Author Archives: DAVID ONG

VERY RUDE CUSTOMER SERVICE ON AIRBNB CHATROOM

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My wife tried very hard to contact Airbnb via their website…. there is nothing there to complain against them. We had a coupon code issue that needed help, so they put us onto a chat room where their customer service guy called Dennis typed in responses. Dennis was very rude to my wife. Saying he insulted her intelligence etc. Later when I asked to speak to someone on the phone, Dennis gave me the real phone number and we talked to a real person. The other guy managed to resolve our issue no problem. It turned out that it is airbnb’s software problem. You cannot input a coupon code on instant booking.

Regardless of the issue, there is no excuse for a customer service representative to be so rude!  I’ll be taking my business elsewhere!

Airbnb is a nightmare when something goes wrong!

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Being a host on Airbnb since 2013 with 4 houses (I have only received 2 confirmed bookings via Airbnb since I started – all my other bookings have come from other sites that look much more sufficient, honest and effective), I unluckily went on to book a flat in Paris for a month through airbnb. After a very long search around the site I managed to book a property and fully paid for it in one go as was the owner’s policy. This was done in early October for a check in on the 19th of December 2015. One day later the host came back to me asking for more money (137 eur) with the excuse that she had not considered the Airbnb commission. I refused to pay extra money so the host threatened me with a cancellation of my booking. I didn’t really believe her (it was a young girl from Morocco who apparently had not a clue of respecting my trust) – being a host myself, I have never cancelled any booking from my side. I was surprised to receive the host’s cancellation 2 days later! Airbnb hastenned to propose me other apartments more expensive and promised me a bonus of 49 eur on my behalf. I finally booked another property which cost me an extra 88 eur charged on my c.c plus the 49 eur of the bonus. You will not believe what happens since then! I receive every single week (since october 2015 and till now) an e-mail from AIRBNB that I owe them 49 eur and this is under the reference of the cancelled reservation by the host. I have sent them copies of the invoices paid with 0 balance due again and again explaining the facts to them and asking them why they keep on annoying me, but no reply from them! They keep on sending me this stupid outstanding bill and I have found no way to stop them. I had to change my c.c used by them as I am afraid that they would charge me and now they send me messaging “problem with payment” all the time! I have searched everywhere to find a real telephone number to call them from Greece but I got one in USA which will cost me a fortune. After so much trouble faced being a guest, I seriously think I will also stop collaborating with them as a host – I really feel pity for AIRBNB guests trying to deal with it. Also, the host who cancelled my reservation does not have the automatic review mentioning the cancellation – normally this should appear at the host’s profile reviews, no?  How else will future guests know what this host did?

CANCELED TO AVOID PSYCHO RENTER – AIRBNB TAKES $100!

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We accepted a booking from a young college student. Our rates are based upon number of occupants. Upon restating our occupancy rules in our acceptance email, the renter became rude. She wanted to know if we had cameras in the rooms or how else would we verify occupancy? She then stated in her next email that we were rude and had bad customer service skills. Well, that did it for me. If she was going to be that rude, pushy and obnoxious there was no way I would let someone like that into one of my properties. I sent her an email stating that we were not comfortable renting to her now and that she needed to cancel her reservation. She went ballistic after that. Airbnb penalizes the renter if they want to cancel and they penalize the owners $100 if they want to cancel. So, you see, no one wants to cancel their reservation. Even after I told her that I would refund her entire amount the lady refused to cancel. I told airbnb the situation and told them I WAS UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE GUEST they charged me $100 and said it was my fault for wanting to cancel!!! Airbnb has you by the balls. They control the money. They control the payouts. They control the security deposit. They control the contact information. You have all of the risk and they make all of the money. What a scam!!!! I never go thru this with VRBO because I am in control.

