Author Archives: Charlie Chuck

The Mystery of the Host’s Black Curtain…

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It was a basic schoolboy/girl error. I have watched enough TV crime detective series so why on earth didn’t alarm bells ring when I saw mention of personal belongings behind a black curtain on the Airbnb listing for what appears to be a charming and well-located ‘apartment’ at the heart of an historic German city?

All seemed fine on making the two-night reservation. The host accepted my solo female traveller booking and a few days before check-in I messaged him, helpfully I thought, with my arrival time in the city. To my surprise I received a very abrupt response, telling me he wouldn’t be providing any details until 24 hours before check-in, not ideal as I was already travelling with limited wifi access but oh well.

Instructions arrived promptly, and I collected keys from a gruff local shopkeeper. On arrival at the property, I dropped a line to my host to let him know I was safely inside. He immediately replied – like in two seconds – insisting that I gave him a five-star review before I’d even put my bags down. He added ominously “do not touch any of the belongings behind the black curtain.”

I glanced across at the curtain in question. It was a very flimsy piece of sheer fabric hung over a kitchen alcove stacked with plastic boxes. I thought no more of it until the following day. I received umpteen abrupt, accusatory texts from the host (which I have saved as screenshots) that put me on edge to say the least. In the first two, he said I had made his front window ‘messy’ but gave no indication as to how that could possibly be.

My heart started beating a little faster when, a few minutes later, I got the next one. He claimed his neighbour had told him that I ‘love’ his black curtain and that I had been going through his belongings… what? I glanced at the windows front and back and realised the lack of blinds or much in the way of curtains would make it possible for someone to see right inside with a strong pair of binoculars. That said, I had not gone near his alcove of mysteries, nor would I. So what was he on about?

Feeling unnerved and by this point seriously considering paying to stay the second night in a hotel, I glanced again at the listing and his reviews. I was struck by how many negative reviews he’d given his guests despite their seemingly positive public reviews. He’d accused several of going through his stuff. I calmed myself down – perhaps he had experienced some very bad tenants that had left him feeling anxious and hyper-vigilant? Still, my mind boggled. Why did he keep his precious things in such a vulnerable place instead of in storage?

I settled myself down on the balcony with my book and salad to distract myself from all negative thoughts – this was meant to be a relaxing mini break from work after all. I’d be gone early the next day. Then I caught movement through the corner of my eye. There was a man standing in the centre of the open plan studio holding a key to the door. I leapt up in shock and fear and, seeing my surprise, he muttered that he lived downstairs and had permission to access the wifi hub in the studio, which apparently served the entire building.

I ushered him out of the door politely in case things turned nasty, and contacted the host. Instead of apologising, the host replied defensively that it was my fault for not answering when he knocked and range the bell. Again… what knock, what bell? How would he even know so soon after the incident? Needless to say I left and I never did find out what was behind the black curtain…

My Account was Deactivated After Guests Fought

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I rent a big apartment where I live with two permanent guests and rent another room on Airbnb. I left on a long trip, letting one of the guests co-host. After ten days, the permanent guest got in a fight with the Airbnb guest. Both guests ended up injured but one from Airbnb more so; he was in the hospital with a broken nose.

I lost sleep during the holidays talking with the two guests, my co-host, and Airbnb trying to see what had happened, who was more responsible, and how to act. The permanent guest was claiming that the Airbnb guest was disrespecting him, leaving common areas dirty, so he confronted him and got in a fight. The Airbnb guest was claiming he was overreacting and attacked him. We first announced the incident to Airbnb and as a result they cancelled the reservation of the Airbnb guest, refunding his money after he had stayed for more than a week.

I found this unfair and asked for a case manager who asked for more information. I provided photos of the permanent guest who was hit as well as the mess the Airbnb guest left. I tried to be objective saying to the Airbnb guest that he probably irritated the permanent guest enough to start the fight (I knew him; he was really quiet and respectful). Both have some responsibility. I also advised the permanent guest to be very careful in the future and let him stay.

The Airbnb guest was mad I didn’t support him and finally after a week without any explanation I received a message from Airbnb they deactivated my account due to violating the terms and conditions. Somehow the host is responsible for the actions of the guests, something that is not logical from my point of view. Nor could I find this in the user agreement.

