We wanted to book a room, the room had good reviews. Put the card in and nothing. We gather that hosts don’t have to bother to reply if they don’t want to book you in. Personality, just a reply saying they are unable to do so, for whatever reason, is fine, but not nothing. We were not really sure they even got our message. We ended up going elsewhere. And you couldn’t write a review of this as there was no place to put it as we hadn’t actually stayed. For a first time user, this left a bad taste.
Author Archives: cyclebabe
Does my mistake excuse their potheadedness?
So I will start this off by saying…my dog somehow managed to jump thru a screen window at my host’s place while I was away for a few hours, because I don’t usually need to kennel my dog. Not only that but who the f*ck can possibly, logically presume the creativity of their pets to find a way to jump thru a window screen? However, yes he did this (no excuse), but my host and his wife were ACTUALLY THERE when it happened, and total potheads to the point that they were kind enough to NOT even bother to show me the simple courtesy of calling or spending 15 seconds of their time to send a message to let me know it happened…so I could hurry my f*cking ass back there to attend to the problem I created. So I arrived at ~3 PM that day to find my dog wandering their neighborhood, my hosts not even there, but away from their property. And upon returning later they didn’t even address the fact that they didn’t let me know it happened but were so fucking lazy with following up on it later in their Airbnb claim was to go on Amazon.com and look up window screens (since Amazon.com has the most diverse solution/market for window screens) and pick the most advanced solution available for their flimsy, aluminum window screen my dog ruined – which was probably 3 times more than it was worth – and request to charge that premium. And on top of that tacked on a pillow that had a stain – which I didn’t even use because I brought my own orthopedic pillow – but the claim they made had me reimbursing them for a set of pillows rather than one. All of this after their untrained farm dog attacked my dog at one point during my stay to the point that they had to pull their dog off of him… Thanks Airbnb…I really appreciate the ‘services’ you provide…
AirBNB ruined my trip in Italy
I will NEVER use AirBNB again. My host did not let me into the apartment for over 5 hours nor did she have any intention of letting me in despite the confirmation. She was out with her friends and could not be inconvieced to return to the apartment despite the fact I had given her my arrival information far in advance . No apology. I was stuck outside of Rome with little money, no phone, in a dark no traffic area. In the middle of the night a man let’s me into the apartment as I am starting to wander aimlessly into the night. The bathroom light did not work making it near impossible to shower. I wish I could end there however this is just the start of my bad expierences with Air B and B. The night before my host took me to the wrong apartment and I wasted the entire day packing my belongs and waiting for him to move me to the correct location. Again, no apology. The host had the audacity to blaim me because I did not correct him. Excuse me, but how am I suppose to know. This host also lied about the location of the apartment. It turned out to be a completely different part of the city. The list goes on and on. Again, I am NEVER using Air BNB again. NEVER!!!!!!!
Airbnb guests find a filthy flat, and can’t leave a review!
It appears if you cancel a reservation, you cannot review the property on Air B n B. We just arrived in Amsterdam to what was originally advertised as a “beautiful canal flat” in the center of Amsterdam. It was described as 2 bedrooms and modern. The truth is, that it is a squalid, filthy apartment. The second bedroom was an alcove beside the living area with no door. The “modern” touch was obviously the disco ball above the bed. The modern furnishings appeared to be cast offs with electrical tape holding together the foot stool. The TV stand looked to be from the early 60’s (remember the hardware from captain’s bed’s). The wall’s were filthy and need a good washing and paint job. The carpet was not installed properly and was just cut and put on the floors. We cancelled immediately and Air B n B gave me $218 as a refund for $1034!!! I have to wait 10 days to start the resolution process!! The host was not in town and we were let in by the cleaning person. I contacted the host by phone and the host did suggest he would have the apartment recleaned, but I told him it was impossible because the walls needed to be painted the windows cleaned and a door installed on the “second” bedroom. My phone was out of power and could not take pictures, but in no way did the photos on Air B n B resemble the photos on the website. Amazing how the walls show perfectly white in the photos and in real life they are filthy…
Roomorama vs Airbnb
Has anyone had any dealings with Roomorama? I told them my account of the AirBNB extortion story, and asked them what they would do. They said they would examine all the evidence. I said everything including the actual recording of the unveiled extortion attempt and they said yes. I still cannot believe that ABB told me they could not listen to the tape because I could have altered it, as if I was the criminal. Plus, they knew all along what was happening and they told me not to cave and not to give her the money. Then they abandoned me. They say that would not happen. Does anyone know how they operate?
Airbnb Verifications Are An Intrusion of Privacy
Airbnb’s verification process is an intrusion on privacy. There is no place for processes like this. People should not use this site. There is absolutely no reason for them to request all of your profile details in order to book an apartment. Passport and mobile number should be more than enough. For example I don’t want airbnb snooping through my data trying to sell crap to all my friends.