ANOTHER WAY AIRBNB RIPS OFF HOSTS

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Airbnb charges owners who cancel a reservation $100 for each cancellation even when it is airbnb’s fault. We have four rental units and advertise on several sites. Airbnb is supposed to sync each calendar. We have accepted reservations and then checked our master calendar and the unit is booked. When we tried to resolve the issue we were charged each time when it was clearly the fault of airbnb. DO NOT USE INSTANT BOOKING or accept a reservation without checking your own calendar. DO NOT RELY ON THE AIRBNB CALENDAR. DO NOT US AIRBNB. Not only are they making 10-15% from the renters they are making a killing ripping owners off!!! We are very happy with VRBO and only fill in our calendar with airbnb. Also, airbnb clientele are not as good as VRBO clientele. They are price shoppers and budget travelers. We have found that the people that pay more are more respectful of your property.

Scammed by bastards… Airbnb does nothing.

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I’ve just tried to book an apartment in London for 4 days. The Airbnb advertisement clearly said “contact me by email.. since Airbnb is too slow”. Of course.. the app didn’t work and I’ve tried to contact them.  Then after I emailed them… everything goes all smooth as expected.  Scammer asked me some fake details… then pushed me for transfer money urgently .. and that’s the story. When I tried to see my apartment after sending the money, the advertisement and user disappeared.  Bank was contacted.. no help there.  Police also.. no help there. Airbnb.. of course.. “let’s see… we’ll report it…”.. but I guess that was the extent of their response. No word back from Airbnb.. NEVER EVER.

Tips:

1) Don’t use email ever on this kind of things.

2) Don’t rely on someone that is pushing you “It’s urgent.. etc”

3) Don’t wire your money directly to them.. (yes .. I know I was stupid.. ).

Never Airbnb again…

Miami Host Misrepresents Unit – Airbnb Does Nothing

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If there were an option for no stars, I’d have chosen that. Worst experience with accommodations I have ever had. The person (billing himself as Tony&Eli) that advertised the place, completely misrepresented the apartment. From the pictures I received from my daughter it seems as though it’s not even the same apartment that was advertised. I was paying the rent there for a month so she could have enough time to find a place of her own, near to where she wants to go to school. After driving all night from Georgia (and the night before from Virginia) my daughter arrived there only to have to pack up and go stay with family. It was filthy and moldy. She took pictures and sent them to me and took them to my mother as well.The next day he offered to put her in another apartment but I advised her not to trust that person, to have no more contact with him and to see if the family could help her find something else as she is just moving to Florida to go to school there. Instead of the person just letting it go, he refuses to refund the money and I’ve had to take it up with my credit card. It seems as if he has more than one place and probably is using the same pictures for all the ones he rents. Even though I tried to contact Tony&Eli by both my personal and work email, and sent him all the pictures of the apartment, he did not reply. Instead he kept trying to contact my daughter and convince her that she should move into some different apartment he had.  Also, to call a member of his family since he lives overseas currently. I did not want him harassing her as she’s only 18 and hasn’t had to deal with this sort of thing before. Airnbn has been no help at all and is considering it a cancellation.  Unfortunately, they also went through my daughter and did not contact me.  The airbnb contact is in California and can only see the pictures online.  They did not offer to have someone come to the apartment in Miami. They probably don’t have a presence in the state. can’t say for sure. They think that just because the owner offers some other place that should be ok with the renter. I don’t see why a customer should have to continue to do business with someone that has bait and switch tactics and would pawn off such a place on some kid. I will never use airbnb again and I advise anyone who does to, if possible, check out the place in person and don’t rely on airbnb to help if something goes wrong. I would especially not send anyone that is inexperienced to possibly have to handle a situation such as this. They will be better off going to an Extended Stay America or Homewood Suites where the management is accountable.

