Author Archives: Wendy Walters

Real Airbnb Hell with Snowstorm Approaching

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We’re having an unacceptable Airbnb day today. Let me explain what happened. We were not happy with the room at our first reservation, as it was so small that there was no place for our luggage. We have taken pictures of the room (and the rest of the house); the pictures in the listing are not false advertisement but not fair either. There’s no full disclosure of this.

We called customer service at 5:00 PM, after a long trip, to know our options. We spoke to a case manager who did his best. We were told we would get called within the hour but they were “experiencing system issues”. It eventually took hours to find a solution. The first hour we waited at a restaurant and customer service was kind enough to offer a $25 coupon for our dinner.

When it closed, we waited outside. It was freezing in NYC at that time. It was impossible to reach them because the system was down. We eventually went back to the flat, where our stuff was, and called again. In the meantime, the host told us he didn’t feel comfortable having us in the flat and that we should get the refund on his terms and find another solution, like going to a hotel. The situation started escalating.

Three hours after our first call, we received a call back. His best solution was to rebook us but by the time he called us back all the listings that we had looked at and throughly read were already gone. We looked at some other listings together and found a listing that was online. This was already between 8:00 and 9:00 PM and we had no luck booking it. As the situation at the host’s place escalated and we were tired and stressed, we just wanted to get out of there and as customer service found a listing in a different neighbourhood, we had no better choice but to take it.

Customer service sent us a coupon for that listing and we had to add 4 euros and take an Uber to the next place because there was no public transportation at that late hour. As we were not able to thoroughly read the listing because of the said conditions, we asked if it was okay to book the next place just for one night – a reasonable thing to ask after the earlier experience – and Airbnb said that we had to book all three nights. We had no choice and we were happy to get out of a situation where we felt compromised and unsafe.

We got to the place where we are now at 10:30 PM, 5.5 hours after placing the first call. This is a different neighbourhood than the one we wanted, and it seemed sketchy. The house is run down and we found out that this listing is a dorm type of situation with seven rooms rented out and who knows how many people; this was not stated in the listing. So many people are coming and going, the shared rooms including the kitchen and bathrooms are busy and it’s noisy. It’s a hostel here, not an Airbnb. Also the window is broken and wind is coming in with a snow storm coming tonight. We took pictures of it.

We feel like the solution we got was worse than the original problem. We were pushed to take just any solution. We are very upset with the way this was handled. Airbnb could have at least provided us with a hotel room, instead of making this situation worse. We don’t want to stay here and we also don’t want another bad situation with the host just like what happened earlier today. We have been using Airbnb for six years now and this has never happened to us. This is really bad. We feel very upset.

It is almost midnight and we are still chatting with Airbnb customer service, who is still trying to find a solution. The host is asleep of course, but the guests are still running around in this “hostel”. It’s been seven hours and our nerves are wrecked. This is not fair. Tomorrow the weather conditions are going to be terrible, with a snow storm. A comfortable and safe environment is essential. This is what we expect Airbnb to provide, especially after all we’ve been through.

The Worst Customer Service I Have Ever Seen

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During this winter vocation, I traveled with my friend to Munich, Germany. We lodged at a German’s flat. It was a wonderful trip and the host was a nice guy. Actually I think it was a wonderful experience there. However, several days after we left, we received a message from that host, who informed us that the glass desk in his living room had been broken. He suspected we did it, which was ridiculous. Why he didn’t he talk to us while we were there, instead of several days after we left?

If we considered this issue important, I thought it would be better to connect with the police at first time. Well, after discussing it with my friend, we thought that the less trouble, the better. We are international students and aren’t willing to get stuck in any trouble. We decided to agree with the host and pay him back 80 euro as a solution to terminate this problem. At that moment, the Airbnb nightmare began.

The Airbnb charged the fees twice, a total of 160 euro. We connected with customer service several times. They made a promise to us that they would return the fees to another credit card which I have saved on my Airbnb Account, but not the card which I used to make the payment before… how absurd they are. Once I connected with them, instead of solving the problems for us, they always said that the fees had been transferred onto the credit card, and we should ask our bank for help.

