I am writing in regards to an apartment we rented in Albuferia, Portugal, to highlight how dangerous and dirty the place was. The oven and stove were unsafe and outdated; it got to the point where we expected to use matches and keep an eye on the oven just in case the gas ignited. The water was unsafe as it was scolding and you could not make it cold; it nearly burnt the skin off my hands. The apartment was filthy and needed a good clean too. When we complained to the host he was very short and abrupt with us, brandishing us as liars as he had stated that he apparently had nearly 5000 people stay there but only 29 positive reviews… so where are the other 4971 reviews? I wish I could leave a review as it was such a horrible experience. We decided to check in to a hotel as we did not want to stay with such horrible amenities or use the apartment of such a horrible host. We cancelled the booking and only got part of our payment back. This host needs to be vetted as he’s clearly not been to see the state of the apartment that he lets out and leaves his poor mother to do the dirty work. I am abhorred by the way that he has treated myself and my mother.
Author Archives: victoria perry
The Tables have Turned: Hosts Rating Airbnb
On March 10th 2017, I happened to check my account on Airbnb and found that my response rating had been reduced from 100% to 50%. No prior warning was provided. It appears that I had not responded to Airbnb inquiries, but I had not received any. I set about trying to make contact with Airbnb, but that proved to be impossible. There is no contact point and no way of raising a support ticket. There is a feedback form I found on their website but after trying to write in my complaint, I got a response saying that the feedback form will not receive individual responses and it s not a support ticket. So where is the method or means to raise an individual support ticket request? It appears there is none. Airbnb is happy to take our money and dish out severe ratings but certainly does not want to hear about any problems that they may have created themselves. I tried to post the following to their feedback form, but I think this will not get any response:
Complaints about Airbnb as follows:
1. Unable to make any form of direct contact with Airbnb, almost suggesting the company is not interested in any contact from its customers.
2. Airbnb suspended my listing without any notice or threat due to my lack of response to their inquiries. However, none of these enquiries have come through in any of the methods usually deployed by Airbnb including:
a. No email indicating an inquiry was issued by Airbnb.
b. No notification alert from Airbnb.
c. No mobile phone text message from Airbnb.
However, Airbnb threatened to suspend my hosting as well as immediately reduce my response rating from 100% to 50% with no prior notification. This clearly is an Airbnb system fault and not my lack of response. I know this because customers have actually made contact with me since there was no response via Airbnb. This clearly supports the fact that it is your system that has the problem. A Google search on the matter brought up multiple similar occurrences with other Airbnb hosts. While this may be a glitch in Airbnb’s system. There is no way of contacting Airbnb to inform of the problem or get help to rectify this problem. There is no human contact available. Given this lack of response, there is a loss of customer revenue from the host’s point of view, which also translate to a loss of revenue from Airbnb. I would therefore reduce my rating of Airbnb as a hosting site from 100% down to 50%, similar to what they have given me. Unless I hear from Airbnb within the next two days, that satisfaction rating on Airbnb as my hosting site will be reduced further from 50% to 0%.
Family Reservation in Spain Cancelled after Three Months
I made my reservation with Airbnb about three months ago to go to Seville, Spain with the family. I rented a beautiful condo that accommodates seven people and paid a little more than $3,400 for ten days. We had planned on going to see the processions that take place during Holy Week. After purchasing plane tickets and seats at 190 Euro each, I received an email from Airbnb asking me to verify my identity. After copying my driver’s license, and giving them access to my LinkedIn and Facebook accounts, they cancelled my reservations. I called several times, and was told that someone at customer service was taking care of it and that he would reply shortly. Sure enough, after I hung up the phone, I received a reply with an email that essentially said it was just too bad and they didn’t owe me an explanation. What am I supposed to do now? I have asked them to have a manager or someone call us but they never have one available. All they keep saying is that someone will call me, but I haven’t had any luck.
Airbnb Breach of Contract During Month-Long Stay
Airbnb (and their host) breached a contract for us to rent for a month. I live in Oakland, CA. My wife was visiting our daughter giving birth in Portland, OR when she had this experience with Airbnb. My wife stayed there one night before needing to leave because of the smell. The contract called for an an incense-free apartment. When my wife got there, she was told another renter had burned incense in the apartment. My wife tried to stay one night but the smell was too strong. Both Airbnb and the host refused a complete refund minus one night’s charge. They both said it wasn’t their fault; they couldn’t fix it, but wanted to keep half our money and rip us off. If they had refunded our money, that would have been the end of it. Now that I have to spend time and worry about chasing after them for not abiding by US laws, I want consequential damages and punitive damages. It is obviously Airbnb’s policy to keep hosts happy even if customers get ripped off.