Their response was the following: John, Nov 18, 19:19: Hello Kayleigh, I did get your pictures and a majority of it looks like it can be scrubbed clean. I want to go through all the pictures you sent and the concerns. I am not sure how the door frame can be fixed, it doesn’t look broken but old and repainted. A lot of building and homes in Miami are older but it isn’t broken. The broken tile can be fixed and is something I can request the host have fixed while you are there if you stay. The A/C filter can be cleaned out but I agree is gross. The floor wall boards can be wiped and the floor better swept. Can you please send me a picture of a bug if possible and a closer picture of the tile mold. I can’t tell if it is tile grout or if it is mold on the tile, either way I agree it does need to me scrubbed and mopped. The cabinets can be bleached but look like they have water damage from years of dishes being put away and not all the way dry. Last is the bathtub, it looks like an old tub and similar to mine. Since my building is from the 1980s the tub will get old an impossible to get all the soap scum. It is something that can be scrubbed but not perfectly, possible cleaned with comet powder or bleached also to get rid of some stains and soap scum. Overall I don’t thank anything is bad enough for an immediate cancellation and I also need a picture to consider a vermin issue. I appreciate your patience and hope you get a good sleep tonight, I am sorry for this issue but want to make sure I make the best decision.

So they even admitted the place was nasty and yet, didn’t approve a refund. Apparently scamming college kids is a business practice according to some other reviews I’ve read. Why anyone would be forced to live in this situation, or continue to have to do business with someone that scammed them in the first place is beyond me. Especially, when the apartment was about $1650 a month plus a pet fee of a $150. Now they are simply ignoring the problem. I’ve posted a complaint to BBB Hopefully that will help. This apartment is located in Miami

Dream turned into a Nightmare

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My husband and I have been planning a trip to Rio for the last five years. I’m Brazilian and he is American and he has been saving money in order to visit the city where I was born and spend time with my relatives there. We booked an apartment with Airbnb for $2188 to stay for six days and we were really satisfied with it based on the pictures online until relatives and friends raised concerns about the neighborhood and its far distance to all main attractions in Rio, which was contrary to the ad on Airbnb. My husband searched on Google Earth and found out that the apt was located on top of a mountain and that it would take us at least 20 minutes to walk down the mountain in order to get to public transportation, supermarkets, etc. My husband had a leg surgery recently and he can’t walk long distances, specially in an inclined terrain. We contacted Airbnb in order to request a cancellation and they asked us to send a letter from my husband’s doctor stating that he can’t walk such a steep mountain. We sent the letter to Airbnb on the same day as we spoke with the person on the phone and on the next day, they sent us an email stating that our cancellation refund has been denied and that they would only refund us a cleaning fee of $100 and $137 in service fee. This vacation has been a dream to us and Airbnb with its unfair strict cancellation policy had managed to turn it into a nightmare.

Someone illegally listed my house, Airbnb won’t remove!

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I have rented my house to a Chinese woman for residential purposes only and the contract clearly states that she’s not allow to sublet my house in any way. A couple of months after signing the 2 years contract I found out that she listed my house on Airbnb.   So, I got my lawyer to terminate the lease contract and while this is in progress I also contacted Airbnb, providing them will all the evidence including the house deed, lease contract, images, etc., to ask Airbnb to take down the listing. The response I got from Airbnb is that they cannot take down the listing because they are just the “platform and does not own, operate, manage or control accommodations”, so they are not able to close the listing unless the hosts do it themselves. In my opinion, this is ridiculous…so I asked their customer service, Julie, if I am allow list a government building or a palace on their website? Or to list someone’s house without the owner’s consent just to con money from Airbnb guests’ money? So Julie replied “we will not verify, evaluate or arbitrate the terms you identify”. I understand that they are just a “platform and does not own, operate, manage or control accommodations”, as Julie kept repeating during our telephone conversation, but is it right for them to ignore criminal activities to go on on their platform? I have never used Airbnb, (I don’t even have an account with them) and I never will nor recommend to anyone.

