Author Archives: Madeleine Roe

No Compassion or Trust After Death in the Family

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Sadly, due to the father’s death of my niece with whom I was travelling to Paris and staying in an Airbnb apartment, we had to cancel the booking paid for in full in March 2018. The booking was from December 28th, 2018 to December 28th, 2019; therefore five months’ notice was given. Under the resolution information on Airbnb, my niece sent a death certificate and the host was contacted. A refund offer of $24 was given. This was changed to $200 after a few phone calls, but we originally paid $2150.

Now Airbnb is using the excuse the host has refused to give a full refund and then said – to my shock, as her father died in April – that the booking was for December… that’s far away. My interpretation was they were saying that was enough time to get over it. Regardless, the money is needed to cover costs since her father’s death. To be cross examined and passed from staff member to staff member with nobody showing compassion, duty of care, or any sort of kindness and honest business like manners… All I can see is pure greed and Airbnb allowing untrustworthy, unscrupulous, callous, money hungry hosts. I’m dismayed and never will I say a good word about Airbnb.

Airbnb Helped My Ex Steal $1700 From Me

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Airbnb assisted my ex-girlfriend in stealing $1700 from me, effectively involved themselves in my breakup, and sided with my ex-girlfriend. My ex-girlfriend and I shared an account with Airbnb, during which time I was the primary account holder. The email address on file was my email address. My ex and I also shared a credit card account, from which we each had our own cards. I was the cardholder of the credit card on file, and my name was the name on that credit card.

On June 24, while still together, my girlfriend and I confirmed a two-month reservation in France, as we were to relocate. Accompanying me to France was my six-year-old daughter. A charge of $1700 was made to my card, and the reservation was confirmed. Shortly after making the reservations, the relationship ended, and as part of our separation, my ex took sole control of the credit card account. I turned my card over and had myself removed from the shared credit card account on or around July 6th.

During the account separation, I provided my ex with $1700 to cover the expense of the Airbnb on our card; she of course was not coming to France. On or around July 8th, I updated the Airbnb account information to reflect only my name, and removed my ex’s contact information from the account. During this update, I also provided Airbnb with a new credit card number to charge the remaining balance of approximately $800. This new credit card was also in my name.

On July 18, my ex contacted Airbnb and claimed that she was the cardholder of the card that had been on the account. This was false. She further claimed that the charge of $1700 made was unauthorized. This too was false. She apparently went on to claim that she was being restricted from staying in the Airbnb, and again this was false as she chose not to travel to France (not that it’s relevant or even remotely appropriate for Airbnb to have asked this – keep reading).

I received an email from Airbnb stating that I had 48 hours to reply to a dispute by the authorized cardholder. I replied promptly stating that the dispute was not valid, and that I needed to be contacted via phone to discuss it further. About one hour later, I received notification that the refund had been issued to the card, and that I now had a balance of $1700 with Airbnb.

As I stated above, I no longer had access to this card. I made several attempts via email and phone to dispute this, including speaking with a man at Airbnb, who explained to me that my ex was the authorized cardholder, which was not true. Regardless, he apparently had no interest in understanding what I was trying to explain to him. He went so far as to tell me that the money was refunded to my ex because she was not allowed to stay in the Airbnb. At this point I began to wonder if I was dreaming, or in the twilight zone, or both.

I called back and got another agent on the phone. That agent quickly transferred me to someone in the experience department. He seemed to understand the gravity of the situation and stated that he would work on it and call me back in the morning. When I heard back from him, he explained that his supervisor was not letting him work on the case and that it had to be deferred to Trust and Safety. He legitimately wanted to help, however it is my opinion that was he prevented from doing so.

I am now waiting to hear from someone at Airbnb to resolve this. In summary, I have been cheated out of $1700, Airbnb inappropriately refunded the wrong person for a charge that was in fact authorized, Airbnb did not provide a forum to me to discuss and explain, and the result is that I am now without a place to live in France when I move there on August 20th.

