damn about the customer!

52. Booked a place. Expected to pay in miles. It came back and booked us in an exorbitant amount of points. Is bullshit. Don’t use them. Too much difficulty. Can you say vrbo?

53. This Company doesn’t work properly. As an owner you have very few information on the guests, no copy of ID, no postal address once somebody want to book your property.
    You don’t know who is coming in your property, you don’t even have all the names of all the guests… so Airbnb just ask you to say “YES” to your guests without any informations. Once the booking is accepted, most of the time guests are reluctant to give more information , even just a copy of ID or the postal address. You don’t have any contract signed by the guests, if you have pb with him, it’s complicated to call Airbnb. By experience I called them on time when I guest did not come for check out and did not give back my keys… the answer of the call center was “I have to close this phone call because you don’t give me the right 4 last digit of your bank account number” which BTW was wrong. They have a pb with their IT apparently… I had my bank statement in front of me with the credit transaction AIRBNB…
    Anyway no help at all from Airbnb , when you have a pb, don’t count on them… no help at all… and as they have the deposit … so if you need to be reimburse of damages by the deposit … just nothing, no contract, no deposit, no help from Airbnb. Very bad experience. I was obliged to change 2 lockers at my charge…
    I must say also that the most of the time Airbnb provides bad people who wants travel discreetly without giving their ID and basic information about them. I had guests visited by several prostitutes. This never happened before with other websites… Airbnb does not care, they manage the payment and the deposit and you just have to shut your mouth…
    If you don’t want have pb, or you care your home, believe me avoid them…

54. Contrary to those stories above, I have had nothing but good stays in Air BnB accommodation. I have stayed in 1 place in Western Australia, 2 on the south island of New Zealand and 10 in Europe ( Venice, La Spezia, Florence, Naples, Rome, Athens, 3 in the Pelopponese , Santorini)Maybe I’ve just been lucky.

55. Airbnb ripped off my money and host compained that i took the key where they charged 200$ they have done multile fake transations on my account please dont rip money the place where i stayed was such a dirty place worst than anything since i had no alternate i had to stay for 2 nights and vacated.

56. Fraud, last minute cancellations and terrible customer service. That was my Air BNB experience.
    o About a month prior to my visit, I booked a stay in a foreign city through Air BNB.
    o 5 days prior to the stay, the booking is cancelled by the host.
    o Day 5-3: 2 days are spent trying to book a new property. Effort results in mysterious emails, direct from host, requesting that we wire transfer funds to an account in the Ukraine. We determine this is likely fraud.
    o Day 3: I post a question through their “help” section of the Air BNB website alerting them that I think one of their hosts is actively using their site to commit wire fraud, and I am advised to post a review on the hosts’ website.
    o Day 3-2: attempt to book another location, but host rejects in order to accept a different booking request.
    o Day 2-1: limit my search to bookings that are instant. This greatly reduces options, and requires some inconvenient compromise, but I request a booking and it is quickly accepted. I am asked to go through a “verification process” which includes a lot of personal questions, and it is my understanding all is well and accepted.
    o Day 0 – notified that our booking is cancelled due to “We’ve discovered that the payment method used for reservation XXXX isn’t valid.” I check with my credit card and there are no issues, so I have no idea what this means or why I am now without a place stay. I have sent several emails asking what happened, and have yet to receive a reply.
    o Day 0 – try to login to AirBNB help center to see if any other support is available, and find out my account was disabled. I requested that the account be enabled, and I have never received a response.

    So, I am left stranded the day I arrive in a city in a foreign country by Air BNB with no access to account support, no place to stay and no answers to questions. Thank heavens for Expedia and free wifi.

    Question: my credit card was checked and was clear. This was my first booking with Air BNB. I am very confused about my account inactivation. Was my account inactivated because I complained about fraud?

    My biggest concern: Air BNB, to the best of my knowledge, has never investigated or made any effort to remove the fraudulent host that requested a wire transfer of funds, since the only follow up I received from them was a suggestion that I post comments on the host site. I find this very concerning since the host is likely perpetuating fraud through their site. Since my account was inactivated, I cannot post a negative review. I believe that it is likely that AirBNB has done absolutely nothing about this thief posting as a host.

57. I also had a horrible experience with Airbnb. The guy is listed as a Superhost. How I don’t know. It’s infested with cockroaches. In addition he falsely advertises his rooms & you have no idea what you will get. He over books the rooms, makes you change rooms or tells you to stay in a hotel. He also has fierce flea infected dogs on the property & one bite my husband. And yes people steal your things, eat your food or take over communal space so it can’t be used. Airbnb does nothing!!

