Author Archives: Rick

Peruvian Penthouse Sheet Stain Mystery

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Bring your own pipe wrench and king-size sheets if you holiday with Airbnb. My recent vacation in Peru began with four chilly days in a flat in Cuzco with no central heat. Not to worry: on the 34-degree nights, there was a small space heater in each bedroom that you could carry to the kitchen, the living room, and the bathroom. Speaking of bathrooms, there was an unfortunate seepage from the bottom of one toilet (if you have a toilet leak, this is definitely not the end to have it come out of).

Then there was the shower. On a cold Cuzco morning, I’m sure there is nothing like a hot shower to get you going. I wouldn’t know. My shower emitted a stream of hot water for the first one and a half minutes. After that you had to brace for a blast so cold it puckered you at both ends. If you’re hearty enough to tough it out you get rewarded with one cycle of lukewarm water for rinsing your bits and then you are on your own. This was The Good Place.

Next stop was the “penthouse” in Miraflores. This deluxe apartment had seen better days and the master suite won the award. Upon arrival, I set up my toiletries in the bathroom and went to wash my hands. No running water. I flushed the toilet. The tank did not refill. The water to the entire bathroom had to be manually switched on because the vanity plumbing was broken and constantly ran. So every shower, hand wash and toilet flush involved a two-step process. Plumbing was definitely not the priority because nearly every faucet in the house was loose. There was also another toilet leak on the first floor. What’s up with me and the toilets on this trip? This flat was the gift that kept on giving.

Upon my return home, I was greeted with a complaint from the owner with pictures of blue-stained sheets and an accusation that I must have worn wet jeans and sat on the bed and transferred dye. Since nobody on this site knows me, I feel compelled to let you know that I am that guy who leaves a note when I back into a parked car. I am also the type of guy who makes sure that he wears dry blue jeans. It’s kind of a thing for me. I am also not a Smurf.

Needless to say, I vehemently denied her crazy accusations, and let her know that there is no logical way that I could have put a stain on her sheets. I suggested that she speak with her cleaning crew, recommended washing whites with whites, and pointed out that the running water issue might be one to prioritize. This made her mad. After a few more exchanges I rejected her demand of $60 for a sheet.

By rejecting her damage claim, I went into Airbnb’s kangaroo court. What happens is that you get an opportunity to send Airbnb a private message to explain your situation anytime you electronically reject a claim. I told them that this was either a scam or a laundry mishap that I was wrongly blamed for. I gave them my cellphone number for them to reach out and offered up my traveling companions as witnesses.

Their response: A form-letterish email stating that they had reviewed the case and were siding with the owner since she reported the incident with a photo before renting to another party. You mean to tell me that is the standard of proof? Seriously? What about the cleaners? What about the owner herself trying to make an extra buck with a blue sheet scam? Who knows if that photo is even of a sheet that was in the house I stayed in?

Apparently that didn’t matter because Airbnb had already billed my credit card for $60. They made it very clear that I had already agreed to this in the fine print as a security deposit. I guess it is back to the Marriott for me. Airbnb and its total disregard for the customer has given me the blues. Literally.

Run Away from Airbnb to get Paid on Time

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It’s peak football season in Russia. I provided my townhouse to Airbnb guests from China. It is in Sochi. I was also helping my guests from the beginning with some situations when they mailed their football badges to the wrong address. I helped them with taxi as well. It was a lot of work, but it was okay to me, because I wanted to see my guests happy. It was my first experience with Airbnb as well… and the last one.

I have hosted my house through other websites and I have always gotten paid. But Airbnb refused to do so. First, they called me and said they would be paying me within 24 hours after the guests checked in. Later that same evening, they called me and said, “No, we will not pay you until Monday,” which is 60 hours after check in and my guests check out on Monday at 12:00 PM. Since I read too many hosts complained about not getting paid at all, I said that that was not what I agreed to. I had no trust in that system.