Boycotting Airbnb Until They Stop Advertising Falsely

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I recently experienced a truly unpleasant encounter with Airbnb that has left me and my partner totally guttered and disappointed at the way Airbnb management has handled our complaint. They have given me no other alternative than to take to social media on all platforms to make others aware of a system that puts profits before honesty and integrity.

We booked a stay on Airbnb for two nights and informed the host two days prior that there were two of us staying and the approximate time of arrival. On arrival, the host was unable to meet us but had another person check us in. The room was not as listed and so I insisted that I speak with the host; he said that I could find another place if I wasn’t happy with the room booked but he wouldn’t refund our money.

I took photos (attached) and forwarded them to Airbnb. At the time they gave us a 50% refund which was satisfactory as we were not in a position to argue the difference, let alone try to find another place at the last minute. Airbnb also informed me that the host was in breach of Airbnb policies and would address the matter directly with him.

During our stay, the linen we believe to have been from an “Op Shop” had a musky smell and the Doona for a child’s single bed with teddy bears on it for a listed king-size bed was in fact for a queen-size bed. The listing stated there was a bathroom (not listed as shared nor did Airbnb state that within the house that all the other rooms were rented out as well) and at our time of stay we had to share the bathroom with six people; the house can accommodate up to nine people at any one time with only one bathroom.

The other issue with the listing was that most of the door handles had one screw holding in the handle which could result in the handle falling off into either the bedroom or bathroom, leaving a person locked inside as the host doesn’t live at the house. On my return some three weeks later I checked to see if the listing was still listed as we saw it; to my surprise, it was.

I messaged Airbnb about the situation and instead of addressing my concerns, they removed my comments that I left on the host’s page that provided an honest description of our stay. Second to that, the host at the same time left a message about us, trying to swing the situation around. I decided to ring Airbnb, which went to an offshore call center. I explained my experience with the stay and how I was extremely disappointed with the fact the host was still listing the property exactly the same as when we booked and stayed. I told Airbnb that it appears profit has been put forward over integrity and requested a full refund for my stay, including having the host’s untrue comments erased.

I mentioned all of the above to an Airbnb senior case manager who informed me via message that the case was closed and no further actions will occur. As a loyal customer for the past several years with multiple listings worldwide, I have now decided to boycott Airbnb until they can address my concerns in a professional manner, including making the changes that I believe are truly overdue with falsely advertising listings so that the customer is aware of all the facts prior to committing to a booking. Airbnb gave me no alternative than to take my concerns to social media on all levels. This was conveyed to Airbnb prior to this post with little to no concern as profit appears to be the governing factor at play rather than addressing genuine complaints.

Why do I have to pay for Airbnb services I didn’t use?

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We booked and prepaid for an Airbnb apartment in Malta, Sliema in April 2018 for our summer holiday from June 26th to July 24th. Surprisingly, when we arrived, the apartment was not ready at all (green smelly / brown tab water, mold, broken sofa, fridge with a lot of frost in it (I had to defrost and clean it), broken light in the kitchen hood, broken shower nozzle), which we directly reported to the host.

We stayed six nights (seven days) struggling, hearing from the host excuse “stories” about sandstorms, African rains, and government construction works. We were expecting a quick resolution, however after several unsuccessful attempts by the host to fix these issue, we had to move to other apartment at our own cost. As you can imagine it was absolutely necessary to ensure the safety of our kids and ourselves.

The host didn’t intend to solve the problem immediately, telling us that the plumber would cost him too much during public holidays which meant for us to stay three more days without water. We had to involve Airbnb. The water issue was solved on the seventh day of our stay and after a warning call from Airbnb, the owner had to change the water tank and water heater. We didn’t want to stay in that place any longer.

Moreover, the host has threatened us with legal action for an early contract termination, which is completely unacceptable. Based on that we have applied for a refund of the remaining 22 nights, however, our request was declined by the host and by Airbnb representatives as well. We are very disappointed in Airbnb and their position on declining our request about the refund for the unspent nights. We had to go through the Resolution Center and their final solution was to refund us only for six nights spent in the apartment. We found the solution really unfair. Why should we give our money to a dishonest host and pay for services we didn’t use?

