I have had two separate “awaiting payment” issues two days in a row. Airbnb doesn’t give you any indication that a guest’s payment may not be valid until you accept the reservation. This automatically holds the reservation and prohibits the host from declining guests or opening up for other guests that might have their affairs in order. I called Airbnb and spoke to a representative about declining these guests; they would not change their policy, so my listing is off the market with no secured payment for 24 hours. Why would Airbnb hold a host’s opportunity to make money hostage? I was told that the odds of the payment issue being fixed are greater than the chances of it failing. Nevertheless, Airbnb takes all the host’s rights away in order to protect the company’s interests for 24 hours. The fact that a host hits accept and gets an immediate “uh oh… there seems to be a problem with the payment” is proof that the software Airbnb uses can immediately detect if there is an issue with a guest’s payment option. This simple line or two of software code should be implemented when guests click “book”, not when the host gets stuck with a blocked calendar. I told this to the Airbnb representative… he would not help me cancel the reservation awaiting payment and left me feeling like this policy is not going to change.
Author Archives: Tim
Dealing with Airbnb for a Lost Key is Ridiculous
We went to Yoshinori’s place (our host) in Osaka, Japan. Yoshinori has a strange check-in, check-out system. He let us take his key out of the mailbox when we arrived, so we have to put the key back at our departure time. We definitely put the key back when we left. After we went back to our country, we received a message that Yoshinori wanted us to pay $200 because the key was lost. I asked Airbnb for assistance, mentioning that we definitely put the key back in and they should check any surveiliance cameras in the vicinity; $200 seems unreasonable to replace a single key. I received a reply from Airbnb saying that the $200 is reasonable, and I should pay. Ummm…. what about me putting the key back where it was supposed to be? What about Yoshinori’s loose security? They are just making us pay. I HATE Airbnb, and I HATE Yoshinori. What should I do now? I will not pay the money, and is it even possible to sue? I want to get some kind of legal help. How can this be possible?
Airbnb Theft in Safe Neighbourhood
Penny wise pound foolish stay. This place is a trap! Don’t stay here if you don’t want to be robbed. At first glance, the apartment looks secure. Decent neighbourhood and location, locked access to the block only by residents, and a double lock door gave us a false sense of security. While we were out, someone broke in and stole all our valuables. We had bought high value items amounting to 7000 euros. Despite locking the door and windows, the thief broke in with no sign of forced entry. He was a true professional, or it was an inside job. Besides stealing our stuff, we also found a knife in the bathroom, left by the thieves. Thank goodness we didn’t come back during the break in.
Throughout the stay, we didn’t meet the owner (Ben). Only his assistant, Gabi, who helped with check in, and his cleaner lady. Both have keys to access the apartment. After the incident, the owner did not bother to meet us, check his apartment, nor lodge a police report with us. Talk about being unhelpful. In my conversations and texts with Ben, all he could offer was an apology whilst constantly defending his Gabi and the cleaner as innocent. In conclusion, this seemingly safe looking apartment is a tourist trap where thieves can simply walk in and out with all our belongings without leaving a trace. The apartment looks nothing like the nice photos, and the owner, although quick to respond with smooth words in good times, offers no help nor takes any responsibility when a crime takes place in his apartment. I hope no one has to go through the ordeal we had to endure. We left a thorough review of the host. It was up on his Airbnb page for a week and unfortunately I received an email from Airbnb today saying it “includes sensitive, personally identifiable information” and has been removed. Airbnb didn’t even enquire about the knife in the bathroom!
Airbnb Nightmare: Transient Hippie Flophouse
This was my first experience with Airbnb and I will never recommend it to anyone. My lesson: Always use a legitimate hotel. I booked a long-term rental in a place that looked deceptively nice in the photo and description. I thought I would be staying with a woman and her children: a safe, family-oriented home, or so I thought. When I asked if the bathroom was shared, I was told it was but that Carissa, the “host” (a loosely used term because flophouse operator is more accurate), could work around my schedule. Unfortunately, Carissa didn’t tell me the bathroom would also be shared with any transient she could shove into any space she had. She tried to make it out to be some hippie idea of communal living, but her real colours showed when it came time for money. She is very much in this to try to squeeze as much out of unsuspecting renters as she can. I’m not exaggerating when I say she rents out every place she can: all the bedrooms, the basement, the shed in the backyard (for real), and a grungy algae-covered camping trailer in the driveway. And all these people use the same bathroom.
