I organized a trip for 6 people to attend a bird festival in Northern Ohio in May. I booked a nearby house in January, then a month later in February, the hosts cancelled my reservation because their rental house had sold. As this is a very popular destination in May, there were no houses left nearby, even in February, so I was unable to take advantage of Airbnb’s offer to give me ~$50 toward another reservation in the area. I had to go to VRBO to find a house that was not only farther away, but cost about $100 more for the overall stay. I think that all of these sites should require the host to either post that their rental property is for sale or require them to honor the reservation in this kind of situation and penalize them if they don’t follow those rules. And Airbnb needs to offer something better than a ~$50 voucher if the host cancels. At the very least, the consolation “prize” should be applicable to other locations and dates, not just the original ones.
Author Archives: Sandra Profeta
Airbnb Hell in Hawaii
A year ago I went to Hawaii, my favorite place. The flight was late and rental car was a no-show, so I was late arriving at the host location – it was between 8 and 9 pm. Half way through the stay, the host asked me to change rooms, but that required cancelling and re-booking. I had lost my credit card so the old one did not go through. I tried to reach airbnb to enter a new credit card number. The host also tried. We could not reach anyone. I offered the host cash but they refused, and then said that I had been nothing but trouble and told me to leave immediately or they would call the police! I am a 60-something, quiet, non-smoking, meditator-type. I went to a local hotel but some money was owed to me, and airbnb refused to refund it. They gave me some worthless coupons. They are worthless because the hosts of Puilani on the big island wrote a bad review of me and now I am not able to make other bookings and use the coupons. Airbnb still refuses to refund the money, or remove the host review. They have a poor business model for the travel industry. They need to have real people available real time to handle these kinds of issues. As for the hosts, they seemed to me to be burned out on hosting and unable to flow with the inevitable problems of travelers. I am very unsatisfied.
Dog (un) friendly, Lying AirBnB host!
I needed the impossible- an affordable place to stay near A1A (name of beachside town) in Florida in mid-December that was both near my parents (Alzheimer’s mother and terrified father) and dog-friendly, as I would have just finished showing all weekend at the biggest dog show in America, in Orlando. I could not believe my luck when I found this cute bungalow with an almost-oceanview, under $100 a night and sure, I could keep my dogs there, in their crates. I explicitly told my host that the dogs would be alone for several hours each day while I visited my parents (and talk about ‘those things’ with my dad), at their beachfront condo (no dogs allowed there), only a mile away. She was very nice about it, saying ‘of course, no problem.’ Totally understanding! What a relief. This was 4 whole months prior to my Florida trip and I felt quite secure knowing that this little annoying detail was taken care of in an affordable way. I had just finished spending nearly $1000 in hotel fees during the dog show at a fancy high rise hotel near the convention center, so I really needed a stress-free financial break at that point. Especially dealing with my parents at this time. They’d spent their lives alienating some of my siblings, including me, and the visit was potentially volatile. But—oh boy, my host was so COOL and relaxed and welcoming and friendly!
Every day I had coffee with her in her living room (she stayed in her other bedroom) and we talked about all kinds of things. I made sure to bring up ‘how are the dogs behaving when I’m not here?’ each day. She always replied, ‘Good! Fine! No problem.’ I told her, ‘Well, if they bark or whine, you can just pop your head in there and tell them to shut up’ and she was just like ‘No, don’t you worry about it- it’s all good.’ I just wanted to make sure she was happy and every day I was so very careful to pick up each and every dog turd from her tiny back yard. I had 3 medium sized show dogs with me, so that was something I did want to make sure was perfection. Half of her back yard was covered with very old, rotted and broken decking and of course that is where the dogs preferred to poop. I am not tiny, so walking on this decking was dangerous to me but I was very careful in my foot placement so I would not break through it and stretched (thank you, yoga!) to get every brown surprise out there.