Airbnb Hosts Have it All When it Comes to Refunds

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I’m here to share a little of my bad experience. I’m going on vacation at the end of July, and decided to travel around Croatia from August 8-11. I rented this place on Airbnb; I booked the flight and got everything set. Everything was going okay until a few days later, when I realized that instead of booking the place for the August I mistakenly booked it for July.

I messaged my host as soon as I could telling him about the mistake around July 2nd. He replied that unfortunately he didn’t have any other place available for August so I should cancel my booking as soon as I can to get as much back as I could. He said he would try to contact Airbnb to see how he could refund me, since all the process is automated.

Since I booked the place one month earlier the refund policy was not applicable anymore and I got no refund, even though I canceled my booking. It turns out that I could never get my money back. I tried to contact Airbnb and they told me that unless my host wanted to, there’s nothing they could do. I asked if they don’t think that what he did was wrong and all they said was that they could not punish him because he never violated the rules.

I know that the policy states that cancellations made within a week before the booking date will not be refunded, but I think hosts take advantage of this misfortune to trick guests into cancelling bookings just so they can rent the place again. This kind of behavior is just unacceptable.

Cancelled Less than 24 Hours before my 30th Birthday

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To start, I want to say that I normally love Airbnb. I have rented with them for years and years and never had an issue. Until now. I was so excited to celebrate my 30th birthday in Palm Desert when I learnt that the host cancelled less than 24 hours before we were supposed to arrive. The host initially offered absolutely no explanation but later told us that the city of Palm Desert would not let her rent the place out any more and she had to cancel all future reservations as patrol officers were writing citations for her guests.

I understand she had to cancel all future reservations. However, every other guest had at least a week to find new accommodation whereas we were struggling to find a place for the very next day. As such, I spent the majority of my Sunday in California trying to find a new place that looked like it would be enjoyable for the group, missing out on the activities we had planned for that day.

It was totally unacceptable that Airbnb wasn’t willing to help at all. We booked this reservation in November for my 30th birthday trip. The cancellation was so last minute that hotels in the area were already sold out and many of the other Airbnbs were taken. Making matters worse, the group had already flown from across the country (from New York and Boston) and internationally (four from Canada and another one from Australia) leaving us no option but to take another Airbnb that was less than desirable.

The house we originally booked was well decorated, homey and simply adorable. The house we settled for was gaudy, cold and tasteless. In addition, there were a number of rules when checking in that made it difficult for our group to access the house, including threats that we might get turned away at the gate upon arrival if we mentioned we were renting the house instead of friends of the owner.

When we arrived, the backyard was an absolute mess, as was the pool. I took many pictures of this but Airbnb reps didn’t seem to care. It took many calls to get the owner to send someone to clean the pool (which was un-swimmable for the first full day of our stay) and clear all the debris. When they did, it was a few hours of noise and a terrible smell of gas from the air blower they were using. Lastly, there was constant construction at the house next door to us, making it difficult to have a conversation outside.

To me, it’s crazy that Airbnb isn’t willing to help at all or offer a future credit to try to make it up to me. It was as if I booked at the Four Seasons and ended up at a motel down the street for an additional charge. I was charged an extra $380 for the extra cost of the new house, which was one of the only ones we could find in the area. I was told that would be covered. I am an avid Airbnb user and am always willing to spread the word about the company in a positive way, but really think this is insane.

Want my Refund after Airbnb Double Billed me

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On April 30th, 2018 I made reservations for an apartment in Scottdale, Pennsylvania. I then paid the fee of $1,400. Unfortunately, Airbnb double-billed me. Using my bank and customer service from Airbnb, I was able to obtain $1,400 back for my double billing. This meant I had only paid for one reservation for June 27th. On that day I called the host to obtain the keypad number. She informed me that my reservation had been cancelled on May 22nd. I then proceeded to call Airbnb; they reiterated that my reservation had been cancelled. After numerous attempts -approximately 23 – and numerous customer services representatives, they indicated that I was in fault and therefore did not deserve a refund. Finally after insurmountable attempts, I was told that everything was resolved and I would be given a full refund and an additional 10% or $180 for my inconvenience. I have not received a full refund.