The bank clerk told me if they had transferred the money into my account, I would have already received it. However, at this moment, I still haven’t received it. What makes me anger is once you connect with Airbnb, customer service doesn’t always reply to you or, if they do, it takes several days. In 21st century, this is the most “wonderful” service I have ever seen.

Moving to France, Booking on Airbnb, Facing this Situation

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Let me start by saying that I am a frequent Airbnb user. Until this happened. I moved to France (Rennes to be more specific) 11 days ago and I booked two nights in a private room in order to rest and start looking for an apartment full time (moving to a foreign country, carrying a lot of luggage, and finding a proper place to stay even for a couple of days is necessary). The host answered my messages before arrival, but when I checked in, I encountered a problem which made me feel suspicious of the surroundings.

As a foreign young girl who had to stay for two nights in an apartment with two other men, whom I had not been informed about beforehand, and was preparing to consume alcohol that night, I had to think twice about spending the night. I would like to add that even if it was a private room, I didn’t have the key to it. I was accompanied by a friend of mine who shared the same feeling about the situation, saying that he wouldn’t let me stay in there.

The host told me I should cancel the booking and he would give me my money back. In other words, no fees would be charged for my cancellation, with the exception of the website tax. When people make you feel threatened or unsure of your safety, taking pictures is not highly recommended, which is why I do not have pictures of the place/situation. I have noticed that the money was taken from my account; I had reminded him about the money and our understanding and requested a refund once more. I have contacted him four times so far with no hope for a resolution.

I was forced under these circumstances to pay for a service that was not delivered. I would like to include the link of my meant-to-be-safe host’s profile. I know that it might be in vain, but I tried my luck in sending Airbnb an email concerning my issue. I would like for others to be aware of some people and to pay attention to what they are “buying”. Thanks.

Cancellation Confusion Nightmare Over Long-Term Stay

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I booked an Airbnb and it stated there was a moderate cancellation policy: cancel five days prior to staying and get a full refund (minus service fees). I would never have booked it if it was strict as I was not sure if I could afford it or go as I may not have had a job lined up yet in this town. Anyway, the job and money did not work out so I cancelled the booking 11 days prior to arrival. The host said she had a strict cancellation policy and would not give me the money back. I took a screenshot of the moderate cancellation policy as it was stated on her page and she did not answer me. I called Airbnb and was on hold for an hour. It has now been four hours. I am on the phone and am trying to resolve this. The host is stating because I was staying for one month there is a strict cancellation policy; however, I did not know about this. I did not see it on the website nor did she tell me about it when we were talking through email. I was just looking at her Airbnb page and she sent me a message saying she had long-term stays but there was nothing about a strict cancellation policy. I am now talking with the bank to see if they can stop this charge from going through. I feel like I am in a nightmare.

Booking not yet Confirmed Cash Withdrawn

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I sent a request through to the host asking him for the exact location of his home and was prompted on the system that he would need to reply within 24 hours. He did with the address and before I could confirm, the booking went through and the amount was taken from my account. There was no payment screen – I did not authorize any payment. How is this even possible? Surely I have to go through a process of entering my bank details and authorising payment?

I then proceeded to cancel the booking and was told that I would only get a 50% refund in ten days. The host said he only received payment the day after I arrived from. Where has the money gone in the mean time? I then proceeded to request the balance from the host and have had no reply, which makes no sense as he was quite prompt in replying to all my messages.

I have reported fraud to my bank on this transaction but the point is how was it even possible for Airbnb to have this authority over my banking details? Is this what a host can do, confirm a booking and payment from his side without the consent or authorisation from the prospective guest? Because he has a strict cancelation policy, he can now keep 50% of my money, from a booking that was never authorized by me? I am extremely disappointed in this system.