I found the whole decision totally unfair to me with zero support from Airbnb. It’s a dispute between guests – how can I be responsible for their actions? No explanation about why they deactivated me, or why they believe the Airbnb guest. From my point of view, disputes and fights can occur and both parties should be responsible, but why the host?

Can Airbnb charge my account as a host for the expences the Airbnb guest had in the hospital? Can they do this legally? I can’t remember if I register with my credit card, IBAN number, or both. The bank told me if I cancelled my credit card I can dispute the matter otherwise they can do it. An attorney said they probably could charge me. Under what evidence or legal process can they do that? Who is responsible in a fight when there are no witnesses and if there is evidence the permanent guest started it, is he the only one responsible? I’d appreciate any answers.

A (Nearly) Objective Flight into Airbnb Support Madness

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Last week I wrote a satirical exchange, Kafka meets HAL 9000. I would love to share with you the specifics of what that non-fictional, though unbelievable (and still ongoing) exchange looks like.

On June 3rd my listing, along with 60,000 others in Japan, were suddenly taken offline, without warning, without explanation.

June 11th: I tried to re-list with my license number and got a ‘caution’ message, stating that I could not re-list. I contacted Airbnb support and was told to keep trying to re-list.

June 12th: After repeated trying to re-list, I sent Airbnb support a message, but the thread (case) had been closed. After many phone calls and messages of “we are working on the problem 24/7” in English that were going in circles, I got my wife to contact the Japanese Airbnb staff.

June 12th: First contact with Airbnb staff in Japan. Back and forth messaging four times. Phone calls.

June 15th: After three days of no contact we sent a message and received a reply.

June 17th: After two days of no contact we sent a message and received a reply.

June 18th: We sent a message, and received no reply.

June 19th: We sent a message and received a reply.

June 21st: After two days of no contact we sent a message and received a reply. I was pretty fed up, as nothing seemed to be happening, I asked to speak to someone higher level in English.

June 22nd: A manager speaks to my wife.

June 23rd: We are put onto someone else, who messaged: “The issue has been reported, can’t confirm a deadline, we have flagged this as urgent.” I, not quite understanding the use of present progressive, which indicates recent activity (even in the passive voice) replied, “When was this reported?”

“June 21st.”

“Please give me specifics, did your other rep not report this?”

“Can’t confirm anything.”

June 25th: After two days of no contact we sent a message.

“I was out of the office, please be patient.”

June 26th: A guest, who emailed me worried that our site wasn’t online, cancels. I sent a message to Airbnb:

“Please put me on with someone who can help me.”

“I won’t put this any higher than myself.”

June 30th: No further replies from Airbnb.

“I will call Airbnb customer support everyday until this is resolved.”

June 30th: Called Airbnb’s USA number and talked with someone there. He said 20 days with no resolution is not very good. He said he will prioritize this case (probably the 10th time I have heard this). When we tried to re-list (probably the 15th time I have tried this) a new ‘caution’ warning comes up, stating that “Our records show that your country of residence does not match the listing. Please contact our customer support team if that is not the case.”

I weep and bite my hand. Customer service asks for a screenshot, so I sent it with the question, “Is this big enough?”

June 30th: No reply, but apparently support case is closed, because I can’t reply to the thread.

July 1st: I call Airbnb USA again and get someone who says the guy I had been talking to earlier is not my case manager, then after a long silence contradicted himself. I said I was confused. There was a long silence, then he said someone would call me tomorrow morning.

July 2nd: No call, so I called and got: “Your case manager does not seem to be available.”

“This is a known bug. I will prioritize your case (I give up trying to remember how many times I have heard this). Someone will call you, but I can’t give you a time frame on the call.”

July 3rd: Getting ready to call again…

Nightmare Airbnb in the Middle of Nowhere

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I thought that I found a new Airbnb holiday flat in a good location in a city centre in Spain. The host lied in his profile by saying “everything is nearby” and had also market names that were not really nearby. I believed their lies and lost time and money.