The biggest problem was that despite the numerous unknown characters lingering about, she left the doors unlocked to the house at all times and didn’t have a door that locked on the room I rented for me to secure my things while I was out. I stayed one night, only because I had nowhere else to go, then left. That started the second part of the horrible Airbnb experience. I tried to get a refund, but Carissa said it was “non-refundable.” I had booked for five weeks! She was going to keep all that money for one night. Finally, she said she’d look at how many times she rented the room during the time and give me a refund based on this at the end of the originally booked stay. I tracked that she rented that same room out for 13 days. But, when I contacted Carissa, there was no reply within the 72 hours she had to respond.
So I started the resolution process through Airbnb. After a number of emails, Airbnb told me I’d get a partial refund (so my one night stay in a hellhole would only cost me about $700 after the supposed refund). I was told the refund would reach me within five business days. It’s been seven business days and still nothing. When I tried to email Airbnb about it, the automated response told me the issue was “closed” so they wouldn’t be responding! I’ll reiterate: Stick with hotels. Don’t be fooled by seemingly normal rentals.
Airbnb Does NOT Respect Strict Cancellation Policy
My family decided to vacate the house they live in throughout the year during the summer to rent it out and help pay the bills. The property is located in southern Europe in a region that’s highly sought after during the high season. After accepting reservations booked by guests months in advance we had to turn many away, including requests from other guest on alternative booking sites. We had many added expenses getting the place ready, including cleaning as well as check in and check out fees.
Two consecutive guests decided to cancel their booking at the last minute for medical reasons. (for two separate reservations); the second guest cancelled his booking days AFTER he was supposed to check in. In spite of us having a “strict” cancellation policy, Airbnb agreed to reimburse them for the full cost of their booking leaving us with an empty house at the last minute in the midst of the high season. To justify their decisions, Airbnb only sent us the link to their extenuating circumstances policy, which lists a very wide variety of circumstances left broad and vague on purposes. In this instance, given that both guests had emailed saying their cancellation was due to medical issues, we asked Airbnb which objective criteria had been applied and the list of documents provided by guests to justify the fact they had to cancel at the last minute. In spite of our repeated queries, Airbnb refused to provide any objective criteria used to determine the circumstances of the cancellations. Of course they make these arbitrary decisions without losing any money themselves. Hosts end up losing money without having any say in the decision. These cancellations should be handled with a strict process similar to those applied by travel insurance policies. Hosts are NOT protected by Airbnb and this certainly doesn’t feel like a community.
Airbnb Refunds are Sketchy at Best
I’m a first time user of Airbnb. There were problems. Airbnb takes your money before completing any transaction and then declines to provide service. The credit card deduction is NOT the last stage of the process. This is a bad business practice. Airbnb takes your money immediately (within 30 minutes) but any refund takes five days. This is also a bad business practice. At this point in time, I have been promised two refunds but have not received anything (within the five-day refund wait time) so I can’t verify that Airbnb actually does give refunds. There is no indication of the problems causing a booking to fail. There is just a late email saying that it has ‘failed to verify’ and ‘accommodation is cancelled’ and that my money will be refunded in five days.
Customer service is patchy as email requests for solutions are ignored or given belated responses. Presently,there has been no response to my emails for more than ten hours. Using Airbnb is too much effort for a holiday pastime. I will stay away from Airbnb in the future. My first experience was on July 22, 2016. I booked a night under Airbnb. I gave my credit card details and the money was deducted from my credit card; then Airbnb requested details from my ID… and then the booking was rejected, with a promise to refund the money in five days. The problem took 24 hours to sort out and find alternative accommodations. The accommodation was fine and I was very happy with the host. Due to the problems encountered, Airbnb customer service promised a refund but this has not yet occurred (because of a five-day delay?)
My second experience was on July 24, 2016. I booked two nights under Airbnb. I gave my credit card details and the money was deducted from my credit card; then Airbnb requested details from my ID… and then the booking was rejected, with a promise to refund the money in five days. The problem has still not been sorted out after 23 hours, and there has been no response to my emails for 11 hours.
Airbnb is for Business, not Community
After years of being an Airbnb guest and months of being a host in NYC I’ve concluded something that I long suspected but couldn’t zero in on because I’d never hosted. Airbnb is 100% for people who are using it as a business. This story of them building a community is false. First, from the guest side: ever try to find a whole apartment or house that didn’t look like it was just some real estate guy trying to make tons of cash? I have. Ever finally arrive and never even meet the host? Just put the code in the key safe, right? Ever look through the kitchen and realize that no one has ever used this kitchen because if they did they’d realize that everything necessary to cook was either missing or broken? I have. Not once. Not twice. Every single time.