Penthouse in Chiang Mai with Dismissive Host

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Do not rent this apartment. Stay away from this apartment and landlord. If you are spending this kind of money, you are a discerning traveler. I lived in the unit for nearly five weeks and know the unit and building inside and out. The building is very old but in a good location. The building certainly has not kept up with newer properties in the Nimman area of Chiang Mai. I knew about the airplanes taking off low and overhead, one every five minutes or less from 12:15 AM to 5:45 AM, but that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Moments after I checked out of the unit after nearly five weeks of staying there, I got a email from Airbnb asking for about $700. I was shocked, but this is how the landlord operates. I completely disputed her claim and would not pay the money requested. As a matter of fact, I have received a partial refund for my problems. Who do you believe?

On March 3rd, we had a walk-through and she returned my security deposit and was all smiles but now is trying to “retrade” the rental rate, which from the messaging she was always complaining about my low rental rate. Let me further explain my side of things.

First off, she claimed I fried the security camera. I don’t know one way or the other about the security cameras, but I’m sure I had nothing to do with it. During my stay there were many surges or brief disruptions of power that required me to go into the utility closet and reset the internet router. The router was next the security system main box, or at least I believed it to be the security camera main box. I noticed that all of this was connected to a surge protector power strip. So based on that alone there is no way the system is fried. She just doesn’t know how to reset.

As another layer of power protection, I noticed the security system also had a spare backup battery. If you know anything about power backups, you know they also offer surge power protection. The landlord lives in Bangkok and is basically absentee, so she has no idea what is going on, and only wants to collect money and not deal with the responsibilities of ownership. The backup battery is probably dead. There’s no way that the system was fried. She’s just a mean lady and trying to get money out of me. I do not accept this.

The landlord also doesn’t know how to work her electronics which she admitted to me on day one. I have a whole list of things that she refused to acknowledge that I raised on day one. Most importantly, the place was uninhabitable because of bar and nightclub noise and loud music festivals across the street. Besides the outrageously loud festivals where the mattress, walls, and windows shook, the apartment throbbed with bar and nightclub bass and noise seven days a week. I have lots of videos documenting this.

Another major problem was that one of the major air conditioners was blowing hot air and would not work. As result, the apartment was much warmer than it should have been. I have video of the thermostat where it shows the big main room is 84.4 degrees. I complained in writing on day one about this. She was very quick to say that since I got a discount, she was not up for repairs or problems and insisted ‘everything was perfect’. Upon checkout I showed her the problem with the air-conditioner and she said that since it would’ve taken four workmen to address the problem she did not want to disturb me. That was a bunch of baloney. She’s a double crosser.

The showerhead needed to be replaced because there was build up inside the shower head. I complained in an email on day one about the shower head. It’s either in a direct email to her or in the Airbnb messages, not sure. She would not admit to this and insisted everything was fine (from far away Bangkok). Now she is trying to charge me saying I ruined the shower head. It might simply need to be tightened – I’m not sure. She didn’t even check, and she’s just trying to charge me.

The fan is kitchen was out, which made the kitchen operations less than ideal. The apartment smelled of whatever the next door neighbor was cooking. She was terribly bitter about sending a man out to set up the cable box. She’s very mean.

The bedding was a joke. On day one we complained we had a comforter with just the insides but no duvet. There was no response except to question my ‘mental stability’. Today during the walkthrough she surmised that if only the cleaning knew to add a duvet it would have been done. She had an answer for everything but it never solved the problem. The king mattress was a $99 special so I offered to split the cost of a foam topper but got scolded in writing.

We were promised weekly cleaning but only got one weekly cleaning in the 33+ days we were there. Meanwhile we kept the place in immaculate condition. Thirteen ceiling lights were out which she failed to deal with prior to delivery (absentee). I took it upon my myself to go into old town (major traffic) to a wholesale lighting supplier and spent the afternoon on a ladder replacing lightbulbs. When I informed her of this, she never thanked me or acknowledged it, just continued to attack me in messages.