The host had an incorrect map showing the apartment in the city centre but after booking he had a new map with other details and another place far away in countryside. The location was not excellent as the host and some of his guests lied. I saw fields, not the markets he mentioned. There was a heatwave and nothing nearby. There was no possibility to buy water without walking 3-5 km. The host just didn’t care; he and his friend didn’t even leave a bottle of water.

The host didn’t bring the keys as he was living abroad. He had a friend or worker who gave me the keys and his friend didn’t speak English at all. His friend tried to communicate but he didn’t speak any English and he wrote everything with a translation app.

It felt like a scam. The dirty apartment had too many good reviews and false information about services nearby. It was not a suitable place for walkers; it was just a countryside location out of the centre and only suitable choice for drivers. I wonder if some guests really like to spend all day waiting for a bus or taxi in middle of nowhere to go buy food.

Now I think that the former guests were the host’s friends and not many real guests because they bragged about the apartment and its location without a good reason. The apartment was in an old hotel building. It had a strong urine smell, and almost everything was broken. The microwave was burnt and couldn’t be used. I had to walk a long way to fast food places during a heatwave.

The air conditioning was not the best inside, keeping the temperature about +30 or +33 C. The towels were left dirty even though I saw a cleaner and paid cleaning fees for nothing before seeing the apartment. I don’t know from where the smell came but the floor must have also been dirty. The washing machine was somehow broken; it took three hours to wash a few clothes. The oven I didn’t even try to use, but many plates were left broken.

The apartment felt to me like a old sock left for new people. The host told too many lies without even being in the same country. I wonder how Airbnb accept these hosts who don’t need to be in the same country where they rent apartments. It’s okay for Airbnb that a host has some friends (who don’t even speak English) bring keys. The host was thinking that all people on this planet have cars for driving to the food market. I cancelled and lost money from the cancellation fee but at the end it was best. Even hostels were better than this nightmare dirty apartment far from everything.

Reservations Are Good Until Hosts Get Other Offers

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I reserved an apartment through Airbnb six months in advance. The host is a property management company that has multiple properties. One week before I was to arrive, a person from the company called me. She told me that I would need to be relocated to a better property as they were overbooked. She also commented that I had gotten an extremely low price. She told me she would be contacting me later with the updated location.

Two days later, I received a message from Airbnb that my reservation was simply cancelled. As there is an incredible amount of demand for accommodation due to the convention I was attending, I told Airbnb I suspected they cancelled my reservation so they could get a higher rate from someone else. Airbnb stated I had no recourse. Needless to say I won’t be using Airbnb again. I have had many good experiences with Airbnb but the lack of customer service is staggering and unacceptable. I am now booking rooms directly through hotel websites as I’ve never experienced this kind of problem with them.

Host Discriminates Against Guests’ Dietary Needs?

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My name is Ryan Lobo and I am an author, filmmaker, TED Talk speaker, and photographer based in India. I am writing to you because I believe that I have been discriminated against due to my Indian ethnicity by a host in Almaty, Kazakhstan. I had inquired with this host about renting his apartment in Almaty for my wife, child and myself and requested a discount as we were taking it for 20 days. My wife is of Russian ethnicity and I am Indian, evident from our photographs.

The host wrote me immediately, saying that Indian food or spices are strictly not allowed in his apartment and asked for an extra deposit/amount from me which he would return after ‘inspecting’ the apartment if I were to take the place. As far as I know, Airbnb’s terms state that people cannot be discriminated against or charged extra based on national origin/race and additional charges or deposits cannot be placed on them.

The host then declined my inquiry when I told him that I do not eat Indian food and requested to know why he was charging me extra. Do please look into this as I believe Airbnb is supposed to be inclusive and non-discriminatory. I have flagged the post.

Epic $4000 Communication Fail in Deactivated Superhost Account

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It’s summer in Oklahoma and very hot. My partner and I have traveled here from Louisville to say goodbye to his 91-year-old grandma and to clean out 91 years’ worth of stuff from her home… so many things. Also, so many tiny rodent roommates.