Airbnb Nightmare in The Bahamas

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This is my review of my last Airbnb experienced with a host named Reno in the Bahamas:

Get a Hotel!  The cover photo does not reflect how dilapidated the actual building is. Christmas 2015 was going to be special because I surprised my college daughter with a fun trip to the Bahamas – where the hotels were almost full everywhere. Reno was attentive to our inquiry which gave the me faith to book Airbnb. Upon arrival things appear worn out but okay. We arrived with refrigerated food for snacks and dinner to take to the beach. Within 24 hours of being there: living room was uninhabitable due to overwhelming smell of CAT Urine embedded in the couch, TV non functioning-no cable, refrigerator NOT working – failed, $50 worth of groceries wasted. We lost vacation time due to mechanic in kitchen. We had to go out to dinner with an expensive taxi to eat. Within 2 hours of mechanic’s repair, the same refrigerator fan broke and high pitched “Whining” noise continued for the next 24 hours. The floors were dirty. Black mold on corners of floor/carpet interface upstairs and throughout outside balcony – unusable. Closets have space but are filled with junk. NO dish soap, no toilet paper, no garbage cans, no useable pots/pans (aluminum pots with scratched out Teflon – leached out and dangerous), no coffee maker, no coffee, no tea, no kettle, dirty dishes in cabinets without soap to clean and use, No blankets or bed covers -one sheet only. 2 small bath towels given to 2 women for 5 days, no beach towels, one roll of toilet paper only for 5 days. (We asked for more toilet paper and at least some tea for am which we had to microwave as there were no usable pots) As an Airbnb host and guest myself, I spoke with Reno about the issues we had and suggested we leave the next day. He assured me that he would get the refrigerator fixed and get us some toilet paper. Reno asked me to write down all the corrections that he needed for his AIRBNB (Hello? This is MY vacation). The next day when Reno brought toilet paper and a box of tea, he said that he refused to spend any more money on this venture and that the toilet paper, towels, tea, coffee, etc. were THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE GUEST. I did again re-iterate that he should act like any decent hotel with basic preparations; sufficient toilet paper/towels/coffee maker/coffee/ tea/clean utensils/clean dishes/pots/pans/dish soap/bath soap/shampoo/conditioner/blankets/bedspreads/hangers in the kitchen/clean floors-sink, carpets, etc…………there is a certain level of expectation that we all enjoy. It was Christmas. In an effort to be compassionate in the season, my daughter asked me not to make a scene with Reno and leave, plus it was Christmas Eve. My daughter and I stayed away at the beach, restaurants and in town. Taxi’s are horrendously expensive with gas at $6/gallon. We recycled our Dunkin Doughnuts/Starbuck cups to use at the house, we recycled the one towel we each had for beach & shower daily – leaving them and us perpetually damp. We did not eat in the apartment. We did not use the bottom floor due to the cat-piss smell. We did not enjoy “Junkanoo Parade” on T.V. since it was not hooked up. The lack of shower curtain put water all over the toilet and the slick, slate floor – we used the one small face cloth on the floor to keep from slipping. We recycled our grocery bags to create garbage bags up and downstairs. My daughter and slept cold each night, no bedspread. This was the worst AIRBNB experience I ever had in almost four years of Airbnb travel.

Incompetent Airbnb “arbitrator” circumvents policy

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I had a guest who first said she was “uncomfortable”, then changed it to she “feared for her personal safety”.”She ended up saying she was about to have a panic attack and said she ran out of my house because she was “afraid for her personal safety”. She also said the last host who she told that she was “uncomfortable” just handed her money for a refund, and she wanted me to hand her cash, which I did not even have yet. These days if you’re lucky they pay on time, which means 24 hours after the guest checks in. Then I had to deal with an Airbnb “arbitrator” named Kevin T who did not seem to know what “Guest Refund Policy” was and kept dismissing what I was saying, and only listened to her side without giving me a chance to defend myself. In the end, he circumvented my cancellation policy, and yanked nearly $1500 from me. He told me on a recorded phone call that he would pay me for 3 days and paid me for less than 1. Now, the case is closed. I love the way they do something unconscionable and then say the case is closed. Oh yeah, their legal team was supposed to contact my lawyer but never did. No way to contact their legal team. I am thinking of contacting the American Arbitration Association. I wonder if Airbnb will ban me if I do that. I guess transparency and honesty will go out the window at that point.