On day one, I complained about these issues, especially the bad AC and the festival noise, and she said that I didn’t pay enough to get 24-hour service and that otherwise everything was fine. I responded with some hot rhetoric but never crossed the line (because my mother raised me right). She then threatened to have the Thai military police toss me out, and I have this in so many words in writing.

Furthermore, she questioned my mental stability in writing, when in fact I’m a meditator, yogi, vegan, and strivingly conscious person for whatever that is worth to you. Following her threat, I sent her an apology email because I was literally afraid for my well being. Thai military police don’t ask questions. Think about that for a minute. An Airbnb property being the nexus of threatening American citizens like this.

The good guy part of me also wanted to be on good terms with someone like my landlord. She was holding $660 cash as a security today upon checkout, and she gave me back only $450 because she says I used too much electricity. In fact the contract allowed for 50 kW per day, but there was just the two of us, and it turns out 50 kW a day is not enough. This is unethical. It’s a set up to be able to hold some of the security deposit. What a scam. I then learned that it is against Airbnb policy to give and accept cash for security. She’s an experienced landlord with Airbnb so she should have known better. I did not.

Sorry Airbnb. I have written a candid and truthful review. People should know the truth. People who spend this kind of money expect more and they expect to be treated the way that they would treat someone. You know who you are. The landlord’s approach to everything is not acceptable. Find another place to stay.

Kicked out of Airbnb Because of our Emotional Support Animal

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I’m going to try and make this as succinct as possible, but there’s lots of moving pieces to this situation that may make that difficult to do. I really appreciate anyone taking the time to read through this.

Even though my rights to an Emotional Support Animal are protected through the Fair Housing Act and Airbnb policy, I specifically filtered for listings that were pet friendly when looking for a place here in Colorado. The listing that we booked did not mention an additional pet fee nor any mention of any requirements for notification regarding animals.

The host of this pet-friendly rental (let’s call him Ryan) who was the property manager and not the owner, initially told us that the rental would be ready at 5:30 PM, but when I messaged him and his wife (let’s call her Dana) yesterday morning (the day of check-in), his wife responded that she was “almost done” and would “have it ready by 1:30”. When we showed up with our puppy (fully house trained, mind you), Dana commented on how cute the dog was. She gave us a brief walkthrough of the rental and then left, stating that if we had any questions or issues that her husband would handle it.

At first glance, the listing seemed alright. However, as I was starting to unpack, my wife showed me that the floor was dusty and dirty, the couch was different than the one in the photos and stained with black spots and some whitish liquid (not even going to venture to guess what it was), my dog found a pill (not sure what kind of medication) and was going to eat it before my wife got it out of her mouth, under the bed was disgustingly dirty, we were missing the amenities described in the listing (TV in the bedroom, no soap, no toilet paper, etc.), and all the furniture was old, broken, mismatched and obviously found on the street or secondhand.

I contacted the host, but got no response. My wife decided to try and clean the apartment in the meantime (took about 3.5 hours). When the host finally got back to me, he stated that because we had “asked for early accommodation” (remember how the rental was supposed to be ready by 5:30 but they changed it to 1:30?) they had decided not to have the rental cleaned before we arrived. He also offered to stop by in a few hours, which I accepted.

Not being fully aware of Airbnb’s policy regarding cleanliness and listing discrepancies, I called customer service and filled them in, but said that I would like to try and work it out with the host in the meantime. He came over, acknowledged that it hadn’t been cleaned, and asked what we wanted to do about it. He did not act apologetic nor did he apologize at all even until now.

We stated that we would like to make this work, but we would need a new couch along with compensation for a whole day being spent cleaning the apartment and dealing with this issue. He then decided to bring up that he wasn’t aware that we had a dog and that they would need to charge us pet rent, a pet fee, and increased rent. I told him that because our dog was an ESA, that she is not a pet and is therefore exempt from extra fees and restrictions that would apply to pets. Also, even if she wasn’t, the listing said it allowed pets and never stated that there would be these extra charges anyway.