My guests contacted the company and offered to pay me cash and to get money back from the company. Airbnb replied: “We will not give you money back. You should not pay her any money.” Airbnb also switched my banking details from “verified” to “not verified,” which was a total lie. My banking details were good and other sites have use them with no problems.

The bottom line is: hosts have to provide a free place for their guests, guests have a ruined vacation, and then Airbnb gets away with this scam, keeping my money. Unfortunately I have more people coming though Airbnb for the FIFA games, and I have to email my guests and tell them this story. I will have to cancel their future plans to stay at my house so I don’t deal with rude customers to survive; I do not provide free housing and will not deal with this scam. I feel bad that football fans will get a cancellation from me, but I have no choice. Run from this company and never deal with them.

Airbnb Destroys 10th Anniversary Celebration

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At 11:55 AM on June 21st, I was enjoying an amazing time with my wife of ten years, driving up the coast without a care in the world. Little did I know that Airbnb had just decided to blow up our long planned anniversary trip. When I had first started planning, I was hesitant about using Airbnb because I worried about the potential for homeowners to make sudden changes. However, I was assured by friends that Airbnb had always worked out extremely well for them, so I decided to go for it.

On March 27th, nearly three months before our trip, we booked our stays and were extremely excited. We paid in full, paid off our credit card, and were so eager for our getaway. Fast forward to our actual trip, and once I got wifi access later in the evening, I discovered an email informing me that our bookings had been cancelled without explanation. We had no place to stay, on a weekend, in June.

Panic set in quickly. We called customer support but were only told that it was for a ‘technical reason.’ We were told it would be escalated, but who knows when we might get a response. It was only later that the explanation email arrived and we knew what ‘a technical reason’ meant, which was that somehow I’d been tagged as having failed a background check.

I’m a pragmatist. I understand that businesses must minimize risk. However, the onus must be on the business to minimize their risk in a way that does not harm their customers, that does not strand them 2000 miles from home. When I found out the real reason for my cancellation, I immediately filed a dispute. As expected, that dispute was resolved in my favor, because the information provided to Airbnb was in error. However, winning the dispute eight days later doesn’t fix the emotional turmoil that Airbnb caused on what was supposed to be an amazing trip. It doesn’t give me back those lost hours with my wife where we were both crying and agonizing.

Had Airbnb made this mistake in March, three months ago, it could have been easily corrected. I’d have disputed, and everything would have been fine. However, because Airbnb decided to do so the day before our stay, we had no recourse or remedy. Brainstorming, we tried to sign up my wife and have her book the stays, but she was also denied. She was told that because she was connected to me, she was blocked as well. My wife was devastated when she was told that, because she was married to me, she wasn’t allowed to have an Airbnb account, either.

The follow up email that Airbnb sent to her was brutal, and brought her to tears yet again. Not exactly the emotion one is going for on an anniversary. Airbnb did its absolute best to destroy our long planned, long saved for trip. It hurt us both financially and, more importantly, emotionally. This is the kind of story you only read about; you never think it will happen to you. Now that it has happened to me, I do think people should read about it. It seems like exactly the kind of publicity that Airbnb deserves. Wouldn’t you agree?

Airbnb is a Cheap Company That Won’t Reimburse

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I recently booked a stay at an Airbnb in the center of Paris for two nights. When I got to the Airbnb in the middle of the night, I was unable to get into the Airbnb because the key was missing. I later discovered that the host knowingly did not leave the key for me and said it was because the cleaning was not finished; however, oddly enough, the reservation was confirmed by both the host and Airbnb itself and I was expecting a place to stay during my time in Paris.

When I was unable to contact the host when no key was found, I contacted Airbnb, who then requested that I book a hotel for the two nights and they would refund us for the bookings as well us reimburse us for the hotels. Since it was 1:30 AM in the center of Paris during the summer, no hotels were available and I was left stranded and on the streets along with all the homeless people camping outside.