58. For my schoolwork purposes, I each time used to get the video addresses from YouTube, since it is direct to fan-out from that point.

59. Dear Audience:

    To date, September 19th, 2016, I’ve had only four AirBnB experiences. 1 of them was excellent, the other was OK, 1 was sooo bad with the mole smell and everything filthy that i actually, was forced to check into the Holiday Inn Express, and now the 1 i’m currently staying is OK enough for four (7) nights. Will NOT be using AirBnB again any time soon. It’s tooo FUNKY. You don’t get anything of value up to $62.00/night. If you are going to spend more than $62.00/ night, go to a hotel. Do NOT believe the photos. Do NOT! Photos do NOT capture mole and mole smell. Photos do NOT capture what you will walk into when you arrive. Photos do NOT capture the area where you will reside. NEVER Book anything longer than four (4) nights! DO NOT! Also, be careful of REVIEWS! Most may NOT be at your standard. Again, what is GREAT for someone is NOT OUTSTANDING for you. This business of Airbnb is DICEY at best!

    PROBLEM
    AirBnB MUST/NEEDS to hire an independent Company that travels on their behalf and inspect these places in advance. There is NOT any other solution. Photos lie, taking things on face / surface is the farce. It simply doesn’t work! Why not? Because everyone has her or his own idea of cleanliness and standards. What may be filthy to one person is OK to another; especially people who have poor personal hygiene.

    AirBnB option is NOT a hotel. This is where people as me make the HUGE blunder. AirBnB option is the alternative to a hotel. It is NOT a hotel option. NO, it is NOT! Now i’m attempting to convince me that it is someone’s personal setup … not a Company…Organization. People, PLEASE remember this; it is NOT a hotel. You can’t complain, or change rooms, or get a refund, or Book new or get an upgrade! NO, you cannot! Think long and hard before you do an AirBnB. PLEASE!

    AirBnB has ZERO standards. NONE! They tell you flat out, “that’s not what we do.” Therefore, whatever you get, you must take. HORRIFIC!

    AirBnB experience is like the lottery, most of the x, especially if you are on a budget, you will lose and your entire trip/visit, whatever will be ruined. I.e., dirty shower, smelly toilet area, even when you turn the fan on, dirty sheets and pillow cases, dirty mattress, dingy curtains. old used towels, some with CUM stains…terrible. Yeah, it happened to me. AirBnB doesn’t give a SHIT! NO, it doesn’t! All AirBnB cares about is getting paid… stick it to the traveler with outrageous fees and taxes. Some people charging as much as $165.00 as cleaning fee. You walk into the place and there is a dog on the bed. with its dirt and on pillow dog stuff… NIGHTMARE, HORROR SHOW. DESPICABLE!

    HELP!

60. airbnb is a service that people choose instead of a hotel room where you are somewhat safe and if there is no room they will accommodate you the best. When you book Airbnb, you are going to a strangers house not really knowing what to expect but the best. things could go wrong for sure since its a stranger meeting another one.

61. During my 2 month stay in Crete via airbnb I had NO LESS THAN 3 sexual predators as hosts!!!!!! I am a serious woman and will never again use airbnb. It is also CRAZY how misleading descriptions/photos are plus how indiscriminately positive the reviews are. Holes in the wall are made into villas etc. What a nightmare!

62. I also have a horrible story to share who should i contact to share it?
    Airbnb We got their reservation confirmation email and then be there and prepare to find out your reservation is not really confirmed bc the host does not know what a InstantBook means and Airbnb support service shows no responsibility whatsoever that you are now in the middle of the street w your child and grandma in the car at 10pm. Most of the hotels are also packed but then they offer you $150 as compensation and send you go fishing. Then you are decided to not let them ruin your entire vacation then you pay more than twice the price of a stay and change hotels 4 times during your trip. This is Airbnb folks… #airbnb #fail #ruinyourvacation

    • Hi Ana, please submit your story here! http://www.airbnbhell.com/share

63. As an airbnb host I have come to see that Airbnb is 100% about making money, not responsible hosting.

    – Reviews are unreliable, they are only published if both parties make a review so if either party suspects they will get a bad review they simply don’t make one.