When I tried to pull up the page regarding Airbnb’s policies regarding discrimination and assistance animals, he refused to look at them and said he didn’t care about Airbnb policy. The same thing happened when I brought up the Fair Housing Act. He then stated that he would present our request for reparations to the property owners, and then they may or may not approve the dog. My wife pointed out that he was basically blackmailing us into asking for little or nothing in compensation or they would reject the assistance animal, which is illegal.

At this point, he said that this wasn’t going to work and that we needed to leave before storming out the door. However, he didn’t try to force us out right then (thankfully). I called Airbnb right away and explained what happened, and the representative said that he cancelled the booking stating the assistance animal as the reason, and that because of the discriminatory nature of this case I would be contacted by the legal team within an hour or two for further assistance and “rebooking assistance”. This was around 9:00 PM. I never heard from the team at all, so we ended up having to stay with some acquaintances in the area on their couch.

I contacted Airbnb again this morning (many times, as I had to explain the whole story over and over to new representatives who would transfer me to another new representative), before finally being told that the booking was cancelled. Airbnb offered a $173 credit to make up for the issue (my booking was over $3,000 and we had already cleaned the unit), and sent some “similar listings in the area”. All of the listings cost more than $6,000 for the same dates, and they were one bedroom options as opposed to the two bedroom that we had originally had. Many of them were also missing amenities such as laundry, kitchen, pool, etc.

I hated the idea of taking up legal counsel yesterday, but after making me jump through so many hoops and the negligence to communicate with me in a timely manner, I’m seriously considering it as an option. I don’t know where we’re supposed to stay tonight and I can’t afford any of the listings that are available in the area. What would you do in this situation?

Airbnb Customer Service Dismisses Concerns and Hangs Up

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I recently cancelled on a guest whose reviews were atrocious, and after being told I’d be penalized $100 dollars anyway, despite making clear that the guest made me uncomfortable, I called Airbnb’s (hard to find) customer service number. I was connected with a woman who told me she would make a one-time allowance (that’s not how Airbnb cancellations work), and then proceeded to argue that the guest’s reviews aren’t that bad. I went through each review, explaining that they were among the worst reviews of a guest I’d ever seen, at which point the agent cut me off to proselytize on the injustice of Airbnb guest reviews.

Reviews are “an attack” on a person’s character, she argued, and as such are unfair. She then argued that reviews are not legitimate information for a host to take into account when assessing a coming guest. When I asked her to stop interrupting me so that I could finish my thought – for interruption was the way through which she made those remarks – and then heard the sound of her phone hanging up. On the bright side, I called back to file a complaint and was connected to a very nice, very knowledgeable guy who helped me with my original issue, and is now helping me to figure out the name of first agent.

Inaccessible, Leaky House in Bali Makes for a Bad Stay

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We booked a house in Bali this February 2018 for 25 days. Overall the reviews were good – 4 1/2 stars – so we trusted in them. However, as we arrived we saw that the whole house was a rundown disaster. The most it was capable of was for private use, but not in any condition to rent out as a holiday home at all.

We are pretty sure the house was built on a cliff without any permission. During rainy season the part of the cliff where the house was built on was eaten away by big rock and mudslides due to the fact that the water was running down to the sea nearly every day… that was scary. The only access to the house was over steps, but not normal steps; you had to climb around ten minutes down the cliff, over broken, irregular, slippery, tumble-down steps.

When it was dark, of course there was no light on the property. To give it a little bit more of a kick, there were cables everywhere and water pipes running over the steps; we had to clamber over them. The whole stair system wasn’t maintained at all; we all slipped away, because it was so mossy and slippery like ice. My son and I were injured on our arms and legs and we’re not too stupid to walk up steps. As we were travelling with our child, it was impossible to walk up them everyday during those 25 days. In the Airbnb listing the host didn’t even mention one word about the steps or difficult access to the house and she knew that we were travelling with our child.