I was there exactly 2 days and 3 nights, from late Monday night to Thursday mid-morning. Imagine my shock when I opened the email notice of my host’s review of me- and discovered that she had patiently waited to air her grievances about allowing dogs not during our morning coffee discussions, but on the public review page on AirBnB. She complained about the dog’s barking, her relationship with her next door neighbor (who has loud children! Plus I was careful each day to say hello to said neighbor), that the dog poop smell was coming into the bedroom (I have a very good nose for dog scat and no, it was not. There was no hose out there and if there was, I would have used it. It is not my fault that she has broken decking on the ground in her back yard. How do you clean poop residue from that? I did not leave much, if any, residue anyway. Dog show people are notoriously good at cleaning up after our dogs). She ended by angrily stating that she would not allow dogs anymore, as if I was one of ‘those’ dog owners. I was so mortified that I deleted my 100% perfect AirBnB profile and will never use AirBnB again. She ruined my trust of AirBnB hosts.
Moral of the story: hosts are liars. If they seem cool, believe me, they are not. You get what you pay for at fancy high rise hotels!!
Eugenio apartment Valencia
Booked a apartment in Valencia. On arrival the location was so obscure the taxi driver had no idea where it was. Up a dank smelly alley we were met by our host. Nice young guy, but it was immediately obvious that this was not someone’s home. It was a block of apartments converted to airbnb requirements. The place was extremely basic, the beds were camp beds that creaked when sat on. The bathroom was dirty. Total rip off. Left 16 hours after arrival and went to a decent hotel.
Threatening emails – Airbnb clientele declining
I’ve been hosting on airbnb for about a year now. I’ve had mostly good experiences, but recently the clientele has been going downhill. My first bad experience was with an alleged social worker from San Diego – Rosie. She shattered a glass table top and never told me. We discovered it when the cleaners went in to clean after she departed. How do you shatter a table? And, why would you not tell anyone? Needless to say she has never responded to me or Airbnb and I am out the money to fix the table. My second strange experience was from a gentleman who wanted to pay “after” his stay in case he didn’t like the place. Really. And, my experience last night is making me question if I want to continue using this site. After declining a potential guest because they were too wishy washy and it didn’t feel like a good fit I received horrible messages. I’m guessing they did not realize that all correspondence between the two parties is kept by airbnb.
Beware of Aibnb Cancellation Policies
I booked an apartment through Airbnb’s “Superhost” Luka Piscitelli and when I was forced to cancel my entire trip due to unforeseen circumstances, I gave Luka 6 weeks notice, yet he refused to refund 50% of the fee I paid (totalling $236). Despite talking to several supervisors at Airbnb, they refused to help and supported the host because I clicked on something at checkout that says I agreed to this policy (despite my not even remembering seeing that).
Airbnb Removes Negative Reviews and Host Scams Guests!
We booked through airbnb on the beginning of February in a small country house in Bolu, Turkey. We had an okay vacation; other than the lack of heat due to the broken electrical heatings and missing firewood. As we started our journey back, the host started to harass us via phone; claiming we damaged the heating devices, some tiles in a bathroom and burned her couches and carpet. She also told us that we did not clean up after ourselves. We informed her that those damages were present before we arrived, and we did not clean up after ourselves because the house was not clean to begin with and we paid a cleaning fee for that sole purpose only. She told us that the tile was broken, but was glued, and the glue came off. And asked us if we would leave our aunts house like this!? Our aunt doesn’t charge us 1200 for 3 nights we answered. THEN the nightmare began.
The host accused us of damaging the house, and demanded a payment of 1600 Turkish Liras (approximately $500 American dollars). Both parties left negative reviews on each others profiles, and the case was escalated to airbnb for resolution. We say we did not do the damage in question, and since the house was a village house with broken and burnt places everywhere, we did not feel the responsibility to take pictures of every broken or burnt thing in the house. And that there is no proof we did the damages in question. She on the other hand, presented pictures of the damages (and some ridiculous things like forgotten underwear – which she keeps bringing up; are we to pay for her lost innocence as a maiden? But this is Turkey I guess), and continued to leave bad reviews everywhere. Added some references (her friends I am guessing?) in her profile.