Absolutely Frustrated with Last Minute Cancellations
My wife and I are writing to express our absolute frustration with Airbnb. We have had our reservations cancelled, at the last minute, three separate times in the last two years. The latest cancellation was for a stay in St. Louis, and our reservation was finalized almost a year ago. We aren’t questioning the host’s reason for the cancellation, but each of these cancellations was received just days before we were to arrive. Each of these reservations was made so that we could attend a specific event in St. Louis, and since the cancellations were done so close to the event, there were no properties left to rent anywhere close to the event venue at all. No hotel or bed and breakfast rooms were available either. Airbnb offered us a refund or an additional $50. for another Airbnb property is pretty laughable compared to the time, effort, and extra expense we have had to make to even locate a rentable property that is quite a distance (12 miles compared to 5 blocks) away from the event. We also planned to do other things in the area where the original property was located, but now that won’t be happening. We should also mention that, for each of these cancelled reservations, we were (and are for this latest cancellation) in the middle of a vacation. Trying to deal with this situation while on the road has been extremely difficult. We couldn’t be more frustrated with this situation and are wondering if Airbnb can give us a reason why we should continue to book with them.
Airbnb Account Locked without Warning or Notice
On February 8th I noticed I couldn’t log in to Airbnb. It said my account had been locked and I should send an email to account.inquiry@airbnb.com. That’s what I did because I wanted to know what happened. We’ve been on Airbnb for seven years, and hosted for 3-4 years with 4- and 5-star reviews and more than 150 happy guests. There was no answer to my emails. I wrote again and again – nothing. I phoned on February 13th and was told my case had been sent to the “Trust and Safety Department”. I asked for a written confirmation and received the following:
Hello Caroline & Jérôme, We’re currently forwarding you to the correct department to make sure you receive a prompt and proper response. If you have any details to add or update, please let us know by responding directly to this email. If this is an emergency or you feel your personal safety is threatened, contact the local police or emergency services immediately.
I emailed again a week later – nothing. I phoned again on March 7th – same answer. Why on earth has our account been locked? Why didn’t they notice us? Even our next reservation in London is locked; we cannot use Airbnb, even as travelers.
Bad Airbnb Guest Invites all her Friends to Stay
I had a guest who stayed at my place for two months. In summary, she violated Airbnb policy many times by bringing many guests, including her boyfriend and more male friends. I clearly told her to stop (except once for her boyfriend) when she asked whether it was possible, but this girl keep pulling it off night after night bringing in different guys. I didn’t want to make it embarrassing so avoided confronting her as I had other guests. One day when I went overseas, I reminded her not to bring unregistered guests as she was alone in the house. To deter this girl from bringing guests I placed an IP camera in a visible location at my main gate a few days before I left. This girl has a very thick skin; she brought another guy home again. When I texted her from overseas to remind her, she argued that it was her right to bring guests because Airbnb didn’t mention anything about additional guests and blamed me for it. Then she made all sorts of crazy threats regarding reporting me to the authorities and a ton of other BS. I tolerated her and tried to behave as professionally as possible.
A few days later she proceeded to cancel her booking without my knowledge and blamed Airbnb for the cancellation, explaining that they had made a mistake. She stayed on the property. I checked with Airbnb but they took two weeks to respond and concluded that this girl had actually cancelled her booking. Airbnb refunded her money and refused to honour my cancellation policy, blaming me for surveillance of the entrance of my rather large property. I leased a room, not my house. This girl basically stayed for free for half a month and left the room in a filthy condition after using it as a motel and without notice or penalty. Further calls and complaints to Airbnb were ignored. The Airbnb Service Fee was fully deducted for two months obviously. There were no deposits, no documentation, and one non-paying guest. Who believes in Airbnb standards now? I am really tempted to expose the guest and the evidence which I have submitted to Airbnb’s resolution center. I think the problem here is not with the guests who don’t follow rules, but Airbnb’s insane policies and self-interested actions that have destroyed the experiences of many hosts and guests. I would strongly recommend others find an alternative to Airbnb or build a platform that can replace this selfish monster.