    – In Ecuador, where we host, permission must be obtained from the local authorities to rent or offer hospitality, which means they must adhere to certain standards and pay yearly fees and taxes and are accountable if guests have any complaints.
    Airbnb take no responsibility to ensure their listings are legal and continue to list properties that have been reported as illegal all over Ecuador, these properties are mostly run by expat retirees looking for a little extra income. In the meantime, due to the enormous success of Airbnb they are putting local legitimate business’s out of business

    – Their cancellation policies are ineffective, as a small business we rely upon and work hard to keep our rentals occupied and consequently chose a strict cancellation policy, yet our guests were able to cancel their reservation ONE DAY before the start of the second month of their reservation and even though the house was left like a pig-sty and things were stolen we were unable to give a review because the reservation was cancelled! And even if we had been able to make the review it would not have been published if they had not made a counter review.

    • thank you for the information. I am looking to rent a house in Puerto Ric i. Is there a way to check to see if they have listed with the town/ agency?
      Also, this one I like has no reviews listed, good or bad, should I be concerned? And if you have any suggestions on a how to verify the legitimacy of the renter I’d greatly appreciate it.

    • That’s not true. Each party has 14 days to submit a review and after each party submits their review, it is automatically published. If only one party leaves a review, after 14 days, it is published whether the other party has left a review or not.

64. I had a terrible experience just recently. I booked a dog-friendly cottage, and notified host I would be bringing my very well-behaved pet. The 4 night stay was paid for, plus a cleaning fee. She also required a $325 deposit. The day of arrival she had been at the cottage but did not stay to meet us. There was a lockbox, so we let ourselves in. On the table inside was a list of house rules, that also stated that the dishwasher and washer-dryer were not working, and that she had a “very bad ant problem.”. None of this was mentioned prior to our arrival. On the second page was a paragraph “agreement” (that we had no notice she would require) stating she needed an additional $100 deposit, and that she would charge if the pet damaged anything. I did not sign it, nor did I call or contact AirBnb about the defects in her property. The stay was okay – except for a trail of ants waking me up and crawling all over me in the bed!!! And not being able to wash and dry my clothes after outdoor activities. etc. (BTW, We had no food or drink near the bed. I dealt with the ants. I did not launch a complaint.) Before leaving, we washed and dried every dish used. We wiped down counters and sinks We hung up towels. We got rid of all trash, even removing entirely from the property dog waste from the yard and cat waste that was not our responsibility – she had not outdoor trash so we actually carted it away. We folded blankets and put them away. Despite paying a cleaning fee, we cleaned everything we could. There was no vacuum or mop in the house. I would have even popped the linens in the washer, but we were told not to use it. We left everything where we found it. Two days later I received a claim and statement from her that our dog peed in her house and it was “trashed” and she was demanded our $325 deposit. I was completely befuddled. My dog has never urinated in any house or hotel, and I have had him 6 years. And he was with us 100% of the time. She posted a photo of a smudge on the floor wax to “prove” he had. What she did not know is that he is a large male dog who lifts his leg and if he peed in her house, it would have been all over the walls or furniture! She also claimed we put a scratch in her new refrigerator and on her counter. I don’t believe we did this, and she has no proof that we did. For this, and cleaning, she demands $325. The claim was nutty, and I engaged in online back and forth with her. The claim is in now in AirBnB’s hands, but as a responsible person, who has stayed in dozens of hotels and non-AirBnB rentals with my dog, with zero problems, this whole process has been infuriating. She saw a smudge in her floor wax, made an incorrect assumption, and went looking for problems. And this was my first AirBnB rental. Sigh. My daughter has used without issue. But this has unnerved me. It makes me want to stay in hotels and use bona-fide vacation rental properties, which have a proper process in place, and professional management. With AirBnB, you are dealing with individuals, who have wildly varying mental health,, temperametns, and expectations, and often zero professionalism, because of the nature of the business. It’s just too much risk.

    • How was this resolved. I too have a very similar story.

65. Had a horrible experience 3 weeks ago in Tuscany. Property had good reviews and turned out to be a total dump and airbnb has been less than helpful. We did everything right, have facts on our side and they are actually ignorning us completely – no refund for us it seems. Acting like we did something wrong or had wrong expectations. I have lived on 4 continents, have stayed in everything from camp sites to youth hostelf and 5 star hotels – I know what I should be paying for decent lodging. I thought airbnb was a reputable company…they are scam artists and amateurs.