Today Airbnb sent us an email informing us that our negative review is to be removed because extortion! Arguing that we threatened the host to write a bad review. 1) That’s what the host says, and there is no proof of that since we did not exhort her in anyway. 2) Airbnb is probably taking her side. And they have a right to charge our credit cards( apparently with no limits) and they can do that at any time. I really believe in the responsibility of the accuser to prove the accusation; and since there is no proof that the damages were undertaken on our stay there; I still hope that the airbnb team will not force us to pay for her house renovation, but I am getting less hopeful each day.
But the immediate problem is that; OUR REVIEW WAS DELETED! If airbnb removes negative reviews on hosts, how can people make sure that the house they are staying is any good? What happens when the next guest is accused of false damage claims by this host. They will not see my review! So airbnb continues to make money, and everyone is happy? No. I will not be using airbnb from now on, whatever the solution to this damage claim. I refuse to give the right to fine me to a company. That right belongs to the judicial authorities, and they take action based on real proof; not hearsay. In this case the money is not as important as the accusations to our character; which the host’s review contains and remains in our page until this is over and we close our account for good.
Belgrade reservation nightmare – Airbnb Q and A
Dear Airbnb, I decided to write this open complaint directly to you after the awful experience I had with your website and several hosts that use it to rent their homes.
THE FACTS In few words, I used your site to rent a small apartment for 2 people in Belgrade (SRB) from the 30th December 2015 to the 4th January 2016. After a deep research and several trials, I received a lot of negative answers from different hosts that declared, according to your website, they had available apartment during the requested period. Despite a frustrating experience provided by your unreliable website, on the 28th of December 2015 I found an apartment that apparently fit my need. The apartment is called Rustic Fantastic [https://www.airbnb.it/rooms/9567237?s=__tuuKMM] provided by the host Alex and Vlada [https://www.airbnb.it/rooms/9567237?s=__tuuKMM#host-profile]. I asked the host some specific question about the apartment characteristic in term of precise location, price, car and neighbors noise, including particular features such as shades and blackout curtains availability to sleep in the dark. I hate eyemasks, earplugs and other fussy tools to help light sleepers but, unfortunately, I know that my requests are not very popular or sound strange throughout the common world people. So what ? The host, after some impolite answers said he had all the characteristic I was looking for. Meanwhile I asked for a hard discount because I know that in Belgrade prices are very low and I reasonably estimated that a doubled price according to the normal rate was enough. After some discussion we agreed to a price of 50EUR/day, 80EUR+12EUR by Airbnb website and 170EUR once arrived on site. While we were discussing I asked for more pictures of the home because I didn’t realize its arrangement.
The morning after (29th December 2015) I woke up with an intrusive thought about the sleeping room I didn’t see from his pictures. I saw just a small cubicle with a single bed. I wrote immediately to the host asking about the bed and he told me that the one in the picture was the only bedroom in his apartment. I pointed out I rented the apartment for 2 people, me and my wife. He said that it was not a problem. He just put a mattress (written “madraces” I couldn’t understand) on the floor. I remained astonished !! I started complaining that the price was excessively overrated considering he rented his home with 1 bedroom and 1 normal bed for 2 people as he declared officially on Airbnb description. I complained he had declared false information on the apartment features therefore I asked at least a reduction of the price to 40UER/day as immediate compensation for the problem. He refused. He said to cancel the reservation and he avoided to write me and to answer to my phone call which cost me at least 4EUR after he refused to connect with me by Skype or Viber. I felt ripped off and I decided not to drive more than 800km by car to meet this unpleasant and dishonest host with such communication problem.
It was 9.00 PM, car and luggage ready to go. After searching the Airbinb website (it was about 10.40PM), I didn’t find any section to open a dispute with this host. Only 2 option were clearly available: modify the reservation or cancel it. All the rest wasn’t clear even in the various FAQ !!! Any way to contact anybody!