Now from hosting side. Hosts are treated like a commodity, like they are out to make as much money as possible and will do anything to get the next guest. I wonder why? Because good little hosts accept every single reservation regardless of whether the guest asks, “Can I arrive at 1 AM?” or asks you something like, “I’d love to stay at your place. Where is Brooklyn, anyways?” Or you receive a request at 2 AM for someone who wants the place for your maximum stay length four months in the future. You think I’m exaggerating. I’m not.
Dear Airbnb,
This is my home. I live here. I’m not a real estate professional. Generally the tools to connect with the right guests work. You can set the minimum and maximum length. Turnover times. Open and close calendar dates. Seems pretty friendly. If you’re still reading, I’m finally to my point. The kicker: If you aren’t making Airbnb lots of money by renting your home like it’s a freaking hotel they will make your life hell.
Here’s how: 1. They randomly shut down your account for “not accepting.” 2. They modify how your listing shows in results. This is a really big deal because they have all the power and there is no transparency. But the results of this are clear. When you’re making money all the reservation requests are from people with lots of great feedback. When you start getting more selective the people they send your way signed up the night before… with no feedback. No travel experience. No community – you are a hotel to them. And that’s how Airbnb lets you know what a good little host is supposed to be.
Airbnb is a Ripoff, Plain and Simple
I’m a first time user who will NEVER use Airbnb again. I reserved a long-term stay (30 days) with a host through Airbnb. They quickly took half the amount – $1700 – from my credit card. Then I needed to cancel. I was within my refund window. There was lots of chatter with accommodating texts between the host and myself, two weeks prior to the reservation cancel request. Then nothing. She had three days to respond to my refund request. Of course she didn’t. After those three days, Airbnb sent a notice that I could receive up to $1580 minus their $75 fee, which would be refunded within three days. This is what ended up happening. And they offered to help resolve things with my host. This was a one-time chance to reach anyone via text through the link Airbnb provided. After the initial request, it literally dead ends not allowing me to reach out to Airbnb until they respond. It has now been almost a month. I can’t text, email or contact anyone! Thankfully, my credit card company allowed me to dispute the charge. I have some kind of control over fighting for MY money. Where was Airbnb’s customer protection?
Airbnb Warning About Getting Refunds
Yet another cancellation story but also a warning to do things in the right order. I booked a three-bedroom apartment in Soho, New York City run by a lady called ‘Clodagh’. A month after the booking was accepted I received a message from her saying she had to cancel the booking. But Airbnb still showed the listing as valid. Only after I sent her a message telling her to handle the cancellation properly from her end did I receive an email from Airbnb. It offered me a refund or to use the money I’d paid, plus a 10% credit, on another property. I’d already booked another apartment, with great difficulty as it was getting close to the dates, so I chose the refund. I believe she sent me the cancellation message expecting that I would then request a refund and the cancellation would then have been instigated by me and I’d have probably lost my money under the VERY STRICT cancellation policy imposed on guests ONLY. If you receive a cancellation message directly from a host, wait until you receive a message from Airbnb before you do anything. I’m not going to use Airbnb again until they offer some kind of security for booking or sufficient compensation to cover hotels for the cancelled period.
AIRBNB IS NOT A RELIABLE WAY OF TRAVELING AND CERTAINLY NOT FOR BUSINESS TRAVEL!
Airbnb Legal Troubles in New York City
Airbnb will never properly vet hosts, or require themselves to be forthcoming about a legal situation where a host is located. There are critical legal issues the company is having with some major cities, such as New York, Barcelona, and the company’s own hometown of San Francisco. Airbnb’s goal is to make money, period, and thus the company will not be heavily concerned about any complaints. As long as folks keep trying to get a short term rental in places that are trying to curtail this behavior, or in places WHERE IT IS ILLEGAL, the company will keep making money, and to hell with hosts and guests who run into problems. In short, Airbnb has no incentive to discontinue their terrible behavior. Just the opposite. I would not in a million years <a href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/29/technology/airbnb-sues-san-francisco-over-a-law-it-had-helped-pass.html”>rent a short term whole apartment or home Airbnb in New York City</a>.For the seemingly endless array of folks reserving short term rentals in NYC, getting into serious problems with the cancellations, and screaming “Never Again!”: GET A CLUE and GET A HOTEL.