Airbnb assured me that they would try to find a hotel and at one point even told me that they found one and were processing everything, but about an hour later told me they had nothing. This forced me to go out and walk hotel to hotel in the middle of the night looking for some type of shelter. After about six hotels and begging, I was denied by the sixth and left to stand outside still on the phone trying (with no luck) to get a room from Airbnb when finally the concierge came out and made a deal with us to give us a dirty room that another person had just left, but only if I paid full in cash. This left me to run down the street to a random ATM to withdrawal 200 Euros just so that I wouldn’t be left out homeless on the streets by Airbnb.

When I was finally able to take care of this issue, Airbnb assured me that I would be reimbursed for both nights at the hotel. The case manager then went on to explain that she would be in contact with us again the next day to book us a hotel. The next morning I called Airbnb and spoke with another agent to confirm that I wouldn’t be left stranded on the streets again. I was then notified that no hotel had been booked and that the case manager would be the only one allowed to handle the case. It was unsure of whether or not she would be coming in that day. I was then told to book whatever hotel I found available and Airbnb would reimburse me when I sent the invoices.

Therefore, I went on to take care of the issue myself and was able to find a room at the Shangri La Hotel, a high end hotel, that actually had a few rooms left because of the high cost. I booked the room, checked in, and everything was fine again. Finally at about 8:30 PM, my case manager from Airbnb finally called me to confirm that everything was okay. I told her that I had found a room at the Shangri La Hotel and had checked in. She confirmed that I would be reimbursed.

After I checked out of the room, I sent her invoices for both the nights and she confirmed that Airbnb would be reimbursing me 1,713.80 Euros (the cost of the hotels for both the nights combined). She then gave me a call back after about 30 minutes and informed me that she, in fact, was not going to be able to fully reimburse me and stated that Airbnb had said that they would only reimburse me for the first night and not the second (which they did not). They then continued negotiating that they would only reimburse me 50% for the second night. When I questioned her about why this was never stated, she then went on to suddenly change that 50% and say that she would only be able to give us $200 for the second night.

After arguing with her for a while, because she had no knowledgeable answer or power, I asked to speak to a supervisor and was transferred over. The supervisor then went on to tell me that they were going to reimburse me $450 for the two nights; they suddenly changed their reimbursement for the second night from 100%, to 50%, to 200 Euros, to 250 Euros just because they didn’t expect the expense of booking a hotel last minute in the center of Paris during the high season. They now refuse to reimburse me for the expense of the hotel for the second day and are using a loophole of saying that they didn’t say the word “full” for the reimbursement. Everything is recorded on the call and they had confirmed the amount of 1,713.80 Euros they were going to refund as well.

Airbnb Guests Steal Firewood from Neighbours

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When I bought my home in 2009, it was not beside a hotel. Now it is. The property adjacent to mine in a quiet, rural area sold a year ago to new owners who obviously bought it to run a full time hotel. Short-term rentals in the area are illegal, but the bylaws are enforced on a complaint basis and the fines are low. I find it very unpleasant to have new strangers arriving at the house beside me every 3 to 5 days. I don’t feel safe in my own home.

Although it’s in a rural setting, the houses are close. Airbnb guests and workers servicing the “hotel” have parked in my driveway blocking me in repeatedly in spite of “no parking” signs I installed after the parking problem started when the new owners showed up. The new owners’ realtor, building inspector, cable company, cleaning staff and guests have all parked in my driveway, parking me in and completely blocking the driveway.

Each time I have gone down and knocked on the door and asked them to move their vehicle. Each time, they rolled their eyes at me and indicated that this was a big inconvenience to them – but they did move their vehicles. I took photos of their vehicles and I was ready to have them towed. Although they always moved their vehicles, how many times a week should I be expected to go down and ask them to move?

If I need to get my car out to go to work, I don’t always have time to deal with an Airbnb vehicle blocking my driveway. Airbnb guests from next door have rung my doorbell early in the morning awakening me (I was thinking there must be some sort of dire emergency) to ask me where they might find a good swimming beach. Swell.

Even if I live beside a neighbour who I don’t like too much, I get used to them and I know who is there. Living beside an Airbnb hotel with a high turnover is much worse. Most guests are quiet and don’t cause any problems. But still – we don’t know who they are. This creates a sense of uneasiness and insecurity for the neighbours.