Scammed and not Given Compensation for Barcelona Stay
My boyfriend and I had paid to stay in someone’s apartment in Barcelona as a last resort because there were no affordable hotels available on our dates because they clashed with a world congress gathering. We arrived at the address of the listed apartment (from a verified host with multiple positive reviews) which lead us down a narrow poorly lit side alley to a building with no lights, locked doors, and appeared to be undergoing construction. Keep in mind this was at 10 o’clock on a Saturday night in a foreign country. We tried phoning and texting the host and got no response. He turned his phone off when I continued to call so we left and found a safe place to sit with our bags while frantically trying to work out what to do. I had never used Airbnb before so never knew what to do in this situation. With help from both our families back home we got a place to stay. In total we had to spend £600+ on hotels for the three nights, which is significantly more than we had originally spent on the apartment.
We tried emailing Airbnb and didn’t get a response. When they eventually did respond they weren’t much help at all and by then we had already sorted out a place to stay. They have now eventually refunded what I originally paid for the apartment but nothing else, meaning we are £400+ out of pocket as a result of this guy’s actions through absolutely no fault of our own (other than not having insurance). I totally understand if I had had insurance that this could of been different but after reading several forums online of people being given compensation by the company I asked why I wasn’t given the same consideration. I was told “every situation is dealt with on a individual case by case basis.” I was massively let down by both this organisation and the host. I understand not every host on this site is a fraud and I probably got one bad egg out of a whole bunch. However, the possibility of this happening is very real even if hosts look reliable so I’d advise anyone planning on booking to learn from my mistakes and be more wary.
Total Dump on Airbnb Leaves Guests with no Privacy
I booked accommodation in Johannesburg for me, my husband and my son. I asked if it was self catering and they confirmed; nowhere on the listing did it say that I would have to share a kitchen with other guests. When we arrived there, some of the staff and guests were smoking marijuana on the patio. The whole house was filled with smoke. The lady took us to our room through the kitchen, which was filthy, with burned pap on the stove. The room was not ready. There were two mattresses on the floor – no actual bed – with no linen. There were also three other mattresses in the room against the wall. The room was extremely dirty. Our bathroom was dirty. I asked where our kitchen was and the lady said we had to use the big kitchen. In the kitchen there was a lady who had just finished using the shared shower and walked through the kitchen with only her bottom covered; her top was exposed. I immediately phoned the owner and she said she would be there in ten minutes. After 45 minutes, I phoned, and I spoke to her husband. He said I must go and look for other accommodation – he would refund us. We travel every weekend and this was the worst accommodation I have ever seen in my life. I am not happy at all with the way they are sending me messages now and I feel like I want to send the police to that establishment, as I feel that they are taking us for a ride. The pictures on the website are not at all how that establishment looks like and I believe they just want to take people’s money. They refuse to refund us, even though they said they would provide one in full.
Airbnb Property Pictures in Mallorca Used by Scammers
I am a property owner in Mallorca and it has come to my attention about two months ago that my photos have been duplicated and are being used by another host on a scam listing. I do not know this host and I have not given him permission to list my property anywhere. In the comment section, clients have also expressed their complaints that the host had contacted them only two weeks before arrival (long after he had already taken their money) that the advertised property would not be available and therefore he could offer them another property. The guests did not choose or agree to this, but they obviously had no choice because they already paid. Airbnb did not help the guests and they do not seem to care about the comments because this should be enough proof for them to be aware of the scam that is going on. I have written to Airbnb to request the listing be taken down immediately but after many messages with different people, I was told that it was not Airbnb’s responsibility to verify contracts between hosts and owners; therefore they could not take the listing down. This is really unbelievable and I am starting to get desperate. I hope someone who has been in the same situation is able to help me. The last thing that Airbnb has done is advise me to send proof of copyright of the photos to their copyright department, but these are my personal photos. I feel they are just trying to keep me occupied and in the meantime, the scam listing is still showing my property without my permission. To protect myself legally, I have reported the scam to the local police, but they cannot help me either. All this has been nerve wracking and very damaging to my property’s reputation. I really look forward to receiving your comments and advice on how to approach this issue once and for all.