As a Superhost, I wanted to make sure my Airbnb listing was maintained to my standards while we were away, so I blocked all the dates out on our Airbnb calendar for the time we were away and made sure to have my phone around, Airbnb notifications on, in case I was needed by upcoming guests or had a reservation request. I checked in on the app daily for messages just to make sure that things were fine. No new news, just two pending reviews that I would take care of on the long car ride home.

Then, from out of nowhere, there was a message from a guest asking why we had canceled her upcoming stay? “That’s weird,” I thought, “the only guests I want to cancel are the mice who had been illegally staying with grandma.”

I quickly sent my guest a response letting her know that I was on the road but I would look into it as soon as I got back, which by this time was only a day away. I got home and sat down in front of my computer where I still had no new messages from Airbnb. There were no notifications, but I couldn’t seem to view my reservations.

“Huh, so weird,” I think… “what is going on?” I looked at my upcoming earnings… and there were none. Nothing. Then the next guest I was preparing for was also suddenly gone. Something was terribly wrong. I frantically searched my email for clues, and there it was: an email that my account will be deactivated within 24 hours if I do not confirm my account sent less than a week ago.

Are you kidding me? 24 hours? An email! In my whole life as a host I have never communicated with Airbnb via email. Never. We have apps and online accounts. My partner’s number is signed up to get a text for every message, request, and inquiry. Yet they decided to contact us about something so incredibly important through an email?

There should have been a massive red bar on my account that says “Check your email for account verification or you will be deactivated in 24 hours.” There should have been a phone call. There should have been a text. Literally any additional way of getting in touch with us besides an email. To be honest had I seen the email, I may not have even trusted it because they were asking for confirmation of payment details, which seemed suspicious in and of itself.

So now I wait. No one could answer exactly why my account had been chosen for confirmation/deactivation in the first place but it’s been “passed along” to the technical people and they’ll get back to me. Eight hours and two more phone calls later, I’ve been assured it’s underway at the technical department with the highest priority.

Meanwhile, I have an apartment sitting empty and unbookable during the busiest time of the year, $4000 of cancelled reservations from Airbnb and countless lost hours of labor sending correspondence with those who had booked. I wish I could send all that mouse poop I cleaned out of grandma’s house priority freaking mail directly to Airbnb right now.

Host’s Calendar was Full, Didn’t Bother to Tell me

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I found an apartment from a new host. I liked it and booked it. After arriving, I noticed it was an agency’s apartment. I tried to book more nights but the host didn’t let me know that her calendar days were not available (didn’t update the calendar, as many hosts don’t do). She let me know which days were available so I booked and paid; she accepted it.

I was thinking there was an automatic system for calendar updates but now I know many hosts play with calendar days to be full when guests try to make bookings so they get money from 2-3 new guests at the same time and then also half of the cancellation fees. The calendar days were available and then full when I made the reservation and paid. She accepted it; the calendar was available to me and then it was not.

After that she sent a new reservation request with new days, without telling me about another guest’s reservation for the same days. Only after the payment was accepted did she tell me she had other guests arriving also for the day and so I had to shorten my stay. She also changed the check-out time to be earlier without any mention of it before. Because of this, she would get more money for shorter stays and I couldn’t accept it.

I declined her offer because I made bookings for those days. The host also told me I could pay with cash but I never do this with anyone. I had to search information on how to cancel the payment for my five-day reservation. The host accepted the reservation and got half of my money without telling me how to cancel. It was the host who was messing with her calendar and changed the days. In the end, the host got more than half of my payment because Airbnb’s cancellation system works like that; it work well for hosts and badly for guests. You lose money if you have to make a cancellation as I had to. I did nothing wrong but the system is making it the guest’s fault when a host plays with the calendar days to be full.

Before this, I heard only positive brags about Airbnb. It’s an incredible system, but it can’t work if bad hosts can do anything they want. There is usually not enough help for guests. I have to wait 1-2 days to get any answers from the Airbnb customer service team. Nobody has helped me. I’m a guest and when I see rules, I follow rules. I also have to verify my profile every time I log into Airbnb. The system is working much better for hosts when they can do anything that they want. Hosts should be more trustworthy. It’s like they are sending guests back to camping and hostels after these experiences.

No Water in Bathroom Not Grounds for a Refund?