Problems with Airbnb’s website – Glitches and lying rep
Has anyone experienced glitches on the Airbnb website? First of all, I have had at least 2 guests tell me they gave me all 5 star ratings. However, Airbnb’s system did not register the rating as all 5 stars. One ABB rep told me he was going to contact the guests to see what they intended to give me, and he would change it. However, then he told me yes the guest intended to give you 5 stars, but he did not so we can’t change it, which I knew was a lie because they have changed ratings that were wrong because of glitches in the past. I myself have had trouble getting the the curser to hit the right star and even went to the library to make sure the person got what they deserved which was all 5s. I do not know if everyone else will go to that trouble or notice that it is not falling on the correct star…. After he changed what he had told me to no we cannot change it I said can you at least tell me what the guest said and he said no, because of privacy reasons. So, I contacted the guest and it turns out the ABB rep never contacted him, and now I presume the other guests as well. After the ABB rep told me he would contact the guy and change the rating to what he intended, I told the guy that this ABB rep would contact him and change it to what you intended to give me and he was happy about that. Now, he is really annoyed with ABB because he knows how hard I worked to make everything great for them. Also, after this guy left me a review, at first the ABB system said he gave me all 4’s and one 5. Then the next day, it said he gave me all 5s and one 4. So, I asked ABB about this and to date, no response. The only response is that their is not a known glitch with their system. I also asked them if they could just tell me how many total reviews I got since 10/1/14 till now, and how many were 5 stars, and they will not give me this info so I can do a simple mathematical problem and see what my SH percentage in the review section will be. I think they do not know. In the past the reps would give me these numbers. Now, it is top secret so I figure they do not want to admit that there is a problem with their system. Since they are so full of transparency and honesty, I do not know why they either cannot give me the numbers so I can do my own division or tell me there is a problem with the system right now. Either of those answers would be fine with me, but the way they have been acting is just wrong, and weird. The way I found out the guest even gave me all 5s was because of the system telling me different things from one day to the next. I kept in touch with the guest of record’s friend and I finally asked him what was wrong and he said nothing. I suspected something was wrong with the system because another guest gave me all 5 stars and it did not register that way, and a rep with a brain contacted him and changed it. That is why it is hilarious that this other guy is lying to me and telling me it cannot be remedied. One hand does not know what the other hand is doing over there. Before that I gave the guy a list of other guests who had told me they would give all 5 stars and did not. Up until I started communicating with the guests post stay, I thought the other guests had lied to me so I would give them all 5 stars, because I could not think of any other reason why that would happen or why someone would volunteer that they were giving me all 5 stars when they did not intend to do so. Another reason I would like to do my own math is that everytime someone gives me an all 5 star review it goes up by 1%, and when it is not a 5 star review is goes down by 2%. My knowledge of math leads me to believe that this is not correct and if I had the numbers, I could do my own math. It all seems really fishy. Since that time, I have gotten 2 all 5 star reviews. I also have screen shots of these and it is still stuck at 78% and it has been a least 10 days since the 2nd 5 star review is posted. I am starting to wonder if they are doing this because I told them about everything I think is wrong with their system including allowing criminals to rent your space, and not having your back when they tell you that they do. BTW, I asked roomorama if the same exact scenario would occur and I had written and audio prove if they would review everything and they said yes. I took screen shoots of the conversation just in case. I do not know if I can trust them either. So, if anyone knows anything, pls let me know. Oh and another rep lied to me as well. Several guests have become so irate at the ID verification system taking so long that they almost did not book. One told me she lost money on the exchange rate because of ABB’s incompetence and they will not take responsibility for her loss. Anyway, one lady was irate with them because she really wanted to book my place and while she was submitting to the long ID verification system she kept getting messages telling her to look for a different place. The ABB rep told me that was for people who did not want to verify their IDs, but this lady proved to me that she was getting those messages while trying to get ID verified for my place. Then she proved to me that after she was verified she got a message saying she could now rent my place or another place. What? Thanks Airbnb! Anyway, she became so irate she found my listing on another site and paid more money to rent through them, and in my opinion this lady is not the type to easily part with her money. So, that tells you how mad she was with ABB. BTW, this other site lets you communicate freely with the guests without blocking out parts of your conversation. For example, if you say google earth, they will not block it out. Anyhow, I cut and pasted the translations of the messages this lady told me she was getting from ABB to look for another place even after she booked, and some other complaints refuting what the guy had said and he told me he would not communicate with me anymore and now if I email ABB my messages are blocked. LOL! The other issue is that I have my calendar synced with VRBO and other sites and one day I was bombarded with booking requests for days that are blocked with VRBO people. So, I had to spend about an hour declining and apologizing to people. I feel I have to be nice to them even though it is ABBs screw up because they may want to book again someday. Plus they all seemed desperate for a place, and I felt badly for them. So, anyway, I sent screen shots of all of this to the guy that lied about contacting my guests before I knew he had lied to me, and no response. I sent them because he told me there were no known glitches with their site. Oh really, then why do they have a page asking white hackers not to discloses the glitches without contacting them first. Oh alrighty then! I have also asked maybe times to different people why the suggested prices ABB gives are so much lower than other predictive pricing website. No answer…. Someone at price labs told me it was so the investors will see your place booked every night. Since, they will not respond to the question, I guess I have to option but to believe price labs. Another predictive pricing website shows how you can charge more, be booked less nights, and make more money. I do not understand ABB’s logic.