Some Airbnb guests are more problematic. With the average stay being 3-5 days and the Airbnb rented out solidly all year long, we were bound to get some problematic guests eventually. That happened the first two weekends in June 2018 when two separate groups of Airbnb guests were caught red-handed stealing firewood from a neighbouring house (not my house – I’ve had to install security cameras on my house to deter them).

The first group of thieves acted belligerently when confronted by a neighbour and absconded with the firewood anyway. The weekend of June 9th, the exact same scenario occurred: same neighbour caught the guests red-handed stealing firewood. He made them put it back this time and reported it to the police. The police won’t do anything; they have bigger fish to fry.

The neighbour who caught the firewood thieves and I have both filed complaints with Airbnb and with the municipality. We’ve requested that the municipality enforce their own bylaws. The municipality sent a representative right away to the door of the Airbnb. The owners happened to be present at the time, even though they are rarely present. I don’t know the outcome… likely a small fine and it carries on.

Airbnb has not replied at all to any complaints and the firewood thieves still have rave reviews about how wonderful they are on the Airbnb website. I’d feel slightly better if the firewood thieves had been called out and received bad reviews on the Airbnb website. There are no bad reviews on Airbnb. All reviews are positive. No one wants to risk giving a bad review because then they might get a bad review in return. That’s bad for business.

The review system doesn’t work because all reviews are positive. The picture of the BBQ shows my house to the left. The rocky garden in the background in that picture is my property. The owners do not tell the Airbnb guests this, so the guests are angry when I am out weeding my own garden. They have no qualms about trespassing. These guests got rave reviews. They could be staying beside you next week.

Airbnb Room in Seattle is Anything but Clean

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I planned a trip with my daughter and two grandchildren to visit the Seattle Zoo. I went on Airbnb and found a listing advertised as a cozy and clean room in Lynnwood. The communication with the host was very poor. On all occasions, communication stopped between us and the host because the host stopped responding.

First we sent the host a message on Airbnb after completing the booking to confirm that it would be suitable to stay with four people in the room as it was only advertised for three; the host never responded with an answer. Second, the host never messaged us with check in information. We arrived after the scheduled check in time posted on the Airbnb listing not knowing if anyone would be there to meet us, or if we should have been provided with a code for a lockbox for a key to gain entry.

Third, after arriving we went out to dinner to discuss how we felt about the place. We then texted the host to see if she would consider giving us a refund so we could stay somewhere else where we felt more comfortable with two small children. After a couple of texts back and forth the host stopped responding again. With it getting late and needing to get the kids to bed we decided to leave and stay somewhere else that we thought would be a safer and more suitable environment.

The host proceeded to clean the bathroom after we arrived and showed us our room. This should have been completed before we arrived. We used the bathroom right after she cleaned it, and it was still dirty. There was hair and dust on the floor, mold on the tub and a good amount of dust on the cabinets. In the corners of the bathroom floor there was visible dirt buildup. When we mentioned this to the host in our text message she responded with “You only need to share the bathroom with two girls and both are working the whole day. They work in the medical field and are very clean.”

She never addressed the fact that the bathroom was still dirty after she cleaned it when we arrived or making any effort to make it right. When I contacted Airbnb about a refund they said that she was very clear about everything on her site and offered me a $50 discount on my next booking with Airbnb. I have attached photos and also have copies of the texts we sent our host.

Illegal Drugs Found in Airbnb Upon Arrival

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These are the facts about what happened upon arrival at an Airbnb residence in London. My partner’s father and grandmother, residents of Germany, were visiting myself and my partner between Sunday, June 17th, 2018 and Friday, June 22nd, 2018. My partner’s grandmother has not visited the UK before and this will be the last time she will travel to there.

Upon arrival in the UK, my partner, my partner’s father, my partner’s grandmother and I went to the Airbnb residence. Upon arrival, we were disgusted with the cleanliness of the apartment, the floors being sticky and with clear connotations that they had not been cleaned in a while. There were also several stains on the coffee table.