Airbnb Host Guarantee is Airbnb Host Fraud

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We have a brand new house that we have listed on Airbnb and we recently had a bad guest. We made a claim using the host guarantee. To be honest the Airbnb Host Guarantee isn’t worth the toilet paper it’s appears to have been written while Chesky was sitting on the can. It’s a huge scam and needs to be the subject of a consumer fraud class action suit.

For $1,800 in damages that this guest caused, they offered us $251. After doing some research, we found they offer everyone about $250 no matter how much damage the guest causes. That has to amount to billions that hosts have lost around the world.

We have an almost new house, six months old at the time the guest stayed there. The lit hookah coals on our new glass stove top permanently disfigured the top. That part alone without installation is over $200. The installation is over $200. A new stove is $700. They offered us $130 for that.

Our house rules clearly stated there was a $300 fine for smoking in the house. When they left the house they left all of the windows open, the air conditioning on, and the vent fans on because of the smell. This guest also disconnected and removed all of the smoke detectors. He used the toaster oven as a step stool to do this. He took the batteries out of the detectors and didn’t put them back in. They were all going off because of this.

They didn’t pay us the fine, for putting the smoke detectors back in or replacing the smoke detector batteries. All of which cost a lot of time, which is money. The brand new toaster oven which cost over $50 to replace plus a trip to the house? For that they offered us $20. What kind of crapola is this? It goes on from there. In short the host guarantee is the host ripoff. Calling it a guarantee is a fraud.

Case Closed, Reopened, and Cleaning Fees Deducted

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My Airbnb guest arrived and found the house to be “beautiful.” Three days later she decided to leave. She complained about crumbs in the toaster. I offered eight separate times to send up the housekeeper but she refused. She stayed another four days. She wanted a refund for the last three days. A claim was made and the cleanliness issue was not found in favour of the guest as under the guest refund policy it states very clearly that the guest must try to resolve the problem. She refused to have the kitchen re-cleaned so under no circumstances did she try to do this. The case was closed. Two weeks later it was reopened and £500 was deducted from my account for a “cleanliness issue”. Airbnb meanwhile paid $900 to the guest. I sent in all of the texts with the guest as additional proof that she failed to comply. There has been no response from the case manager. The case has been closed. Four other Airbnb case managers have failed to provide an independent review. I suspect fraud.

Airbnb Changes Payment from 1300 to 221 Euro

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On July 6th, 2018, I accepted an instant booking for travelers in distress in Paris. For two nights in high season fashion week for a group of eight people the price was high: 1300 euro. However, I accepted them under normal pricing guidelines due to the huge occupancy.

I had a group of eight people arriving and stayed one night of the two nights; the next day at 4:00 PM an email from Airbnb stated they had cancelled. I was paid 221 euro in the end. As the group left at 4:00 PM I could not manage a big cleaning of four hours immediately (it needs to be booked) and I had paid extra night service for keys. I also requested 150 euro, and nothing was paid when I needed to pay them a bonus and for a taxi and emergency service.

The only comment was that Airbnb decided to change the price to 221 euro. Whether this is low or high season, for eight people it’s a joke; even one night in a hostel one would pay 550 euro for eight people due to high season. I am beginning to file a claim with a lawyer as nobody was able to comment or give merit to that price adjustment and I even wonder if Airbnb did not get 1300 euro and paid me 221 euro.

I am happier on booking.com because sincerely they would not alter my price or cancel a booking or be silent. The insurance of Airbnb in another case is not working so there is no advantage at all dealing with Airbnb. If they banned me, I simply would not care because I am on another platform which is fair. Airbnb is a thief; no one should alter an agreed contract between the buyer and the seller making the price 1/8 of what it was.