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We arrived in Paris for a three-night stay at a “cozy, cute apartment with panoramic views” to find a cozy, cute apartment with a balcony. 15 degrees of the view did show Montmartre but the other 165 degrees was a perfect panorama of the adjacent apartment building, maybe 20 years away. Fine – we weren’t going to be spending much time in the apartment.

Exhausted and somewhat stinky from the overnight flight from the US east coast and battling the Parisian strikes affecting transportation in from De Gaulle airport, I was ready for a shower, to brush my teeth and take a quick nap. Mon Dieux! There was no water in the bathroom at all. The kitchen sink had water, but la toillette, shower, and sink, as well as the washing machine, lacked any water.

We turned a few knobs, my husband checked my work to make sure I had somehow failed to remember how to turn on water at the age of 63, and I contacted the delegated Airbnb host, since the official host was not available. I contacted him through the Airbnb website and then he reminded me that he preferred to use WhatsApp.

Problem #1: the Airbnb customer service person later informed me that because I used WhatsApp it was impossible to be absolutely sure I was communicating with the right person, despite the back and forth conversation over several hours, the ability to look up the phone number, the screenshots, and the Airbnb website communications.

The host asked for a photograph of the plumbing in the bedroom which we took on our iPhone and sent to him. He responded, “Voila – just turn the nozzle to the washing machine and all will be wonderful… not.”

I reminded him that that nozzle went to the washing machine, not the shower, toilet or sink and that we had tried several times. He assured me it would get fixed. Stinky and exhausted, we napped for a couple of hours, blissfully uninterrupted by any further attempts by the host to settle our problem. After our nap, I called, messenged, and sent him and the owner notes asking for a resolution.

About six hours after arriving, unable to go out because we were (stupidly) expecting someone to come to fix the problems, we decided to cancel and go elsewhere. I let the host know, secured alternative housing, and returned the key five blocks or so to the secure key drop (he was very good about sending me the key code so he wouldn’t have to come to pick it up elsewhere). The host even had the nerve to say that no other guests had ever had this problem, insinuating that perhaps this was our fault.

Since returning home, I’ve contacted the Airbnb customer service folks and as I saw written in the intro on the Airbnb Hell website, found them wanting. Several apparent problems: I should have communicated only on the website; I should have contacted Airbnb central; I need to prove that I didn’t have water.

Proving the absence of water is quite difficult, actually. I couldn’t get a response as to how I was supposed to do so. Apparently having no water in the bathroom is not a reason for looking for a different situation, nor is a complete lack of results by the host in improving the immediate situation and my assumption that the host would know the rules and use the website only (not WhatsApp) is incorrect and absolutely no protection even though it works well for the host.

The customer service agent has refunded me about half of the cost. I have asked him or her to provide me the contact information to make an appeal and he/she simply ignores that request in our communication. This has been incredibly frustrating and I am asking for a full refund. Until this time, I have had only good experiences with Airbnb and my thought is that this host may just have a bunch of hotels he rents out without any real attachment. He’s not a host; he’s a short term lender. Just a hunch.

I wish I were still 10 years younger for verification

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Hello, I am a 65 year old French citizen traveling extensively in Southeast Asia. I have been a user of Airbnb for three or four years, a guest about 20 times with 5 to 10 reviews from hosts, all positive. My ID has been checked (photos, passport copy, email address and phone numbers) many times. Airbnb still continues to ask me to send them photos and I could not book any new rentals for the last six months; they kept telling me :”It’s difficult to see you in the photo you took of yourself”; “to help us make sure it’s you, the photo of your face needs to match the photo that’s on your ID.”

I wish my face now would be the same as the one ten years ago. Passports are valid for up to ten years in France. I tried to change my profile photo (not sure which one they check anyway). I suspect their facial recognition is just automatic and crap, not done by humans. Anyway I quit. I write this because I would like hosts to know that because of Airbnb’s weak support (no way to reach them with a specific problem), they probably lose many opportunities.

As for me, either I use other providers now, or I contact hosts directly that I found on Airbnb (but now Airbnb does not get a commission anymore, which is fair enough given their weak customer experience). Only the selection is better on their site, but it is of no use as I cannot rent there anyway. Thank you for reading.