This was not the worst part, as upon inspecting the flat my partner’s grandmother (a woman in her 70s) found what she thought to be a transparent sealable spare button bag. While looking at it, the unmistakeable stench of cannabis wafted from within. This was found at the base of the kitchen counter, clearly seen from any place within the room. When investigating further we also found remnants of cannabis cigarettes both in the rear sliding doorframe as well as just outside the door.

We took pictures of the bag as well as one of these used cannabis cigarettes which we placed on the counter to clearly be seen against its black surface. On top of this we have the physical evidence. Immediately we were in touch with the Airbnb team to escalate the matter and ask for a refund. We were directed by the support team towards both the resolution centre and asked for a refund from the owner of the property.

Upon the owner not accepting the terms, we contacted Airbnb customer service directly. This is where the level of service provided to us has been shocking to say the very least. Due to the language barrier, as well as no help from Airbnb to resolve this, the verification stages for me to represent my partner’s father were practically impossible to do until he was asked to call them directly to verify his representation. This was the initial issue that was not resolved in a professional or timely manner by customer service representatives.

After this shocking experience for my partner’s grandmother as well as the terrible customer service my partner’s father and I experienced, I was finally verified to speak on his behalf. My grandmother has not seen or ever come into contact with illegal substances in her entire life. A reminder at this moment that we found illegal drugs in the apartment with photographic evidence as well as physical evidence to support this.

I have called the customer service number multiple times, speaking with several agents that represent Airbnb’s so called ‘service’. They refused to give me their representative ID numbers. Upon asking to escalate this issue several times and asking to speak with either a manager or someone who is more equipped to deal with my service issues, every single representative said that they could not pass me to a manager or an escalation point.

Upon exploring potential options such as transferring me to another agent, to a line manager, to an escalation point, to even physically leaving their desks to walk to a ‘managerial’ department, I was refused service. To help understand what customer service is, here is a definition of “customer service” by Oxford Dictionary:

The help and advice that a company gives people who buy or use its products or services.

To this day, I have received no help, only excuses for how Airbnb is structured into different departments with zero points of escalation. No advice on the next steps, only excuses stating that this ‘ticket’ is with the escalation team, a department that has no customer facing contact point. Finally, there has been no answer as to when this will be finished.

I have been in contact with our professional legal team to settle these matters publicly with the overarching support from the police, who will be notified if we do not get an answer/refund as soon as possible. Having been ten days since originally escalating the issue to the ‘resolution centre’ department, this is unacceptable and we will be taking further action if there is no resolution or response by this Friday (June 29th, 2018). What are everyone else’s thoughts on this? No opinions about illegality/legality of cannabis please – this is a Class B drug in the UK.

Airbnb’s Removed Listings in Japan Complicate Visas

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Due to the new Japanese law, all the Airbnb listings without permits have been removed from the site. The place we booked is also one of them. We had two groups booked with the same host on the same date at the same location. After the law passed, they contacted Airbnb and the host, and cancelled it right away so guests could find a new place.

However, when we tried to request a cancellation, they wouldn’t do it. They kept asking me to wait for the host to get the permit. Because I had to apply for a Japanese visa, I was really in a hurry to get a response. No one seemed to care at all. They said that if I wanted to cancel, because it is a long term stay, I would lose the first month’s rent. This is not my fault. Then they said that they only can cancel it ten days before the departure date if the host cannot get the permit… this is ridiculous.

So we have to wait ten days before my trip to know if we have place to stay or not? How they can treat the guests like this? We have to stay in Japan for three months. Not just a few days. This is why my friend wanted to cancel the property for the same dates as us, but we cannot do it. This is a horrible experience. I can’t believe any company would doing this to their guests Can someone give me any suggestions for this? Can I still use the Airbnb confirmation letter to apply for my visa?