    • Thanks for telling us, Maria. Did you want to submit a detailed version of your story here?

      http://www.airbnbhell.com/usp_form/share-your-story/

66. When logged in, prices are higher and a service fee is attached. When not, the prices are lower and no service fee.

    • That’s because when you’re not logged in it shows you the minimum price that listing will cost.
      Our winter rates for January are the lowest so unless you log in you can’t see the current prices or the prices for July our mist expensivery month when due to local events we charge almost double what we charge in January.
      Also our weekend rate for example is higher than weekdays as it puts a damper on our plans.
      It’s not false advertising. Airline ads do send out rates as low as or starting at let’s say $199 and you go on their site to deep that the $199 is for today or tomorrow only and if you need to fly a week from now the full price is higher.

67. My gf created a account in a year before, after few times the account has been blocked and we call hundred Times to the customer service. Due this year, I reopened a new account, after two booking, the account have been blocked AGAIN!!! Airbnb is nothing but a piece of crap. A year passed We try to contact with Airbnb to solve this issue, and the result is the same as last year, very disppointed, I mean how this rubbish can operate for so long, delete it. If you finally wake up.

68. I stayed in an airbnb in St Andrews, Scotland. The host said he would be away and that the house might not be so tidy. he was right. The place was filthy. I was unsure which room to sleep in and there was a see through curtain on the window, no bedding. I did have my own sleeping back. I notified airbnb. No response. The host wrote a fairly abrupt response on his site. No action was taken. However, other guests complained about the exact same issues. Five months on and no one has taken any action. An apology would have been nice.

69. The photos of properties are often phony, from years ago when the property was new, etc. Do not trust them or the hosts. When we arrived in Los Angeles the property was so bad I was not sure it was the place I booked.
    The host was dishonest about the property and Airbnb promised a full refund and I received nothing.

    Stay away or somewhere you can trust.

70. Hello!
    This is second notice we have sent to Airbnb and still no any actions… if they are not acting then this letter we will send to another institutions in Spain.
    Decided to inform you regarding one of our hosts where we stayed before.
    Yury Geraskin in Barcelona, Carrer de Biscaia 383, floor 4.
    These are several reasons you to know about this host for your own security:
    1. He stays in Spain illegally (no any documents to stay in Spain and overstayed his visa more than a year).
    2. Not paying taxes to government to do this activity (can be caught any moment by neighbors complaint).
    3. Selling for cash to AirBnB clients who decided to stay more in his apartment.

    He can be caught by police any moment and all of Airbnb guests will lose their living for what they have paid!

    Hope you can make AirBnB more secure.
    Tnx!

71. Wow, what did they do about it?

72. I’m another who had a HORRIBLE experience with Air BnB. Me and my boyfriend showed up to the Air BnB that we rented in Montreal, which had great reviews online. The first night, we went out and when we came home later in the evening, placed our keys on the glass table and chatted with 2 friends. No TV was on. No music was on. The host came over and knocked on the door… Prior to this he hadn’t even told us he lived next door and actually went out of his way to pretend he didn’t… coming from around the street any time he met us. We said ok and kicked out our guests (Thanks, DAD.) but continued to chat, just us 2. The owner came over a second time to tell us to shut up. Ok, fine, we went to bed. The next day, he came back again and chastised us for the night before, again we apologized and he said fine but I’m doing an inspection to make sure you didn’t put holes in the walls, etc. I offered to leave for the second night we had booked and he said whatever. We booked a hotel and left right away- losing the money that we had paid for the second night in this Air bnb. I should also note that at 6am, there was extremely loud banging on the walls, screaming from children and children running non-stop, ALL DAY. The host then proceeded to text message me extremely rude things, asking where I lived and where I was in Montreal that night and was telling me that even though he did indeed say the place was fine and he had the keys, that he was calling the cops. I still have no idea why. Overall, pretty much our entire trip was ruined- we were broke after having to find another place; the first night was ruined cause we were literally told to go to bed (with the assumption that we’d be on the street if we didn’t soon) and the next day was annoying and very unpleasant with the children sounding like they were hanging out in the apartment with us; the host even managed to blacken the second day when we were finally far away from him, by harassing me via text.

    • It’s almost like you’re sugar coating or leaving out some information. Were you allowed to have guests over? In my home, guests are not allowed. Like most hotels, unauthorized guests are a liability. Not to mentioned non paying guests staying overnight. Then you say he came over to shut you up. So that tells me you were being an unruly guest. Many times guests just don’t read the house rules.