I chose the second option (to cancel). At first an email advised me that cancellation didn’t give me the possibility to receive the money back. After a while I received another email telling me I was eligible of a reimbursement of 80EUR. I got angry: what about Airbnb commission ? I tried to find an email address to write to about his issue. AGAIN: I didn’t find anything.!!!! I found just a community support forum but the answers I got were too general and not useful. I signaled the host. I remained without commission reimbursed. I remained with blown up plans for New Year Eve just 10hrs before leaving my house in Italy! I got mad, angry and I tried to find immediately another location. Obviously everything was fully booked or overrated even if several accommodations seemed still available on your website. Completely unreliable! This happened not only in Belgrade, where I received other impolite answers, but all over Italy where I tried to book. That’s unbelievable. Finally I stayed home!!!!!! T
HE REQUESTS Now, after cooling down, it comes the EXPLANATION and COMPENSATION TIME!!! I decided to write directly to you considering the Customer Service structure you set up is, according to my experience, completely useless and deliberately distracting. Therefore I am here asking you to declared officially your purpose just before this complete story goes on your official best fan site [http://www.airbnbhell.com/] Here my questions and observations follow:
1) Why is home location approximate and I cannot receive more detailed information about the house location to realize if it is noisy or not? Privacy is not an explanation considering these people intentionally decided to put their apartments/room etc up for rent? Shouldn’t transparency be your first target? – Hosts prefer not to share their exact address unless the guest has already booked for safety reasons, but you can inquire with each host about privacy and noise issues to talk with them about their home.
Dear Airbnb and Sloan, I read carefully your answer but according to my personal experience, is terribly weak. Should I trust the host and his opinion about noise. Are you sure the host tell you the truth instead of having a different noise perception and letting you discover that his location is not the one you like once booked (therefore paid him and your commission ) ? As I wrote above I don’t believe that location privacy should be an issue for somebody who deliberately decided to rent his house. Like an hotel or a bnb: would you like to know in advance where is located or do you prefer to discover on site?
2) Why can’t I contact the host directly before renting the apartment ? Are you afraid to lose commission ? – You can contact the host directly but only via e-mail. Dear Airbnb and Sloan, Your reply isn’t correct. I can contact only via e-mail only inside Airbnb website; that’s the obstacle I am complaining about. Hence your answer is neither complete nor detailed as requested above.
3) Why should I trust on guest review, as suggested by your personnel, considering, as we all know, they are partially fake like on Tripadvisor ? Dear Airbnb and Sloan, missed answer!
4) Why don’t you allow host and guest to exchange more pictures of the place if requested ? – A host may upload more pictures to their listing if they choose. That way you can view the photos before booking.
Dear Airbnb and Sloan, As you read the host didn’t do that because he said he had no more picture (1st lie) and he had not more pictures taken by a professional photographer as per your license (2nd lie). Instead your internal email platform doesn’t allow to exchange pictures !!
5) How is it possible a fraudulent host is still present and freely operating on your website even after my warning [https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/160595695]?
Dear Airbnb and Sloan, missed answer!
6) What does it happen to signaled hosts? Nothing as I believe? [https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/160595695; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/160811531; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/109152187; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/160596776; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/160596010; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/160595848; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/160602090; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/160821290; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/160595251; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/160595392; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/161104804; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/161122748; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/161121919; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/161122486; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/161122097; https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/161122984]
Dear Airbnb and Sloan, missed answer!
7) Why did you allow to open a claim easily and immediately [https://www.airbnb.it/help/topic/260/resolve-a-problem; https://www.airbnb.it/help/article/783/when-can-i-involve-airbnb-in-my-resolution-center-request]?
Dear Airbnb and Sloan, missed answer !
8) What should I do if I find discrepancies from what declared on your website and what the host really provide ? Do you think should I discover on site ? Maybe on the 31st December ? – Feel free to reach out to us to resolve an issue as soon as you discover it, so we can help.