First and LAST time airbnb customer
I had never used airbnb before but was traveling with family to California for a wedding. My cousin was nice enough to book a place for us using airbnb. I was traveling with 2 other adults and 3 children so needless to say we were disappointed to find that she had only booked us a 2 bedroom condo but figured we’d make it work. That was until we got there and saw the condition of the place. It was cramped and filthy. The one bathroom was moldy and the sink was broken. The mattress in the master bedroom was stained with blood and urine. The kicker was there was no A/C and it was over 100 out. We had no idea what we were going to do until a man approached us and told us he was the landlord and that the place was not in fact a condo but an apartment and the tenant was in violation of his lease by renting it to us and we had to leave. We contacted the owner for a refund and he insisted that the landlord had told him we could stay but that he would refund us. So then the 6 of us basically homeless in LA attempted to book another place on airbnb. We found a place that looked great. It bragged of city views in a safe neighborhood so we booked it and headed out. On the way a friend from home said he could help us get a huge discount at a hotel starting the next night. We called the host of the place we just booked literally minutes earlier and asked if we could change our stay to just one night and offered to pay the cleaning fee as well. He said ok so we started our drive there. We started noticing that the neighborhood we were driving into was looking less and less safe the closer we got and then we drove up a street that was literally inhabited by only homeless people in tents. Of course, the house was right around the corner. We pulled up to a small 2 family home next to an open lot that had a 30 foot drop with no fence and garbage everywhere. We then received an email from our host saying that we were just too complicated for him and we should cancel our reservation. At this point, we didn’t want to stay there anyway but wanted to ensure a refund. The host came outside and we asked him to contact airbnb letting them know he was canceling not us. He said no, we had to do it first and then he would agree. Of course he never did and we ended up pleading with airbnb for a refund. This guy was completely fine with telling us we couldn’t stay but keeping $1500. It took 5 days for a refund so thank goodness we got a discount at the hotel or we wouldn’t have been able to afford to stay anywhere. We should have just booked an affordable hotel from the start. Never again!
Awful hosts and no breakfast!
We arrived to gritted teeth “a welcome smile”, we were told off for being “late” (for what they didn’t say). They made us park on the road despite “parking available on private drive”. And then they refused to give us any breakfast and asked us to leave by 9am! It was our first airbnb experience and will be our last! It was in a village near Nottingham UK.
Airbnb removed a review of a racist host because it was “defamatory”
The following review of a Moira from Edinburgh (www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/7943693) was removed because it was supposedly “defamatory”. I personally think that this was an easy target as the way in which my host behaved, especially towards the end of my visit, was so horrendous that is was simply impossible for my review not to be “defamatory”. “Moira is a manipulative and cretinous racist. She essentially uses Airbnb as a recruitment agency, pestering her English-speaking guests into taking low-level positions at her place of work (no doubt so that she can keep the referral fee she would receive as a reward) and behaving like a sullen child when this inevitably backfires. To be fair, she’s a lovely host at first…right up until it becomes blindingly obvious that you would rather starve to death than work for a place that could hire someone as vapid as herself. After that, she drops the charade and shows herself to be the white supremacist fraud that she really is. None of the rooms in her house – not even the bathroom – have functional locks on the doors so guests may have to put up with her insipid “conversation” for the first few days. I eventually had to prop my suitcase against the door just to avoid her (something that she rather bizarrely interpreted as me “slamming” the door). Due to her ignorance and poor comprehension, she has a tendency to lose her temper during discussions she doesn’t understand. Moira smokes in the house (yet has the hypocrisy to complain about the phantom smells her guests have supposedly brought in) and has developed an irritating habit of switching off the Wi-Fi late at night (and sometimes just for the attention). When I calmly asked her to switch it back on one night, she used this as an opportunity to follow me back into my room and start yelling about a rift that her own childishness and poor judgment had caused earlier that day. Perplexingly, she later told Airbnb Customer Services that *she* didn’t feel safe in her flat. Apparently in Moira’s world, a white woman barging into a guest’s room and yelling at night is perfectly fine but a black woman knocking on the door and waiting for a response is an act of aggression. It’s also worth noting that the flat itself is in the middle of nowhere, has really weak plumbing/ventilation and walls so thin that I could frequently hear her neighbours from my room. Her tom cat is (unsurprisingly) quite violent as well but usually just with other cats. Usually. Long story short, if you aren’t black, aren’t *that* fluent in English or are just willing to go along with every ridiculous notion that pops into this woman’s head, then Moira’s house is certainly better than a crowded hostel. Otherwise, you may want to stay somewhere else.”