First Time Using Airbnb Will Be My Last Time

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My childhood friend and I were planning a girls trip to Washington DC. I’m a savvy, frugal traveler and always do very well researching and booking hotels. I suggested a few hotels where I had stayed, but my friend insisted on Airbnb. I should have just said no, but didn’t want to seem bossy and figured it couldn’t be so bad.

She told me she found a small place for $72 per night. I wasn’t impressed with the pictures, but she liked the place. My friend then emailed me and told me that my half for the three nights would be $225. I thought it was $72 per night. I know there are taxes and a cleaning fee, but to double the price seems ridiculous. I had already booked my flight and didn’t want to deal with a confrontation, so I just let it go.

The host sent us a text about an hour before our arrival that the cleaning crew was late or something. No big deal. The unit was in kind of a brownstone on the ground floor. The place was dark, dank and reeked of mold. It was a nasty odor.

The host informed us that the laundry in the dryer was taking a long time and to “throw another 90 minutes on it”. The reason it wasn’t drying was because he had stuffed four towels, washcloths, a hand towel and a set of sheets into the dryer (and these are the small stacking washer/dryer). I took half of it out so that it would dry. The host never came back and took care of the laundry. I had to fold it.

My friend took the bed in the bedroom, which left me on a pullout that looked like it had come out of the dumpster. If you laid back too far on the bed, the bottom would come off the ground. There were also broken springs in the mattress. My friend kept insisting “well, this is ok…”

The next morning, I was trying to dry my hair (thankfully I brought my own hairdryer because the unit didn’t have one, nor did it have an iron). This blew the circuit, which shut off the power in the unit. We sent the host texts and emails. A while later (after we left) he replied and told us how to switch the breaker… seriously. He wanted his paying guests to do it. I refused and told my friend the power would be on or I was going to a hotel.

Our entire trip my friend complained about the rain (it was misty). She complained about the heat outside. She complained we walked too much and her feet hurt. However, she kept trying to convince me that $150 per night for a dump that was out of the way was a good deal.

Shortly after we left, while waiting for our train, the host sent an email asking for a five-star rating and good review. Unfortunately, my friend booked it or I would have blasted the hell out of him. Ironically, the place had good reviews. I’m certain they were fake reviews from his friends because anyone paying $150 per night for that dump wouldn’t be happy. If you can’t afford to stay in a safe, clean place then maybe you shouldn’t travel.

Airbnb Support: Kafka Meets 2001’s HAL 9000

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Fictitious conversation between two Airbnb upper management staff. Disclaimer: This conversation has no relationship to anyone or any company, living or dead.

UM Staff 1: Hey, I’ve got a great idea for saving money!

UMS 2: Yeah?

UMS 1: We just set up a support team that basically blocks customers from causing us hassle and money.

UMS 2: Ok… but won’t there be problems?

UMS 1: No, no… you see, we keep the customer absolutely powerless. Sure they will get frustrated and suicidal and their finances will go down the toilet, but they will have no way to get past the wall that we set up, so they will never be heard. That way we can keep the commission low on the vast majority of hosts, the vast minority will sing our praises, and the minority who complain will be drowned out. Even if the customer threatens legal proceedings we can cover it from the vast amount of money we are raking in. The complaining customer will never be able to compete.

UMS 2: Hmm, sounds a little risky.

UMS 1: No, see I’ve read Kafka; you just basically gaslight the single customer, suggest their reality (fairness, morality, responsibility) is completely wrong. As for the people who have to actually interface with the… ‘customer’ we set up the HAL scenario.

UMS 2: What’s that?

UMS 1: Well just get the support staff to repeat ‘Siri-like’ computer generated phrases like “we have a team working on it 24/7” and use passive statements like “it has been reported to a team (that I cannot tell you the name of).”

UMS 2: Beautiful. Let’s do it!

I was delisted on June 3rd (wrongly). I can’t enter the details of my license (first attempt June 11th) into their network (computer error they say). I have been given the runaround ever since, with the last ‘senior customer service staff’ member being the least helpful. No surprise there. I am exhausted, beyond frustrated, angry, and depressed.