Dear Airbnb and Sloan, Are you serious ? Are you kidding me ? Can you imagine me in Belgrade on th 31st December, without roaming and without internet connection ? How and where should I contact you ?? Should I sleep in the car at 10°C below zero ? Would you find an hotel for me ? Do you think you gave me a smart answer ?
9) Why did you charge your commission once I started complaining and signalling the host not finding an easy way to open a claim procedure ?
Dear Airbnb and Sloan, missed answer !
10) What does it happen to impolite and rusty hosts [https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/160811531] ? – If guests are not happy with a host’s listing, they will usually leave a review that reflects that. Also, you can “report” any statements in the message thread, next to the message you are concerned about, and they will be reviewed.
Dear Airbnb and Sloan, I can’t leave any review before being a guest ! If something goes wrong on the reservation phase I can’t signal on the site. Differently tell me how to advise all the people listed above. I am pretty sure nothing happens to unpleasant hosts if they didn’t do something really bad that requires police intervention. Here your answer is totally unreliable !
11) How is it possible that people without available rooms or apartment are still present on your website maps of available accommodation once I inserted the requested staying period ? These host, the great part, should be kicked off from your website immediately ! – You must put in the dates you want to book first, before searching for listings. Hosts do not always have availability so you must only search for those who show availability during the time you are looking to travel.
Dear Airbnb and Sloan, one of us is misunderstanding the main point!!I IF I HAVE ALREADY PUT THE DATES I WANT TO BOOK and I obtain a host list (visible on the map too): the problem pointed out derives from that hosts that, once contacted, declare they are fully booked ! This is not acceptable according to your statement BUT it is the rule !!! Hence you answer is inconsistent AGAIN !
12) How is it possible that house agencies are allowed to present their home on your website [https://www.airbnb.it/z/q/160596388] ?
Dear Airbnb and Sloan, missed answer !
13) Why don’t you provide a customer service accessible email address where you can talk directly with your team managers in order to solve claims in adequate why ?
Dear Airbnb and Sloan, missed answer !
I consider that, despite what declared from your personnel (Edera T. ??=poison ivy] on the phone, that a coupon of 25USD (do you really think USD is my currency ???) doesn’t represent an acceptable compensation of having lost the possibility to spent my only holidays possibility during 2015 New Years Eve in Belgrade. I lost happiness, a lot of time, health and sleep and I got really angry, frustrated and sad. I hope you can compensate all that and punish adequately people signaled.
I want clear and detailed answers provided by a person directly to my email address i can reply to ! I hope you will work to improve your site eliminating all those people that declare wrong or diverting information on your website. Right now finding a good solution is like trying to play to Russian roulette !!
“Thank you again for sharing your feedback with us. I am so glad we could answer these questions for you. Please let us know if there is anything else you’d like to know. We are always here to assist!”
Dear Airbnb and Sloan, Do you think you gave the required answer ? I have the strong feeling you are trying to timewaste with me ! Don’t like at all !
Final story: commission money back, 150 voucher free given, review not allowed, host NOT punished. Ba careful GUYS!!!
Guests POISONED During Nightmare Airbnb Stay!!
We are SOOO disappointed with the accommodation that we booked in July 2015 in Amsterdam! It started out OK…
Upon arriving, the representative let us into the apartment, showed us through, provided some maps and information to the area etc. During his explanation of the apartment to us, he casually mentions that the apartment has a distinct smell as it was only days before, sprayed with poison/chemicals for routine pest control. At the time, we didn’t think anything of it. We left to get some dinner, returned, showered etc and prepared for bed. The next morning we woke with varying degrees of headaches, nausea, dizziness and near-vomiting. The smell was unbearable. (It was also quite rainy so no windows could be opened to air the place out.) We called the representative EARLY that morning (approx 7am) and informed him of what had happened and that other arrangements would need to be made. We let him know that we had activities planned for the day, but he said that ‘someone would be in touch’ to let us know of what to do from there. By 4pm that afternoon, we had not heard from him, the owner of the apartment OR Airbnb. We left and checked into a hotel. We did not hear from anyone for the remainder of our time in Amsterdam. We began the process (online) to claim a refund. We were surprised to learn that approximately only one night’s worth of accommodation was refunded and we were still out of pocket for the rest of the nights! (approx $AUD1700!)