The house and the whole area were so rotten and covered with trash and mud that there were rats climbing into the main room and over the roof of the bedrooms. In one bedroom, there was a lot of water damage; there was always water running down the wall over the ceiling when it was raining… and we stayed during rainy season. It was extremely humid, stinky and moldy. There was no way to use this room.

We already had the electricity break down on the first night, but we couldn’t find the fuse box. The next day the housemaid came, because we informed her an electrician had to come. He just “fixed” it superficially, but at least we knew about the fuse box. We were shocked to see an open box with just three simple fuses for the whole house, open wired cables, no FI switch, everything outside behind the house just a few centimetres away from the thatched roof. In front of the box was construction waste and big glass shards, so it was hard to get there and not get injured. The whole situation was unacceptable and really dangerous.

Not even this was not enough. The host placed two night table lamps next to the bed in the main room. One lamp had parts of a broken cable with open wires; she just fixed it with paper tape. The other lamp she extended not with a proper extension cord, just by cutting the plug from two cables and connecting them very amateurishly. This was one reason for the regular electricity blackouts until the whole makeshift wiring started to burn down under our bed. I could make the list longer and longer.

Just to be clear – the host wasn’t Indonesian. We met extra friendly and reliable Indonesian people whilst travelling over seven weeks in Bali. All the other accommodations we had stayed in were above average, the same price level with a super fair price-performance ratio. The host from the horror house came from Europe. She was travelling the world and wrote that she studied economics; she should have known better. For sure everything she did was on purpose and her whole behaviour was negligent.

We were really in shock about the whole situation and we tried hard to find new accommodations near us for a long term stay. We moved out on day 3 of 25. We tried to find a solution first with the host, then “together” with Airbnb; that’s what made the situation even more absurd. We wrote a safety warning addressed to Airbnb about this location, but they seemed fine with everything.

Airbnb’s “mediation center” decided that everything was perfect in the house and there was no refund at all for us – we paid over €2000. No apology or regret from the host, just lies and rudeness. We filmed and photographed the whole circumstance, so we could prove it all. We gave all the information to Airbnb, as we were told. We talked on the phone to our “case manager”, someone who seemed mostly trained to deny, and not provide customer service or problem solving.

The host lied to Airbnb by saying that the photos and videos weren’t from her house, but if you compare them, it’s easy for anyone to see that they are. The case manager just didn’t care. Obviously it worked better for her denying policy to just not see the issues? Just be careful with Airbnb claims – you have just 24 hours to file a report with Airbnb. After that you are out, no matter what is up. This time is set not to make it customer friendly – it is set up to exclude an enormous number of claims.

Our realistic, but not good review just came up on the page, when we pressed Airbnb. It even came up late. Normally it has to be posted within 14 days and we wrote it on the first day of the automatic invitation to review. Did you know that every guest has to write a review first and then the host has to review it before his review will be published? When he does nothing and he is clever enough, he can censor the review or even prevent it from being posted.

Of course the host gave a bad review for us on Airbnb with lots of lies and incivilities, even though we left her house with respect, no damages, no mess, and no dust or trash behind us. After all of that, we still got a bad review. This review system in our opinion is not a realistic or democratic process. We don’t trust it at all anymore, and we don’t trust Airbnb.

They just want to get bigger and bigger. It is not about hosting anymore, it is just about making money and winning market shares. They don’t care about a single customer, they take it all from us, and if they skip one they take from the next. They don’t care about the neighbourhoods or the cities they are destroying, they don’t care about the originally nice idea of hosting, and they don’t care about culture. They are just pretending. They are abusing everything to get more. They are a hypercapitalist ulcer that pretends to bring the people together, but they really don’t care… we are not conspiracy theorists.

The house is still online. Airbnb is doing nothing, so be careful with booking with them, something I would never do again, even when there are lots of nice hosts. I’m sure I will find real hospitality somewhere else. We booked Airbnb five times. We had two really bad experiences: the first we tried to take with humor and did not complain, but the second one was enough. We put Airbnb on the case, and that’s what made the whole situation even more obvious that this would be our last time.