The first issue is this – THEIR website states: Accommodations on the Airbnb platform should meet minimum quality standards regarding safety, access, and cleanliness, and they should be consistent with the description provided by the host. I’d like to know how an apartment, sprayed with toxic chemicals, is in any way SAFE?! We had two small children aged only 4 and 6 at the time, we were the most affected by this. On these grounds alone we should have qualified for a FULL refund. The apartment should have NOT been available at that time – to let the chemicals air/disappear. Airbnb DID NOT inform us of this prior to our check-in and should have. Had we known, we would not have stayed there. So I have to assume then that maybe they knew this, and that’s why this wasn’t disclosed? (can anyone say ‘fraud’). So they took our money anyway, knowing that the apartment was less than acceptable.
Second issue is this (again from their website): For a full refund, cancellation must be made a full 24 hours prior to listing’s local check in time (or 3:00 PM if not specified) on the day of check in. For example, if check-in is on Friday, cancel by Thursday of that week before check in time. or If the guest cancels less than 24 hours before check-in, the first night is non-refundable. or If the guest arrives and decides to leave early, the nights not spent 24 hours after the official cancellation are 100% refunded. Clearly, we fit into the third category. We did check in, we did leave early. So the nights not spent after the official cancellation are 100% refunded!! (or should be…)
I have called the Australian number (only to be diverted to some Phillipino call centre) where the staff are clearly only trained to answer with very scripted answers. My details are ‘passed on to case managers’ who DON’T call back even though I have asked for TWO calls now, but instead reply with emails that state: Thanks so much for your patience throughout this process. We appreciate the time you’ve taken to share your concerns with our team. However, we have issued our final decision for this case and we will disengage from further discussion on this topic. Really?! They’re “disengaging” from this topic?? The customer, ME, does NOT accept the matter closed! Their OWN policy tells me I’m entitled to a refund! What is the point of a policy if you do not stick to it?! It isn’t worth anything. Given the seriousness of our complaint – the POISON you expected us to live in – they STILL have not addressed this issue and they continue to say that they’re decision is final. Again, I do not consider this matter closed and I will be informing the relevant authorities here in Australia that I can and any and all social media platforms!
Save your money and just book with hotels! Zero stars for you Airbnb Fraudsters!
Terrible Customer Service -Airbnb only wants your money
Airbnb doesn’t care about your safety or your vacation, they just want your money. I had a terrible experience with them!
First of all, we couldn’t get into the place we booked and it was late at night. The hosts told us to find a hotel and they said would pay for the cab and hotel. After searching for a hotel until 2am, we finally found one and went there. The hosts then wanted us to spend another day of our 3 day vacation trying to find another airbnb place, and if it didn’t pan out we were on our own. So we made the decision to stay at the hotel and try to enjoy the rest of our vacation since we already lost 1/2 a day because of the airbnb hosts. We asked that they pay for 2 nights of the 3, but they reneged on everything. I had to ask that the phone calls be pulled. 18 emails later, they paid for one night at the hotel and I took my $250 credit. The next thing I know, Airbnb locked me out of my account and said they will not engage with me anymore. They admitted that they didn’t provide good customer service and they are sorry for that, but this matter is closed and they will not speak further to me. I called back and got a rep who was stoned. I wanted a name of someone in corporate to discuss this matter of customer service as they protect each other. He wouldn’t give me one. I eventually found a name, but it didn’t matter. I mailed in a letter about what happened and send copies of the emails… but again, no response from anyone at Airbnb.
I would not recommend using airbnb. If something goes wrong, you’re screwed.